I kind of disagree with this. If a player is good enough then they can play pro sports and then, after their career is pretty much over they can go back to school or even attend part time while playing pro. For players, in any sport, with pro abilities the delay in education is not as important as getting experience at a young age. It is not for everyone but sport wise in many sports the four years of college is simply four years of no development. I am NOT saying education is unimportant but there is a small window of opportunity for making real money out of sports and taking four of those years away is not beneficial for many. For a different reason (military during the Vietnam war) I returned to school after 20+ years away and I do not feel I missed anything except some wasted time partying. Each person needs to make their own choices about college but it is a mistake to think that high school then four or more years of college is the best path for all athletes or even all people in general.
But you're not making much money in soccer if you turn pro at age, say, 18. How much money was Horan making 5 or 6 years ago? Not much, I venture. How much is she making now? How much do USNT members on contract make--I've never heard and would be very curious to know. I suspect she's doing fairly well financially now given her years on the national team--but not many players make the national team. I also disagree about players not developing in college. There are a LOT of very good college programs and very good college programs nowadays--the players are developing and it is silly to say that they aren't. I agree that a pro player like Horan can always start taking classes and eventually earn a degree--but I view college as a real rite of passage, and there are a ton of people, including myself, who would say that their college years were the best years, or certainly among the best years, of their lives. Horan can take classes at a later age, get a degree, but she'll never have the true experience of going to college. I'm not criticizing her--she made a decision that was right for her--but pro soccer players don't make enough money to justify skipping college, in my view. We're not talking the NBA here. Most NWSL players--age 22 to 32, say, are making very little money--but those with a college education will have something to fall back on when soccer is over. Anyway, just my opinion.
OTOH I did go to college, and it was the best years of my life-- and then I also didn't make any money, and it certainly didn't give me anything to fall back on but empty space. Eventually, twenty years later I made real money for a couple of years, doing something I turned out not to be very good at, IMO. I would probably have been better off making bad money doing something at its highest level even if only for a couple years, I think. As it is I did something I was good at for starvation wages for a decade and was reasonably happy at it-- then had to bail to try to keep your kids from having to pay for my old age.
I don't think Naeher nor Harris are the USA's best option at keeper, but Jill rarely tries anyone else. Go figure. There are other good keepers out there like Adrianna Franch and Casey Murphy. However, No use complaining, it doesn't do anyone any good. Horan and Ertz are solid. I think Lavelle (if healthy) is another solid option. Then there's Sam Mewis, Morgan Brian, Andi Sullivan, and McCall Zerboni who are good situational players, depending on opponent. You're spot on, IMHO, about the backline. I think Dahlkemper and Davidson are fighting for that last CB spot. The USA's main advantage in a long tournament with 3 days rest between games is their depth. Although, I'm not sure Jill knows how to take advantage of it. Australia is in a golden age with their starting players, but I don't think they have the depth to last through all the games of a WWC tournament. For sure, they could upset a few teams and you never really know what can happen in the knockout games.
If I remember reading correctly back then, Horan signed a contract in France for $500,000? If anyone who remembers, please corroborate, not sure about the figure but I remember it was big. We talked about this back six years ago on BS: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/lindsey-horan-signs-with-psg-foregoes-college.1948236/
Horan was making very good money with PSG during her potential college years. Lindsey Horan signs reported six-figure deal with PSG – Equalizer ... She also makes really good money from the USSF playing under the current CBA as an allocated player in the NWSL. Maybe one of the other members can chime in on the current salaries. I'm assuming around 6 figures.
Probably just stay healthy. She's had an endless string of injuries. Never enough time on the field to really showcase her abilities long term.
Stay healthy. It's one thing to stay she's in the 23 for WC but if ur gonna make her in a starter in ur midfield she she needs to be able to play every match to build chemistry with the other starters. She really needs an injury free 12 months more than anything else.
I have yet to see a keeper that I believe is really a top tier international keeper anywhere in any of the US systems. They all have real weaknesses and, it seems, they all lack the aggression and meanness needed for top flight international goal keeping. Nice keepers are doomed in international soccer. I wish it was not but it does seem to be so. Much of the same lack seem to be prevalent throughout US soccer. We just seem to lack that killer instinct that says, "We are going to beat you so bad that your grandchildren will be humiliated by it." The US's women had that but somehow it is now missing. International keepers are very hard to find and I do agree that the current coaching staff is not casting a wide enough net or the US training system is weeding out the needed aggression before the best keepers can even be brought into the program. I really think the coaches, staff and others in the US program, on both the men's and women's sides, are missing a huge number of great prospects at all ages and that is because they have gone, particularly on the women's side, from insisting on winning to being afraid to lose. All our current crop of keepers and those that I have seen in the younger groups and college have been infected with that attitude and they play like they are afraid of the game. Fear makes for more mistakes than too much confidence and our keepers seem to be playing with fear. I miss Scurry, that lady had no fear of anything!
Went to university myself right after high school and it was probably one of the best years of my life, I met best friends that will continue to be in my life until we pass away. The college program shouldn't be knocked at all and players do develop in that system. Lindsay Horan chose not to go to do the typical university experience and I guess it worked out for her because she stayed injury free and made a bunch of money playing pro soccer. She also ended up on the National team so I guess all her check marks have been fulfilled. That being said, it's most certainly a gamble because at least when you get accepted a full scholarship to an elite university with a great athletic program, you are getting an education for free. If you go pro, you are gambling a lot of things to go your way, assuming you're going to be a shoe-end to get on the team, making sure you stay injury free, developing in your pro club and getting time on the field, etc. etc. I hate to say it, but women's soccer isn't there yet. There's no "one and done" like there is in the NBA.
Most college degrees, especially the ones athletes get, are useless. Obtaining a psychology, sociology or communications degree isn't going to make you more valuable in the workplace if you decide to try to use it 8 years post-college assuming you are an elite player that has a pro career like Horan does. It's a different story for someone like Jessie Fleming who seems to actually want to be an engineer in addition to a pro-soccer player (not sure how that will work). Or a Rachel Beuhler who always knew she would want to go back to go to med school. That said, all of this is more reflective of the scammy educational/employment system than anything else. Most jobs college grads get don't require a college education. If Lindsey wants to coach or do something in soccer, her early years of earning, playing, investing (she has endorsements) will be better than a useless college degree. I actually applaud Horan and Pugh for knowing that college would probably be a time-cost opportunity for their needs. Most people wouldn't admit that to themselves. It's ingrained in us that we need higher ed.
Yes, college is a great thing. After all how else could we delay the entry into the work force for all those kids thereby protecting the jobs of the adults. Heaven forbid that the employers figure out that 99% of the jobs that require a college education can easily be done just as effectively by a simple HS grad. I say that even though I have a PHDs in mathematics and physics. However I am VERY happy I delayed my entry into college by nearly 20 years as my grades if I had gone to college right after HS would have been much worse than they ended up being. There is a LOT to be said for greater maturity and the discipline that years in the service brings in spite of the negative experiences of S.E. Asia and the return home to protests.
I think the current 23 is very strong. However, we are slow in midfield and the back line. Teams with fast forwards will be able to outrace our players and score. Witness Marta's run down the left side where she easily beat Sonnet and Sauerbrunn. If we can score enough to overcome the inevitable fast break goals from speedy forwards, our speed won't be a problem. If we can't - that's another matter. Sauerbrunn saved a couple open looks with her extremely well-timed tackles - experience repped.
that would be an absurdly ridiculous amount, unless it's mean't as a multiple years contract, but Euro pro clubs hardly sign their players to more than a couple of years do to fear of pregnancies & the high ACL rate. Here's a thread where a couple of French posters give their stats on how much players make in their league https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/questions-about-womens-leagues-salaries.2019030/ I'm more familiar with the German Bundesliga & it's quite shocking how poorly paid their top players are paid.(the season, pre season lasts over 10 months). Here's some of the stories I've read by players on par(or perhaps even better than Horan) Tabea Kemme supplemented her meager income(at 35K Euros an year), by being an police officer Alexander Popp missed a major tournament final to take a once an year 'zoo keeper license' test(she's now game fully employed by the local zoo) the biggest recorded contract ever signed by a German player in the Bundesliga was last year by Mandy Islacker for Bayern Munich to a tune of 100K Euros($120K)for one year Brazil needs to get rid of the stigma at least of MARTA, MARTA, MARTA; classy NWSL players like Poliana, Andressinha & Debhina showed almost no independence other than support Marta but in all fairness, they were missing a lot of players; they got a new superstar striker in the making in Kerolin(she at u20 duties). The more athletic mid, Alves(she's on tour with Barca) & a host of vet defenders; Bruna, Erika, Rafealle. Even their GK was new
Bigger picture on the Brazil GK. I watched all three of their matches and they played three different keepers...Barbara, Aline & Letitia. Interesting concept that
I've been thinking about this a little and I actually think we have a young keeper who has the potential to be a great one; she's got just enough good crazy in her. That is, Laurel Ivory with the U-20's at the WWC in France. On the international level, the keeper I like the most right now is Australia's Lydia Williams. She takes charge and helps direct her defenders and plays without fear. I would take her in a heartbeat.
I actually have not seen her play enough to judge but I am watching all the matches at the U20 WWC so I will see her. Of course my opinion maters to US soccer less than zero so what I see will be of little importance to them. Watching the first day I am concerned that the shot quality may not be high enough to get a good read as, in spite of what the announcers have said, there have been few really good shots taken but that may be because the teams are tight on the first day. I just hope that we see some overall creative play from the US tomorrow. It has been lacking at the senior level.
The keeper position is unique in many ways not least among them is the requirement of experience. Goalkeepers often do not peak before the age of 35 and even then they are usually still learning and refining their skills right up to the point where their body can no longer execute the skills and the experience factor cannot make up for the body's failings. Also keepers do not really learn from the experience of other keepers as far as mistakes go. Every great keeper must make nearly every mistake once before the remedy to that mistake sticks and mistakes in practice do not count. It is just hoped that the mistakes do not cost too much and the keeper retains the illusion of invulnerability through each one. So for keepers at this level having a bad period or a bad tournament is not unexpected or even unwelcome. It is also hoped that the bad period does not last too long. Keepers replay every match and every save and every mistake over and over in their head. It is part of the learning process. That means that even the best can be broken by too many failures all at once. That almost happened to Brad Guzan during his time with Chivas USA where he had no real team in front of him and virtually every mistake was punished because his defenders never helped. I believe that many teams misuse their keepers and do not integrate them into the team enough. That means that when they make the expected mistakes they get blamed instead of supported. I will watch Laurel Ivory closely during this tournament and report here what I see BUT US soccer will do as they want and TV is a very poor way to evaluate a keeper as often what they do as the ball starts to come their way is not usually seen on TV and their movements are very hard to read.
https://www.denverpost.com/2012/07/...cer-for-six-figure-contract-with-french-team/ Lindsey Horan, the Golden High School student who passed on high school soccer to play club soccer with the Colorado Rush while developing into one of the top players in the state, will now pass on college soccer to sign professionally. Horan, 18, has decided to give up her scholarship to North Carolina to sign a six-figure contract with the French club Paris Saint-Germain, according to a release from the Colorado Rush. It’s a move being hailed as unprecedented and a game-changer for women’s soccer. Horan, who was set to begin her freshman season at UNC this fall, was widely considered as one of the top recruits in the class of 2012. “I am happy with her decision,” Lindsey’s mother, Linda, told RushSoccer.com. “(Paris Saint-Germain) is going to pay for her schooling and that is important to me. In addition, Lindsey, her father and I agreed to put additional money from her contract into future education. I am comfortable.” Six-figure deal plus educational expenses covered. Straight out of high school, no less. I don't see how any kid that's not from and affluent family passes that deal up.
not sure why you quoting me, I just linked a threat where a few French posters(one who happens to be a soccer journalist) gave their figures for the French League "six-figures" can be anywhere from 100K to 999K($$$ or Euros), the contract could of been anywhere from 1-4 years(since Horan stayed at PSG for 4 years)/ Nobody's so far posted the exact amount for Horan's contract.