Pauw speaking very highly of Press in Houston Chronicle article http://www.chron.com/sports/dynamo/article/Dash-coach-Vera-Pauw-Christen-Press-will-be-12510049.php
Maybe stale is not the word to use. I was thinking more along the lines that women's soccer is really a winner take all game where consistency doesn't pay off if you don't win the final prize.
Well I respect her approach and as someone who want to see Houston succeed, I'm glad they don't have Lloyd any more because this approach would not have work with Lloyd.
Kerr is a much better overall player than Press right now. It's not even close. In fact, no one in the world right now is playing any better than Sam Kerr. And like you said, she's only 24 years old. Scary thing is, she's only probably going to get better. Christen Press is what she is. A dominant striker against lesser opponents, but when she meets up against an elite defense in an important game, she's usually not scoring much in those games, if at all. That's truly been the biggest difference between Alex Morgan and Christen Press on the USWNT. If Morgan plays 10 games against elite opponents in important games, she may get 6 or 7 goals. Press may get 2 or 3 in those 10 games combined (and that's when pro-rating the same amount of minutes to Morgan). Sam Kerr is by far the better player in this trade.
Well, that's potentially true although is not a sure thing: for instance, I'd dare to say that, although Marta keeps being an awesome player, she never got any better than when she was around the same age as Kerr, arguably the peak of her career.
What Kerr will do is pick up more nuances. Things like using space better and reading the game. Right now it's like PanzerBlitz for her.
The deal is done. Press is no longer in Chicago and we have something to look forward to in Kerr. I, as a season ticket holder can't wait to see what she can do for the Red Stars with the talent around her. Who knows, maybe chemistry will develop and the Red Stars will finally go over the top. I hope Red Stars fans come to terms with this deal and come out and support the "new" shaped team.
Curious how the trades will relate to season ticket, as well as individual ticket sales for each of the teams in the upcoming season.
Jen Cooper has updated her roster spreadsheets, as of today. Updated @NWSL rosters following last week’s #NWSLdraft and today’s signing announcements: https://t.co/EgDer5yA9N— The Mixxed Zone (@MixxedZone) January 22, 2018
Another trade: DC sends (subsidized) Zardorsky to ORL in exchange for Bledsoe and a '19 first-round draft pick. I don't get this at all. Not only is DC sacrificing an allocated player, but they're gaining a GK when they already have both Wys and Labbe. Unless DC has another big move lined up, this looks awful on their part IMO.
Labbe is all but out at Washington. I was surprised she even lasted all of last year there. I think the Spirit actually got a good deal out of this. The get a good GK and a first round pick. Orlando is not good at trading.
I mean, maybe... I do recall talk of DC trying to ship her off (or her trying to get out?) even last offseason, but at the moment she's still there. If she is in fact out (or going to be), I'd say that's still a big knock against DC since she's the better GK of those three players. You think? They're always criticized about their defense and just added a great player - who would be subsidized - for their defense. I don't know enough about the college game to know if there are good seniors coming up next year, but I think ORL improved itself with this trade.
As it's been discussed on the Spirit thread, we also have to consider that, with all of the recent good college-draft picks, current DC's roster is several players over the league limit: they somehow have to trim it down to reasonable size, without sacrificing too much quality and without making bad trades in the process. Not an easy task. About Labbé, I agree with SiberianThunderT that she's an excellent GK (way better than Bledsoe, I dare to say), but I also agree with Blaze20 that she was (unreasonably?) put aside in the last part of 2017 season and it wouldn't make sense both for her and for the team to keep a GK of this quality (current starter for Canadian NT) just to have her sit on the bench all the time. I'd say that, if she's not assured to be the starter, she should leave. Last season Stephanie Labbé had published a touching video where she was talking about her fight against depression: you have to wonder if Spirit dropped her because she was depressed or if it was the other way around (her self-esteem plunging down even more after the team dropped her). Anyway, she's a player I like, so I hope she will find a way to get solid playing time, be it in Washington or anywhere else (has Canada any sort of a league, by the way? )
Canada has no nationwide league, but it has previously had teams in the W-League and WPSL, and currently has one team in UWS. It also has some state leagues (notably League1 Ontario) but they're DIII-level of play at best.
Ok, so not a place for a GK of the caliber of Labbé to retreat. At this point, if Washington is decided not to keep her, I hope for her to find a starting place in another NWSL club (a club in Europe could seem a long shot, given her health problems; or maybe such a change could be exactly and literally what the doctor orders? ).
Only Houston rivals Orlando in the overpaid department. Based on how well Bledsoe played filling in for Harris and her numbers were just as good, ud think Zadorsky for Bledsoe was pretty much a wash. That means Orlando traded their #1 pick to cover the fact that Zadorsky is allocated. That's pretty steep when u figure Bledsoe probably didn't have too big a cap number.
Add in the fact that her likely replacement is Quinn who is probably going to be allocated. So Washington pretty much traded in the older model and got a starting GK and a #1 pick. But I can also see STT's point that Orlando needed a defender. However I think the price was too steep. With a starting back line of Krieger, Catley, Monica. etc I think they could have afford to wait a bit a see which players turn up on the waiver wire or even during tryouts.
I counter the needs a defender argument with DC needed a reliable keeper just as much. Doubt Labbe was coming back and Wys is coming off a long injury spell. Bledsoe on the other hand looked like she could be starting for half the teams in the league during her run while Harris was on the shelf. That said I think Orlando did fine getting Zadorsky I just think they paid too much.
Yeah, Zadorsky is a great player. She'll definitely help Orlando out. But this was a good trade for the Spirit. Turning an over abundance of players into a first round pick next year is gold for them. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if we saw another similar trade from the Spirit.
NEWS: All-time leading scorer Kealia Ohai has re-signed with the Dash:https://t.co/X0c0qIySb7— Corey Roepken (@RipSports) January 29, 2018
https://thebold.com/seattle-reign-f...smyne-spencer-from-orlando-pride-dc494db27e64 Spenser and Catley for Pickett and Nairn