Per the WPS transaction wire, Blakely Mattern's been waived and Shelley Thompson's contract has been terminated by mutual consent. For those keeping track, out of the 2010 WPS Draft, the Beat still have: -A fourth-string keeper -The franchise cornerstone on IR. That's it. Seriously. How on Earth did we miss this badly? These moves indicate more reinforcements are on their way (hopefully), but seems a day late and a dollar short for this season.
I wouldn't give up yet. Atlanta still has 17 games left. Last season was only a 20 game season instead of a 24 game season. Athletica and Sky Blue both started badly last season and both made the playoffs. And all it takes is getting in, then anything can happen as Sky Blue proved last year. The next group of home games is pivotal. If the Beat can pick up 6 or 7 points, they still might have a chance. Cinalli was listed as waived on Friday, but she was with the team in Chicago, so it would appear she will be added back as a developmental player. They do need to drop a keeper. There's really no point in having four unless there are injuries. I'm a bit surprised about Thompson, although I wonder if they might be looking for a little salary cap room to make one more move.
Sophia Mundy has now been moved to the season ending IR list. When it rains, it pours. There's another roster spot open.
And now the buzz on the street is that Atlanta may be landing Aya Miyama with that now free international spot. One more for the Atlantica brigade?
Don't impinge the talent or quality of the players who are being released by the WPS teams. With the demise of the Sol and Athletica teams, WPS has basically abandoned the concept of player development in favor retaining experienced players. Most of these young players (recently graduated or one year out of college) were not given the opportunity to develop and prove themselves over the course of a full season as was the case last year.
“Shelley is a goal scorer and her record speaks for itself,” said Beat Head Coach Gareth O’Sullivan. - 2/19/2010
I guess Thompson has been told that she would be not given too much playing time any longer...Then probably she decided to leave... She probably had a guaranteed contract because she's an international player...I am sure that Atlanta is very happy that she agreed to terminating the contract...
More reasons to call Atlanta "Atlantica": Aya Miyama is now in Atlanta: http://http://equalizersoccer.com/WebPages/blog.aspx?postid=eaad1a31-0e38-4b5c-b4fe-75c3d8b47437
Apparently, Manya Makoski was in the Welcoming Party for Aya Miyama. (She, Katie Larkin, and Aya were housemates back in L.A.) From twitter.com/Makoski22 : Ayaaaaaaaa! On our way to pick up my treasure about 20 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®
From twitter.com/AtlantaBeatGM Great day tomorrow. World Cup is on! Also, got 7 WPS All-Stars...Solo, Ellertson, Aluko, Chalupny, Bachmann, Kerr & ??? Find out tomorrow...