http://www.soccerway.com/news/?page=details&area=1034384400 I just posted this over in the National Teams forum.
That just pisses me off because how much trouble did the beat go through, just to get her to stay for ONE more year? BULL. BRING BACK AMY WALSH!!!!
I think it would be better for the Beat if Sunny and Wang didn't come back. Sun Wen is obviously a great player but she has rarely if ever shown that form in the WUSA. The Beat coaching staff are hopefully scouting heavily to find their replacements. I wouldn't mind having a player appear out of nowhere for us next year. (like Pachon did for the enemy)
I loved Sunny, but we could use our foreign player quota better. Tom was supposed to be in Europe Scouting. have we heard anything? Nothing in the ajc.
A couple of comments on this and an earlier post. 1. Sun Wen has been hampered with injuries the past two years. It began before she even stepped onto the field for the Beat. Part of the game, believe me, I know this as much as anyone on these boards. 2. Sun Wen has been played in a midfield position much of her time in Atlanta. She is a forward. Just as Wang was played out of position (she is a better defender than midfielder), so was Sun. I have had the chance to see her display her talents (both in the 1996 Olympics in Athens, as well as the domestic Chinese women's league when I lived in the Mainland), and those talents are considerable. Atlanta caught a bad break, but we also knew that it was a possibility that some, if not all, of the Chinese players would not be returning to the States next year due to national team concerns.
So why go through so much trouble to get her to stay? We could have had a healthy no-name who could have contributed for 90mins instead of 45 minute has been that was 'hampered with injuries'. I'm not bitter.
It looked like she was on the way back during the pre-season. BEsides, I will take a 75% Sun Wen over nearly any other player in the world. Let's face it, we had the talent to win this year and we didn't. We have to look at why? As much as we love his attitude, I think I know where I am pointing my finger.
Uhhh. We still got into the playoffs again and we were in the finals last year, losing only on PK's. Tom's not the problem. A couple of choices he made in the preseason last year, maybe was the problem. But it's not exactly something to slam a coach for or say that he's the problem. Could it be that we kept Sun Wen and Liping, who did nothing to impress much of anyone this year? Or maybe we didn't look for any speedy forwards due to Parlow and Hooper and Sunny (and Burt and Cagle)? Every team has the talent needed to win. That's a cop out. And it's not like we finished in 8th place. Better to still have Tom than to go through what the Spirit are going through. Let's face it, there's not many people who would give up their college jobs so they can make presumably less money in a less sturdy league.
These jobs pay a heck of a lot more than the college jobs!!! It is just the security that is lacking. The only coaches who come close to these salaries are Anson, Jerry, and Petrucelli.
We made it to the Semis that says something about Tommy and the Girls. Tom is great. He is an awesome coach. He handles all the girls in different ways like for example if Bri was playing well he would yell if Nancy wasn't playing well he would talk with her. Over all he'll yell after a game, that is just how he reacts. If a player can't handle a coach b/c of how he reacts she has no place in this league. this is a Pro league. you have to be willing to learn different style of coaching. it is kinda like school.
I'm a Stone fan. I like his brand of soccer. Remember what a great job he did of picking "unknowns" from the A league in the first year. He knows talent. I don't pretend to know how the gals see him, but he seems to have developed some group cohesion.
We could have gone much further than we did this year. We wonder why we get the short end of the stick on the officiating end of things? Do you think the officials appreciate Tom yelling at them for every little thing? I know I wouldn't. Do you think after a while, it might impact their decisions on the 50/50 calls? You bet. As for a couple of decisions made in the preseason. Wang Liping was a good pickup. However, Tom played her in the midfield most of the season. On her club team in Shijiazhuang and on the Chinese national team, she played defender. I have no problem with any of this personnel. We had the players, we couldn't put it together. Tom seems influenced too much by the English style of soccer. I don't think it is appropriate for this league and this year, it caught up with us. On this point, we can agree. I know I am rocking the boat with some of these statements. Sorry. I call them as I see them. I will still pull on for the Beat next year here in Taiwan, but I wouldn't consider myself a loyal fan if I didn't point out what I felt was wrong with the team. Besides, this discussion will be good to keep our forum post count ahead of the other teams. WAR BEAT!!! WAR SUN!!! WAR WANG!!!
I agree that he knows talent. Getting Sawa is an example of that. I am saying that sometimes he doesn't know where to play them, but most of all, he turns the refs against us.
Correction: Our rough style of play and the player's reputations turns the refs against us. If anything, I've seen FAR more ref calls go for us in important games this year than for the other sides. The last reg. season Carolina game definately was called in our favor ... As well as the semifinal against them. The initial call went our way on the PK -- but then we got rough and we got nailed with a PK against us. Just remember, Tom's one of the coaches who has not been escorted off the field in either of his two seasons. He toes that line just like any other coach in this league. I have pictures of McDermott tearing into referees and linesmen ... The same for Gebauer, Sawyers, and Krikorian. There's no way Tom's yelling cost us anything this year. We're rough and our reputation precedes us. That's all it is.
http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=562132883 Also being discussed in the new German player thread. But Sun Wen is gone and so is Liping Wang.