Is the USSF not allowing WNT members to play for their NWSL teams yet?

Point of order question: What evidence do we have for communication btwn the two being poor re: USWNT players post WWC? Some teams seem to be more on top of things than others, imo.

 

It's apples and oranges though. Disappointed fans will always come back and see their team play, but not so much casual fans. My concern is if certain NWSL teams are only pulling in 2,000 spectators, they'll need all the help they can get from the NT players returning, in order to attract more casual fans. Heck, even if the league retains a fraction of 1% of the fans who watched the WC final, it would be in good shape.

 

Tbh, the only proof we have is Waldrum's reddit AMA. He said that Houston found out the night before IIRC. I agree about other teams being more on top of it and that's basically because at the beginning of the season they went "Hey, what if our NT players don't play straight away after the WC? Let's be prepared just in case."

 

But you also have 2 players dress up in Chicago and on the bench roster. In Portland you have Riley calling out Morgan, telling the reporter to ask her as to when she'll be back. There does appear to be some miscommunication issue with the league and USSF. On the other hand, it may just be the coaches voicing their frustrations since their teams are struggling. I still remember Riley lambasting Pia for calling up players to training camps prior to the 2011 WC, and having the audacity to hurt A-Rod's psyche by benching her in the final, even though she was scoreless in 5 matches.

 

That's on him and a little common sense here. After a tiring tournament even without the mandates, why would you expect these players to start playing already after the whirlwind week(LA rally + NYC parade) they had and lack of sleep? He needed to explain that to his girls if he was going to take them so soon to a Houston Dash game. OR better yet, just to play it safe, wait 2 weeks, yes 2 weeks...... I know it's a long time for some people but plenty of time and guess what? That's when these players are coming back yay!

 

As far as Chicago is concerned, I'm hoping that all those fans who come to see Press, Chalupny, Boxx, Johnston at Benedictine on Saturday will also see Colaprico, Huerta, Gilland, Hoy, Tancredi, and other very good players on the Red Stars roster, a good game (hopefully a Red Stars win) and decide they want to come back again to see more.

As far as my understanding goes, all the Red Stars players will be there on Saturday, but who will start, play, etc. is up to Rory Dames and the Red Stars coaching staff.

 

Thanks. I don't see the anything about finding out the night before in the AMA I'm looking at. But maybe I'm missing a reply he made.

What I saw on the topic:

 

Ok, I'll concede on this subject. You guys win this point! Perhaps some of the players and coaches were jumping the gun a bit before checking with USSF. I'm sure this miscommunication was not intentional.

 

Yeah. That's seems a Riley problem rather than a USSF problem. Is he calling out Sinclair for not being back yet?

 

I did mention before that the communication wasn't great. And as for Riley, honestly he didn't prepare his roster well enough and he's lashing out and blaming everyone but himself. If he honestly hasn't spoken to Morgan and found out when she'll be available then that's on him not US Soccer.

 

Definitely not the message you want to send after the Women won the WC for us US fans. Can you imagine Morgan waking up a few days after the tournament ended with her coach calling her out for wanting to do her own thing? I bet their phone conversation went something like this:

Riley: Alex, it's me your coach........Paul Riley. How are you? How is your psyche?

Morgan: My psyche, coach?

Riley: Yeah, your psyche. I noticed you haven't been scoring much. Last time I sent one of my strikers to the NT I got back damaged goods. I had to reprogram her by making her watch 18 straight hours of Gary Lineker poaching goals in front of goal for the English side.

Morgan: Gary Lineker??

Riley: Yeah, a true professional that fellow. Anyway, I noticed that you're back in the states now, so should I expect to see you at practice tomorrow? I know you yanks won that tournament over there in Canada, but now we have some real business of winning a title in Portland to get to.

Morgan: Honestly coach I'm not 100% sure when I'll be back with the team. The USSF has us doing so many media events to celebrate the victory, we've been flying all over the country, so I'm not exactly sure wh............

Riley: ..........................Ok, ok, if you don't want to come back just say so! Anyway, I have a practice to get back to with some underachieving, no-talent players that really care about this sport!

 

I certainly agree that Houston put all it's eggs in two baskets with a USNT midfield and a CANNT defense and they are paying a bit for that but the original discussion has gone far afield. This was a huge opportunity for NWSL clubs to take a step towards profitability. In the next few weeks we'll learn whether this is a success or another failure. If a US WC win cant be turned into sustainable growth in both ticket and marketing revenue, then the clubs would be better off shutting the league down.

 

And here's a bit of good news in Houston

lower level sidelines seats for 8/21 = no mas ... and our 3 other home games are not far behind ... ACT FAST people if you want to #DashOn

— Jen Fusci (@Fusci28) July 16, 2015

 

I am a Washington Spirit Season Ticket Holder/Fan. I go to every home game. And I will be just fine if Krieger and Harris don't play. The same with Solo and Rapinoe. I am a fan of the Spirit as a team, not just those players.

I am also a fan of the USWNT and the players on it. I am happy that they won the WWC. I am happy for them to enjoy all of the publicity they can get.

In fact the only thing that I am unhappy about is the lack of mentions of the NWSL. The USSF failed at their duty as league office of the NWSL during the WWC and is failing now. They should have run ads about the NWSL during the USWNT WWC games. They also should be handing out flyers about the NWSL to every attendee of the victory tour matches, and every other USWNT match for that matter.

 

I figured they'd be back this week, guess not. http://equalizersoccer.com/2015/07/17/uswnt-nwsl-participation-attendance-womens-world-cup-bump/

 

While it is understandable that hard-core fans want their USWNT players back in NWSL games, the media tour and making sure they are indeed match fit and healthy takes and should take priority.

Let's face it: It took 16 years to win back the WWC after '99. The final took place in prime time on a Sunday night and garnered the largest TV audience in this country's history for a soccer game (men's or women's). The team won in dominant crushing fashion in a way that electrified the country. They emerged as worthy champions.

Men in their 30s and 40s could discuss the games at the water cooler at work and openly admire the players' skill and athleticism without having their own manhood questioned. I can be in a meeting with business professionals, suggest that someone's proposed strategy is such a long shot that it is the equivalent of trying to be Carli Lloyd while facing the wrong goal, and every man in the room instantly gets the reference - and admires Lloyd.

This team resonates with the public in a way that perhaps not even the '99 team did. The ability to take advantage of that in the media is unprecedented.

Sorry, but the players doing their part to publicize the game as a whole takes priority over a single league game.

 

Equalizer announces surgery for Leroux and Morgan which helps to explain their absence

 

I guess its kind of old news now since the players who are not injured have returned to club play, but this Soccerwire article sheds more light onto why players were delayed in their return and why there was so much confusion (spoiler: it may have been due to advice and input from players' lawyers and agents): http://www.soccerwire.com/blog-post...tional-team-so-long-to-return-to-nwsl-action/