News & Media II: Articles, photos, videos, etc.

Great interview with Sauerbrunn on Planet Futbol podcast

New pod: @BeckySauerbrunn on US lineup changes, labor talks, NWSL & how she wants healing between WNT & MNT players https://t.co/TzoH7i7RZ5

— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) April 4, 2017

 

Here is a link where you can just click on Play:
https://art19.com/shows/planet-futbol

 

🇺🇸INTERNATIONAL: #USWNT Will Face Sweden on June 8 in Gothenburg - https://t.co/wZvbBFNFFP #sweusa

— Womens Soccer United (@WomensSoccerUtd) April 7, 2017

 

Finally.

 

New U17 and U20 WNT coaches have been hired: http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/201...r-hires-jitka-klimkova-mark-carr-head-coaches

 

So when can we expect this announcement to drop?

 

Considering the total disregard USSoccer has for the NWSL, I wouldn't be surprised if it was opening day

 

Wouldn't be a first.

 

3 #uswnt players no longer on USSF contracts in 2017. Names not disclosed. Doesn't affect NWSL exemption status this season.

— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) April 22, 2017

 

Is this referring to changes from whole of 2016 or something else recently? Rampone, Engen, and HAO would be changes from last year this time, but it seems this might be talking about other changes, especially as it refers to NWSL.

Speaking of which, "NWSL exemption status" means...?

 

I believe this is new as it mentions the 2017 NWSL allocations which have only been out a couple weeks. Im guessing exemption is allocation.

 

Does anyone know what dates or maybe when the rumored games against Brazil and Japan will be in July? I believe this is what I read. Correct me if I'm wrong, please.

BTW, whatever happened to Bonnie Lass, who used to post on the women's forums all the time?

 

http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/20...ndly-tournament-summer-brazil-japan-australia

July 27 to August 3. Not sure why USSF is waiting to announce. With Brazil's federation having confirmed the tournament, the cat is most definitely out of the bag.

http://selecao.cbf.com.br/noticias/...minina-disputara-torneio-nos-eua#.WP_AaVPyv-a

Maybe they're trying to come up with a better name for the tournament than "SheBelieves 2: The Reckoning".

 

I'm guessing because USSF prefers to announce venues, times, etc when they announce home matches. Those details probably haven't been confirmed yet.

 

I'm hoping the USWNT will be available to their NWSL teams for the July 22nd games.

Orlando comes to Chicago on July 22 with hopefully Morgan and Marta which will most likely be an attendance boost for the Red Stars.

 

God knows CRS need every attendance boost they can get.

MRAD you are a devoted fan. Do you have any ideas for what Chicago can do to fix the attendance woes? I know the Fire haven't been the most popular MLS team, and Chicago is more of an "old sports" sort of city where baseball, football, etc. hold top billing. So it isn't surprising the women's soccer teams struggles too. But it is still a huge metropolis, there should be more than 2,000 fans who want to see the Red Stars play.

Has there been any talk of moving them away from Toyota Park? They can't go back to Benedictine, that place was awful. But maybe a different college venue that is more catered to soccer. I've mentioned DePaul, UIC, Northwestern in the past, all of which have soccer-specific stadiums that seat 1,000-2,000, possibly could expand to 3,000-5,000. The rent at Toyota must be high, and the team isn't formally connected to the Fire in any way, so no protection there. It hurts to give up a great pitch, but wouldn't a more intimate venue with lower costs be better than cavernous Toyota Park?

 

DePaul doesn't have a soccer specific stadium. They share it with the softball team. It has artificial turf, the pitch size is narrower and shorter than Benedictine, and there is very little room for expansion.


UIC would probably be the best bet of the 3 you mentioned, but it would require a lot of expansion (actual seated capacity is likely under 558 according to the calculations I did previously) and I doubt the amenities (both for fans and for players) would be anywhere near the level of Toyota Park's. So the only thing it really has going for it is being closer to downtown.

 

Still haven't heard any more on who the three players r. The most annoying part is exactly what is Ellis basing it on (Oh, yeah, practice.) U would think the SBC matches r tainted because Ellis choose to use an experimental defense that she's now gone away from so tough to rate players based on that. Then there was the matches against Russia which didn't put up much of a fight...yet Ellis has cut three contract players based on those samples. It's very annoying.

 

I haven't had a chance to answer your question, but I will tonight when I get home.

 

Chicago is a complex city to figure out when it comes to soccer. Heck when it comes to all sports. In the spring no one draws well including the White Sox. Watch a White Sox home game on TV now and look at all the empty blue seats in the outfield.

I went to a Fire game a couple of weeks ago on a beautiful Saturday. The game was at 1:00. The Fire just acquired German international Bastian Schweinsteiger which should have filled every seat at Toyota Park. It would have in Portland, Seattle, KC, Orlando and most other MLS cities. In Chicago that day they barely mustered 16,000 fans. Empty seats everywhere. Also Chicago is an ethnically divide city, IMO. For ethnic soccer fans, not all, but for many, if one of their kind is not on the team they won't bother to go. I remember when Peter Nowak played for the Fire, ever Polish fan in the city wanted to go to a game. When Blanco played for the Fire , every Mexican fan bought tickets. Now, many of them could care less.
So if the Fire with Schweinsteiger, a World Cup Champion, can't fill the stadium, how are the Red Stars going to put butts in the seats at 2:00 on a Saturday afternoon?

Now to the Red Stars. The games this season are too early on a weekend day. That's why you see attendance failures in most NWSL cities except Portland. I barely made it myself to catch the last 30 minutes of the game last week. The hundreds of youth clubs in Chicagoland have games during the day when the Red Stars have games this season. This will not be good for attendance. I will miss at least 2-3 games this season and I am a die-hard season ticket holder who rarely misses a game. I even told the Red Stars front office that next season there would be no way I buy season tickets until I see the schedule. It has nothing to do with location for me. I live on the north side near O'Hare and go to most Fire games and Red Stars games on the south side, but when games are at 2:00 in the afternoon I have other things to do and so do many Chicagoans not to mention the youth club teams who have games during that time. Games need to be at 7:00 pm on weekends so that people can make it.

About Benedictine. The only thing wrong with Benedictine was the turf. Everything else was fine. You guys only got to see the live feed which showed the horrible lined turf. You didn't see the whole complex. IMO, other than the turf, it was perfect for the Red Stars, affordable, free parking, good concessions, sold beer for a college stadium, easy to get to from the suburbs, etc. In Chicago, there really isn't an ideal place for a stadium. Someone will complain about how far away it is. In my opinion, you either want to go or you don't.
In Chicago, the only guarantee to fill is Wrigley Field for Cubs games, and that's because IMO, it is the world's biggest beer garden, with tourists, yuppies getting drunk and people just wanting to party at Wrigley, half the time they don't even know what the score is.

Bottom line this season - the games are too early in the day and it will hurt CRS attendance and other teams as well. I know it's because of the TV contract but not good for local fans.

There are no good grass college grass fields either in the area that have ample parking and amenities for a pro team. UIC is not the answer I've been to many UIC soccer games and it is what it is, a mid-level college stadium with no parking, no amenities , no concessions, cannot sell beer, etc.

Toyota Park is really the only option until someone in Chicagoland builds a 10,000 seat SSS.

 

You're neglecting to mention the front office problems that are the primary reason the Fire have been horrible on and off the field for several years now.

 

Thanks for the nuanced, detailed response. Local perspective is truly valuable.
Unfortunately not a lot of good answers for CRS this season then. The remaining home games are at 3:00, 5, 3, 2, 3, 5, 3, 7, 7, 5, 5. Not until August 12 is there a 7 pm kickoff.

 

Carli's hanging out in Bahrain:

Hello Bahrain 🇧🇭 ....come on out today! pic.twitter.com/9GXY05HA1t

— Carli Lloyd (@CarliLloyd) May 9, 2017

 

Tournament will be in California starting July 22nd.

http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/201...an-seattle-san-diego-la-tournament-of-nations

My question of course is how will this affect the July 22nd game between Red Stars and Orlando in Chicago? Will the USWNT players be there and Marta?

 

The tournament starts July 27, not the 22nd. The players will likely be called in a few days early for camp, but its hard to say at this point how early the camp will start.

The key info from the article:
-Tournament is planned to be held in summers when there is not a WWC or Olympics.
-The format is similar to SheBelieves with four teams in three different cities in the same region of the country playing matches as doubleheaders.
-Next year's tournament will feature the same teams.
-Right now, only the US games are on TV, but perhaps the others will be picked up by ESPN3 or something.
-The Tournament of Nations schedule:

July 27: Brazil vs. Japan, CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Wash.; 4:15 p.m. PT
July 27: USA vs. Australia, CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Wash.; 7 p.m. PT on ESPN

July 30: Japan vs. Australia, Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif.; 2:15 p.m. PT
July 30: USA vs. Brazil, Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif.; 5 p.m. PT on ESPN2

Aug. 3: Australia vs. Brazil, StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.; 4:15 p.m. PT
Aug. 3: USA vs. Japan, StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.; 7 p.m. PT on ESPN2