The draft is Sunday, the Freedom don't go until number 15, but anyone have any thoughts on who might be available. I think take defenders with all four picks and see if any can make the roster. Defenders seems to be the most pressing need on the team now that they have aquired an attacking mid in the Aussie. If Betsy Barr is available at 15, take her and put her at outside back opposite her sister.
How do we have four picks? We have none in the first round. Our first pick is in the second round. Then we have two more picks in the third and fourth and that's it. Or did I miss something? I think the most impact from new players will come either through picking up foreigners or getting one of the top couple of picks. Or via a trade. I think what we saw in last year's college draft will still hold true this season...outside of the top 5 or so draft picks...there really ain't anything (at least that I am aware of...outside of the WCC..I have only seen a handful of college games on the boob tube). Of the players that were drafted in the second through fourth rounds...what did they really do in the 2002 season?
They have two third round picks. One came in the Little trade last year, I think. Your logic sounds about right. Only Abby and Zimny made the roster, and I would say Zimny was only a marginal player at best, and she was an early 2nd rounder. Rigamat was the third rounder and I think she is gone, and I think the last pick was kind of a stretch in taking a Navy girl. I wouldn't be suprised if none of this years picks make the roster, or maybe stay on as reserves.
Ah yes thanks for the correction. FWIW here is the entire draft order: http://www.wusa.com/press_room/334904.html First Round 1) San Diego+ 2) New York+ 3) Boston 4) Philadelphia* 5) Atlanta 6) Philadelphia 7) Philadelphia** 8) Carolina + - New York sends M Jen Lalor and F Wynne McIntosh along with the Power's first-round pick in the 2003 WUSA Draft (first overall) to the Spirit for M Shannon Boxx and Sherrill Kester, D Margaret Tietjen and San Diego's first-round pick in the 2003 WUSA Draft (second overall). * - Philadelphia trades F Mandy Clemens for San Jose's first-round pick (fourth overall) in the 2003 WUSA Draft. ** - Washington trades its first pick in the 2003 WUSA Draft to Philadelphia for future considerations. Second Round 9) New York 10) Atlanta* 11) Boston 12) San Jose 13) Atlanta 14) Philadelphia 15) Washington 16) Carolina *-Atlanta trades D Anna Kraus to San Diego for its second-round pick in the 2003 WUSA Draft (10th overall). Third Round 17) San Diego* 18) San Diego 19) Boston 20) Washington** 21) Atlanta 22) Philadelphia 23) Washington 24) Carolina * - New York sends M Sherrill Kester and its third-round pick in the 2003 WUSA Draft (17th overall) to San Diego for GK Carly Smolak. **- (2001) San Jose trades F Jacqui Little and third pick in the 2003 WUSA Draft (20th overall) to Washington for F Pretinha. Fourth Round 25) New York 26) San Diego 27) Boston 28) San Jose 29) Atlanta 30) Philadelphia 31) Washington 32) Carolina ------------------------ Oh yeah and don't forget that there is an audio webcast of the draft. Go here for more info... https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=30183
However, the general feeling is that this is a better crop of college players than last year. Still, you do have to think that it's unlikely we'll get an impact player picking 15th.
To be in position to draft a better collegian, you have to trade up to NY's # 9. NY need warm bodies in defense. Acquire NY's # 9 by trading # 15 & Zimny.
Actually the 15th pick does, with just a little luck, have a chance to be a good one that could get Washington a player that the desperately need" A quality defender. By 15 the flashy players and the defenders that attack with flair will be mostly gone BUT the ones that hold their position and defend solidly could be still available. It seemed to me that, last year, there were many breakdowns in the defense because the whole crew was too offensive minded without enough rotation and coverage back. (BTW: this applies to several other teams as well) While an offensive minded defense can be a good thing the presence of an anchor or two is a VERY good thing in pro soccer. As good as she became at the end of the season Siri cannot continue to handle all those breakaways without giving up goals or getting hurt again. I expect there to be two or three players available that can fit that roll when Washington gets to pick and I hope they grab one. At this point they don't need flash they need some blue collar workers and I think there are a few that will still be around.
I think that if Gaston is available at 15, they might take her. She has a tremendous upside, and even if her injuries come back to haunt her, the Freedom have enough other defenders that it will not hurt them too much.
Though I agree we could use a quality defender, my recollection of last season doesn't jibe with yours (2001, on the other hand...). Our central defenders were very good about staying at home, I thought (neither have a goal or an assist from field play), and I don't think we should consider replacing either Grubb or Moore. Barr and Little did come forward, but then that's part of the job - you could say goodbye to 9 of the Freedom's 39 goals if they hadn't. Still, they are at best merely competent flank defenders, and it would be nice to do better. I think we're also weak at attacking midfielder, but I doubt we'll get the chance at doing anything about that in the draft. But flank defender remains a possibility, as you indicate.
Here is the list of players in the draft pool: http://63.111.22.229/documents/WUSA_DRAFT_POOL.pdf Former Freedomer Kari Sarver is on here. ------------- Soccer America's draft predction for the Freedom.. 15. Washington: Sarah Popper (Connecticut), mf. 20. Washington: Susan Palmer (Pepperdine), d. 23. Washington: Kim Patrick (Tennessee), f. 31. Washington: Katie Antongiovanni (Denver), mf-f.
Good question SCF. --------- 1) Did she play last year in the W-League? One of my friends seems to think she did. 2) Was she part of the draft pool in 2002? 3) How many junk minutes did she get in 2001? In 2001 Sarver split time between the Freedom and that one computer company in the District.. http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2001/04/16/story5.html ..wonder if that is what she is hoping to do this season.
Here is some speculation on what we need... CyberSoccerNews take: http://www.cybersoccernews.com/wusa/030130wusadraft.shtml Soccer America's take...
status of chinese players Here is the answer about Bai Jie and Pu Wei's WUSA status, from the Washington Post. Pu Wei will miss the season. Bai Jie will play for the Fredom through July. At Draft, Freedom Hoping To Compensate for Losses "The Chinese soccer federation is requiring the majority of its national team to train full-time in China. Some notables, such as the Atlanta Beat's Sun Wen, retired from the WUSA. Others, including Pu, will remain contractually bound to the league but will spend the entire season on loan. Their negotiating leverage compromised by the possibility that the Chinese players might be prohibited from returning, WUSA and Freedom officials managed to secure the services of Washington's other Chinese player, Bai Jie, through July. Bai, a World Cup veteran whose place with the national side is more secure than Pu's, will miss two or three regular season games and the playoffs. Pu had one goal and nine assists in 21 games last season, while Bai tallied six goals and five assists in 16 games up front." It also looks like the Freedom are picking up another German: "Two international signings, 21-year-old Australian Kelly Golebiowski, a left-sided attacker, and an unidentified German defender from the same FFC Frankfurt club that produced Freedom midfielder Steffi Jones should be announced soon."
So does having Pu Wei on the roster still count against our foreigner allotment of four or can the Freedom sign another foreigner in Pu Wei's place?
Why don't the Freedom just release Pu Wei? ------------ From the Freedom site: Freedom Hope to Find Draft Diamond in Rough By Andrew Monfried I guess he is talking about Globs and that new German player.
Id guess gone, or at least not starting. Lindsey is good enough to be a starter. With Wagner coming to the Spirit, it makes sense to trade Lori for, say, a defender (but if it's a Freedom defender, who?). Mak's failure to gel has been one of Woosa's great mysteries. But if she's not working out for Jim, why not trade her to a team where she might click better? I'd say NY and SJ are the two clubs that would welcome Mak most, though there might be international player limit issues. She's too good to drop out of the league entirely, and riding the pine for another season would be almost as big a waste.