WPS released it's best XI of the season: GK - Ashlyn Harris, Western New York Flash D - Whitney Engen, Western New York Flash D - Kia McNeill, Philadelphia Independence D - Nikki Krzysik, Philadelphia Independence D - Ali Riley, Western New York Flash M - Veronica Boquete, Philadelphia Independence M - Caroline Seger, Western New York Flash M - Jen Buczkowski, Philadelphia Independence F - Christine Sinclair, Western New York Flash F - Marta, Western New York Flash F - Abby Wambach, magicJack Also, from Equalizer Soccer, here is Jeff Kassouf's best XI: GK – Ashlyn Harris, WNY Flash – Played every minute in goal for the 2011 WPS Champion. Her save on Laura del Rio’s fifth penalty in the championship was the final piece of a winning puzzle. D – Tina Ellertson, magicJack – The best man-marking back in the league as evidenced in multiple games against WNY when she marked Marta out of the match. D – Whitney Engen, WNY Flash – A young defender on the rise and a soon-to-be fixture at center back for the U.S. women’s national team. D – Kia McNeill, Philadelphia Independence – Like Ellertson, McNeill is capable of making top notch forwards look invisible. She is Philadelphia’s best defensive pick-up this season and was one of the best players in the final. M – Sarah Huffman, magicJack – One of the ultimate unsung heroes on a team loaded with national team talent. Everyone thinks of Megan Rapinoe on the flank, but Huffman patrolled magicJack’s midfield all season. M – Caroline Seger, WNY Flash – Her time was limited due to the World Cup, but Seger was the catalyst of the Flash. She had five goals and an assist in just 12 games. M – Veronica Boquete, Philadelphia Independence – League MVP and ultimate impact player. Philadelphia never makes it to the final without Boquete. Five goals and four assists in 11 games is more than impressive. It’s pure class. M – Lori Chalupny, Atlanta Beat – Chalupny shined on an Atlanta team that did anything but win (with one controversial exception). File Chalupny under the ‘unsung heroes’ category as well. F – Marta, WNY Flash – As long as she is playing, she’ll be on this list. Marta has defined individual greatness over the past five years. Many felt the Brazilian was a little “off” this year and she still tallied 10 goals and five assists, winning the Puma Golden Boot for a third-straight season. F – Christine Sinclair, WNY Flash – Many thought Sinclair should have been the league MVP. She led WPS in goals (tied with Marta) and assists and scored in the championship match. Surely she is happier with the championship ring. F – Tasha Kai, Philadelphia Independence – Unofficial comeback player of the year Tasha Kai had nine goals this season and was critical to Philadelphia’s success. Anyone else wanna put in their list for their best XI of the season?
I'm always so bad at whittling down choices... so here's an entire team. ^.^'' (Though I will bold who I definitely want in my starting XI) GK (4) Harris, Henderson, Barnhart, Naeher D (6) Ellertson, McNeill, Engen, Riley, Krzysik, Sauerbrunn M (9) Boquette, Seger, Chalupny, Zerboni, Klingenburg, Buczkowski, Farrelly, Fletcher, Sjogran F (5) Sinclair, Press, Kai, Morgan, Wambach
So the Equalizer and the official WPS XI agree on: G-Harris D-Engen, McNeill MF-Boquete, Seger F-Marta, Sinclair Differ on Ellertson vs. Riley and Krzysik on defense. Differ on Chalupny and Huffman vs. Buczkowski in the midfield. Differ on Kai vs. Wambach at forward. Personally, I don't think Harris would have been my goalkeeper, but I have to admit she had pretty good year. Personally, given the defense in front of her, I thought Branam was probably better. I also rate Barnhart at least equal to Harris. Defense-I would tend to go with Krzysik over Ellertson. Part of it wasn't Ellertson's fault, it was magicDan's three back formation, but I still think I give Krzysik a slight edge for this season only. I think Ellertson is still the better defender overall. As for Riley, I guess it depends on if you go with three or four defenders. There's not much doubt in my mind that Riley is one of the best at her position in the world. Of course, I have a strong bias for Chalupny, but then, who do you leave off. I certainly think Buczkowski's season was very good and a key for Philadelphia. I thought Huffman came on strong late in the year, but part of that may be that I didn't get to see much of her early, due to magicJack not being on television much. Kai vs. Wambach is a tough proposition. Kai might have been better for the whole season, but Abby was clutch down the stretch, even after the World Cup had to wear her down. In fact, Kai was more consistent than Marta, considering the first third of the season, we saw only a reasonably good Marta (although still one of the best), the second third she was gone, and then we had phenomenol Marta at the end. I couldn't really argue against either the official choices or Jeff's. Of course, the league technically had three central defenders out of four and Jeff had two out of three. But I suppose this is not specifically regarding positions. I can't make up my mind, but mine would look something like G-Branam D-Engen, McNeill, Krzysik, Riley MF-Seger, Boquete and either Chalupny or Buczkowski F-Sinclair and two of the three between Marta, Kai, and Wambach.
I also had a vote. My ballot, with differences from WPS Best XI highlighted: GK - Nicole Barnhart (feel like people have forgotten her for some reason) D - Engen D - Krzysik D - Tina Ellertson (like Jeff, I think she and Kia McNeill are outstanding shutdown defenders. I could easily see a case to include both of them. I included Krzysik because she was the captain and anchor of the league's best D.) M - Lori Chalupny (so she got at least two votes.) M - Buczkowski M - Boquete M - Marta (is it really a stretch to list her at midfield? I don't think so.) F - Sinclair F - Wambach F - Tasha Kai (by listing Marta at midfield, I avoid the whole "two out of three" problem) So like Jeff, I got seven of the 11. We agreed on Chalupny. Riley didn't appear on either of our ballots, but she's not a bad pick at all. The toughest omissions are Riley, McNeill, Seger, Huffman, O'Reilly or Rapinoe. If I could pick a second XI: GK - Harris, or maybe Jill Loyden D - Riley D - McNeill D - Becky Sauerbrunn M - Huffman M - Seger M - O'Reilly M - Rapinoe M - Kelly Smith (limited by injuries but still one of the best in the world when healthy, and Boston was far better when they were able to put her on the field) F - Christen Press F - this one's tough. I'll say Alex Morgan, but I admit I saw her more in the World Cup than in WPS, and she didn't have an impressive WPS final. The only other player in WPS with at least five goals is Casey Nogueira. Lauren Cheney, a solid U.S. national teamer, was good in limited WPS action. Other tough cuts: Therese Sjogren, McCall Zerboni, Rachel Buehler, Marian Dalmy, Becky Edwards
Kai had at least 10 goals, not nine. I also don't like how the league's top XI had ten players from the finals, it's clear that Kassouf decided to be more democratic... --------------------------------- CONGRATULATIONS PHILA INDEPENDENCE 2010-2011 Finalists. Hey, Pia! You need Buscz Foes: NYRB, aka Newark, New Jersey
@_@ How the f*$% did I miss that??? I will now go hide in a corner. I mean, I'm not a Marta fan at all, but I've never missed including her in things like this before....
morgan isnt a 90 min forward. when she starts giving 90 mins a game with good production, then i'd add her to these lists. as of now, she is a good pair of legs vs tired defenders after the 60 min.
Zerboni should definitely have been on that list, she was arguably the best midfielder on WNY (if we're coutning Marta, deservedly, as a forward). Defensively, have to have Engen and, dare I say it, Brittany Taylor. She was a rock on that defensive line, the only player to start all 18 games for the third best defense in the league. And considering the down year that Dew had, and the merry-go-round of players to fill out the flanks, I think she deserves to get a little credit.