http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=25890 Fair, Benson and Mitts Interstingly Hawkins too. Looking good in camp would aid her draft chances
And the blind spot toward Pagliarulo shows no sign of abatement. What does April see in her that the rest of the soccer community doesn't? I see a 1.4 GAA in '01, followed by a 2.16 last year, second worst in the league only to Webber. That marks a decline in my book. So now that the lineup for the first step on the way to China then, who should be our final 18 for the WWC based on what we know right now? GK's: Scurry, Moore, Beene (in that order) D: Slaton, Iverson, Mitts, Benson, Chastain M: Wagner, Roberts, Fair, Foudy, Lilly F: Hamm, Wambach, Milbrett, O'Reilly, Parlow Paul
Re: Re: Japan callups If just two goalies can get called, subtract Beene and add Reddick to the defense. Paul
You know..... ..this is the second time I know of that Ape has called Pagliarulo up instead of Melissa. I'd just like to have an explanation as to why the WUSA's career 2nd place in save percentage stays home (speaking facetiously, of course). I'm sorry, but this does not speak well to a commitment to winning down the road. It's a start that Benny and Heather are there, and a step back that E-I isn't. There needs to be a sea change in philosophy. What if France is in the U.S.' group when the draw is announced in June or so, for example? Paul
are you really gonna keep posting this same thing all year? give it up - melissa ain't getting called up to the nt. right or wrong, its the way it is. let it rest. it is old. it is boring. get over it, please?
Paul, if you want an answer, send April a letter. The interesting part is resting the old players, Lilly, Foudy and Hamm. Good decision not to wear them into the ground. Personally, I believe the roster for China, barring 2 or 3 spots is decided. There's already a pecking order, and performance in WUSA will be irrelevant. My belief is the emergence of Wagner as a play maker is the key element to winning in China. Secondly is the capacity for an aging defense to keep up with elite level attackers. Let's see what the draw will be, which I believe will be fixed to benefit the Chinese. It's the way FIFA functions. And it's the Chinese turn to win, in the eyes of FIFA. The one hope is China runs their key players ragged with tons of travel and tons of meaningless games. I'm curious to see what China does with WUSA players, keep them in Beijing to maintain a relative freshness, or have them deaden their legs with too many matches. The same issue exists for Heinrichs, but she's shown an ability to begin resting the old ones.
I agree that resting the old players is a good idea. That game next week is meaningless, Four Nations is meaningless. I don't think anyone's gonna go full throttle in the tourney & show their hand to the others. It's a shame though - I really want to see how the old fogies Fawcett & Chastain perform against top-flight opposition. China & vs. Japan are a good time to experiment on just about anything.
My source "from the inside" tells me that Melissa is actually Chinese. And my sources "from the inside" of China don't think Melissa's any good either.
No one should take any result before the end of September too seriously. The emotionally level of World Cup matches far exceeds any friendly. And any one who things the quasi 4 nations or algarve cups are serious events, doesn't quite grasp the seriousness of WC matches. When teams trot out their BEST 11's and those 11's are playing to win, then you can judge teams. Right now, Germany, Norway and China are sides who have LESS questions than the USA come September. the one thing about WUSA and the older players is, only bad things can happen, either injury or too much playing time. Elite events are for the young. And the committment to these young players is what will generate results. Personally the USA is in a generational switch period, and this switch isn't progressing quickly enough for my taste. Wagner is a good sign, but there needs to be 2 or 3 younger players emerge as significant forces. Will the coach eprmit it, or will the old folks rile the roost. John Harkes is all to fresh in my mind.
The Case For Melissa Moore I think that it is an outrage that both Kristin Luckenbill and Melissa Moore haven't been given the opportunity to prove themselves with the National Team after the way they played for their club teams in the WUSA this past year. I personally don't have any problem at all with Charge! pointing out the reasons why Moore deserves a chance to play for the National Team, especially when he makes such a strong argument for her.
don't take my post the wrong way. i think the world of melissa moore. i could not respect her any more than i do. but the repetitive complaining about other's lack of appreciation for her talents wears thin, as least to me. and i don't think its likely that with as many goalkeepers as april has been using in the national team pool that she would bring a brand new person in this close to the world cup. its a shame, but get over it. that's my point. life ain't fair.
There are valid arguements for about 10 keepers. One arguement is, in the elite competitions you want a keeper with experience. I don't think anyone can say a keeper has clearly risen ABOVE all the others. Personally, I wouldn't make a decision until after WUSA 03, see who performs the best and them go with that woman. At the Nebraska-YAle NCAA match I spoke with Luckenbills mom for 15 or 20 minutes. Lucky was in Colorado as a ski instructor at that time. So give your choice, skiing or Nats camp, which would you pick. Judym refers to Charge! same reasoning getting posted ad nauseaum. We all know how Paul feels about Melissa. But it doesn't affect what April does.
I don't really think I was taking your post the wrong way at all. All I was doing was showing my support for the points that Charge! was making. I too would like to "have an explanation as to why the WUSA's career 2nd place in save percentage stays home," but unfortunately I won't be getting one anytime soon unless of course I just happen to run into Heinrichs again at the ARCO Olympic Training Center gift shop.
Paul is hardly the only one who repeats his views a lot. As for who should be keeper, there's a lot of time to figure it out. I don't think it's impossible for Moore to make the squad at this point. A tremendous third season and a Founders Cup victory should seriously help any player's case. Still, even if she doesn't make the squad doesn't make her any less of a good player. The best example is Isiah Thomas. He's hardly any less of a great player just because he didn't make the Dream Team in '92.
There's an extra benefit for the Loudy One to stay behind.... The time home may give Foudy and co. a little extra time to hammer out the CBA (collective bargaining agreement) renegotiation. That's third most important on my domino/food chain of what NEEDS to happen soon, ahead of the discovery players announcement and behind the waiver draft and, first and foremost, the new CBA. Paul
I'd agree Foudy and Lilly and Hamm need to be physically present when the collective bargaining agreement gets resolved. It's hard to know the distance between the two sides in the negotiations, but the month delay infers the Founders will need to compromise more than I think they'd want too. Basically when the settlement occurs, then the waiver and waiver draft would follow. Then the signing of discovery players period follows, and thent he college draft. Regarding discovery players, everything but signing contracts should be in place. Back to Melissa Moore, she's a good solid keeper who rarely makes mistakes. But she doesn't have a shot to go to China unless several keepers get hurt. Scurry, Mullinix and Beene will fight for the right to start during WUSA play. There's a lot to be said about having a keeper who's experienced the pressure of an elite tournament. Moore benefits from have an excellent defense in front of her. We should be satisfied we have her for all 21 matches next year. Back to the infatuation withe SAVE percentage. The question is, are the SAVE % of the top keepers STATISCALLY significantly DIFFERENT. The WUSA site has 2003 stuff up, so I can't get access to 2002 right now. Personally, I don't believe we'd find the SAVE % for our keepers of interest to be STATISTICALLY different. So any arguement using SAVE % as the metric is defeated statistically.
Personally, I like the list invited to camp. The big question is who will make the cut. Pierce and Mitts have a great opportunity to show what they have. The right side of the defensive line has been the weak point on the squad for the last year. I can't wait for next weeks game. As to the delay in the collective bargaining agreement, I've heard one of the stumbling blocks has been the guaranteed 5 year contract for founding members. I think the delay has less to do with disagreements than timing. Ten days before Christmas is a shitty time to tell a player that their career is over. If the league gets their way and eliminates the 5 year guarantee, a few of the founders will be given the opportunity to retire. Aside from the players who will be affected by the outcome of this debate, every coach knows which international players they are going to sign, and which players are going to go. They don't need three months to process the waiver draft and discovery signing. I think the delay has been a combination of not needing to rush things, and everyone involved wanting a few weeks off for the holidays. Dwight
Thanks for this update Dwight. That is interesting to find out that "every coach knows which international players they are going to sign." By this time last year I already knew about several of the new "Discovery Players" because of reports published in the Norwegian media, but during the past several months there hasn't been much of anything that I have seen in the Norwegian media about any new players, only a couple of reports about Tomi Markovski who apparently signed a contract back in November to become one of the assistant coaches with the Charge. BTW - I just sent you a PM.