Just like Karina and Hope she will be gone for the WWC and probably not play much before the WWC is done. Doesn't answer the need.
I don't get this whole "bank on the world cup" way of thinking, though. I think that the fans (who pay a lot of money for their tickets) deserve to see the best players. I'd rather see the best of the best at 6 out of home 9 games than see amateurs at all games.
not home games, though. I don't think I'll travel much to the away games, unless it's magicJack playing in FLA.
But yes, I'd rather pay for season tix to see a few games if our team had A+ players. This roster does make me question the investment.
ManUFan17, you are absolutely right. I see Atlanta signing someone like Nikki Weiss out of Notre Dame. A very good college keeper but not a Solo, Barnhardt or LeBlanc. And I agree with you, not only, IMO is Lloyd not a leader, but she's capable going the other way. One more thing, by your name I take it you are a ManU fan like myself. I've got one thing to say, Nemanja Vidic is a total bad-ass!
The point is you don't know which 6 games of the season you will see the "best" players. So that means you might only see them 3 of the 9 games you attend.
That would still be preferable to what we have going on right now. I'd rather have 3 games with a decent roster than 30 with amateurs. But the point is, if the Beat had come out and said "Look, we don't have the funds to compete with the rest of the league, so we will hire cheap players and we really need your support because clearly, we are underdogs", I would have been on board. But to sell this strategy as part of a master plan...I'm not sure about that.
If this team thinks they can get by with rookie keepers, they're going to be in for a very rude awakening. The only keeper in this class that is remotely ready to step in is Kristin Arnold, and she got snapped up by Sky Blue. Bad timing in the extreme since it's going to rain goalkeepers next season (if WPS is still around.).
Yeah Barnhart might be pressured from Pia and Co. to join Atlanta because they'll want her playing games consistently.
Exactly the point I was making earlier on.Prior to the Massacre at season's end they were quite happy to have us promoting the Team based on the Team we knew,the contacts I made became based on incorrect facts.They disrespected us loyal fans by lying and in doing so have given me second thoughts on how much of my money I will be willing to spend to see basically college kids try to match up against seasoned Professionals.It's not going to do a lot for the young players to have their confidence shaken every game. I will reserve judgement on team and it's chemistry and will attend some games just not buy Season tickets.
The problem with that is if the report that they offered leblanc 1/3 of her $20k+ salary last year, doubt they will shell out cash this season either. Looks to me like the owner is gonna ride the storm of poor results this season in the hopes of being able to pay next season. but then again, i think that the league is in serious trouble. the contracts some of these teams are offering players is beyond ridiculous, its insulting to their talents. i pray there is a wps in 2012.
I highly doubt this. If Hope isn't healed all the way Barny is the number one. If that's the case then Pia wants her resting until the cup is over. The USWNT has a grueling schedule of travel and Pia wants her players to rest in between. There is a huge divide between what the national team wants and what WPS wants and needs.
I don't know where you get your Rumours but you claim alot of inside info Unless Karina gets a solid offer, I forsee her playing for Pali this year and waiting till the next season
I agree with the divide. this is the 1st time that there has been a pro league in the year of the WWC. i think that they need to come to a compromise. i heard the idea of having WNT players practicing with USA during the week then playing WPS on weekends. Absolutely retarded idea if it's true. it will destroy the product on the field which is already going to be affected by the WWC (look at boston). USSF needs to treat the WPS with some sort of respect. Unless they are really worried that given their arrogant approach to the WNT that they are going to really perform poorly at the WWC since (and lets all be real here) the rest of the world has caught up with the US...either way these players have a commitment that must be made to their CLUB teams. They need to be at training sessions/events for their CLUB teams. If that's not the case, then they should just stay in Cali for the next 6 months and give the roster spot to someone who actually wants to be there. This is on it's way to becoming a big big joke. Where are the "leaders" of WPS during this whole thing. Again it's like crickets with this league. and they wonder why we the fans get frustrated with them.
I was about to say that. ManUFan17, You seem to know a lot of inside scoop. Which is fine by me. How are you connected to all this information may I ask?
I agree. And IMO, it seems to me that USSF and Pia have very little respect for this league. If I'm an owner of a WPS team and I'm paying let's say 90 or $100,000 for a USWNT player then you bet your sweet ass I want her in the line-up on match day. I don't give a sh_t what Pia wants. And...I want her to practice with the team as well. If she wants WPS USWNT players in camp then she needs to show more communication and more respect for the league, then we'll talk. Just my opinion. But all in all there has to be better communication between USSF and WPS on these matters. Otherwise pro soccer will suffer, our talent pool will suffer and the fans will lose out.
Bravo bravo well put. I would legit tell the player that you are playing and training with us or you can just leave and have USSF pay your salary. I'm not gonna lie and I probably will get ripped for saying this, but I was hoping that the US wouldn't qualify for the WWC. The culture has become so arrogant and naive to their abilities. There is ZERO depth in the WNT pool. I'm not talking about availability of players, I'm talking about players getting senior team caps. There is this culture of constantly calling in the same freaking players into camp all the time. I mean seriously...1/3 of that roster is past it (i'm not gonna name drop but i bet you can guess). I hope they perform poorly in the WC because the entire system has to crash before changes are made. The whole purpose of a pro league is to have an environment where players are playing competitive games week in and week out. If players consistently shine, they should get call ups. If they don't, they should get dropped. Simple. But when you have players who can't even get a game for their club team starting for the national team something is wrong. I'm sick of the BS. WPS is in danger of becoming a big joke and I don't want to see that happen. USSF is gonna need this league to continue the development of the next gen of US stars, or our fall from grace in the world of soccer will be a long one. My gf played in this league last year, so i have a good idea of the ins and outs about it, and people in the league are going to have to start being more honest about what is happening, or people are going to stop caring. That will be a TRAGEDY. Because the potential is there. I don't think the people at the top really know what they are doing. Where the former WNT legends punting this league, getting involved in running it blah blah blah. Am I alone here in my frustration??
I thought the beauty of this board was to remain anonymous? I can assure you that I'm not making any of this up, and I have checked the facts. In your next post you quote $90-$100K - I don't believe any players are making that except Marta and maybe 1 or max 2 others. I agree with the premise of club first, but the WNT players DO NOT see it that way - and they never have. The teams knew that going into the season, and if they got caught up signing alot of them then they will pay the price for it. I think Boston was hoping to simply make the playoffs at any level, and then they would be at full strength - and that may be a great strategy, I guess we will see. ATL is going the other way short of Carli. It certainly will be an interesting year - and next year could be even worse with the olympics - which I believe are later in the summer and will hurt more of the season.
dont quote me but i remember seeing kelly smith earns 95k for boston. she also works for arsenal in off season with 16-30 girls in their Under-20 system.
Don't quote me either, but I heard from what I think are reliable folks that Cristiane was making $90,000 a year. So if she was making that much, I'm sure the likes of Hope Solo and others are making a nice hefty sum.
I think there's a fine line between getting enough rest and being ready for game situations. If something happens to Solo and Barnhart is not playing as a keeper somewhere in WPS then I will be very worried. I hope that Barnhart does find a team in WPS because she still needs to face those game situations even if she only plays a few matches. Training by herself will not help her come World Cup time and I hope both Pia and Barnhart know this.