News & Media II: Articles, photos, videos, etc.

New in house counsel:
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily...new-legal-chief-after-pay-equity-defense-spat
Welcome Karen

 

Updates to the FIFA calendar that honestly won't affect the immediate future as the women have nothing scheduled, but still good to know:
-Olympic window is now set as 21 July to 6 August 2021 (yes, the IOC had already moved the Olympics, but this is FIFA setting the window for club release dates and such)
-Originally scheduled Type II window in June-July 2021 scheduled as 7-16 June 2021 (for all but UEFA; consecutive Type I window set as 7-15 June 2021)
-existing window of 14-22 September 2020 cancelled for all confederations except UEFA
-13-21 September 2021 Type I window will be consecutive with an alternative 13-25 September 2021 Type III window for all confederations, except UEFA

The updated calendar is here: https://img.fifa.com/image/upload/r1bjp24jndwtqm5ecvzt.pdf

Original calendar with definitions of the types of windows is here: https://resources.fifa.com/image/up...ar-2020-2023.pdf?cloudid=uoleugt7yudo3zavog9a

 

England women's coach Wiegman sees gap closing with United States
https://www.espn.com/soccer/england...h-wiegman-sees-gap-closing-with-united-states
Blah, Blah, Blah, Yada, Yada, Yada.

World-renowned experts from all 7 Continents confirm the gap is widening in terms of Complete and Total Awesomeness.

 

One of the cliches that should be abandoned is the statement that "the gap is closing between the U.S. women and the rest of the world."

The 2019 World Cup showed that the gap is widening. The U.S. has never fielded such a dominate team. Nobody even came close to beating them, although Spain showed well and tough.

 

but rather NWSL’s underwhelming schedule will be the downfall of the USWNT? We’ve ready seen the whole Australian contingent dump the NWSL for the greener($$$)pastures of England, now with the recent rumor that Press & Heath are heading there as well to join Mewis & Lavelle, Could this mean the beginning of the end of US domination?(if you feel like I do that having what was the strongest league in the world was one of the main reasons for the US success)

 

USWNT stars are fleeing the United States for Europe, and COVID-19 isn't the only reason
https://sports.yahoo.com/uswnt-star...-covid-19-isnt-the-only-reason-181416873.html

 

Well, although I agree that the USA have dominated the WWC, I guess your statement is quite inaccurate: nobody have beaten USA, but there definitely were teams that "went close": not only Spain, but also England, since they were one failed PK away from equalizing the semi-final, and who knows how the game would have ended if that PK had been converted.

 

So what Top 10 Teams did some of the other Countries beat in the '19 WWC?

#6 England beat ......................................
#5 Sweden beat #8a, #6, #2,
#4 Netherlands beat #5
#3 France beat #8b
#2 Germany beat ....................................

And as always, please remember the little known 11th Commandment that Moses unfortunately dropped when traversing down Mount Sinai - - - "Thou shalt not question the FIFA Women's Rankings".

 

sam and rose (after quarantine, & maybe press and heath too?) on tv.

https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2020/09/02/sam-mewis-debut-uswnt-manchester-city-wsl/

 

Here are the currently scheduled 2021 USWNT dates:

#USWNT dates for 2021:

January camp Jan 9-29
SheBelives Cup Feb 8-25
April Camp April 5 - 13
June Camp June 6 - 16
Olympic Prep Camp June 30 - July 4

— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) September 12, 2020

Will there actually be a SheBelieves tournament? Will any teams come for matches during the camps? Will the 2020 Olympics really happen in 2021? All good questions that cannot be answered yet.

 

Goalkeeper Coach Philip Poole now Full Time:
https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...hilip-poole-as-goalkeeper-coach-for-the-uswnt

 

ICYMI: @TIME names #USWNT captain @mPinoe as one of the 100 most influential people https://t.co/2WPzxRlTiw #MeganRapinoe #Time #TimeMagazine

— Michael Lewis (@Soccerwriter) September 23, 2020

 

Carli Lloyd's future plans are essentially to stick around for one more Olympics:

“My long-term goal is to MAKE another Olympic team and win another Olympic gold medal," she told the 'My Sporting Mind' podcast.
"Hopefully that dream can come true next summer and then I'll probably get a little taste of retirement and the next chapter." Direct quote 👍🏼 https://t.co/izmlUyBlDG

— Carli Lloyd (@CarliLloyd) September 24, 2020

 

Like Lebron would say, not one, not two, not three... Olympics!

 

just saw this! haven't seen it elsewhere.

tony to the matildas.

https://www.livesoccertv.com/news/34785/tony-gustavsson-joins-westfield-matildas-as-head-coach/

 

Might have to triple-team Sam on Corner Kicks.

 

The way she playing it’s better just to leave her alone in the box.

 

In related Carli Lloyd news, she just posted this on twitter:

Everything has a way of working out! 💗 pic.twitter.com/xIKYA3VRDa

— Carli Lloyd (@CarliLloyd) October 2, 2020

I read this as a breaking away from her trainer Galanis; I could be wrong though.

 

That would be a first.

 

hmm....

cryptic.

 

Don’t think so. Just say leaving the academy and not training the kids anymore and focused on her recovery for injury and preparing for the Olympics.

 

Leading European Economists are scrambling to analyze the effect this has on Brexit.
https://www.insider.com/christen-press-tobin-heath-manchester-united-jerseys-outsell-mens-2020-10

 

great news for the commercial power of these women.

but, to be fair, they just counted the 3-day buying excitement after the signings were announced.

they didn't seem to make comparisons with the 3-day buying excitement after any of those male big name signings.

people who want to, will find it very easy to poke holes in this kind of reporting.

 

I did a lengthy interview with USWNT and North Carolina Courage forward Lynn Williams:

 

Were you wondering what was in Vlatko's notebook during the Challenge Cup? This article in the Athletic is probably as close as we're going to get; it's based off an interview with Vlatko about game analysis and scouting during the craziness of 2020.

The interesting (to me) notes for those without a subscription:
--The scouting team watched all matches live or with the technical footage (which is from a wide angle to see the whole field no matter where the ball is to watch for positioning and decision making off the ball). Each player in the player pool was assigned to one scout who watched that player the entire game.
--On looking at goalkeepers: "They need to perform well in their market before they’re even considered to get a chance.”
--On central defenders, in general: "During the downtime between March and the October camp, one of the main projects for the technical staff was aligning their understanding and profile of each position...Player profiles were built — and the one for center backs included 140 total videos."
--Specifically on Purce, there's some really good stuff here, and I'm not copying it all, but essentially, Vlatko knows her best position is forward and is glad she plays there for Sky Blue. But, he's experimenting and seeing if she can play outside back. He knows she isn't a great defender but sees potential for her in the position, and specifically wants to see her improve on dangerous crossing: "We want to be effective over 80% of the time for the full backs on the national team in the middle zone or attacking zone...(Purce) has a component that can make her very dangerous in the outside back position. She wasn’t just thrown there out of the blue.”
--Sullivan would have been in camp if she hadn't been so close to coming back from injury.
--Vlatko isn't sure on her best position, but Ashley Sanchez will be tried out at the #10 position in this camp.
--On Sophia Smith's NWSL debut: "she looked like the most comfortable rookie in the NWSL that we’ve seen. It was almost like she walked onto the field, like she had a hundred games under her belt."
--Vlatko is pretty confident that Macario will be eligible for the US by the Olympics.
--Vlatko's blueprint for how he wants the team to play: "We want to be an attacking team that uses possession to disorganize and unbalance opponents. When we’re out of possession, we want to be able to control opponents and minimize time on the ball.”