Katie Naughton for Houston might have been the only player to play every minute of 7 games, except for GK Campbell. I don't recall Naughton doing anything fabulous, but she obviously didn't do much of anything wrong either. Defensive player of the tournament?
If you enjoyed Ashlyn Harris's Instagram stories after the USWNT won the WWC last year, you need to follow Jamia Fields for the locker room videos. Also an injury update: if the dancing in the locker room is any indication, Kristie Mewis's hamstring seems to be doing fine.
Well, what can be said? Always wish a championship game can have both teams at full/near full strength. Congratulations to the Dash and happy for their fans. Chicago had the goods on the field to score goals but did not convert. The Dash earned it, fair and square. Proud of CRS in making the final.
I wonder if Daly’s strong Challenge Cup performances will help England’s coaching staff come to their senses and play her up front. She is wasted as a right back. I don’t think she’s the best midfield winger either. Center forward is her best position. Jodie Taylor looked sluggish in these games. She put in some good years esp 2017 but maybe England can now move on from her. Daly is more dynamic, although perhaps not as lethal a finisher as Ellen White. Pairing them together in a 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 could yield results.
If you didn’t know; the FA current NT coach Phil Neville has been asked to step down by sometime, early next year as they don’t want him coaching the Olympic squad. Bookies have Jill Ellis as odds on favorite to become the new coach, thus Daly’s aggressive style would certainly make her an Ellis favorite Just got to wonder if Sydney Leroux’s recent video proclaiming Ellis coaching was “toxic” will weigh in on the selection committee? Plus both the Australian & Canadian coaches are stepping down as well, giving Ellis(as well as other coaches) attractive alternatives to choose from. Right now, Neville or not, the NT is designed around Man City’s style/concept; probable 4-1-3-1-1, basically play the ball from the back(for ball possession), going through what’s in my book is a very stationary DM(trust me, whoever plays it, ain’t no Julie Ertz) which unfortunately leads to one less attacking player upfront/or just playing the lone striker which usually(as you mentioned) is Ellen White, though the ironically named Beth England is the 2nd stringer these days instead of Jody Taylor. perhaps a new coach ala Ellis will take them away from this dreadful style, but right now Man City commands at least a dozen of England’s current NT including majority of the starters. So a quick transition will probably not take place
Ellis hates anything that lies outside her vision of what “should be.” Hence Lynn Williams was outside looking in. Daly’s biggest strength is her wild passion. Ellis just wouldn’t have it. IF England choose Ellis to follow Neville, the Lionesses would be a disaster.
Has anyone seen the TV numbers for the final yet? I'm curious if the final beat the opener in total numbers, considering that NWSL spent a month as online-only and went back on the air in a world where many pro teams sports were back in action by then. (On the flipside, I guess, HOU+CHI accounts for a much bigger population of people with potential hometown stakes in the game than the POR+NC opener did...)
Yeah, Beth England is the critical name you mention that FawcettFan14 didn't. Daly had a great tournament, but England also had a very good season following up on a pretty decent 2018-2019. Maybe it could be a England-Daly front two instead. Regardless, Mead, England, White, Parris, Hemp, and Daly offer solid competition for forward spots.
Daly's not the most disciplined, but Ellis bread & butter been always the high press; she would mercilessly use it, even against Thailand, who's players looked like they just stepped out of a rec league. in this respect, 'pressing' can be an art form & nobody does it better than Rachel Daly! the ENG NT & league.seems to be just about getting the ball to the single/lone striker(and that even includes Emma Hayes & Chelsea as who gets to take all the shots; Beth England or winger, Sam Kerr? lol) Neville at least started Daly vs the US, but at left side usually reserved for Parris England vs. United States - 2 July 2019 - Women Soccerway but this was the usual starting lineup for Neville(except maybe Mead instead of Duggan) here vs Norway Norway vs. England - 27 June 2019 - Women Soccerway if Ellis becomes coach, hopefully she'll go to the 4-3-3 & of course use Daly more, I personally prefer her over Parris
You could add Galton, Russo(from NC Tar Heels) , James & even Dowie now that’s she’s moved to AC Milan, into the mix for the front line. England goes deep, but there’s just something missing. You might not feel they warrant a chance compared to others, but it’s sometimes who works best in a coach’s system. Since Ellis wants more faster transition type play(instead the more deliberate/ball possession) she would need to overhaul the roster & get away from the dominance that MC has had
While that is a huge improvement it is quite disappointing. With the pandemic there is little to do and I would have expected more much more. The time of the match would lower the viewership some the fact that a large portion of people in the US are still staying home, or at least they should be. I would have thought the numbers would have been on the order of 2,000,000 for an event that is still pretty unique in availability. But maybe there is a lot of burnout and the poor play in most of the earlier matches may have encouraged people to not watch. I feel, unfortunately, that my passion for soccer has decreased quite a bit and, even for me, the decision to watch many matches is harder than it used to be. I do not really know why the viewership was lower than I expected but it was and no matter how the numbers get spun having the final on CBS did not really have the effect intended.
Americans have always had a love/hate relationship with soccer; huge TV ratings for the World Cup, 30 million for 2015 finals. was twIce as much as an average NBA or MLB playoff game/as well as beat American Idols massive showings an decade ago. But TV viewing for a typical pro game falls 200 times the viewership(so go figure). Men’s MLS final last year only drew 822K on ESPN. But with Telemundo & a host of male dominated soccer cable stations, got an world wide audience of over 2 million. Unfortunately woso doesn’t get that benefit since as we all know, rarely do woso fans go out of their own spectrum. One other thing; I’m a Democrat(voted for Bernie in the last couple of primaries) the one thing I noticed though when going to see my kid play travel/high school/college soccer is how the majority of the rest of parents were die hard Republicons! Soccer in this country is an middle to upper class sport. That means lots of money to spend especially by those parents(ECNL fees anyone?)So why did the NWSL threw so much politics into this event? Got the feeling it was a turn off for the average fan who turn to sports for escapism(no matter what party your in)
Maybe your expectations were too high. Let's put it in context. The final beat the opener in CBS's numbers by almost 100,000, so the play didn't turn off viewers, but in fact, more fans watched. The game beat out the other soccer games on TV this week in the US except for one Premier League game (the Manchester United vs Leicester one). So, it was above par with other soccer games on TV during the pandemic. The viewership for the final beat out all but two USWNT friendlies' viewership in 2019. 2 million would put the game on par for a WWC/Olympic group stage game's viewership. All that to say, these numbers were good, very good. In fact, it was the most-watched NWSL game in league history.
Old post to respond to, but just also wanted to show that I also complained about the trophy. Looks like the rookie of the year award. Or belongs in a band or choir room joining other insignificant awards or trophies. Germany's... Scottish League version design by a little girl... FA WSL... Lige MX Division 1 Feminine... Finally... the 2nd tier United Women's soccer in U.S. And the other 2nd tier U.S. Women's premier soccer league.
The one on the left is Natasha Kai, isn't she? Did she retire, by now, or does she play again in minor leagues? Anyway, for additional reference: Nadeshiko League trophy (here shown with a young Nahomi Kawasumi): Nadeshiko League Cup (National League Cup): Empress' Cup (additional National Cup for all levels of teams, including University teams; I'll have to admit that the Emperor's Cup, the equivalent for men's soccer, is bigger and more impressive):
Natasha Kai it is, and that pic was from last year. So she was playing then. Haven't checked now. Looks almost the same size.
You're right: I only follow Japanese women's soccer and not men's, so I had actually never seen the trophy: it appears that other sports in Japan have an "Emperor's Cup" too, and when i searched for it I saw a different one from soccer's!