IF IF IF the Courage win NWSL after trading Crystal Dunn to Portland, and in an Olympic year, then Paul Riley is Woso Coach of the Century. Dunn was the crtical ingredient leading to the 2018-2019 dominance for the Courage. OTOH if Mark Parsons doesn’t win with Dunn and the rest of the Thorns, he must be found lacking. For 2021, The Courage lost: Dunn, Merrick, Daniels, Watt, and Milliet. They won’t have Mewis until the FAWSL (and maybe Champions League) is done. Today they signed Merritt Mathias for a year with a year option. Previously this week they signed Havana Solaun and Rylee Baisden. For North Carolina, I think the answer to the hole at left back is Merritt Mathias. She had her ACL injury in September 2019, so her knee should be as good as it could be post injury, surgery and rehab. For any post-ACL athlete, there is always a question about getting fully back to form, over and above just healing the knee. I think Mathias has the guts and mindset to do that. When she rampaged on the right side, I was always pleased to see her ability to cut in and serve the ball left-footed. To slot into the hole Dunn left behind, I am guessing without Milliet, that Kristen Hamilton will be there. I don’t see Solaun as having the relentless playing energy that Riley needs in the midfield. I think Cari Rocarro is a class player, but has less everything needed to be in the starting eleven for the Courage. I am sure Riley is going to implement a 3-back option, like most pro coaches are doing now. But I can’t help feeling that with changing personnel, a team needs to stick with This-Is-How-We-Play and introduce the new players to the system. The Courage system is a 4-back with a box midfield. I thought this was a nice, concise breakdown of NWSL Teams for 2021: https://keepernotes.com/2021/01/06/nwsl-2021-team-rankings-and-draft-needs/ Happy 2021! -CJ
Alternatively, Mark Parson will be a genius if he wins the NWSL title with four or more stars including Dunn gone for uswnt camps and the Olympics during the season. If all the players make the final team, Horan, Dunn, Smith, and Saurbrunne won’t contribute is probably half the season. Possibly Franch, Weber, or Klingenberg could also be called if somebody gets hurt. Riley, otoh, can replace Dunn with a quality player who will actually play against lesser competition than Olympic team players. during the WC year the Thorns actually did better against depleted teams with the stars gone.
I might have added Sinclair, who will also be at the Olympics. She is usually only called to the Canadian team for fifa windows, as Canada has too many players in Europe. And sync hasn’t taken off extended periods after FIFA tournaments like *cough* Morgan and Llloyd and Rapinoe have done.
Yes, better than NC, but not better than the Spirit or the Reign. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/nwsl-general-news-and-info.2035375/page-46#post-37951687
What does this mean for the Courage? https://t.co/ZnvjTVUoRJ— Anthony DiCicco (@DiCiccoMethod) January 9, 2021
UPDATE: The club declined to comment on this report, but confirmed that the North Carolina Courage are unimpacted by this. https://t.co/gx6s5XTug5— Jeff Rueter (@jeffrueter) January 9, 2021
Anyone have an idea of how deep the ownership pockets are? If teams are expecting revenue sharing from teams that normally make a profit ( ahem thorns) this year will be a tad light.
I mean, NCFC had MLS aspirations and had good work towards a new stadium of their own. I'm a bit surprised they're bowing out for 2021, but then again I believe that USL has a fairly-well-oiled mechanism for teams taking a year off, and I think that USL is waiving penalties for taking that option for 2021? (Specifically because 2020 was so rough with the pandemic and all, I believe.) But yes, it is weird to see NCFC of all USL teams feeling the need to forgo at least one season of USL... That said, the impression I've gotten is that they're also one of the few organizations in the county (Portland also being in that club) to really value their women's side on par with their men's side, so if you need to cost-cut for a year, it would make sense they cost-cut the more expensive option.
McCall, Sabrina, Jaelene, now Abby. Even though I believe in my heart Sam is coming back after the 20-21 FAWSL/ Champions league seasons, I’m left hanging on by two fingers: Lynn Williams and Kristen Hamilton. Kiwi, Katelyn, and Jess are the only other Flash players left.
I just realized that Sam and Abby now have a shot at more silverware together to add to the NCAA, NWSL, and World Cup titles.
I forgot that Taylor Smith (signed by the Flash in 2016 after not getting drafted) is back on the team. She's one of the UCLA national champions.
Courage have picked up a 2021 international slot from Chicago in exchange for a 202*2* draft pick and 2021 allocation money. Interesting math, that one.
... And Riley and Naimo pick a fast, aggressive Forward with their first pick. Deanne Rose. As Gomer Pyle used to say: "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!"
Wow, it's so long that Deanne Rose is around, at international level, that I wasn't even aware that she was still a college player! Sounds like a good pick, indeed. Will it be enough to make up for the losses?
I think he has the Dunn hole covered with Hamilton and the Daniels hole covered by moving Mathias to the left and putting Smith on the right. The Dahlkemper hole still needs fixing. I think an international center back who is not going to the Olympics is the direction he is going. Kurtz lacks the speed needed to start for this team. She is a suitable stopgap until a better player is available. .....If Mewis does not come back in 2021, **sigh**
Given the NC player changes and the foreshadowing of a formation change, I re-watched the Fall Series games. No Dunn, Erceg, O’Sullivan, Mewls, Daniels, McDonald, or Hamilton. Here are some general observations. Disclaimer – I am not an Analytics person, nor did I coach soccer above U12 recreation level. As I watched and pondered the switch from the 4 back with box midfield to a 3-2-4-1 or 3-2-3-2, I came to believe that the angles and spaces in the 3 back are VERY different than the 4 back, on both sides of the ball. Without playing it many times with your teammates, it is hard to know where they will be. Overall Impressions: For the four games, the defense, back to front, was substandard, even poor at times. Dahlkemper played poorly by her standards. Typical of NC, many shots were good opportunities poorly taken; however, NC was not generating the dozens of shots they would normally have. I felt that a lot of the serves into the box were well executed except it was often like an NFL quarterback making a pass into triple coverage – no matter how good the ball was, it was doomed to failure. I have concluded that NC success, or lack thereof, using the 3-back was partially related to personnel and partly to how the midfield was set up. NC had the most success with the 3-2-4-1 setup vs. ORL in the first half of the second game, with the 4 midfielders set up across the field, two attacking mids and two wingers. They were able to press and to control the ball back to front. They did not play well in a modified box or a 3-2-3-2. So I think with a full pre-season, and the available starting personnel back, NC will be in good enough shape for 2021 - I am less worried than I was before re-watching the games. The Dahlkemper hole remains. Since I have very rarely seen Hailie Mace play and I have watched Addisyn Merrick play 8 or 9 games for NC, I think protecting Mace and not protecting Merrick was probably the wrong choice. Mace was the only one of the 11 protected who was an unproven player with the Courage. -CJ
Courage signed Ireland's Diane Caldwell, an international defender who is not going to the Olympics or to the 2022 Euros, unfortunately for her. Looks like an excelllent signing. Caldwell captained SC Sand in the Bundesliga and played there since 2016. She has 79 NT caps https://www.nccourage.com/news_article/show/1141405 1351587793206652929 is not a valid tweet id