I just found out that Omid is scheduled to be on the "Inside Soccer" radio show today to discuss the WUSA draft. I believe that he will be on during the first part of second hour (8 - 8:30 PM ET). I thought I would post this information here since this Forum has been by far the most active wrt the WUSA draft and also because Omid previously coached and played indoor soccer in Philadelphia. Even though you currently can't listen to "Inside Soccer" on radio station KSDO outside of the San Diego area, even using you computer , you could still call in and leave your phone number with the Station Engineer and he will call you back and put you on the show if you have a question for Omid. The phone number for KSDO is 858-560-1130. While you are waiting on hold you can listen to the show live. If there is any interest, as soon as I find out when Omid will be on the air, I will post that information here.
Man. Utd. Discussed During 1st Hour Just in case anyone is interested, during the first hour of today's "Inside Soccer" show (7 - 8 PM ET) the guest will be a reporter from the Manchester Evening News and the main topic discussed will be Manchester United. If you have any questions about Man. Utd. playing in Philly this summer you will have a great opportunity to ask away on the air today.
Re: nordby1 Unfortunately you can't listen to "Inside Soccer" online anymore. BTW - Omid is on the air being interviewed right now.
Omid Interview Early in the interview Omid more or less confirmed the acquisition of Christine Latham. Here's an excerpt from what was said: Brian Halliday: I heard that the league has now had to change their rules.... you've got in effect two first round picks. Omid Namazi: We think the player that we got through that loophole (and that will be announced later on who that is ) would have gone in the first round somewhere in the first five picks. So we are ending up with two first round draft picks.
Omid's Explanation BH: I thought that was very clever of you guys. The league had a little loophole there and you jumped in and took advantage of it. ON: That is the job of every coach to look at every possible way to get an advantage on their side and try to help their team. I was able to do this with the help of GM Dave Presher and Tom Tate my assistant.
Don't Expect Any Surprises For the First Pick Naturally Omid wouldn't come right out and say that the Spirit are definitely selecting Wagner #1, but he did say this: "She's really good in the final third and will help US create some scoring opportunities. She'll score some goals herself, but more than anything she will create a lot of opportunities for OUR forwards....."
Comment About Defenders In the Draft BH: One of the things I've looked at was your defense. Are you going to draft any quality defenders? ON: Defense is a department where we need to solidify ourselves a bit more. Unfortunately in this draft there aren't many defenders that stand out, there is one maybe two quality defenders. Besides the #1 pick we don't pick again until #17 & #18. So it is going to be tough for us to be able pick up one of those quality defenders. (And here is IMO one of the most interesting comments from the interview) I wonder if Dave Presher is trying to get Susan Marenoff drunk again.
Omid On the Spirit's Chinese Players BH: Sun Wen is not coming back to play for Atlanta. Are the two Chinese players coming back to play for the Spirit. ON: We are still negotiating that....We have a good feeling that THEY will be available to us. Sun Wen was more of a personal decision by her to stay in China and get prepared for her last World Cup.
Thank you nordby1 for the transcripts.... it's soo great and appreciated!!! I would have called in..but..feeling a bit out of wack..... could be the day long fast.... the magic of it Thanks again! PS
A Few Final Comments Omid was talking to Brian Halliday from Atlanta on a cell phone and there was a lot of talking going on in the backgroud, but unfortunately I didn't manage to hear any good trade rumors. Omid did say that there was going to be more time tonight and tomorrow morning for discussing possible trades with other WUSA teams. "We are constantly looking to improve out team and if there is something that will allow us to do that we will certainly look at that very seriously."
Re: Thank you Sure glad to help. For some reason, they didn't take any phone calls during the actual interview with Omid, but there was some discussion about the draft immediately afterwards.
Re: Omid Interview Thanks for the heads-up nordby1. Very much appreciated from my neck-of-the-woods. Remember that e-mail I sent you? Namazi confirms my speculation that Latham is a top-five talent. Namazi confirms my speculation last December - that this is a draft thin on quality defenders. The talent level after Orlandos drops dramatically. bigo was right about SD claiming Latham as a discovery player. Seems like SD got away with a loophole. I'm surprised the league's rules were not cut-&-dried on the issue about internationals playing collegiately in the NCAAs. After all, the draft was supposed to be the "entry draft for college and amateur players". The big winner in the Latham derby obviously was SD. The big loser was NY. Had NY [along with SD] claimed Latham, I think the league would have handed Latham to NY because they had a worse record. However, since SD were the only ones smart enough to exploit the loophole, they get the prize. NY instead could have signed that 2nd Australian as a free agent or drafted her instead. Why? Because very few teams will use an international slot on a defender, much less as a discovery designation. So yeah nordby1, SD got one by NY & Marenoff once again. NY dropped the ball on this one. But hey, they also did so with that Aly trade. So what else is new?
Thanks to nordby1 for the all the news. Sounds optimistic about the Chinese, so the Charge won't be going the Boyd route. g4m and chargefans and myself all like Latham a great deal too, based on the ncaa tourney we saw at villanova. latham would have been a perfect fit for the charge. We'll see how San Diego handle prosperity now.
Re: Re: Omid Interview Wrong again.... Carolina got it right. As Charge! said in another thread "The best get better". Too bad about missing out on Boyd and Orlandos though.
Charge got Kraus who is a competent player. McVeigh, given Krikorians knowledge, this is the same move as Tullock as central defender move as last year. Who knows anything about McVeigh, those interviewed on WUSA webcast seemed to have her rated well, but, I personally don't know anything. However, I assume the best given his past talent evaluations.
Boyd & Orlandos? One of the biggest surprises of the draft was seeing the Charge pass on both Boyd and Orlandos in the first round. I don't think anyone predicted that Orlandos would fall all the way to the second round and that the New York Power would manage to draft her with the #9 pick.
I'm really sorry to see that Kraus won't be with the Spirit this next season, but I wish her all the best in Philadelphia. I am however very happy to see that Kerry Connors will be joining the Spirit. Wasn't it Charge! who predicted that Krikorian would select someone in the first round that no one was expecting?? Did anyone even predict that Mc Veigh would be drafted at all much less in the first round?
chargefans, aka Dwight and Scott have predicted an unknown 1st rounder since last September. He's seen McVeigh play, and Luckenbill's mom, surely, has seen her play too. I assume Solo, Arrington, McVeigh, and Misaki will make the roster. The logic is McVeigh could have been available in a lower round, and a player like Orlandos drafted. Boyd would require and allocation, which the Charge currently lack. The assumption is Kraus replaces Iverson, and McVeigh becomes the third central defender, replacing Hall. I like Arrington, since her role, would be the Enos type, which needed filling. The assumption is Scasna would start, but either could fill the role. Also, getting makinen required a draft pick. Ultimately, the question is, is McVeigh as good as Boyd or Orlandos. I don't know, and I have reservations, but I like the other 3 picks, and give the draft a GRADE B