Why are you stopping at drafting? That run to the championship was mostly due to the squad built by Parsons and the players given their all for each other. Now that he has done his best to dismantle that team, it's all down hill now. Sorry @lunatica
Another underwhelming draft for Seattle but what else is new?? Let's see what Harvey does with those 2 international slots
Well, the draft took too long -- but Jen Cooper and Aly Wagner both impressed as announcers: Jen for her encyclopedic brain and Aly for the homework she did and her insight.
I also appreciated the fact that Wagner was an unapologetic SBFC fan. That's not something you say everyday.
The production of the life stream was top notch. I didn't see any of the other drafts, but this was very un-NWSL-like (well at least compared to game streams) in that there were no hiccups. Solid high quality video for 4 hours straight.
They're just planning to follow the USWNT model. Fill the field with fowards, having them play the forward positions, attacking mid positions, outside mid positions, and outside back positions. Then stick their attacking mids as DMs. Nobody is going to outscore them!
Yeah, it was a weird draft for them. Cannot figure it out. I'm guessing that their thinking is: the best defense is a good offense.
Local reporter in PDX, typically with the correct inside info, says Jordan will play in Europe in 2017 and come to Portland in 2018. The Thorns were planning on this before drafting her. A very good move by the Thorns. And more, this now published: "After drafting Hill, the Thorns made a surprise trade when they sent the No. 20 and No. 27 overall picks in the draft to the North Carolina Courage in exchange for the No. 18 overall pick. "With the No. 18 overall pick, the Thorns made the interesting choice to draft Jordan out of the University of Florida, even though they knew she likely wouldn't be joining Portland right away. "Parsons said that Jordan is expected to begin the 2017 season playing for a club in Europe and that the Thorns are not yet sure when she will return to Portland. But with the depth already on Portland's roster, Parsons said that the club had the luxury of being able to draft Jordan. "Parsons believes that Jordan, who finished her college career with an incredible 81 goals and 27 assists, was the best forward in the draft and only fell to the second round because teams were aware that she would be playing abroad this season. "'Our needs aren't right now,' Parsons said. 'We have a very talented, hard working group of great people and not many of them are going far throughout the year. We might lose three players for the Euros for maybe 2-4 games this year. When you're in this position, you can look at the medium, long-term.'"
It is. She was likely to be a sub for Portland this season, so better to let her go overseas and get playing time, then come back in 2018 with a year under her belt that they don't have to pay for.
Entire 2017 Draft -- Sorted by Clubs FC KC -- Draft Picks 5 Christina Gibbons 13 Toni Payne 17 Stephanie Ribeiro 25 Alexis Shaffer 35 Rashida Beal Boston -- Draft Picks 1 Rose Lavelle 3 Morgan Andrews 8 Ifeoma Onumonu 9 Margaret Purce 31 Sammy Jo Prudhomme 38 Hayley Dowd Sky Blue -- Draft Picks 4 Kayla Mills 10 Miranda Freeman 23 Kailen Sheridan 24 Madison Tiernan 30 Catrina Atanda 34 McKenzie Meehan N. Carolina -- Draft Picks 2 Ashley Hatch 7 Darian Jenkins 20 Claire Wagner 27 Jaycie Johnson Orlando -- Draft Picks 22 Danica Evans 32 Nickolette Driesse Houston -- Draft Picks 15 Jane Campbell 28 Nichelle Prince 33 Erin Smith Chicago -- Draft Picks 11 Michele Vasconselos 12 Morgan Proffitt 39 Lauren Kaskie Portland -- Draft Picks 14 Rachel Hill 18 Savannah Jordan 21 Tyler Lussi 40 Caroline Flynn Seattle -- Draft Picks 6 Maddie Bauer 16 Katie Johnson 26 Arielle Ship 37 Kristen McNabb Washington -- Draft Picks 19 Lindsay Agnew 29 Meggie Dougherty-Howard 36 Cameron Castleberry
They beat the flying FUNK out of Stanford this past year (3-0), and when they were all clicking individually and collectively, they were BY FAR the most lethal team in the nation this past year (hence the Stanford Massacre, which made the Boston Massacre look like a friendly game of Red Rover). That's what professional drafts are all about. Drafting "potential" who if they fully develop and achieve their peak performance, they become "Lethal".
Carolina plans on taking what Anson Dorrance brought to the attacking shape in the women's game, and now taking it to a whole new level. Look for Carolina to take their shape in their new 3-2-5 formation. Having two athletic midfielders who will need to be the "most fit" soccer players in history, and having 5 speedy forwards on top of that is simply brilliant. Just leave the 3 defenders back, and never let a ball go behind them.
- It would seem the coaches/GM getting to watch the U23s really had an impact on their selection. Sort of worked out as a poor man's draft combine. - Randy Waldrum has the unique ability to annoy even when he was only peripherally involved in this draft. Now obviously he may know something about Williams/Henninger that we don't but from his quotes it sounds like having three starting quality keepers is a good thing to have on a 20 player roster. I think I would have taken a flyer on Jordan. They wouldn't need her this year so she can play in Europe but she would have been good insurance to have if Daly decided after this season that her best path to NT success is playing in the FAWSL. Also have to wonder if the most attractive part of Prince was allocation covering her pay. - Enjoyed the stream...NWSL has to do something about the delays tho. Most annoying were the league TOs so trades can be approved. Also, only the team on the clock should be able call TO. - Best thing is the draft is becoming a nice event for the league. Glad to see so many draftees in attendance.
I'm puzzled by the NC Courage's draft choices. WNY had the best offense in the league last year -- and far from the best defense -- and yet 3 out of 4 of their draft choices are forwards? And Williams and McDonald are all-league forwards. What gives? However, I applaud the emphasis on offense. I have long believed that for soccer to achieve equal status with the big three in American sports -- baseball, football, and basketball -- you need more offense. I'll be happy when the average NWSL game ends in a 3-2 score rather than the 2-1 it now is. (Ducking bricks thrown at me!)