Crystal Dunn heading to Chelsea, won't play in #NWSL this season. (I also have independent confirmation on this) https://t.co/46L3GJW0LN— Dan Lauletta (@TheDanLauletta) January 3, 2017
Well that is bigger than even the Morgan move. We all knew it was coming but damn. So can we fine the Spirit now for "conduct detrimental to the league"?
Nice article by Goff in the Washington Post hit all the points https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...483462817147&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.8b4e6865b376
And this would have been a good post to start the 2017 Player Moves thread with if u want to move them
While it's a bit concerning that these players are leaving at the first opportunity, I think it could be an interesting test for the longevity and growth of the NWSL. Meaning teams now have to find creative ways of growing the fan base with national team stars. If they can do that, they (NWSL teams) will have a much greater bargaining power and leverage when these players start to return in 18-24 months as the world cup gets closer.
I agree that it's more important to build team brand loyalty than have ur fan base coming out to see star players whether they r on ur team or the visitors. On the other side all we heard the last two years was about those stars being away for long stretches which we don't get this year. Will be interesting to see the attendance numbers at the end of the season.
I know it was brought up in another thread recently (maybe last week?) but I'm fairly certain that most NWSL are already past the point of seeing any attendance effect from national team stars - either they've already passed the test, or that section of the test is no longer being graded. With the exception of maybe two or three teams, no one is seeing significant bumps upward corresponding to better visiting teams. So it's more or less a moot point as we go into year 5 now.
Point taken. But what we do not know yet is what the attendance will look like with national team players completely missing. So yeah we might have passed the stage were they are not bringing in any new people but can teams retain these attendance figures when fans know that there will be no NT player at all during the course of the season.
It's a weird time to move to the English league with the short upcoming winter "season" to fill while they convert the league schedule.
Well maybe that was blessing in disguise and hopefully those teams <cough>Houston</cough> have figure out a game plan by now
I know Dunn was in France earlier, and I think that's her desired ultimate landing spot, but I remember earlier discussion here pointing out that she wouldn't fit on Lyon and PSG has all its non-EU slots filled. She might be viewing the WSL Spring Series as an opportunity to get the foot in the European door and is hoping to get into a bigger club in the summer transfer window.
Her contract runs thru 2018 so she'll get the Spring mini league and at least one full season on the winter schedule. The biggest inference here as Dan Lauretta pointed out is there would be plenty of opportunity for a summer load to the Spirit if she wanted to be there.
On paper Chelsea looks to be a nice landing pad. While the money might have been better at PSG, adding Bachmann and Dunn to Carney, Kirby and Ji might put them past the perennial French runner up
Question: Do USWNT players have a moral responsibility to help grow the NWSL, at least in it's early stages? My answer: Yes
The answer is short career and limited chances at the big payday. Morgan is supposedly getting $25K per month as opposed to around $9K from the USSF to play in NWSL. That's a lot to leave on the table to help out the league.
That's five good players. PSG has an entire good starting eleven. Not to mention is a far more established club. PSG beats Chelsea at least six and a half times out of ten. Rememer that, while PSG has always been behind Lyon, the difference is quite small if consistent (and even that consistency is gone this season) so if you're saying Chelsea beats PSG then you're insinuating Chelsea is a match for Lyon, which is laughable. And looking good on paper doesn't mean much if they don't gel - which, on top of the facts that the money isn't as good and the league is much more disorganized, puts Chelsea (or any WSL squad) on a less desirable level than a number on better clubs on the continent. I would agree, yes they did have a moral responsibility to help the league through its early stages. It's past its early stages now though. Which, as I mentioned earlier, is seen in the fact that their draw power has noticeably gone down except in two or three cities. Growth now is not on getting the baseline fanbases established and is focused instead on expansion teams (i.e. national footprint) and stronger media.
I am hearing she was in France for different reasons - not for PSG or Lyon and she has been there for quite some time.
In my opinion, the NWSL is still in it's early stages. When after it has been around for at least 10 years then I may say it is not and they still have a moral obligation because for the past few years the USWNT players have been pulled from their NWSL teams so many times to do USWNT duties. For the last WC and Olympic cycles NWSL fans have rarely seen their teams at full strength for the entire season. We have patiently waited for this break to see all our players together for a full season(s) and if some or many leave to go play overseas, yes, IMO USWNT fans will be disappointed. Is Dunn really going to make more money playing for Chelsea in a league where the competition will be weaker, then playing in the NWSL and getting payed by the Fed AND playing week after week against better competition? I hope that this doesn't become a trend in the next year or two because American fans have waited for this Non-WWC and Non-Olympic year(s) so that they can finally see their teams at full strength with all their USWNT stars finally playing a full season for their teams. An Alex Morgan autograph is still the hottest ticket among young NWSL fans coming to the games and so are other mainstay USWNT players. I know, I see it at every game.
In my opinion, the NWSL is still in it's early stages. When after it has been around for at least 10 years then I may say it is not and IMO, they still have a moral obligation to support their country's pro league because for the past few years the USWNT players have been pulled from their NWSL teams so many times to do USWNT duties. For the last WC and Olympic cycles NWSL fans have rarely seen their teams at full strength for the entire season. We have patiently waited for this break to see all our players together for a full season(s) and if some or many leave to go play overseas, yes, IMO USWNT fans will be disappointed. Is Dunn really going to make more money playing for Chelsea in a league where the competition will be weaker, than playing in the NWSL and getting paid by the Fed AND playing week after week against better competition? I hope that this doesn't become a trend in the next year or two because NWSL fans have waited for this Non-WWC and Non-Olympic year(s) so that they can finally see their teams at full strength with all their USWNT stars finally playing a full season for their teams. An Alex Morgan autograph is still the hottest ticket among young NWSL fans coming to the games and so are other mainstay USWNT players. I know, I see it at every game.
PSG has a better coach tho there is nothing wrong with Hayes. Im not so sure if Im picking sides in the park I don't end up with more Chelsea players than PSG. They have gone away a bit from trying to assemble an all-star team.
Well, yes - she was in France for other business. But if she was in France for any reason and had already stated she was looking to play overseas, it'd be naive to think she didn't at least poke her head around two of the best teams in Europe. In Chicago, maybe. The point I've already made twice in this thread is that most teams in the league are no longer seeing noticeable attendance bumps when Morgan (or another "superstar") comes to town.
If Washington were interested in helping grow the league they look into trading their rights to Dunn to a team she would be willing to play for if such a thing is possible under NWSL rules. As Chelsea doesn't play from the end of May til September so it seems obvious Dunn isn't interested in being part of the rebuilding effort in DC.
Hmm, this is interesting. Given that I'm guessing Spirit still own her NWSL rights, if it was a loan does it have to be the Spirit? Because not wanting to play for the Spirit was a driving force behind this move so I can't see her wanting to go back there even if for a few months
Not a big Emma Hayes fan, although it's possible she may have learned from her mistakes and has become a better coach. When she was Head Coach of the Red Stars in 2009 and 2010 she made a mess of it. You never knew from game to game what her line up will be, no one knew what style she was playing while having an All-Star roster of Carli LLoyd, Megan Rapinoe, Christiane, Formiga, Karen Carney, Lindsay Tarpley, Frida Ostberg, Whitney Engen, Kosovare Asllani, and other really good players. She just couldn't figure out how to put all those stars together. If I remember correctly the Red Stars went 6-14-6 under her command. She was eventually fired.
I think I remember something about the US WNT players being under instructions from the USSF that they would need to be playing in the NWSL a certain number of seasons, leaving them room also to spend a year playing in Europe or elsewhere. Isn't this Crystal taking her non-NWSL year? I think that is one of the reasons Horan came back to the US to play.