Louisville NWSL

I have thought about the possibility of Press and Heath wanting to be on the same team -- as they are now. They both are unprotected. Possibly they are waiting for Angel City. But, they both are getting older and that may be too far in the future to make sense. If they want to come back to the US next year, the way to play together might be Louisville. That certainly is something Louisville would clear with them before drafting them, if it is something it wants to consider. Louisville would not get a lot of years out of them, but from a fan perspective it might be a good way for the team to start out.

As an aside, I am not surprised to see Orlando is protecting Morgan but I question it. History indicates they are unlikely to get much if anything out of her in terms of playing time. Unless she is driving ticket sales, it does not make sense to me.

 

Expansion draft coming up in an hour; I guess the "pbp" will happen here?

If anyone else is watching live, its on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nwslofficial

 

#1-Racing Louisville select Addisyn Merrick from NC with their first pick.

 

#2-They select Julia Ashley from OL Reign. They're building up their defense.

#3-They select Jennifer Cudjoe from Sky Blue. Good choice.

 

#4-Racing Louisville select Cece Kizer from Houston.

#5-They select Katie Lund from the Washington Spirit. First goalkeeper selected; not one of the goalkeepers that most people were guessing.

With no further protections after a player is picked from a team, this is going fast. Maybe they should just have announced their list although I guess we still need have to have timeouts to allow for trades.

 

Ok, just kidding...not going as fast now as we take a break to interview Christy Holly.

 

#6-Racing Louisville select Alanna Kennedy from Orlando Pride.

#7-They select Lauren Milliet from NC Courage (2 of 2 from NC).

 

#8-Racing select Kaleigh Reihl from Sky Blue FC (2 of 2 from Sky Blue).

#9-They select Caitlin Foord from Orlando Pride (2 of 2 from Orlando).

I certainly do hope they've talked to some of these players about coming back and playing in Louisville.

 

Rumor on social media (from Meg Linehan) is that Louisville will be selecting Heath and Press....we'll see.

 

#10-Racing Louisville select Katie McClure from Washington Spirit (2 of 2 from Washington).

And we're taking a short break. They're going to stretch this over an hour.

 

Surprised they took Foord since she’s with Arsenal and I think she wants to stay there.

 

Should have highlights for each player selected. Just to let people know who they are.

 

They're showing highlights for most players, except when the selection goes too fast and they jump back over to the podium.

 

Not like they are on the clock with only a minute.

 

#11-Racing Louisville select Erin Simon from Houston Dash (2 of 2-Houston now off the table).

#12-They select Michelle Betos from OL Reign (2nd goalkeeper, and 2nd from OL Reign.)

If Heath and Press are going, it looks like they're going to be last...Louisville looking to make a splash.

 

#13-Racing Louisville select Tobin Heath from Portland.

#14-They select Christen Press from Utah Royals. (as we knew after the #13 pick was announced).

It's happening. It's probably important to point out that for Heath and others overseas its selection of their rights. Again, I hope they've had discussions with players about playing (or have a plan for trades).

 

And that's it. I though there were 2 more, but then realized with 2 federation players chosen, the number of picks went down to 14.

 

I did mention Press and Heath would be taken and I was right!

 

Utah and Portland now get $75,000 in allocation money with federation players chosen.

Also the trade window re-opens tomorrow.

 

Unrelated: I find the actual set-up for the expansion draft odd. I appreciate the NWSL making it an event and streaming it. But, they could have done it online and avoided people traveling and being gathered in one room (although I guess they are wearing masks or socially distanced). Also, it's all one room and the Louisville staff are all back there listening to Marisa Pilla and Lori Lindsey discuss what just happened. Just feels odd....but I guess also very 2020.

 

I posted the Heath and Press possibility a while ago. I would not be surprised if this this is a done deal (it should be or Louisville wasted two picks) and that both Portland and Utah were well aware of it. They want to be on the same team and this is their best way to do it. It gets Louisville two big name players for their first year, which is important -- but two players also not likely to be around that long. If they have Heath and Press on board with it, I think it is a good move for Louisville.

 

If it was because Heath and Press wanted to play together and they're fully on board, I guess ok, but I'm still kind of meh about it. I mean, if the Olympics do happen next year, then both players will be gone for most of the year anyway. I think there were some very good players left on the board who could have been better building blocks. But, marquee players are good, too, for building a team, so like I said, I'm "meh."

Also apparently Utah believed that Press was not going to be playing in Utah again, and chose to leave Press open to protect players who would definitely be here in 2021:

Utah Royals GM Stephanie Lee on Press getting selected: pic.twitter.com/nXnMz7QqRL

— Alex Vejar (Tortured Poet version) (@AlexMVejar) November 13, 2020

I do like some of the other picks though. I'm still surprised Sky Blue didn't protect Cudjoe.

 

Meg Linehan reports in The Athletic live chat (it pays to be a subscriber!) that all players knew in advance that they were being selected. I guess it still remains to be seen whether all players selected will actually play in Louisville.

 

Hmmm.....A few players picked I've never heard of. And some I thought would be selected who weren't: Bri Visali of Houston especially, Megan Dougherty-Howard of Washington, Taylor Smith of OL and Zadorsky of Orlando.

Maybe they werent interested in playing in Louisville.