We're already in the offseason for seven of the nine teams, so it make sense that we're already hearing some stuff. Much of the talk leading up to the offseason has been about Kerr, but there's another "big money" player in NWSL, and that's Marta. The Brazilian star is apparently staying in Orlando for another year, per the team's website. As usual for NWSL, details of the deal were not announced, though I'm quite curious if the new policies that Whisler hinted at re: attempting to keep Kerr have been invoked in Orlando keeping Marta around. If so, I'm surprised they haven't been discussed publicly more; if not, I'm surprised they weren't needed for Marta. Also, not player news, but Vlatko is leaving NWSL to take over the USWNT gig.
Apparently there is likely to be a team added for 2020, per Paulson interview. That likely means an expansion draft, although something he said made me think that's not for sure. I don't know how they could avoid an expansion draft, but maybe there are other ways to bring in a new team and stock it with players without a formal "draft."
Yeah, talk of that 2020 expansion team has been pretty strong over the past two or three weeks. Considering that there's talk of player compensation changes coming into effect next year, one way they might avoid an expansion draft is to give the new team a bunch of extra "credit" for player compensation that they could trade away (i.e. maybe something similar to GAM/TAM in MLS). That seems like a stretch, though; if there's expansion, I don't really see how there can't be an expansion draft. Unless you simply open a period of (pseudo-)free agency, but I highly doubt that. The only time I can see expansion drafts not happening is if NWSL went crazy and added three or four (or more) teams in a single year, because then it's just unwieldy and incredibly destructive.
I'd wait until we know for sure Sacramento is being added as the 10th team. There's also France's Lyon club pursuing a team. Might that change certain players from joining certain teams? An expansion draft will also change things.
Holy Crap. Williams, Hamilton, AND O'Sullivan going to the Western Sydney Wanderers! https://www.wswanderersfc.com.au/news/wanderers-sign-nwsl-champions-hamilton-osullivan-and-williams
We're used to seeing groups of players, often DC of CHI, go down en masse to Aussieland, but this is the first time NC is sending even one player IIRC - damn if WSW don't make the grand finals this year!
And on that note, I believe the following are also heading down under for the offseason: SFC: Bledsoe, Huerta, Latsko WSW: Staab
Well, despite the new salary rules being completed in time to make Kerr a competitive offer, she will not be returning to Chicago next year. https://equalizersoccer.com/2019/11...-not-return-to-the-chicago-red-stars-in-2020/
The Re-Entry Wire goes live Monday and closes Tuesday http://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/article/nwsl-to-announce-re-entry-wire-on-monday-november-4 I don't know if it makes more sense to have done this before of after the expected expansion... I guess doing it before means that you don't have any "dud" players on your "exposed" list in the expansion draft.
Wow that's a lot of Spirit players on the Re-Entry Wire - including all the Aussies http://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/article/nineteen-nwsl-players-available-on-the-re-entry-wire
Maybe unsurprising since this was the most stacked REW we've seen in a long time, but a whopping five players have been selected. http://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/article/five-players-selected-off-nwsl-re-entry-wire UTA took three players off the wire, while ORL and DC took one each. Three of the four selected by UTA+ORL came from DC's long list. Has Laura Harvey made a trade today? Not but she did get several pick-ups!
Interesting thought that I haven't really seen mentioned yet: the new financial possibilities with the allocation money make those international spots even more valuable, since it's possible to (potentially) snag bigger-name talent now. That is, mid-tier internationals currently in NWSL might be dropped in favor of pursing those bigger-name stars. That might partially explain why the Re-entry Wire included an insane number of Aussies, as well as POR's A.-M.C. (SUI) and NJ's A.P.-L. (CAN).
Dagny has posted on Insta that she won't be returning to the Thorns. The big reason she states is for family, but part of me thinks that the allocation$-vs-int'l-spots stuff from my previous post might also be a factor. = = = = = Also, it seems like NWSL screwed up its own Re-Entry Wire process, and ORL will *NOT* be getting Logarzo from DC, as she was technically on loan to the Spirit from Australia and shouldn't have been on the Wire in the first place.
She was in an option year, and the Thorns had exercised their option, so at least initially she was going to be in Portland for another year. The Thorns already had waived Anna C, so that would give them one international spot. Raso acquired her green card last year, so that would give them another. I dont know if all of that fits into your possibility or not. The Thorns are going to be making some changes, so maybe having open international slots is something they will use either to acquire internationals or for trades for US players.
Brooke Elby is retiring to pursue graduate work and will also serve as NWSLPA's co-executive director alongside Yael Averbuch.
Since the Washington Spirit boards don't look much alive, I am going to post the news here for more visibility: apparently, Washington Spirit are going to fill one of their international spot by signing Japanese international Kumi Yokoyama: Spirit also preparing to sign West Ham defender Brooke Hendrix (US) and Japanese intl forward Kumi Yokoyama— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) December 17, 2019
With expansion now officially off the table for this offseason, we immediately get a trade announced between Chicago and Utah, the Red Stars gaining Doniak in exchange for a natural 2021 second-round draft pick.
Makes sense. At 25 years old, Doniak is too young for Laura Harvey’s taste. She prefers players near or above 30.
There's more info on Dagny's story in this article on supporting pregnant female athletes: https://theathletic.com/1476801/201...to-help-players-through-pregnancy-and-beyond/ Sounds like definitely a family decision, and she hasn't ruled out playing professionally again in the future elsewhere. For those behind a paywall, she basically says it was too hard to live on a $30-40,000 salary overseas away from extended family and raise a young son. Her partner had taken a 6 month paternity leave from his job as an electrician where he earns 50% more than her to help out, but Dagny said she was renting out her apartment in Iceland, had sold her car, and was doing some modeling on the side to try to make ends meet. (Part of that extra cash would have been going to buy an extra ticket for her son if she wanted him to travel with her to away games.)