Well the regular season is over and for the second year in a row the Reign misses the play-offs. Time to look forward to the next season I guess. Wishlist Major squad change for the new year. Utilize the youth more. Be open to formation changes. ....
Sigh... it's very sad that we're here already again, in need of a 2018 thread when for 4 other teams the season isn't over yet. @Blaze20, do you think we can agree that Rapinoe is a starting point and that the team has to be built around her? I know, she isn't the youngest and most fresh player on earth, but this year I've got the feeling that she kept the team alive alone and I can't help thinking that, if she hadn't missed some crucial games, maybe we could have overcome at least Orlando in the run for play-offs...
Was anyone else aware of the motivations behind Kendall Fletcher's retirement at the end of 2016 season? I wasn't!
Isn't that Kendall Johnson, she's the one doing the podcast. She was with the Thorns this year, played a little. Her contract is not being renewed, she's on the re-entry wire, and I'm wondering if she's going to retire or rather will try to make a go of it. I'm a big fan, she's a Portland young woman, and I watched her play at the U of Portland.
Ok, my bad! Don't know exactly why I read the first name "Kendall" and went completely out of my way! Sorry.
Hey, no problem. It's still really interesting as to what players can go through, post-concussion. Her story is not the first to read that way.
Not officially announced yet, but Harvey is set to depart Seattle to take a position in US Soccer and Andonovski will be the Reign's next head coach.
So I've been absent around here but this news just popped up on my twitter dash board. To say I'm shock will be an understatement. I heard the Vladko was leaving FCKC yesterday and rumors that he'll be joining Seattle. Talk about a re-shovel.
Don't know Andonovski well enough to judge, but I actually loved Laura Harvey, so it will be difficult to get used to Reign without her...
If we were to have any coach from NWSL he would have been my choice. His playing style is similar to that of Harvey He's excellent at spotting talent in the draft Good at integrating young players Don't know much about him but from what I can tell he doesn't seem to have favorites which mean if someone is not performing well they will be benched. This was something Harvey struggled with and I was concerned this off season that she would have had trouble making the necessary changes that the squad needed given how close she was to the players. Bringing in Vladko solves that. He's also not afraid to make formation changes which is something Harvey never does. And lastly he has a winning record in the big games So all in all I actually think this was the right change at the right time. Harvey did so much for this club but we are at the stage where I think her strengths would not have helped this team. What this team needs to be successful is to build around young players which is something Vladko is good at.
My opinion- long term, this will be best for Seattle. I honestly don't know how much further Harvey could have taken the team, and I think it's a team in need of a youth movement. One thing Andonovski has done really well over the last couple years is taking players who have not faired well on other teams and found roles for them to excel. Averbuch was a flop in Washington, but he was able to successfully convert her to a solid CB (and I think she was better than Sauerbrunn this season). LaBonta was cast off from SkyBlue, but has thrived in KC. Those are the two best examples, but I could probably name more with more time. This is something that Harvey either couldn't do or didn't want to do. She had her set starting XI, and if you weren't part of that, you did not see much time on the field.
Andonovski is a great coach. his players love him, he understands the game and has learned to understand the women's game even better. From my understanding a level-headed guy. Seattle did not lose anything, in fact may have gained a Coach who will not only have his players play the beautiful game, but win a Championship as well. I have always thought he was the best coach in the NWSL, by far.
There are many Laura Harvey fans here and out there but the Reign now has the best Coach in the NWSL and maybe in the women's game. In my opinion.
What a good move by Seattle. I think they are my new favorite team. Can't seem to root for a team in Salt Lake.
Good for Seattle to bring in the guy who beat you both times in the final. And I was hoping USSF would hire him in place of Jill. Maybe one day.
Was he Kansas City's coach both times (sorry, I don't have a very good memory)? And, anyway, what will reveal being stronger? Andonovski's knack for winning finals or Seattle Reign's knack for losing them?
Yes. I don't think you can blame Seattle for losing them, the head coach gets that honor in my book. Harvey had too much talent on those teams to not win at least one of them.
So now that we've all had time to digest the coaching move, it's time to look forward to what happens next. One of the reasons I was skeptical about there being wholesale changes this off season was that Harvey was too close to some of these players that she should have let go a long time ago (eg. Dallstream, Mathias, Reed, etc). With Vladko who has no connection to these players, it should be easy to rebuild the roster. There are however some major decisions to be What will become of the veterans on this team? Rapinoe, Fishlock, Yanez, Kawasumi, Corsie, Utsugi, Dallstream? From this list I think Rapinoe has every reason to stay because she's based in Seattle. I have no idea what will become of Fishlock. Hopefully she stays as well. Likewise Utsugi and Kawasumi. Yanez, Corsie, Dallstream, Mathias, etc for me have all passed the point of being core members of this team. Are the young players ready? Can players like Pickett, McNabb, Bauer, Jonhson, Crummer, etc take that next step and lead this team? We do not have a draft pick in the first two rounds so unless we are willing to trade some of our established players for picks, this year's draft will be a wash. Which is it shame because the draft is taken place in my back yard and I wanted to attend. There is a GK situation with both Williams and Kop. I personally think Harvey mismanaged the Kop situation last year. Not the fact that she lost her starting spot but the fact that Harvey insisted on Kop playing from the back when it was something that she was not comfortable with at all. That led to some unfortunately goals which further eroded her confidence. Hopefully the time spent in Australia and a new coach will get her back on the right path. P.S: The reign just signed Jodie Taylor. Good signing for us. I'll add the updated roster at some point if/when I can locate that news story on the contract status of all players.
I've seen her play at Euro 2017 and she looks really good. Didn't we need a strong central FW, in the last seasons, who could be able to convert all of the crosses coming from the right (Kawasumi) and from the left (Rapinoe)? She could be just that kind of player...
FYI - Not a big deal, but it's Vlatko. I think an important thing to remember that Vlatko will likely try and sign some of the better players from FCKC, if and when they become available. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if some of those players are itching to transfer to Seattle.
Well, the deal wasn't that Real Salt Lake would have got most of Kansas City's players? Or the new team would remain quite out in the cold. And would have to start quite a revolution in NWSL, to sign different players and remain competitive. Or the basic idea would be having exchanges between RSL and SR FC? But Seattle Reign has a quite established group of players, and I don't think signing Andonovski means that Predmore has any intention to make Seattle Reign some sort of Kansas City FC 2.0.