uuhhh have you looked at other teams' rosters? They're almost entirely WWC-bound players in their starting XI attacks. NWSL starting XIs in general are largely depleted for international windows - that's why NWSL respecting international windows or not has always been a huge issue. HOU is far and away looking like the outlier here.
Why not Angel FC besides Houston? You have Press, Sydney, Alyssa Thompson? Or Current with Sam Mewis, Kristen Hamilton or Gautrat? I mean they have the depth to handle some missing players. And I haven't even mentioned Portland.
With Ellen White retirement, Beth Mead’s ACL & current #1 striker, Russo, being so injury prone. I don’t see why Salmon wouldn’t make the English WC squad Wiegman’s turned into more cat n mouse/ruse-opponents-out of their-defenses & then quickly counter, Salmon’s lightning speed is made-to-order for that
Gotham is also pretty protected. The only sure US losses for the World Cup are K Mewis and O'Hara. Lynn Williams and Purce could make it, but likely only 1, not both, since they play the same position. They will also lose Ifeoma Onumonu (Nigeria).
breaking news; Courage just lost rising Japanese star Nagano to Liverpool. What the heck’s going on in NC?
She only played half a season with them. She was only signed in July through the 2022 season with an option for 2023.
Angel City, maybe. But your "other teams are probably doing the same" (emphasis added) implies it's a common strategy, when it's definitely not. Like for KC, Mewis and Gautrat are both actively in the USWNT player pool, and even in LA, Thompson might be breaking into the mix soon. As mentioned, NJ has KMew, Williams, Purce, and also Ife for Nigeria. That's a lot of turnover to manage when NTs call. Depth isn't the issue I was getting at - consistency is. Most NWSL teams lose their offense during international windows. Portland in particular embodies what I was talking about - they're going to lose most of their starting lineup to international duty. Depth can help them deal with that, yes, but that's always going to be a gamble.
Here's just an 'rumour' but(none name mentioned)NWSL club going after arguably France's best player., Diani. Don't follow French soccer much accept that they got an despised NT coach & that several of their clubs have pulled back their finances(whch is the opposite what's about happening in the rest of Europe). Diani supposedly had an $400K an year contract with PSG(now don't want renew that expensive contract?) But i say never underestimate the French, if there's anybody that going to produce the female equivelant of Mbappe, it will be them!
Gunny & McLeod depart ORL for Iceland together: Gunny Jónsdóttir and Erin McLeod are heading to Iceland after playing tow seasons together at the @ORLPride. We've updated our Transaction Tracker with the latest.➡️: https://t.co/S8gvV7GKi3 pic.twitter.com/fh9kw0URcW— The Equalizer (@EqualizerSoccer) January 24, 2023
Even with Gunny leaving, NWSL won't be without Icelandic representation: Svava is heading to the Big Apple That NWSL club is Gotham FC, which just announced signing her to a two-year contract.“One of my career goals has always been to someday play in the NWSL, and I could not think of a better club to do this with than Gotham FC," she says. https://t.co/rtwUzxnnar— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) January 27, 2023
LOU pick up Nigerian int'l Kanu from Tigres, and in the same deal loan their draftee Parker to Tigres https://equalizersoccer.com/2023/02...ansfer-tigres-record-liga-mx-nwsl-fee-150000/
I am really interested to see how both players do in the two respective leagues. It will give a better measure of the level of play in the Mexican league.
Some interesting international signings these past few days: DC sign French MF Juarena from Lyon NC sign Japanese MF Miura from NTV Beleza KC sign Swedish DF Glas from Bayern Munich HOU sign Venezuelan MF Olivieri from Monterrey
CHI acquire Sandra Starke from Wolfsburg on loan - that partnership is actually working out really well! (Much better than in did for ORL)
Whoopi Whoopi do—-so far this season Starke got an whole 13 minutes of playing time in Bundesliga/360 mins for their B team in Div 2
It's official. Angel City signs Ertz: 📝 #ACFC signs US Women’s National Team star midfielder @julieertz to the club’s roster!Read about the roster update here: https://t.co/fncDUuLZRZ pic.twitter.com/pIyRZPZ3og— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) April 17, 2023
It seems possible that Ertz held off on signing with Angel City to see if Vlatko thought she would be on the USWNT roster after seeing her in camp and against Ireland. If he thought she had a realistic chance, then she would sign. She looked viable in her tryout, so now she will play with her club.
Possibly. My thought actually was that she was pitting a couple of teams against each other (Angel City and San Diego?) hoping for the best deal possible and perhaps wasn't getting what she wanted. Besides her own experience, her husband is also a professional, so she would know the ins-and-outs of getting the best deal in addition to any specific terms she'd want written into the contract (like, for example, a no-trade clause, such as O'Hara had added to her contract at Gotham, pointing to the fact that she'll retire there; with a one-year contract, we know Ertz didn't get that added, but she could have wanted something else specific, not just more money). With Henry coming later, I'm not sure how much Angel City had to offer in allocation money. Maybe Angel City wasn't offering enough, but with the WC looming, Ertz just had to go ahead and sign. The one-year deal might also indicate she's hoping they'll sweeten the pot to keep her next year. I mean, all of that makes sense to me, but of course it doesn't mean that's what happened.
Ertz did not care about money. She wanted to control the length of the contract, and make sure she got playing time at the 6. She also likely wanted the one year contract for flexibility for her family. Her husband signed a $31 million contract. They are just fine financially. But if he gets traded she did not want to be locked in. I am also not convinced she will play club beyond this season. She could retire after the world cup, or go another year for the Olympics. Depends how she does at the World Cup.
IMO, I think this is the most likely scenario. Admittedly, it’s tough to know what her true motivations are, but Julie certainly appears to have different motivations than many other players. I doubt soccer money is an issue at all. 1) Zach has a huge contact 2) If she makes the WC roster her potential income from the WC and marketing contracts will dwarf her NWSL contact 3) AC provides a great platform to regain game fitness and also potentially foster those marketing possibilities. Julie and AC are short term match made in heaven. I think she is looking for the best environment to play in, a team that can help her make the WC, and have future flexibility for family life.