Neill Morris' Crystal Dunn interview: https://www.wralsportsfan.com/nc-co...459672/?version=amp&__twitter_impression=true
I think this is a pretty great way to promote the Courage Wed & Sat games vs. the Reign and Royals: 983351328653979648 is not a valid tweet id
Long time no see this thread! Anyway: do these pictures made by Yuki Nagasato yesterday in Cary, North Carolina, mean that her good friend and former NT team-mate Yuri Kawamura will soon be back from her injury? Does anyone know anything more about the subject?
NC hosts WAS: I was hoping Ashley Hatch was going to get a warm homecoming from Section 108, and I think they will: It’s game day!!!! We’re so excited to see @TheNCCourage take on the @WashSpirit and our cuz, @ash_hatch33!!!— Courage Section 108 (@NC_Courage_108) May 12, 2018 GAME READY!!! But, our hearts sting a little. @TheNCCourage pic.twitter.com/MYLa13e1gi— Courage Section 108 (@NC_Courage_108) March 17, 2018
Neil Morris interviews of Denise O'Sullivan and Sam Mewis - https://www.wralsportsfan.com/soccer/asset_gallery/15514282/ Also some interesting Courage stats he posted before yesterday's 7:00 pm game (and win): Paul Riley told me last year he believed @TheNCCourage play better in evenings, so I checked it out. For 2017 and thus far 2018, Courage's record (reg season+playoffs) is 12-6-3 (W-L-D) when kickoff is before 7pm local. Record is 11-1-0 (W-L-D) when kickoff's 7pm or later.— Neil Morris (@ByNeilMorris) May 12, 2018
After pulling out the 4-3 win vs. Orlando, the Courage are now 13-1-0 when kickoff is 7pm or later. With Lyon vs. Wolfsburg coming up at noon today, I was looking at the schedule for the International Champions Cup (ICC) in Miami on July 27 and July 29 – The ICC will have the Courage, Chelsea, Man City, and PSG. It happens during the US Tournament of Nations with Brazil, Australia, and Japan. I think that neither Chelsea nor Man City have players from Brazil, Australia, Japan, or USWNT. PSG has Formiga and Erica from Brazil, I think. The Courage will most likely not have Dahlkemper, Mewis, Dunn, Debhina, and maybe Williams at the ICC. The Courage have a game on 7/20 in Utah. The Other 3 ICC teams will be in Portland, OR for a few days, finishing with some 45-minute exhibitions on July 25; so they will have to make a cross country plane ride between then and game day on 7/27. I watched Chelsea lose to Wolfsburg 3-1 at home in April and concluded a full strength Courage team would run them out of the park. I haven’t seen whole games for Man City or even highlights for PSG. I think the Courage without the Nats will have a tough time with all three teams. The travel day for the Europeans and the weather in Miami in July will have a big impact on the games,I believe. I think even with a slowed-down, technical game plan, there may be more guts than guile needed to win these games.
Chelsea pulled out of ICC and Lyon is in. Holy Crap! I’ve just been informed that Lyon will be replacing Chelsea, who withdrew from the tournament, in the International Champions Cup. (h/t to @thegoalkeeper) https://t.co/bjXexgyMPE— Ali 🟧 (@allibecc) May 25, 2018
I don't remember when exactly it will be: the season will be over for OL, anyway, and between retirements (Abily, Petit, Thomis) and some internationals getting home for the off-seaspn (and OL has a big number of them), the only fear is that Triple-Euro-Champions could be a little depleted (of course it could change if this tournament will try to be World Cup for Clubs in the future, because this would encourage teams not to disband at the end of their respective domestic seasons).
ICC will never try to be a women's CWC since it'll always be tied to the men's ICC which is privately run - I highly doubt FIFA will ever be able to take it off their hands. That said, the ICC will be an interesting test to see if women's team approve of having the extra tournament in the summer. The fact that it's right on top of the FIFA international window (hence the conflict with ToN) will make it a hard sell for anything official, but a friendly tournament such as ICC won't care so much. Even with some retirements and such, Lyon joining the tournament now gives the ICC a clear favorite when it didn't have one before. I would have thought a depleted NC team stood a good chance against either offseason English team or PSG, but Lyon? I dunno... I still hope that Ellis and other ToN coaches recognize the potential of the ICC and choose to not call up ICC players (or at least give ask ICC players beforehand which tournament they want to play in).
File under "too-soon statistics": NC is more than on pace to eclipse BOS's five-season point total in just their second season. BOS scored just 95pts in 110g; so far, NC has 75pts in 34g. To not hit 95pts after two seasons, NC would need to fall from their current pace of 2.60PPG to 1.36PPG or lower (19pts over the last 14g) to end the season at 45pts or fewer. 39pts made the playoffs last year.
....at first I thought, "No way they only need one more win, that would mean almost of those 19pts I mentioned would have to be made up in draws - no way BOS has that many draws". Then I looked. No, BOS doesn't have that many draws - but NC has almost none. So there ya go I guess.
Best sentence written about NC this year: The team is built around a quadrilateral foundation of two attacking and two holding midfielders, around which forwards and fullbacks fizz fluidly. https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article214740930.html
Photo Galleries from NC 2 - POR 1 by Shane Lardinois, and from ICC by Lewis Gettier INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONS CUP https://www.lewisgettier.com/Sports/ICC NC - POR Full Gallery: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Kk2Q8N59skcVXNKGA Frame by Frame Action Debhina 1026325894896463872 is not a valid tweet id Mewis 1026326111989518336 is not a valid tweet id O’Sullivan 1026326528949448704 is not a valid tweet id
Here is Sully rampaging vs. Thorns courtesty of @babranski twitter. A whole series of GIFs. 1026969425629593600 is not a valid tweet id
2 weeks ago, the @TheNCCourage won the ICC championship. 10 days ago, they secured the @NWSL regular season shield. Today, we ran a "suicide mile" conditioning assessment with just 3 weeks left in the regular season. About half the team ran seasonal bests. Success leaves clues. pic.twitter.com/8VfxPRKYSK— Mike Young, PhD (@MikeYoung) August 14, 2018 #RunDMW (Dunn, McDonald, Williams) Some girls are excited about a nickname... #RUNDMW @J_Mac1422 @crysdunn_19 @lynnraenie maybe even see the shirts live at @TheNCCourage game tonight! #HappyFourthOfJuly pic.twitter.com/o7Rp9bY7m4— dj ketchabaw (@ketchabaw) July 4, 2018
Look Who's on the Cover! #COYGIG https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DlXaT91XoAAYMoD.jpg #IRLWNT🇮🇪 squad announced ahead of final @FIFAWWC qualifier against @NorthernIreland! 👌@shelslfc striker Jessica Ziu receives first senior call-up and @bristolcitywfc winger Heather Payne returns to the squad! 🙌👉 https://t.co/XhOt1Oxko3 … #COYGIG pic.twitter.com/ZKP74xfATw— FAI Women (@FAIWomen) August 24, 2018
Horrible news: Zerboni suffered a fractured elbow in last night's friendly vs Chile and is out for the playoffs (and in all likelihood will miss WCQ).
horrible news. hate to say it, but zerboni runs their system. it's always on the edge because of how hard/high they press. she's crucial to stopping counters. she's crucial to turning defense into attack. QUICKLY! mewis? debhina? sully? none do it as well. i know they're deep, but...not sure they can win in the playoffs without her.
It sucks, but it shouldn't affect the ability of this team to win games. The won the ICC without her. I mean look at their roster. This is a team that starts games with Heather O'Reilly and Crystal Dunn on the bench. Or Samantha Mewis and Denise O'Sullivan on the bench, or McCall Zerboni and Debinha on the bench and still puts three or four goals past their opponents. If this were a normal team, the loss of a player like Zerboni would be devastating at this point. It sucks, and it will affect team depth, but the team is still several players deeper than anyone else in the league.
I hate to say this but if one player affects a team THAT MUCH where they can't even win a game then maybe they don't deserve to win the playoffs...
one fulcrum systems are sometimes really discombobulated by losing that key player. but, let me correct myself. I meant that I don't see them winning the final. they certainly could win 1 game. ... altho if that 1 game were against the red stars, who are, as it were, now beginning their season,..maybe I don't need to correct myself.