Uhhh I think the 24 hour time limit has passed. Both the Freedom and Courage have done what some deemed the impossible...to go from being cellar dwellers at the end of last season to playing at Herndon Stadium this Saturday for the WUSA championship!!! Congrats to everyone on both teams...the players, the coaches, the staff, and the fans. Very much well deserved. And props has to be given to both the Charge and Beat...they put up valiant efforts this past Saturday and they both need to be commended for what they accomplished this season. But enough of that...it's time to roll up the sleeves and get down to bizness. BRING IT ON!!!! 1) I will always bring this up...so what do you do with Mia? Start? Second half super sub? What? And where does she play? 2) Moore v Prinz and I guess Grubb or Jones v Fotop? 3) When do both teams arrive in Atlanta? 4) How many of you are going? 5) How do you contain Riise? Blah blah blah. WAR FREEDOM!!!!
Ok this is the last game. The Freedom need to empty their pockets, hold nothing back! For me that means playing Mia up top. I'm talking full out stricker. Let Mak, Pu and Cookie take care of the playmaking. Let Mia do whatever she wants. Play her right on the restraining line. Whether it's in the first half or the second I still don't know. That should be her decision. Carrie should play Prinze. Of the Fotop-Prinze punch Prinze is more dangerous and causes the most trouble. I say make the Courage look to someone else. Venus James burned us in that second game but we sorted that out. I think they learned from that ass kicking Mia gave them last time. Don't expect that same team to show up on Saturday.
First off, throw the 5-2 game out the window. Carolina didn't have Tiffany Roberts, and Danielle Slaton was coming off an injury and looked as if she shouldn't have been out there at all. I would expect Carrie to be on Prinz again, though of all her matchups this is the one that worries me the most, with the 5'9" Prinz a much tougher matchup than the 5'3" Pichon. We need another big game from our big three (Mia, Bai, Abby). We certainly can't count on our defense to pitch another shutout - we're going to need some goals. Three would be nice. I agree that Mia should be put in a position to score, not just assist.
Mia up top - definitely. She's most effective when she's up there. Yes, let someone else playmake from the middle, she STILL playmakes from up top and we can count on her for corners as well. Between her, Steamroller and The Gnat we really have a fearsome threesome up top. They won't know who the hell to cover!! I say let The Gnat run them ragged, and Steamroller plow them over in the first half (carefully, of course - don't need her red carded) and let Mia come on in the second half, complete with fresh legs and her magic spark, keeping all three up top until Jie can't go any longer and hopefully we'll have enough goals by then to wrap it up. Oh, and I'll be there! (if I can get on a flight, that is... damn those full Atlanta flights!) Norma
Maybe not start Mia, but I think she needs to play 65, if she can. C.Moore is gonna be on Prinze more than likely. I'd stick Grubb on Fotop. Grubb can handle Fotop, I think. I'm going, but apparently I'm venturing into territory Fear deems dangerous. How do you contain Riise? Put Steffi on her.
Erin Fahey must start this game! She is easily the best keeper in the WUSA... when will everyone realize this?!? She is undefeated this year!
now, dear. she's an excellent keeper, but with siri playing the way siri has been playing...you play siri. it's not rocket science
If Atlanta had beaten Carolina, it may have been a tough call for Jimbo - he has stated regularly that he prefers Fahey to play against Atlanta for height reasons, but it would have been a hell of a gutsy call to bench Siri for the final. Carolina made the decision much easier for Gabby.
My impression is that Fahey plays against Atlanta because of the high crosses that Atlanta favors. Don't know about Carolina, but you'd think they'd be big on them, too.
From the Freedom site: Four Days to Go By Tim Nash -------------------------- Hamm Stays on Target By Karyn Lush OH NO!!! A Mia story on the front page of the league site! A TRAVESTY!!! We must boycott WUSA now!
Well, you can't really leave Siri on the bench. Especially not after Saturday, where she looked pretty solid at Villanova, where she pretty much kept them in the game, along with the rest of the Freedom D. One mistake would have pretty much given the 1-0 win to Philly, instead of vice-versa. She pretty much got screwed out of the goalkeeper of the year award. Having said that, none of the awards given so far make much sense, except for Abby's. Anyhow, who really cares? Krikorian may win coach of the year, but he's not taking his team to Atlanta this weekend. Andy P, Eccentric Brit Oh, and Philly fans now don't even sing when they're told to!
Hahahaha, Lucks played every minute of every game this year, and was far and away the top Keeper in the league this year. Lucks deserves the Keeper of the Year award, and knowing Lucks the way I do. SHe won't let it go to her head either. See you all in Atlanta. It will be a good match, i also agree with another comment earlier about tossing the 5-2 match at SAS park a couple of weeks ago. This will be a close game.
From the Washington Post: Hamm Won't Start in WUSA Final By Brian Straus Special to The Washington Post Wednesday, August 21, 2002; Page D01
Siri must play this game. Hopefully Mak plays a bit better than she did last week but she will exit whenever Mia come sin anyway. I see a 3-1 Freedom win.
From the Washington Times: Freedom to keep Hamm in sub role By Ken Wright THE WASHINGTON TIMES And it's 130 goals Mr. Wright. Not 129.
Carolina and Washington to duel for the Founders Cup http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/latest_soccer_news/322906.html
in response to Times article quote from WT: On a dead sprint, there probably is no faster Freedom player. She fearlessly will attack defenses by herself — sometimes running at four defenders — and still be able to get off a shot on goal. ------------- Is there a faster player for the Freedom? I think Jac's pretty speedy. Also, who expects Mia to play more than 45? I mean, if we're winning going into half, I see no point in bringing her in before half. Say we're having a little trouble, maybe bring her in to play 60.
Fyi, there's gonna be some coverage of the Freedom on Sportsnite tonight at 10pm or whenever the Orioles game is over, although I don't know how substantial it will be.
siri article Okay, I know this isn't a FC2 article, per se, but they mention it, so it's going here. Good job Siri for making the NT again! Mullinix weathers injuries en route to national invite By Ken Wright THE WASHINGTON TIMES --------------------------------------- Now for a little whining as a result of that article...what the hell is up with this??? Note — Forwards Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach and defender Jen Grubb all made second-team WUSA. Despite reaching the Founder's Cup final, no Freedom player made the first team.