Thanks! So I see Japanese players are both back in Seattle already, despite Utsugi just having playing last week in Algarve Cup.
Alvarado played for UCLA. She's a decent enough player, but not on the level of Mewis or Killion (or Jenna Richmond, IMHO). She could possibly beat out Elston for that backup role, though.
Big fan of Addie Steiner here. Bummed she's not with KC as a local kid. Watched her in HS and she was every bit as exciting/speedy as Shea Groom and Jaycie Johnson but without the aerial threat. Had some all conference honors at Northwestern but transferred to Hawaii as a senior. Still was all conference and all region there as well. I don't pretend to be a pro level Scout but she was a special prep player in KC.
There are six sections on each side of the stadium. The lower three are reserved (with the center more expensive) and the upper three are GA. The lower sections are quite close to the field and the center sections are fantastic. The center top GA on each side has many excellent seats - My favorite. But there are some columns to work around. Introductions in 2014 & 2015 faced the North Stands (South were rarely opened) But in 2016 most introductions faced the South Stands. Many hard core fans remain in North Stands. Royal Guard occupies North lower west section. Visiting fans (usually only Riveters due to distance) last year occupied South lower east. Since stands are north and south the spot to be blinded by the setting sun is the Goalkeeper who lost the toss. Upper sections are covered against rain, lower only partially so. The North Lower can be hot on sunny summer days. I've gotten sunburn in the Royal Guard section.
Reign FC sign forward Katie Johnson for the 2017 @NWSL season. #LetItReignStory: https://t.co/8TiTIo2akQ pic.twitter.com/Ol3oLBW24B— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) March 31, 2017
I guess it doesn't surprise me that Katie Johnson was the first draft pick to sign. As we could all tell from Harvey interviews, she's pretty high on Johnson. What is however surprising is that Kirsten McNabb was the send draft pick to signed. She's a defender and was our last pick (37th). Our highest pick Maddie Bauer remains unsigned (might be because she still in school). Reign FC have signed defender @KristenMcNabb14 for the 2017 @NWSL season.Story: https://t.co/y0ZNpldRHq pic.twitter.com/fAQsOuqiZ1— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) April 3, 2017 That brings the squad to 20 names. However, depending on how Matheson is progressing, I won't be shocked if she's put on the season ending injury list which will allow us to sign someone else.
Updated to add Katie Johnson and Kristen McNabb. Current squad (20/20) Goalkeepers (2) Haley Kopmeyer - 1/2 Madalyn Schiffel - 1/2 Hope Solo - unknown Defense (8) Lauren Barnes (CB) - 2/2 Rachel Corsie (CB) - 1/2 Merritt Mathias (RB) - 1/2 Kristen McNabb (CB) - 1/2 Carson Pickett (LB) - 2/2 Elli Reed (RB) - 2/2 Rebekah Stott - 1/2 Rumi Utsugi (LB) - 2/2 Midfield (5) Jessica Fishlock (B2B) - 2/2 Lindsay Elston (CM) - 2/2 Magan Rapinoe (LM) - 1/1 Diane Matheson - (CM) - 1/1 Christine Nairn (CM) - 1/2 Forwards (5) Nahomi Kawasumi - 2/2 Katie Johnson - 1/2 Beverly Yanez - 1/2 Kiersten Dallstream - 1/2 Larissa Crummer - 1/2 Rights (3) Veronica Perez Ariana Romero Morgan Marlborough 2017 Draft picks (3) 6th overall pick - Maddie Bauer - CB - Standford Outgoing from 2016 Andi Tostanoski - waived Kendall Fletcher - retired Michelle Cruz - waived Keelin Winter - retired Kim Little - traded Havana Solaun - traded Manon Melis - retired Summer Green - traded 2018 natural 1st round pick - Chicago 2018 natural 3rd round pick - Washington
With this being the 2nd time it happened to the same knee, I certainly hope they don't rush her back. Let her take the full year for recovery.
That's my feeling as well. Harvey have a host of midfielders in camp including Veronica Perez. Hopefully she signs one of them
So the team played it's first preseason match against UCLA. This match was not streamed so I have no idea how the team played. But going off what was posted on twitter I have two comments: Bad: Giving up 2 goals even to a college team is not good. Especially giving that the back 4 was close to what our starting back 4 would be come regular season. Good: Looks like we scored two goals off set pieces (Naho + Nairn). I high lighted that this was one area to keep an eye on this season as we really sucked at it the last two seasons. It's good to see that paying off this early.
For the first time ever the Reign have signed all their draft picks. This brings the roster size up to 21 including the injured Matheson and Crummer. Reign FC have signed 6th overall draft pick @madbau18.Story: https://t.co/7oRoXQBVqB pic.twitter.com/hEENfFH1z8— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) April 10, 2017
Updated to add Maddie Bauer Current squad (21/20) Goalkeepers (2) Haley Kopmeyer - 1/2 Madalyn Schiffel - 1/2 Hope Solo - unknown Defense (9) Lauren Barnes (CB) - 2/2 Maddie Bauer - (CB) - 1/2 Rachel Corsie (CB) - 1/2 Merritt Mathias (RB) - 1/2 Kristen McNabb (CB) - 1/2 Carson Pickett (LB) - 2/2 Elli Reed (RB) - 2/2 Rebekah Stott - 1/2 Rumi Utsugi (LB) - 2/2 Midfield (5) Jessica Fishlock (B2B) - 2/2 Lindsay Elston (CM) - 2/2 Magan Rapinoe (LM) - 1/1 Diane Matheson - (CM) - 1/1 Christine Nairn (CM) - 1/2 Forwards (5) Nahomi Kawasumi - 2/2 Katie Johnson - 1/2 Beverly Yanez - 1/2 Kiersten Dallstream - 1/2 Larissa Crummer - 1/2 Rights (3) Veronica Perez Ariana Romero Morgan Marlborough Outgoing from 2016 Andi Tostanoski - waived Kendall Fletcher - retired Michelle Cruz - waived Keelin Winter - retired Kim Little - traded Havana Solaun - traded Manon Melis - retired Summer Green - traded 2018 natural 1st round pick - Chicago 2018 natural 3rd round pick - Washington
Final roster. As expected Matheson is placed on the SEI (season ending injury) which brings the total count down to 20. Only other change from my roster is that Harvey have Utsugi and McNabb listed as midfielders. Not a surprise about Utsugi but mildly surprised about McNabb. https://thebold.net/reign-fc-finalize-roster-for-2017-nwsl-season-1fe3c50a4a3f
The irony is that yesterday Rumi played as a LB (after quite some time that she had always been played as a MF in NT) in the friendly match won by Nadeshiko Japan vs Costa Rica. In the latest games (Algarve Cup included) the LB position had been covered by Aya Sameshima, but she suffered an injury just before the friendly match, so coach Takakura reverted Utsugi to her defensive position!
Reign FC claim midfielder Michaela Hahn off waivers. Story: https://t.co/XbKy8yztWD pic.twitter.com/Sy64vAPk5O— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) April 11, 2017
I actually like this pickup as I think Hahn will do well in Seattle (if she gets to play). It's interesting though that Harvey decided not to sign the glut of midfielders that were in preseason camp. I wonder if it has to do with an existing contract versus a new contract
Final Roster to begin the 2017 season. I'll try to keep it updated throughout the season as players come and go (hopefully not a lot). I'll also be transcribing sometime today my final thoughts on the team before the start of the season. Current squad (22/20) Goalkeepers (2) Haley Kopmeyer - 1/2 Madalyn Schiffel - 1/2 Defense (7) Lauren Barnes (CB) - 2/2 Maddie Bauer - (CB) - 1/2 Rachel Corsie (CB) - 1/2 Merritt Mathias (RB) - 1/2 Carson Pickett (LB) - 2/2 Elli Reed (RB) - 2/2 Rebekah Stott (CB) - 1/2 Midfield (7) Jessica Fishlock (B2B) - 2/2 Lindsay Elston (CM) - 2/2 Michaela Hahn (CM) - 2/2 Diane Matheson - (CM) - 1/1 Kristen McNabb (CM) - 1/2 Christine Nairn (CM) - 1/2 Rumi Utsugi (LM) - 2/2 Forwards (6) Larissa Crummer (CF) - 1/2 Kiersten Dallstream (F) - 1/2 Katie Johnson (CF) - 1/2 Nahomi Kawasumi (RF) - 2/2 Magan Rapinoe (LF) - 1/1 Beverly Yanez (CF) 1/2
Did you pick the roles of the players from any official source, or did you figured them yourselves? I ask because I wonder if Harvey is really intentioned to play Utsugi on the wing: she's very versatile, so she can basically play any role in DF/MF (she has played as a CB, LB, LM, CM), but lately in NT (apart the latest friendly match vs Costa Rica) she was mostly played as a Central Midfielder alongside Sakaguchi (or Kawamura, latest NC Courage signing).
I mostly came up with the roles my self based on past play with the Reign. For Utsugi she has played both left back and left mid for the reign. Last year she was listed as a defender and mostly played as a left back. This year she is listed as a midfielder hence why I just compromised and assumed she would be playing LM. However now that you ask I guess I can let the cat out of the bag (nothing official just my own hunch) that I think she's going to play DM this season as that just makes sense. We know there's a gap there due to Winters retiring. Also Pickett is getting more and more comfortable at LB. Also with Rapinoe healthy and ready to start the season, the left side looks much better so it makes sense that Utsugi will play that DM role.
Ok, on to my final thoughts for the season. Overall On paper this is a much weaker team than the 2016 team. However we know how that played out last season. In addition to the entire team sucking collectively, I think one of the downfalls was that the squad last year was severely unbalanced and Harvey did a really poor job managing that. In her attempts to compensate for our issues on the left side, she created a larger in-balance through out the squad and by late season when they finally started to put it all together, it was too late. It is no denying that Little was a big part of this squad for 3 years and she covered a lot of our flaws which was finally exposed last year. Players relied too much on her performing miracles that when her form dipped, no one was able to step up. The forecast for this season looks promising as there is no one obvious star but we have really good and above average players in all positions. And more importantly, we are balanced. Defense Contrary to what most might think, this is the position most impacted by off season changes. With the departure of Fletcher and Winters, we are significantly weaker down the middle as we have lost two of our most physical players that every team needs. Barnes (and to a lesser extend Corsie) is not a physical or fast player by any stretch of the imagination. Our success in playing the high line relied on the recovery speed of Fletcher. Hopefully we abandon the high line. Pickett I think is progressing ok. It's tough to know how far she's come given she didn't see consistent minutes or position (LB/LF). Now on to my favorite target/enigma, Merritt Mathias. I actually like her switch to RB as she's a terrible forward player. As a defender she's pretty fast, tenacious, and is much more positionally aware than Reed. If she can cut out the needless fouls in the box I think she'll do great. I can't say much about them until after a few games. Midfield Even with Little gone and Matheson out, I like this group because it's balanced. While we do not have a true #10, all our options are good on both side of the ball. Fishlock will continue to do amazing things so can't say much there. Can't say I paid too much attention to Nairn when she played in year 1 for the Reign or the next 3 years for the Spirit but I think she's one of those players who are at their best when she's not the center of the attack nor relied upon to be the last line of defense in the midfield. In that sense I think she'll compliment Fishlock very well. My ideal starting lineup have Fishlock and Nairn playing a dual 8 role behind the forward line with a #6 (Utsugi) that sits in the hole. The bench is a bit questionable but I don't expect us to sub from the midfield a lot. Forward Again this is a balance group. If Rapinoe can manage to remain healthy, we will finally have the ideal front 3 of Rapinoe, Yanez and Kawasumi. One of the greatest tragedies of modern times was Harvey playing Yanez as left forward in favor of the less talented Mathias in the middle. And for the first time ever I actually like our depth in this position with Johnson, Crummer and the resurrected Dallstream who I though played well down the stretch last year. Line up So my ideal starting line-up is shown below. Most teams in both the womens and mens game claim to play 4-3-3 but at the end of the day it is always some variation of a 5 man midfield. Last year Reign claimed to play the 4-3-3 but it was really a 4-2-3-1. This year will be the same claim of playing a 4-3-3 but it will most likely be a 4-1-2-3 or a 4-1-4-1. I think the front 5 are all but set. For that #6 role, it comes down to which one is a bigger liability: Pickett at left back or Elston/McNabb/Hahn/Stott at DM. For me Elston does not have a defensive bone in her body and both Stott and McNabb are new to this league for such a crucial role. Hence I think Pickett starts at LB and Utsugi at #6. In terms of subs, I expect to see Dallstream will be a favorite at both LF and RF. Harvey likes Johnson and Yanez is not a consistent 90-minute player so Johnson will also get good minutes. Players like McNabb, Hahn, Elston and Stott are not game changers so they most likely will see minutes only when the game is in/out or hand or someone is injured. And lastly, it will be interesting to keep an eye on Kopmeyer who has really never played a full season for this team either because of Solo or untimely injuries.
Great write-up! I agree that the defense is heavily impacted. Midfield starters look strong despite being drastically different.
I agree that playing Yanez on the left was a criminal waste. It can be interesting to note that, back in 2013, Yanez in the center and Kawasumi on the right-wing were an unstoppable goal-producing machine in INAC Kobe Leonessa. Ok, they were both 4 years younger and arguably at the peak of their form; also, the team around them was a perfectly-oiled mechanism, probably one of the best women's clubs in the world at the time (Sawa, Ji So-Yun, Kinga, Ohno, you name it...); finally, you probably can't compare the general level of Nadeshiko League at the time with the impressing "parity" of NWSL. Anyway, with all that said and done, Yanez + Kawasumi was a duo worth a total of 27 goals in that Nadeshiko League (15 Yanez + 12 Kawasumi). Heck, if you factor in all of the competitions of that year (Nadeshiko League + Nadeshiko League Cup + Empress Cup + Mobcast Cup), the two of them produced a whopping 44 goals (24 Yanez + 20 Kawasumi)!!! I am not claiming those figures can happen again. Just saying that it doesn't sound like a bad offensive set up at all...
Good points. I think Yanez and Kawasumi can both replicate their 2013 INAC form as well as their 2014 Reign form. Last year was very difficult as the team was in a constant state of transition as players came and went. With focus and much needed stability this season, if they have a strong start that will build their confidence immensely. It's left to be seen what a front line of Marta and Morgan will do in the league but other than that, the league is much more even than ever before. If teams like Boston and Washington can get wins early, it will be even more competitive
http://www.nwslsoccer.com/videos/15891532 Seems to me that Kopmeyer doesn't look at all like a downgrade from Solo, does she? She even nearly saved the PK. Read your PBP, Blaze20: why did Harvey insert Utsugi this late? The fact that the team was unbalanced wasn't enough obvious? General considerations after this game? Have we got a chance to reach play-off, this season, or we have to consider it a transitional one?