P.S. If you want to get a sense of how Daly feels, you can look at Beast Mode Soccer reaction on anything Pauw related as well as how quick her parents are to hit the "like" button on any tweet that is negative about Pauw.
From what I know talking to some people, Huerta did want to go somewhere where she was going to play Right Back. I heard a rumor that Ellis told her as much. Huerta was a beloved player in Chicago. fans adored her and were sad to see her go. People say she loves Houston, maybe so, but she loved Chicago as well. Ellis will only bring her in to play RD. I know she made the pool for the qualifiers but as you saw, once she moved to the Dash, Ellis never called her in again. She couldn't play right back in Chicago as they already have Arin Gilliland and when Rory recruited her out of Santa Clara, it was to play forward/mid from my understanding. I know Rory outed her on her poor defense against Horan early in the season when Red Stars played Thorns at TP, but I don't think saying she needed to go somewhere where she can play DB was just a cover to "get away from Rory", is correct. Now her boyfriend's feelings toward Rory may be another thing. I sincerely wish Sofia Huerta well wherever she plays as she is a sweetheart of a person, IMO and a fantastic player. Belongs on the USWNT, IMO.
without players support, obviously Pauw is toast. But just a shame that especially in woso, it's a coach that gets along with players, instead of a coach that can actually coach(a more technical game) , that seems so much more important, But just saying..........talent wise, with what Pauw had to work with at the beginning of the season(with Press jolting, zero USWNT's), the Dash would of been in last place
but the other teams had the talents as well, based on player by player comparison, Sky Blue had more creds(especially if you don't count the mid season replacements, Huerta, Polkihorne
Which was her doing, despite plenty of solid advice that she ignored. And the team was pretty bad as a result. They were awful in the first 5 games of the year. Their first win was a 90th minute goal against Sky Blue. They only had 4 wins through 15 games. It wasn't until you had Chappy, Huerta, Comeau, Polkinghorne added to the roster that they started to play very well and won 5 of the final 9 games (4 of those against Sky Blue and Washington). Plus in there you had improvement in play from Motlhalo, Latsko, etc. The team at the end of the season was considerably better than the team at the start of the season. You look at Pauw's offseason additions: Jordan - didn't play much after the first few games Shim - didn't play much after the first few games Hahn, Wetherington - never played. Waived and retired Murphy - played sparingly then waived Agnew - traded out of the first 3 picks to get Agnew to be the starting LB. That worked out well Simon - Took her much earlier than necessary in the dispersal draft, by the end of the year she was riding the bench Okvist - complete waste of a dispersal draft selection, traded then waived by Orlando Weimer - Dealt a draft pick to get her then waived her Kgatlana - Provided nice pace against tired legs late in games Motlhalo - Pretty mediocre early, but improved Hanson - Used early, rode the bench for a long time, played last few games Keever - Good effort but out of her depth. Didn't play much once Chappy acquired Latsko - Came on late in the season In other words, the bulk of what got things done this year were the players that were already there plus the mid-season additions.
Why would you not count those players who came in mid season? Huerta, Polkinghorne, Comeau, Chapman played a huge part in the Dash's success. We also have the talents like Hanson, Simon, Prince who were riding the bench for the most part at the end.
DynamoManiac, I was always curious, what did Dash players think about Randy Waldrum when he was the coach? What did you think about him when he coached the Dash?
On a personal level, I loved him. One of the nicest guys I've ever known which made it really difficult to be critical. On roster building (trades, etc.), roster management, coaching, practices, etc level he was pretty poor. I think most of that was pretty obvious in the trade moves and the on the field performance. I didn't realize that there was a lot of locker room discontent until 2016. Prior to that, you at least had a fairly mature team (especially in 2015) so the players dealt with things well and McLeod/Masar ruled over the team and took care of all of the disagreements with Randy. In addition to them, over those first two years you had players like Becky Edwards, Brittany Bock, Niki Cross, Ellie Brush, Haley Carter. Just a lot of outstanding veteran leadership. Once they were gone, that left a huge leadership void that he wasn't able to fill. Started to get a lot of discontent with how he treated the players. He was such a nice guy he didn't seem to really like conflict, so he'd borderline lie to avoid it. Younger team, things started to really fall apart and he completely lost the locker room and had little respect from the players. One player that left the team after 2016 told me he was the worst coach she'd ever had. They never should have brought him back for 2017, the results were predictable.
Thank you. I too liked Randy when he was coach of Notre Dame and wish him well at Pitt. Did some great stuff in South Bend, but I talked to a ND parent one time a few years at a game back during Randy's last couple of years at ND and this person told me that one thing about Randy was that you have no idea where you stood with him. Unless you were one of the "stars".
DynamoManiac, Do you know why the Dash never introduced the players before the game while they are on the field?
The Thorns do, too. I guess it's just different than the college game, where I'm used to the players being introduced one by one before the National Anthem.
It just does not make sense to me .. the players ' names are called out and the fans clap ... to an empty field... For average fans, its the time for them to identify and maybe connect with the players whom they wouldn't otherwise, plus it's the time for the players to be recognized and applauded. Somehow they just skip it . To me, it's opportunity wasted .
They went 3-1-2 in May when the only one of those additions who was there yet was Chapman. The only month that compares is August when they went 3-2-0, but their May schedule was tougher (3 of the 6 games were against playoff teams—and they didn't lose any of those. They only had one game against a playoff team in August). I'd argue that moving Daly and Mewis up (+ adding Chapman, which allowed it) and getting Ohai back was almost as impactful as the Huerta/Comeau/Polks June additions. The team definitely improved as the season went and post the June additions (the May team would never have blown out the Spirit/Sky Blue by a collective 10-1 score), but imo those original moves are what turned the season around. I'll always wonder what would have happened if Mewis didn't get hurt, as that was a major hit to the midfield with the season she was having and she only got 5 games in that role.
4 of those 5 games in May, we had Mewis, Hanson, Simon in the mid field, Prince and Chapman played in several games too. Things were starting to look up then.
Lauletta reporting Pauw is (likely) out and announcement coming soon. Hope this leads to the core sticking together to try and make a run next year (Daly, Ohai, Brooks, Campbell, Mewis, Huerta, Comeau, Prince, Chapman, and the Aussies...though Simon and Polks feel like wild cards, especially with the Australian federation’s concern of their players getting burned out. Wouldn’t be surprised if they only play NWSL post-World Cup. There’s other players I’d like to keep too but I think the above 8-10 are most important to 2019 success. Plus getting midfield help.
I can confirm it, she was out last week. Not all of those players you list out will be back, though. One for certain has already agreed a move elsewhere.
Without knowing much of anything about Houston -- although I enjoyed watching Daly, Huerta, and Ohai -- I had an inkling that something was rotten. Late in the season, Huerta was subbed out of a game and, leaving the field, brushed by Pauw, ignoring her congratulations. Huerta seems like a friendly sort and that was uncharacteristic, indicating a problem between coach and player.
One day, maybe, when Pauw will be gone, those of us who hadn't a chance to get insider info will get some opportunity to piece together at least a part of Pauw's behaviours that were so unbearable to the team that most players wanted to leave (or even retire!). I have to say that I am flabbergasted at the notion that a coach can be so universally hated by her players in a professional environment and I *have* to wonder to myself what could she actually do, on a day by day basis, to generate a so widespread hatred. I mean, Huerta arrived in Houston in late June, if I am not wrong: and in just a few months, Pauw managed to alienate her to the point that she theatrically refused her congratulations in the public, for everyone to see. What Pauw does to the players has necessarily to be qualified as "atrocious" and I swear I can't imagine what it is. I mean, it sounds so hyperbolic that players are supposed to wish to put an end to their careers, rather than play for her!