Google just signed on as a new corporate sponsor: * Opens new web search for #NWSL partner * @Google is the latest to join a growing list of national corporate partners: https://t.co/iM2ETXX5Ip pic.twitter.com/01lHrLH7H5— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) June 26, 2020 As a part of the deal, there will be virtual cheering sections in each club's home markets through Google Meet. There will also be a Best XI for the tournament, and it'll be presented by Google.
OL Reign have announced their kits for the year, and its...wait for it...blue. We now definitely have a majority in blue. I really like a lot of the jerseys this year, so I'm not complaining. I just wish we had a wider range of colors. Sharp blue and crisp white kits for the new-look @OLReign!! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/bAaQ0LRX3x— The Equalizer (@EqualizerSoccer) June 26, 2020
I like OLR’s shade of blue a lot. and FWIW, I think New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Sky Blue GM Alyse LaHue are long-lost sisters, or at the very least first cousins.
They've all been announced, and are up on each team's respective website although I don't think Houston's orange kit is for sale yet.
I just looked at the website and realized that, in a twist, actually the white jersey is listed as the primary jersey. (Not really sure why...its odd to do the opposite of what every other team in the league does.) Still though...lots of blue.
NWSL Challenge Cup off to fun start as @TheNCCourage scores in stoppage time for 2-1 win over @ThornsFC. Tonight: Washington v Chicago. Barring medical breakthrough, no regular season this year. The final, sources say, would've been in Louisville, which gets expansion in '21.— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) June 27, 2020 See, a final in the "new market" is something I've said would be an awesome idea, e.g. hosting 2019 final in Sac when it still looked like Sac was close, and now we won't get that opportunity for LOU....
Photo shoot embargo has been lifted. 7 of 9 teams here: https://isiphotos.photoshelter.com/gallery-collection/NWSL-Portraits-2020/C0000uBGY_sYhHVY
This (NYT article) seems newsworthy: the NWSL was one of the recipients of the small business loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (P.P.P. loans given after large portions of the economy shutdown due to the pandemic). They received a loan between $1-2 million, and 100% of it was used to pay players' salaries for two months. If the league had not taken the loan, Baird says players would have likely been furloughed. Having used it all for players' pay and not laying off any players or staff, they expect the loan to be forgiven. The new national sponsor deals and the Utah tournament giving those sponsorships a platform are what is ensuring that players will be paid through the rest of the year.
I just saw this on the July 4, 2020 Injury Report on the NWSL web site. I had to grin. Do we get middle names again when the updated report comes out? ......R.A.D. had a helluva game for a body that was Questionable. Houton Dash OUT: None QUESTIONABLE: Nichelle Patrice Prince (Personal), Rachel Ann Daly (Right Thigh)
https://www.allforxi.com/2020/7/7/2...ct-play-welcome-to-nwsls-philosophical-battle Possession vs. direct play: Welcome to NWSL’s philosophical battle Wednesday’s Challenge Cup matches show off two completely different ideas for how to build a team. Wednesday’s NWSL Challenge Cup schedule features two matchups between the league’s best surprise packages and its biggest disappointments. Utah Royals FC face OL Reign in the early match, and the Houston Dash take on Sky Blue FC in the late game. But those games aren’t just about good vs. bad teams, they’re also significant philosophical battles. All of those teams but the Reign missed the playoffs last season, and all have made significant offseason changes. The two head coaches currently having success are the ones that are taking a pragmatic approach. Utah’s Craig Harrington and Houston’s James Clarkson have evaluated the tools at their disposal and come to the conclusion that a fast, direct style suits their teams best. Sky Blue’s Freya Coombe and Reign’s Farid Benstiti have taken a different approach, deciding to lay down their possession-based fundamental principles now, despite the fact that both teams are clearly in need of several transactions to construct a lineup suitable for their preferred styles of play. Those teams’ struggles have gone beyond typical growing pains — both registered zero shots on target in their matches over the weekend. The recent trials and tribulations of Orlando Pride coach Marc Skinner make me wonder how committed Coombe and Benstiti will be to their philosophies. Over the course of one year, Skinner went from criticizing NWSL for not being a tactical league, to appreciating his competitors’ style of play, to trading up in the draft to get a player primarily because she is 6’1”. Life comes at you fast. I don’t think Skinner has moved from his preference for short passing, possession-based soccer, I think he just figured out what he’s working with, and how hard it is to establish his favored style in NWSL. The reason lies deep in the roots of America’s soccer culture. We just love sticking the best athlete at striker and kicking the ball into space for them to run onto. There are lots of smart and talented people around the country trying to change this, but it’s going to take generations. When OL Reign signed Nicole Momiki, she told reporters about her initial conversation with Benstiti. “He said his favorite type of player isn’t easy to find in America,” Momiki said, and he’s right. A Rose Lavelle or Megan Rapinoe pops up once in a while, but most of the top level Americans are physically gifted players who enter the professional ranks with a lot of work to do on their technique and tactical aptitude, because that is the type of player American women’s soccer is designed to produce.
For me it is pretty obvious that "direct" soccer wins if the team playing direct plays good defense and possesses well enough to get the ball into dangerous attacking position early and often. People always seem to talk abou "possession time" when what is important is "possession time in the third part of the field." It is not quite that simple because there are teams that possess the ball in the attacking third but almost never look in danger of scoring because the play too slowly or they play without any vertical play. So actually what we have is that possession is worthless unless it leads to a dash of direct play. I thing trying to separate direct play from possession soccer is simply wrong. They complement each other and any successful team will combine the two. The thing I really detest watching is the teams that choose the backward pass over the attacking pass most of the time.
Here's a fun little thought experiment I missed from last week, courtesy of All For XI: https://www.allforxi.com/2020/7/2/2...lina-courage-better-than-any-2-teams-combined Two lineups in the article, two in the comments. So what do people think? Red Thorns? Pride Stars? Red Royals? OL Spirit? Something else?
Also a fun article (direct from SB Nation!) on how NWSL SGs are supporting their teams from a distance: https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/202...-banners-supporters-groups-utah-challenge-cup
Its not mentioned here, but I saw that Chicago Local 134 also bought the Red Stars coffee from the coffee truck: Feeling the love all the way from Chicago ❤️Thank you @ChicagoLocal134 for our ☕️ treat. Words will never do justice how much we appreciate your support #MKOT pic.twitter.com/kcJe98q8ED— Chicago Red Stars (@chicagoredstars) July 8, 2020
I do not know if Cloud 9 knows the Kawasumi Naho song; but if they don't, they need to learn it and sing it while smiling loudly! wow this a good day to resurface this wholesome content. pic.twitter.com/zhQG06CYUA https://t.co/BnPlQsMkwK— JP (@jimemaud) July 9, 2020 P.S. Kawasumi is hilarious in the subtitles. Is it even funnier in Japanese?
I don't know Japanese well enough to go into details, but she defintely is, and she's very popular in Japan for that also. Just after 2011 WWC a popular J-Band had mentioned Kawasumi in a techno song (listen to what the crowd answer at about 1':25" of this video ) and her personal blog,"Road Runner", is very popular also (even those who can't read Japanese can sometimes find funny photos in her daily entries).
I wonder why most of the NWSL play so much direct soccer when the majority of the coaches are from England?(which is supposedly more European/possession style). it’s kinda interesting; after watching some of the Bundesliga games where they slow down the pace to go for pin point passing & strategies, was missing the NWSL. But after the initial excitement of the opening Challenge Cup games, it’s been nothing but run n gun soccer & now I miss again the chess like mentality of the Bundesliga!
You must be watch different matches from the ones I am seeing because what I see is entirely to much "possession" soccer that results in worthless passing that only server to consume/waste time .While "possession" soccer has its place it should not serve, as it does in much of the world, to simply shorten matches. BTW: As I type this I am watching the EPL and I see that they are using possession soccer just to open up the field for a fast strong attack. That should be the purpose of possession not, as it has been in much of this warmup part of this tournament, simply to possess the ball. Both types of soccer has their place and the vest teams combine the two but are always looking to attack as quickly and as often as possible.
Even though CBS access is pretty cheap, I just don’t believe in getting internet subscriptions, so while I’ve seen a few replays on YouTube, in U & Gilmoy’s live narratives keep calling some of the games “boring” thus don’t feel like watching them, lol However last night’s game was live—caught thr last 35 min of it. Red Stars finally had an all American lineup. On paper, this team could easily be a top ten world NT(matchup well with #5 Sweden & 6 England and probably beat #7 Australia #8 Canada, as several CRS players were so dominating in the AUS winter league). But without a more worldly figure like Nakasato, they had a hard time making the smart plays that might of gotten them more goals(they otherwise dominated the action). There was some signs though like the newcomer, Gomalski, brilliant at right back, but it just seemed it mostly athleticism they carried the day for them. So yeah, you could say the American direct soccer has helped players become stronger, but it’s hard to tell since most other countries are still struggling to give woso an equal chance, so hence, the NWSL is going to look good—-one read gave 8 of the top 20 pro clubs in world to the NWSL, compare that to Germany, with only two, actual professional woso clubs....and you can see why the play is so much superior in the NWSL
To follow up on this, other season ticket holders and supporters groups have followed suit for their teams, but now we have all the league's fans coming together: 1283123374731005955 is not a valid tweet id Sometimes woso social media can be toxic, but sometimes woso fans are really awesome.