Mothalo is very athletic and can pressure opponents well and get to loose balls. She is raw, inconsistent, but has a lot of potential--she covers a lot of the field. I was not much impressed by either Prince or Simon this year. Pauw strikes me as a tough-minded coach who wants to run the team her way and doesn't like too much interference from others. All things considered, she did a good job this year, IMO. She certainly doesn't seem like a player's coach in the way that, say, Adnonovski, seems to be. More of a female Bob Knight--but that's just my vague impression, it could be wrong--and it is a moot point now. More generally, players always prefer playing for a "players' coach"--but players' coaches aren't always good coaches or effective; some are, some not. On the other hand, tough coaches can be effective--but they also wear on players and can alienate people. The best coaches, it seems to me, have a bit of both--they know when and how to be demanding yet are good at relating to and motivating individual players and the team. I feel for the players in the NWSL: They are passionate and want to play but the pay is poor for most, the overall conditions at several franchises are still iffy, and with so few teams there aren't many options for those who perhaps aren't getting the PT they want, or are unhappy, or for draftees who are still trying to get established. Crazy days.
I watched Huerta quite a bit this year because I hadn't seen her play much--and my impression is this: Talented attacking player but a somewhat lazy/indifferent defender; doesn't work too hard when the other team has the ball. She seems to mostly expect teammates to win the ball back--and when they do she swings into attacking action. If I were her coach, that would be an issue with me.
Yeah, Sofia didn't have to do too much defending with the Red Stars as she had Arin Gilliland on her side doing most of the defending. She has a great touch on the ball, excellent crosses, but you may be right, not too much interest in defending. That's why Rory called her out in that game against Portland early in the season where she was supposed to mark Horan but failed to do so. Why Ellis wants her as a defender is beyond me.
a lot is forgiven/overlooked by the players if you keep winning championships. no? belichick. tho i don't know if women would stick with a hard, rough-edged winning coach.
How true: I almost cited Belichick in my post. The guy is a bit weird and dickish (and has been known to cheat)--but he wins.
And that's exactly one of the reasons' why I stopped following men's soccer and replaced it with women's soccer: I hate the "win at all costs" mentality that's typical of men's sports, where "at all costs" include whining, unsportsmanlike behaviours or even cheating. I am not saying these things are competely missing from women's soccer, but for sure they're much less represented.
https://www.houstondynamo.com/post/...announce-roster-update-after-2018-nwsl-season Looks like the Dash intends to keep all the players they have. Does this also mean the current Dash players are now happy to stay?
Maybe slightly off-topic, but, while watching highlights from the CONCACAF Championship, where Nichelle Prince scored a brace vs Jamaica (match-winner goals) and another goal vs Costa Rica, I had to wonder why she was basically ignored in Houston Dash this season (or at least she didn't get the playing time that one could have expected). Asked this also on the Canada NT thread, but probably people in this thread are more qualified to give me an answer.
I think it's been mentioned in this thread a couple times, but there appears to have been a little bit of favoritism going on in the coach's decisions for who plays.
Remember, this doesn't mean players will actually be back one way or the other. It is very rare that you don't exercise an option or offer a new contract to retain player rights and keep your options open for the next season. Just because you exercised an option doesn't mean you'll actually keep the player. Just because you offered a new contract also doesn't mean you'll keep a player or that the player will actually sign (for a prime example of this, see Caity Heap signing a new contract, having it be announced and then being waived less than 2 weeks later). To your specific question, I'd characterize the players as being much happier to stay than they were prior to the Pauw outcome. You still have the underlying organizational issues that have consistently gnawed at this team's ability to keep players, however. That said, the beauty of the discontent with Pauw, and removing her from the equation is you're so happy to not have to play for her anymore that you kind of forget all of those other things you hated.
Uh, so it's not just the coach leaving.... NEWS: Dynamo & Dash president Chris Canetti to leave club and join Houston's 2026 World Cup bid efforts → https://t.co/QB3G16bOHd Thank you, Chris, for all of the effort and energy you've put into this club over the last 13 years! #ForeverOrange pic.twitter.com/kZAymKlqm7— Houston Dynamo FC (@HoustonDynamo) October 26, 2018 The Dash were (are?) Canetti's baby. What does this mean for the Dash now, if anything?
The coach was a jump before being pushed. This is basically the same. Don't know. Canetti was the champion for the team. He's the reason they exist. Even if he pretty much screwed up everything thereafter (including nixing a Sam Kerr deal last offseason in favor of the Press deal b/c he wanted a USWNT player both for marketing and because they are free), there is every chance that ownership now goes "forget NWSL". That having been said, I know he was pursuing new co-investors for the Dash all year round and I've heard rumors that co-investors were put in place specifically for the Dash, in which case this probably means nothing.
He's joining HOUSTON's World Cup bid effort? I'm confused--I thought /countries/ were awarded the World Cup? You can't have it in one city, obviously. What am I missing? On another note, any word on the next coach for the Dash?
Do you mean so the Dynamo would only own part of the Dash or that he would be part of the new investors meaning they'd be his co-investors?
Latsko is burning up the fields over in the Australian W-League, currently tied with Kerr scoring leaders with 8 goals Summary - W-League - Australia - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Women Soccerway other news; James Clarkson is the new head coach of the Dash, nor sure what his resume is? ,lol Go Beto 2020!
Glad to see former Mexican NT Captain Monica Gonzalez named as Asst. Coach of the Dash. As a Notre Dame fan, I remember her very well back in the day playing for Randy Waldrum at ND. She was outstanding. James Clarkson has announced his coaching staff for 2019 at the fan event — former MexWNT captain @MonicaGonzo , 2018 asst @eddie_robinson2 and former Rice Owls GK coach Brenton Saylor. #DashTFOn— Keeper Notes (@keepernotes) December 30, 2018