Little was injured? What was the injury? That's a little concerning. I assumed that she was being held out for the Reign's last run at a playoff. Did she even travel to Iceland? She did play 90 minutes in Houston and looked fine.
I think we will see Harvey be more active in the off-season than in the last few years... Here's my take on the roster changes. __the always disappointing retirements__ Foxhoven retired early in the 2016 season for health reasons. It's safe to say we're still reeling from Steph Cox's retirement for financial reasons last year. Now we've lost the irreplaceable Keelin Winters for financial reasons. __Not going anywhere. Under contract until 2017__ Harvey, Fishlock (and said she would probably end her career with the Reign) __Not going anywhere. Have stated they are returning ( i realize that's not a commitment on either side )__ Pinoe, Naho, Melis __Not going anywhere. Core team/No brainers__ Haley Kopmeyer, Beverly Gobel-Yanez, Lauren Barnes, Kendall Fletcher __Most likely staying (I can't see these being traded or released or leaving on their own.)__ Rachel Corsie, Rumi Utsugi, Carson Pickett (top draft pick), Havana Solaun (top draft pick) __I expect to retire.___ Dallastream, Reed __Almost certainly going to Europe.___ Kim Little, Hope Solo __Unknown but Reign still owns the rights___ Verónica Pérez (playing in Sweden but still has Seattle links) Arianna Romero (playing in Iceland(??)) Paige Nielson (playing in Greece, possibly on loan) Antonia Göransson (is recovering and playing in a lower level league at home in Sweden) Summer Green __That leaves__ Merritt Mathias (who probably has decent trade value) Michelle Cruz (who Harvey must believe in because she's been kept on so long) Lindsay Elston (Seattle native, 2016 walk-on, might not make the team, but probably not going anywhere else) Andi Tostanoski (may stay on as 3rd keeper) From what i can tell, we've got two 1st round picks, and a 3rd and 4th. Little and Winters leave a huge hole to be filled in midfield, we need a backup keeper, and we still need to fill that gap at left back. In addition, if next season is anything like this one, we're going to need a couple of baseball players just to make the tiebreaker into the playoffs.
2017 captain? I can't see an incoming player being captain, so it's someone who's staying. Most people i've spoken to at games are expecting either Fishlock or Barnes. I'm a huge fan of both and think both could do it, but i don't see it. I think Fletcher, Yanez, or especially Kopmeyer are more likely. I'm not certain at all, but if i had to vote, i'd say Kop. Any other guesses? Maybe Harvey could offer Little the armband to try to get her to stay!
I adore Little. She's a once in a lifetime player and i'm so happy to have had the opportunity to see her play. By all accounts she's a great person too. I hate even the idea of her leaving the Reign. She has not made any statements about it one way or the other, but the arguments are piling up and everyone i talk to takes it as a given. I think we were lucky to have her this year: the rumor was that she was going to leave last year if we won the cup, but after the loss in that nasty game she stayed to give it one more try. I'm not certain. Not at all. I don't have inside information and i don't claim to know the future. I hope and hope and hope and hope that we are all wrong. I WANT TO BE WRONG on this one, but it looks bad. The arguments: 1. FAMILY. It's well known that she is not comfortable being so far away from her family and from Tom. She talks about that a lot. 2. MONEY. It's never spoken, but well known that she could make 8, 10, 12 maybe even FIFTEEN TIMES as much money playing in Germany, France, Sweden, Japan or at home in the UK. 3. EUROS. Scotland qualified for Euro 2017. That's going to be her entire focus from now until August. So even if she stays in Seattle she would be gone for 6 weeks or more mid-season, and wow that's a lot of travel, probably 10 or 15 trans-Atlantic flights. (Maybe the Reign should loan her to Arsenal for just one year!!) 4. LEAGUE. The NWSL has caught up to her. When she first got here in 2014 she was like a super-hero, no one had ever seen someone with her combination of skills: ball handling, vision, game management, soccer IQ, speed, experience, fitness, passion, drive and more. There were many players with one or more of those but none with all. She could do as she pleased and no one could stop her. But the defenders have caught up with her and have found ways to deal with her. 5. LEARNING. On the other side of the coin, her original excuse for taking the pay cut to come to the US was to to play in a more physical, faster, less skilled league. She said she could learn from it. After last season she said she had learned all she could and in fact this year she was looking for new things to learn (that's one of the reasons she played more defense this year). 6. REFS. Kim is one of the players who suffers the most from the horrible refereeing. There are no stats on this but i'm certain she's in the top few players with the most UNCALLED fouls against her. Teams can't beat her so they try to hurt her. She NEEDS the protection of good refereeing and that is sorely lacking. Plush is doing NOTHING to protect the players. It's really amazing that she hasn't been seriously injured. She's clearly fed up with it. 7. TRAVEL. For three years she has crossed the Atlantic, what, probably eight times a year, maybe more. Even without the major mid-season tournament in Holland doubling that, it takes a toll. 8. TEAM CORE. There was something very special about the 2014-15 team. She was very clear that it was important to her and a reason to stay. One of the reasons Kim said she came was to play with Hope Solo. That's disappearing. Both the Captain and Assistant captain are gone, (Winters & Cox) and Brooks and Deines and Solo of course. I expect Mathaias may be traded and we'll surely lose one or two more. 9. MAN CITY. Khaldoon Al Mubarak, an oil multi-billionaire in Abu-Dhabi owns Manchester City FC and he's stated repeatedly that he wants to build the world's best men's AND WOMEN'S teams and money is no object. Last year he started putting together a women's super team. In the NWSL off season last year Kimmie was the main star for (undefeated) Melbourne City, a super team assembled by and owned by Manchester City. The UK is home for Kim and Tom plays there.
Well, after a so complete and well-informed discussion about this point, I have to say that I'd be surprised if Little should stay! On the other hand, Seattle Reign will need a top-level play-maker/offensive MF to replace Kim. I don't think Utsugi can fill that role (she has more defensive skills and she's more suited to replace Winters). So, I wonder if, in that case, Harvey has anything particular in mind...
I think Harvey would *like* a top-level play-maker/offensive MF to replace Kim, but if you look around the league, it's clearly not needed. Three of the four playoff teams (and both teams in the NWSL final) don't have a player like Kim, and instead work as a team to control games and make opportunities. It'll be a test of Harvey's coaching skills to see if she groom a player to be Little-like or if she can try the all-team strategy.
While none of them have a player quite like Little, they do have their own powers that be in midfield. WNY has Mewis. Spirit have Nairn. Chicago has Colaprico/DiBernardo. Thorns have... well, everyone. Seattle would survive without Little. But I'm sure they all hope she stays!
Mewis, Nairn, Colaprico, and DiBernardo are all good, reliable, hard-working players, and key components to their respective teams. But they are not "powers that be". They do not have the skill and vision that the likes of Little and Henry have to create chances and command attention.
Ok, maybe powers that be sounds a bit strong. But I'm sure you saw the semi-final. Against a powerful team, Mewis dominated. She "commanded attention" and "create(d) chances" such as the sweet feed to Williams for a goal. All in all, I'm just trying to say that Kim Little is fantastic, and in my mind the best of all those players, but teams that didn't have a strong presence in the middle there were not making it to the playoffs: Sky Blue, Pride, Breakers, etc. Seattle would still have Fishlock, but she won't be able to do it alone. CM will be the top of Seattle's priorities this off-season.
I agree. Both the Reign's style, and the status of the league suggest that we need a playmaker/distributor/magician in the middle like Chicago, WNY and Washington have if we lose our Scottish Unicorn. (Nairn is who we traded to get Little.) I do hope Harvey has something great up her sleeve http://www.haslauraharveymadeatradetoday.com/ (although keeping Kim might be the best!). I don't have anywhere near the skill and knowlege of Laura Harvey, but i'd would be thrilled with Danielle Van De Donk or Mana Shim as replacments. I don't agree about the Thorns. I think their middle let them down. I didn't watch every game, but what i saw, it was the outsides that really were their strength this year. On paper yes, they look great in the middle, but Dagney, Long and especially Horan did not play up to abilities. Betos was fantastic, Kling, Heath, Shim (in the middle, but not a starter) were all great.
As an aside: Portland's biggest issue since the inception of the NWSL has been the lack of balance in the midfield. They have good to great talent in there but it's never the right balance and it always shows at the worst possible moments for them. I hope they keep stacking talent everywhere and not getting that midfield balance right because that'll keep it easier for the Reign to beat them As for the Reign, here are my thoughts: GK: Will Solo be back? If not, Kopmeyer has shown that she has what it takes to be the starter but we will need a capable back up. (My dream was always for Solo to stick around until Harvey picked up Jane Campbell in the draft and then Solo would mentor her until she became the #1 on the NT...) D: I see Fletcher, Barnes, Pickett, Corsie and Utsugi coming back. Not sure about Reed or Mathias. M: I'd like us to keep Little but I'm not sure how long we can keep someone as talented as her with the amount of money the NWSL allows for players. Fishlock will be back as will Pinoe, Naho and Solaun. Question marks over Dallstream tbh. F: Yanez will be back too and hopefully Melis. We definitely need cover for Winters or a straight replacement and defensive cover too. As for the rest of the team, not sure what Harvey will do with them but it's definitely going to be an interesting off-season.
This is the kind of bets I like. Reminds me of my teacher in high school, who used to bet one "told you so".
You are right I thought I read injury but it was not, she just did not need to come #SWNT | Squad updateOUT - Ifeoma Dieke & Kim LittleIN - Emma Brownlie pic.twitter.com/HyA4U06gZS— Scottish FA (@ScottishFA) September 17, 2016
Oh i do like the sound of this! Lavelle is going to be a force! Boston will take defender Bucahnan first -- which is too bad, isn't she left footed? But there are several other interesting midfielders ... Ashley Lawrence would be a very nice pick for us. Does anyone know anything about Morgan Andrews?
What realistic chance it is that Lavelle falls to #3? Seems like she will be the perfect fit for WNY so I don't see them passing on her.
Who has the #2? Barring trades, Boston & Houston should have the first two picks. WNY finished 4th so they should be 6th - barring trades. I may have a spreadsheet somewhere with a list of trades, i'll look around. Does anyone know the actual pick order as it stands?