Because Ellis couldn't have looked at them in the US? Maybe she wanted to see how they would react to 980 wild fans in Portugal. At least the 3800 who showed up in Scotland cheered on their team.
Interesting side note to the trip was Anson Dorrance reporting on the UNC podcast that he had been assured that Fox would not play the second match and instead would return home via business class so she might be ready for UNC's Friday NCAA match. So what does that tell u about how Ellis currently rates her bench players? With Horan out she has to move Dunn from LB instead putting a bench midfielder like Mewis there. Instead of starting either Short or Mathias in place of Dunn she has to keep Fox.
Back on U.S. soil. Great but quick trip. Cool little stadium that just rose out of a non-descript neighborhood. Very friendly, respectful crowd and of course, lots of youngsters. I struck up a lot of conversations with fans in U.S. gear and was surprised by how many of them were native Scot and Brit(England) citizens. Obliviously, even across the pond, some intelligent, highly evolved individuals realize that the USWNT is the only team that matters. I heard that full frontal head to head smack that Carli took at the 88’ mark from across the field. I honestly thought they would have to call the ambulance…….so happy I was wrong. Scrappy, motivated, feisty bunch those Scottish Ladies, throughout the Match, I just had the feeling I was watching Canada/England Lite. They qualified by winning their UEFA Group that contained Switzerland (2-1 and 0-1 head-to-head). Their coach reeeeeeeally played up the oh woe is us, just hope we can manage to compete card in the media. Bless their buttons, for them, home soil…….. it was their Super Bowl. I think the Scots displayed some of the “hunger” that HCJE stated that it would take to win the 2019 WWC. Make no mistake, 6 out of our 7 Matches will be real S.O.B.’s and obviously the last four are lose and go home. Even I can’t candy-coat that, although knowing me in the next 7 months I will try. Perhaps US Soccer should petition FIFA and get special dispensation to alter our kits for the upcoming 2019 Women’s World Cup: 92,545 minutes to Le Havre. The DVR is going to get quite the workout in the interim. P.S. - I think that E. should rest and recuperate from her Jet Lag and set the Match out today against my beloved Jayhawks.......I don't think Carolina will need her.
If USSF moved Dunn at this point to find a pliant team/coach that would force her to play outside back, you'd see a quick end to the NWSL/USSF relationship as it exists. It's increasingly tenuous as time moves on, and any heavy handed moves by the federation would probably trigger a crisis at this point. And Dunn, who still is motivated and disrespected by the snub in 2015, might very well just bail on the NWSL again and move. The USSF/NWSL split is inevitable. It should be on good terms, but if the USSF does things like this, it's not going to be. The NWSL wouldn't have started or survived initially without federation support, but increasingly most ownership groups don't need it. The federation relies on team acquiescence as it continues to schedule regular non-FIFA date friendlies throughout the NWSL season. Teams do not have to release players under NWSL contract. As of yet, they always have - though Paul Riley did raise this issue as his shorthanded team headed to the ICC last summer. The more heavy-handed the federation is in player movement and selection, the more independent and self-concerned the teams will become. The eventual split should be collaborative and on good terms. But it might not be.
looking forward to this day, but not sure its here yet. …and i’ll be very surprised if dunn is moved by ussf unless she wants it. players still have some say. posters conveniently forget that hey couldn’t force press to play for houston.
What is the actual set up on this for UWNT regulars? Are they under contract to the NWSL teams or US soccer? Who pays their salaries? I agree the club should determine what happens at the club level, but it does look like there may be a conflict of interests. If Ellis wants Dunn to get more time at outside back at the club level, can she mandate it? I agree with the poster above saying the relationship doesn't make a lot of sense if the NWSL salaries get a point where the US Fed money is not required for the regulars.
"Federation" players are under contract to USSF, and governed by their USWNTPA/USSF CBA. Non-USSF (and possibly non-CSA) players are under contract to the NWSL and will be governed by whatever CBA is negotiated by the NWSL and the newly recognized NWSLPA. The NWSL is currently administered (run) by the USSF, and the USSF uses that control to control where USSF "Federation" players are allocated. I can't imagine any instance in which the USWNT (or CNT) technical staff could insist on how a player is used. The only real interference is that if a Federation player isn't getting any playing time, the likelihood of their moving goes up - and that's almost certainly with player involvement. The Dunn situation is different. Dunn wants to play with Carolina, I can't imagine USSF moving her without her consent. Both because it 1) could piss Dunn off, 2) it would definitely piss off Riley, Malik, and other owners that are ready to take control of their own rosters, and 3) because as Dunn herself has shown, the USSF team assignment only works for players in NWSL. Dunn can just leave the NWSL.
It's a lot closer than you think. The NWSL is quickly reaching the point where the MLS was when Carlos Valderrama - who was moved from leagued owned Tampa Bay to expansion Miami without Tampa Bay having any say or control because they were league owned - then later moving back to Tampa Bay - by the league - after new Miami head coach Iwo Wortman bench Carlos and limited his minutes. That was one of the last heavy handed league interferences in player/team relationships. The final straw might have been Dallas getting screwed when they were basically forced to surrender the 2004 #1 SuperDraft pick to DC United for a bag of balls, having to watch DC get Freddy Adu and then Columbus take who Dallas wanted Chad Marshall. League/Federation control over what players are with which teams was a necessary conceit of establishing and stabilizing the league. It's quickly becoming a problem moving forward. If the league is going to continue to grow and eventually thrive, those puppet strings, used or unused, will need to be cut.
really, really hope this is true. but i’m not sure how enough owners without ussf $$ can pay enough good players to keep playing (rather than retiring or going overseas just for a few years of soccer abroad experience). just hoping that stupidity on the ussf side and anger on the owners’ side doesn’t blow the whole thing up by acting to separate too quickly. we’ve lost too many soccer leagues thru impatience and emotional decision making. no question.
Just to keep this thread going/ The NWSL is a league without a commissioner, at least one team that will move - SBFC, or be dissolved. Maybe one owner who could afford to have an entire team payroll. No expansion in the near future. The next two years of all the national team players being unavailable for duty throughout most of the season. Nothing there that suggests the players are going to demand a new CBA. The only way this changes is if MLS takes over ownership of all the remaining teams and will that happen?
What? The players don't have a CBA. The union was literally just recognized this week. The formation of the union, which is now recognized by the league, was formed precisely to codify a CBA.
Ur never going to get the level of control where the NT completely controls how the players they pay play for their clubs. Where does that stop? Does every NWSL team have to play the same formation the NT favors whether it suits them or not? Ellis has tried to suggest things that her players should be doing at the club level. Sometimes it works like the Dash traded Lydia Williams because Ellis wanted Campbell getting caps. Sometimes it doesn't like Pauw refused to play Huerta at right back and Ellis stopped calling her. I don't see Riley ever changing his team when he already has a better situation with Hinkle at LB and Dunn in the midfield. Club coaches don't get paid to help out Jill Ellis, they get paid to do what it takes to help their team win.
There is no club coach in the world working in a league basically funded by the national team. The USWNT plays all these tournaments and friendlies to support the NWSL basically (and their own salaries). These women are overpaid. The most important thing for the NWSL is that the USWNT win the WWC. I think everyone is being naive. I guess a coach can refuse to play Huerta. But O'Hara was played at FB on a team where she was clearly the best CAM. Coaches lost their job and SBFC missed the playoffs by a hair while O'Hara played FB. I can't imagine Ellis not wanting Dunn to play FB. Either Dunn will accept a move or something else will give in NC. Just something to watch. Nobody is reporting this; just something I foresee.
I think O'Hara wanted to stay on a USWNT contract. She was the best at every position probably, except CF (Kerr). She would have influenced games more from the CAM position. The point is that a coach would have put her at CAM. But her and her employer were accommodated. The O'Hara situation is closer to Dunn then Huerta. I don't think Huerta was ever an allocated player.
Wow. Just wow. I can't imagine how much it works to get your brain twisted up that hard about all of this. Your understanding of how USSF, the USWNT, and NWSL work is grounded in any sort of reality. And I'll just leave it at that. I'm obviously not going to open your eyes.
Not sure what you are talking about. I gave an empirical example and just a wait and see what happens. You stomp your feet and insult and say nothing. Do the USA women play more than anyone? Does the money they generate pay for their salaries? Does the fact they are paid by USSF and are the backbone of the NWSL not common knowledge? You can stick your head in the sand, but that doesn't change reality. The NWSL would not exist without USSF and Canadian support. But MLS also wouldn't exist without USSF support. It is not a knock on the women.
Well, guess we'll just have to see what position Dunn plays the first few games next season. My money is on not fullback.
Just had a chance to re watch the game, and watching carli lloyd play center forward was really quite funny, or pathetic, or quite sad.
The difference is O'Hara and Dunn r established and will make the WC roster barring injury. Huerta is a bubble player without a USSF contract. Ellis can say she wants Dunn to play left back all she wants but unless she is prepared to cut Dunn it is meaningless. Riley's counter argument is if Hinkle was on the NT then the problem with Dunn wouldn't exist.