Roster Moves

That is bizarre. Why would you waive a player (Larsen) that (by far) leads the team in shots on goal? Not to mention, she's looked pretty good from the couple of games I saw.

Unless there is a trade in the works and there's some kind of a rule that they have to clear waivers before they can be traded.

 

Strnadova had the best ball skills of all their young players.

fitz was at the last MJ game. maybe, he is going to cut a deal with dan.

would any of the MJ players want to go to Atl and leave their beach front condos for minimun salary and a host family?

a great week for ATL and now this.

Boston should pick up Strnadova. She's a keeper if you give her time to develop.

 

Just an odd move unless Galanis & one or both of the players had a, um, difference of opinion. Wonder who will be signed to replace them.

Can't be that. If a player clears waivers then they no longer have a contract that can be traded.

Boston (or any team, really) needs more immediate impact from mid-season signings. And Boston in particular already has several young talents that "need time to develop" properly into solid pro players.

 

What's not reported is that Beat players are NOT living with host families unless they already had family here that took them in. Beat players have pretty nice, big houses and room about 4-7 per house. Off the top of my head, Cat Whitehill is the only 1 with a host family because she has relatives here. Can't 100% say anyone else is/isn't hosted. But they are majority on their own in their own pads.

 

What the hell is wrong with living with a Host family? There are tons of wonderful Familes offering their homes rent free to the soccer players. Most of these homes would make you slap your momma. The players are not forced to live where they are not comfortable. If they are not comfortable in the home,then the team makes arrangements somewhere else. I would bet my last dime that over 50% MJ players would checkout in a heartbeat and run to ATL given the chance.. You can live like a queen and still be in hell.

 

I'm not sure how it works in WPS, especially now that there are no developmental players. It does work that way in professional baseball, but only after the trade deadline. If a professional baseball team wants to trade a player after the deadline, they have to clear waivers before a trade can be made. All waivers do is temporarily make that player available and if someone else claims them, the original team has the option as to whether or not to take that player off waivers.

Honestly though, I was grasping at straws because I can't think of a good reason for this transaction, unless (a) there was a situation where the players violated team rules or (b) a situation like the DiCicco/Bishop "incident" in 2009 (and I won't even pretend to know what happened there because I honestly don't).

 

I noticed that no mention of the players was made in the midweek question and answer release with Galanis. Well, I wish both players luck. I thought Larsen was finally getting her chance after an injury cost her last season.

 

Looks like it was a straight forward roster cut, although I'm not sure I agree with it.

http://mdjonline.com/view/full_stor...-cut-from-roster?instance=home_news_1st_right

Atlanta doesn't need as deep a roster since they have very few players going to the World Cup.

 

Hrmm..... coincidence that the WPS DO was in attendance for the Sunday game AND it was the highest numbers by far? Lady, the Beat lured in their fans and bought their way in to put on a good show for you, not some sudden change of heart. Big numbers ARE achievable, yes...however you get them there I guess. ​

 

I thought that this Season was going to be one of building a team from the ground up with the signing of young inexperienced college players who showed promise.That these players would be given time to develop their soccer knowledge,tactics, reading of game ie off ball anticipation, to increase their strength physically and mentally.As a Fan I did not have high expectations of the Team taking the league by storm this season but I foolishly imagined that this team would develop team chemistry etc this season becoming a Team for the future.It now appears that the players have no job security,that unless they produce like a seasoned several year Professional then you will be sent packing.Kristina and Vendola showed great promise and with decent coaching will become good players and the Beat will regret their decision to release them. I wish them both the Best of All Things and am glad that they were immediately picked up by a team that recognises potential.I enjoyed your performances ,however short,with the Beat.

 

I got the impression from Galanis' interview that it was probably more about a positive outlook and integrating with the team's game plan than potential talent. D'Agostino seems to be on the fringe as well after the first game, but she's still hanging in there, so I'm guessing they probably had what we in the South refer to as a "Come to Jesus" moment and it was decided they weren't displaying the right attitude or effort. Undoubtedly they have a side to this story as well. I was looking forward to watching each of these players develop with the team as well and am glad that they have at least found a place on another team. Hopefully they will learn from the experience and stay with the sport.

Nine, I understand you may have hard feelings about the organization and maybe you tried to get them to see a different point of view to help them be successful. You were very positive at the beginning of the season and I'm sorry to see you've soured somewhat. However, I would expect the Beat to pull out all the stops with the big wigs coming into town. When I worked in retail and we had someone from a district or regional level coming in, we didn't just say "Aw just let the place look like hell, no sense dressing it up and being fake just for some important people." Fitz is no fool and he managed to get one of the best turnouts in the league's history.

 

When does it become time to get rid of the non-productive Coach and Flawed Game Plans instead of blaming poor performance on players?.It's easy to say players were not displaying right attitude etc .But how about looking at the Coach?

 

I came across somewhere (think it was Boston's game notes) that Larsen had 10 shots on goal in 14 shot attempts. I know I saw a couple good ones on highlights. With that ratio you know some goals will come. so I was surprised to see her let go.

 

Exactly what doesn't make sense to me. Going into tonight's match, Atlanta had 45 shots total, Larsen had 14 of them. They had 25 shots on goal, she had 10 of them. I would have thought that even if she didn't fit the system, she was worth trying to "salvage". At least she was a threat to provide some offense.

The other thing that doesn't make sense was that the coach said she had lost her confidence. Normally, when a player shoots that much and get that many on frame, it isn't a sign of lack of confidence. It might be a bit frustrating with none of them going in, but not a lack of confidence.

Atlanta has now scored only one goal in their last four matches and only five goals all year. Four have come from Chalupny and Lloyd, one of those being a penalty.

They need help everywhere, but they definitely need help scoring.

 

As you said, the quote from the game story sounds rather ominous...."Our effort was good from some players but not good enough from other players. Some are reacting rather than anticipating. Enough is enough. They are not reaching their potential and that’s the issue that I have."

http://www.womensprosoccer.com/Home/atlanta/news/press_releases/110521-recap.aspx

Also, Chalupny came out of the match at halftime, reportedly dinged up a bit. They cannot afford to lose her.

 

Total hearsay (and I don't even remember the source) but I've read comments about a very negative coaching -style in Atlanta. Remember how he was going to have the team come in for an early-morning practice if they didn't have a better 2nd half a few weeks ago?

Sometimes that only goes so far. Let's face it, everyone here on the women's forum knew that Atlanta wasn't matching up talent-wise with the other teams. It's not that the players were bad or didn't belong in the league, just a matter of taking several players that would be probably be sitting on the bench elsewhere and expecting them to play key roles for Atlanta.

Who were they trying to kid? And how far can you expect cracking the whip to take you?

 

Fitz went with the $7000 (if that rumor is true) per player team and a couple of vets. So, who is to blame? With full rosters, ATL is a 6th place team. With NT players gone, ATL is a 6th place team. I never brought into this nonsense about team getting points during the WC. You really think they were going to Beat Philly with Kai and DiMartino still on the roster or MAgicJack with Press, Schmidt, Kling, Masar still on the roster or WNY (i wont even name what they have left on the roster).

Kristina Larsen was putting balls on goal, so in time she gets some to go in, esp during the WC when they top flight GKers are gone, and Vendula Strnadova has the Kelly Smith type Euro ball skills with her feet, just in a younger developing package. I thought this was a project team which would grow for next season. Smart letting 2 of your future stars go. Wish i owned a team, would have snapped up Strnadova in a minute.

I hope Lips is one of the top paid players on the team, because her work is just beginning.

3 goals vs a team that avgs 3 goals every 10 games, not per game.

for an extra couple of dollars, fitz would have had Press (#3 pick) up top, Tina (got her beach front condo) in back and LeBlanc (i'm not buying the NT thing, buying lack of contract offer) in net.

how much better would ATL be with its' current vets and keeping Larsen and Strnadova on the roster? now, we're taking about picking up pts as the NT players come and go.

 

Was at last night's game, Beat just outmatched in every phase, player-for-player, etc.

After Katherine Reynolds came out of the game, Galanis called her over, and together walked to the end of the box in front of the bench (unless there is a name for the area) for a couple-several minute talk. I don't recall seeing that style before.

After the game, he and Cat walked away into the field for even a longer talk. This would have been before any media comments.

Cat says she will be moving to Boston where her husband will begin his residency, which I believe these things begin in July.

 

Severely disappointed, especially on the heels of the release of 2 good young players. When does it become time to look at the Coach and lack of any logical game plan?. It's easy to blame players for losses but, from what I have seen, the players are giving 100% .Galanis talks a good game but is incapable of producing.His ego is what is going to totally destroy the confidence of the younger players on the Team,a bad worker always blames his tools and a bad coach always blames his players.Young players do not respond well to dictatorial coaches.Just watch the Movie "The Damned United" where an similar coach brought down a Dynasty (Leeds United). Hope that Fitz comes to his senses before it's too late.Having seen this season as a year of developing a young inexperienced group of players into a cohesive Team,without the pressure this season to perform miracles, I am having reservations about the aforementioned.I support the Team completely but feel that with the present coach things will be difficult for the players.

 

You know, and I'm sure many of you agree, it's not the losses that are the big thing, because that was expected coming into the season. I think most realistic posters on this forum knew Atlanta would take a lot of lumps this season.

But if you're going to take the strategy of building with young players, then you need to stick with them for awhile. Show them that you have confidence in them. Show them that one or two bad games isn't going to get them booted off the team.

 

I completely agree with you. I doubt that the fans were naive enough to expect a stellar season. What's upsetting is that so far, the coach has not taken any responsibility for the poor performances. In addition, I can't see how booting Larsen is going to give the other players much confidence. She at least tried and took some shots.