Always underrated during her time in Seattle, I've been saying the last couple weeks on Equalizer that she's been the Reign's best, most consistent player this year.
Well the big off season question with the Reign is always r they staying. Is Melis going to continue playing? R Little and Fishlock staying? What about Naho? Will Solo be back? I think when Harvey has answers to those question, if she has the 2nd or 3rd pick in the draft she'll be able to add a big piece regardless who she takes.
I don't think Kawasumi plans to get back in Kobe, this time (the club is getting weaker and weaker and Naho's place in it would anyway be unsure). The goodbye earlier this year looked way more definitive than when she had left for just a loan way back in 2014. So, as long as she keeps being in Harvey's plans for next season, I guess she should definitely stay.
Just thought I'd post that somewhere in the ancient and dark recesses of my brain, I hear Keelin Winters saying she always wanted to be a fire person.
Yeah my guess is both Naho and Rumi will be here next season. I guess its time to play my favorite game again of upgrade the squad. With Winters leaving, I won't be surprised if Rumi takes over the Winters role as the #6 and Pickett starts as left back. In the last 2-3 games that is the sub Harvey has been making so I can see it playing out next season. With the 2 high draft picks we are likely to get, I want to see Harvey target a CB and a DM. The current CB depth is very thin as the injury to Corsie have revealed. Also, with Winters leaving, we have no actual DM on the bench as Solaun and Elston are both offensively inclined. I won't be mad either if Harvey tries and convince Romero to return stateside as our RB situation is dire. Reed it is becoming more and more clear that her 2014 form was an aberration and Mathias is a liability in defense as we saw in the Chicago and Washington game. As for the forward line, I think Melis will be returning for 1 more year. Even if she's not, I'll be happy with Yanez returning to the CF role with Little and Solaun available as backups. We also have the rights to Summer Green. Speaking of Green, anyone have an idea on her progress?
This is basically the role she had in Montpellier, and even in Nadeshiko Japan NT she's been often played this way, despite the depth we had in the midfield in the 2011-2015 years. I would go as far as to think that, when she decided to sign Utsugi, Harvey could have had some hints that Winters was going to retire at the end of the season, because this role seems taylor-made for Rumi... It's worth mentioning that Utsugi has been tried quite often as a CB in Nadeshiko Japan, so she could fill-up for that role too, in case of need.
Not if he's playing the #6. The reason I think we should target that position in the draft is that the role is not a pressing need next season per se so having a rookie who will require limited minutes will give them the opportunity to come up to speed without being rushed into things. Also, I won't be surprised if in two season we see the likes of Fletcher, Corsie and even Fishlock calling it quit. So it'll be nice to start grooming their replacements now.
Scotland defeated Iceland 2-1 in Iceland in the final Euro17 qualifying matchday but Kim Little did not play nor was she listed as a substitute. What's up?! Scotland qualified a few days earlier as a result of Portugal beating Finland, making today's match less significant but I'm curious what the story is with Little. Held out of today's match in favor of Seattle's final chance at a playoff spot on Sunday?
Remember that Thailand qualified for the WWC; I don't think Boston could even if it was registered as an NT....
Well, no miracle, apparently, and Seattle Reign FC 2016 NWSL season ends here: Boston Breakers-Western New York Flash 0-4. Thailand is now officially stronger than Boston Breakers.
I didn't get to see the Reign game, but after reading about it, I'm gonna have to watch it. No playoff, but sounds like the Reign went out on a high note.
Did not watch much of this game as well and was surprise at the score as well. So another season comes to an end with no play offs. After the performances the last two years this is a bit of a disappointment but it makes the coming off season quite exciting. Apart for the coming Euros next year, the next two years is pretty quiet on the international and present quite an opportunity for this team. Will Harvey go for the whole sale changes that we saw in the 2013/2014 off-season or will she stick with this group for one more try? I'll give my respond later
I don't think Harvey needs to make a massive amount of changes. Certainly not to the same degree that we saw after the first season, anyway. But there definitely needs to be some re-tooling and refreshing of the squad. They were kind of stagnant for most of the season. Not making the postseason sucks, but if the right moves are made, I could see the Reign back in the playoffs next year.
I think there are enough good pieces that a whole-sale change isn't needed, but I wouldn't be surprised (or particularly opposed) if one happens. We've seen several cases in WoSo around the world in the past few years where a team finds success for consecutive years before suddenly flaming out. I think three years with very few changes is what killed the Reign this year since it fits the pattern of stagnancy hitting, (I know, I had previous said it would be their strength - hindsight is 20/20 and whatnot,) so a fourth year of essentially the same is probably right-out. In terms of individual player talent, the Reign certainly don't need a change. But maybe the players and/or organization are mentally/emotionally over this group, consciously or not.
I like very much this discussion (in fact, I actually repped the posts above not only for what each one was saying, but also for the discussion in itself ). I didn't see the match (nor highlights), but I've read Carson Pickett made the cross for final Beverly Yanez goal. Do you think she could be a starter on the left side next season, guys, or is she just a good replacement? At the beginning of the season she was a starter for some matches: if Utsugi takes Winters' place in the midfield, Pickett can be back at her place, or do you want some more experienced player there? Also: what about Kim Little? She just took a season out, after being one of the most brilliant players of NWSL for two consecutive seasons, or is she somehow burnt out? I know she is a player Harvey believes in a lot, but I'd like to know how much we can rely on her these days. Should Solo retire, do we all agree that Kopmeyer could make the cut? Did someone watch Megan Rapinoe play in these last matches? I only saw the few minutes she played vs Portland, when she scored. The less we talk about her performance at Olympics, the better; what I am asking is: does she show signs of slowly getting back to her older self?
Yes I expect to see Pickett start at LB next season. Not sure if Kim is burnt out or not. My feeling is the team (and Little as well) started slow as usual but unlike last year they could not find that extra gear needed to turn it back on. Little is the type of player that plays better when everyone else is playing better as well. When the team struggle, she struggles. So because everyone pretty much stunk up the joint this year, that applied to Little as well. If we go back the last 18 months to 24 months, Fishlock have played more soccer than Little so I do not think it's being burnt out. Playing in the W-League is not overly stressful and if you combine the W-League season with the NWSL season, it is comparable to most European leagues. The Solo situation is interesting and hopefully (pun intended) we will know more of her plans soon. However if she does retire I think we should look at more GK prospects as the Tostanoski looked quite jittery in the few starts.
As for massive overhaul or not, I think the Reign the last 2 offseason had maintained a 70% - 80% retention rate. That is really high for a women's team. This off season I'll like to see a 55-60 percent retention. So that means keep 12 and trade 8. Those I'll keep include: Kopmeyer; Utsugi, Pickett, Barnes, Fletcher, Corsie, Fishlock, Little, Kawasumi, Rapinoe, Melis, Yanez, Solaun. So the likes of Reed, Mathias, Dallstream, Cruz, Elston, etc should be traded for draft picks. One of our many problems this year is our bench just wasn't cutting it. So it's time to reshuffle things a bit. From the starting 11, we will need to upgrade at RB as Reed and Mathias should be traded. We need another DM with Winters retiring. With Little missing matches for the Euros, I expect Solaun to play the 10 role. Would be nice to also get some pacy wingers (especially for the left) if those available.
I don't think that wholesale changes are needed per se, yet the keep 12/13 drop 6/7 proposed by Blaze makes a lot of sense. It's wholesale from a numbers perspective but not from a starting 11 perspective. Picking up Kawasumi and Utsugi were huge.
Kim was injured and replaced by Emma Brownlie in the squad, if I remember well. I am really curious to see what changes Harv's will make. I got lucky enough to come to see the Reign v Arsenal game during the Summer ( short 2 days stay in Seattle) and the starting 11 looked strong but as soon as the subs started to come in the level dropped. On the Solo front Rosengard are interested to sign her.
Interesting re Solo. I'm guessing they are not expecting McLeod back anytime soon. Solo also just had shoulder surgery so I'm not sure how long she would be out.