Well, after Sunday, 2003 is in the books. Boof, Cookie, and Tish....hanging up the cleats. Next season will definately be different. Hopefully, we can find some of that magic like the last half of the 2001 season....... I guess I just think this sucks because I love this freaking team and they had so much potential this year and they just couldn't finish. I guess that's why you're a fan.......ya love 'em when they're winning and you love the when they're down.
Potential? What potential? Just where, exactly, were we supposed to get our goals? And will people please stop saying Clemens??!! What's next for the 'Rays? A lot of rebuilding. A lot. I'm not too concerned about our defense. Sure, we're losing Boof ( ), and that hurts. With the number of internationally experienced defenders on our roster, though, we ought to be able to find a stable backline of 4. Unfortunately for us, that's the coach's job...and well, cue Tim's sig. And that just might be another personnel change that we'll face. What was once dubbed "the best tandem midfield in WUSA" is sadly no more. Tisha's officially retiring; I don't expect much more from Sissi. There is, though, one young bright spot in the middle: Baby Barr. But who can step in for Tisha (and maybe Sissi too)? We've got our leading scorer for 2003 on the mend. Our second leading scorer saw a 10-goal decrease in production from the '02 season to the '03 season. Is Kim Patrick the answer? The best thing that could happen to us now would be a 7th-place finish and the drafting of a superstar forward. But is she out there? Or we could find a useful international. Unfortunately, there is no one cure-all. We just have too many questions and holes. To have any sort of chance, we need that superstar forward--and when I say 'superstar,' I mean nothing short. Otherwise next year will be about developing Patrick and Baby Barr, et al, hoping against ACL tears and new retirement announcements, and waiting for '05.
That's true for many WUSA teams. A lot of the original foreign contingent will be leaving the league. Look at WWC'03 as the tryout session for new "A-list" players. After the college draft and "alignment discussions", expect a different look from the WUSA as a whole.
I'm gonna try to talk Ann Cook into not retiring just yet. I haven't heard anything about Sissi's plans for after this season but because I'm an Ann Cook homer, I'm just gonna speculate that her age may be catching up with her and she hangs up her cleats and moves back to Brasil to help advance women's soccer down there...so that would open up another spot in the midfield. Enter Ann Cook. Oh yeah baby!
The entire league needs a better TV deal, but, yes, the 'Rays better have some sort of TV deal next year! It's rather annoying to 1)follow on matchtracker away games that I cannot make it to, and 2) not be able to rush home after the games to review the tape! Oh yeah, and there's that Di made a goal and I do not have it on tape... :-(
C'Rays fans should simply enjoy Sunday afternoon and not worry about next season. If the C'Rays play next season, great. If not, then simply look for another form of entertainment.
From the latest CyberRays e-letter: "Sunday's 3 p.m. game in Spartan Stadium against the Boston Breakers will end the 2003 season and cap the careers of two special CyberRays, Tisha Venturini-Hoch and Kelly Lindsey." No mention of Ann Cook retiring, and I've heard some rumors that she may have been reconsidering. I've heard nothing official, though.
Mr. Foudy --- does he stay or does he go? If he does go...then how in God's name is Marlene and company gonna try to land someone with a proven track record to coach a team in a league that might not be around in the long run? Would a coach, say a collegiate one, want to give up his/her "safe" job in college for a crack at the pros? What about going overseas to find a coach? What about using Mr. Chastain as a "coaching consultant" for 2004?
Maybe Angela Kelly? She was a top prospect for the Carolina job and maybe with Patrick on the team (whom she coached at Tennessee) she'll be even more swayed towards San Jose.
This'll be really off the wall...but how about Ms. Chastain as a player-coach. It's not unprecedented...and I think she already has the leadership skills necessary...it might be a natural next step.
You beat me to it. Player-managers used to be common in baseball -- why not in soccer? If nothing else, it'll provide a little publicity for the league.
I think that would be a REALLY BAD IDEA...for anyone in this league, not just for Brandi. The players need to concentrate on PLAYING during the game and their own duties, not what everyone else is doing.
Kim Patrick just may be an answer. At least they need to give her a shot - nothing else has worked. She is a very tough player - physically and mentally. The CRays have never replaced Murray and her toughness(as I have stated before) and Patrick is in that mold. I am not saying she is at Murray's level, but she is capable of providing the toughness up front that the CRays so desperately lack. Katia and Pretinha do not provide that toughness. They are great if things are going well, but have a few things go wrong and they disappear. Sure hope Patrick gets some PT on Sunday. I am sorry to see Kelly Lindsay have to retire, but that debacle against Washington made it painfully clear that she doesn't have it anymore. Too bad, in 2001 she was the surprise of the league. Da^^ knees. Good luck to Boof in whatever she does next. Wow, has Clemens been a bust or what!! I must admit, I thought she was a good acquisition at the start of the year. WRONG! Only 2 assists (no goals) in 16 games at forward. Held out of 4 games and only played 671 minutes through Wed due to her lack of production. What a big disappointment she has been.
He's gotta go. I think the Pretinha effect is plauging the 'Rays, it happened with Mia Hamm and Company(rip of Eli Lilly and Company), no doubt in my mind that is what happened this year.
Hey Navi --- I need to crash at your place next year when I go down to San Jose to watch either the Beat or Freedom play the Cheetorays.
1. Get rid of Sawyers--not making the playoffs after the championship run is suffice enough. 2. Find a player who can make up for the departure of Venturini. Maybe another goal scoring partner for Katia. Clemens seems more like a boy toy at this point. 3. Player-coaches will make good PR in the short run, but will weaken chemistry if it doesn't work. Walter Zenga comes into mind. Brandi doing her impression of Lenny Wilkens or Bill Russell could work. 4. Until something happens otherwise, it's best to say that there will be a 2004.
Hanna Ljungberg?! From Soccer America: WUSA WEEK 19 WRAP I thought San Diego had courted Ljungberg the first year. Do a team's rights to an international player expire after two seasons? Which international player will be cut or traded to make room if she agrees to come over? Katia? That seems unfair now that you know she was compromised this year. Will Sissi retire? What about Di Alagich? I imagine Pretinha is the safest. I wouldn't want to have to make that decision.
Re: Hanna Ljungberg?! Katia may have had an off year, but when she's at the top of her game she can be among the best in the world. There's no way I'd give up on her before next season. Similarly, if Sissi wants to come back for another season, I'm not ready to give up on her either. She may be getting up there in years, but with Tisha out of the picture we're a little short of creativity in the midfield. (However, if Sissi, wanted to retire, the addition of Ljungberg would allow us to slide Pretinha back into the midfield.) If Ljungberg came in we'd be forced to get rid of one of the five foreign players, so we'd have to at least listen to any and all trade offers that came in, but it's hard to imagine anyone offering us enough value in return for Pretinha, so I imagine she'll still be with us next season. Assuming we don't get an outstanding offer for one of our Brazilians, it seems to me that Alagich would have to be the one to go. I know she's a very popular player here, but in my mind she's the obvious choice. She has a long history of injury problems, and -- as a defender -- she's the most easily replaceable of our international contingent. With Thori, Brandi, and Frenchie, we already have the makings of a very solid back line, and it shouldn't be hard to come up with a viable fourth. Potential candidates include Cromwell, Antongiovanni, or perhaps whoever we grab with the #3 pick in the draft. One other note: The bright side, if there is one, of Tisha and Boof's retirements is the fact that we now should have plenty of salary-cap space available. It is possible that Ljungberg will still not be willing to come play in the WUSA for whatever the league max is these days ($60K or thereabouts?), but if it turns out she *is* willing to come, at least the Rays won't have to scramble to dump salary in order to make it happen.
Re: Hanna Ljungberg?! Look, Ian's not a complete fool...although it did take him an awful long time to figure this out. I know nothing about Ljunberg, but the fact that her name keeps popping up leaves me extremely pleased that we hold her negotiating rights. Duck. 'Cause you're bound to have something thrown your way. At least that's the way it sort of went when I made this same suggestion last year. Just kidding, of course, but I did meet with fierce opposition. I realize that Di is a fan favorite, and I love her just as much as the next CyberRay fan does. So, I hate to say it, but if Sissi doesn't retire, then Di is our most expendable international. Last year, I suggested trading Di for Janss. I don't know Emily's stats for this season (and I love numbers) off the top of my head. I'd look it up, but my computer's having issues and posting is a big enough challenge. If we do get Ljundberg, drafting a forward wouldn't be a big issue. Not that Ian likes to draft forwards, but this case would actually give him a good reason to draft a different position.
Re: Re: Hanna Ljungberg?! Another point to consider is that, to my knowledge, there are no "can't miss" strikers -- like Wambach or Welsh -- entering the draft this year. The obvious #1 pick right now is Cat Reddick, a defender, and I'm also hearing lots of good things about Joanna Lohman, an attacking midfielder. But if we're looking for a striker, well, chances are we won't get one via the draft. BTW, if anyone is curious, I found Ljungberg's stats: she's 24 years old, 5'3'', and 128 pounds. She's obviously not a target player, but with her great reputation it sounds like she could be a speedy Tiffeny Milbrett-esque goalscorer. I realize we only have the #3 pick in the draft, so we won't necessarily get the exact player we want, but it's still interesting to think through a few possibilities. If we brought in Ljungberg and Reddick and lost Alagich, we would not have a bad team at all. We'd have a solid defense of French, Chastain, Bryan, and Reddick across the back with Barr at d-mid, and a lot of good attacking talent in front of them: Ljungberg, Katia, Pretinha, Sissi, and probably Barnes. The exact arrangement would depend on what formation the team played. In another scenario, suppose Sissi retired and we kept Alagich and drafted Lohman. In that case our defense would be French, Chastain, Bryan, Alagich. Barr still at d-mid. Assume we played a 4-3-3: We could have Pretinha and Lohman as attacking mids, Katia as a target forward, and Ljungberg and Barnes as wide strikers. In summary, yeah, we sucked this year, but if we add three players: 1. Pretinha returns from injury 2. Hanna Ljungberg, the best player not already in the WUSA 3. A starter we get in the draft then we could be in pretty good shape. It would also be nice if Katia snaps out of whatever funk she's been in (and, hey, maybe having that giant tumor removed will be a good start for her to be able to do that).
This is interesting news. I found FIFA's write up on Hanna Ljungberg http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/03/en/t/team/swe/ljungberg.html Ljungberg sounds like a real character. She should fit right in with the CyberRays. I'm surprised Pia Sundhage didn't get a line on her to offset Maren Meinert's retirement. But heck, more power to Ian Sawyers. I particularly liked this part. Shades of Julie Murray. "Ljungberg believes it is her new way of training that has made her an exceptional goal scorer. Every day after training she stays at the pitch and practices her scoring - not spectacular 30-yard strikes or overhead volleys - but "simple" tap-ins from within the area. It's given her better results than she ever imagined. "I only score ugly goals" is one of her favorite tongue-in-cheek comments on her game." If she doesn't pan out, the best graduating forward I'm aware of is Alyssa Ramsey out of UNC. It sounds like Sawyers wants to go international, though. I'm also not sure it's fair to say we sucked this year. We couldn't score, but we lost an awful lot of games by one goal. I'd say our play was often better than our record reflects.
From what I've heard, Ramsey is one of those physical "bull-in-a-china-shop" forwards that would be an excellent contrast and compliment to the elegance of our Brazilians (or Ljungberg, for that matter).