Okay the draft is now over... We have: (1) Withers (2) Gaston (3) Crumpton (4) Antongiovanni (5) Kayulu We were only one pick away from getting Orlandos! Gaston vs. Orlandos ...what do you guys think? At least CP isn't the lone Tarheel anymore! Withers was an excellent choice. Lots of other fans envy us with Withers on board. My guess is that Withers and Gaston will have a place on the Beat...not sure about the other three. What's everyone elses opinion? We have lost Sunny, Liping, Smith and Cagle. Any predictions as to whether or not we lose any other regulars??
Back with our UNC soroity. although I wish we could have changed the goalkeeping unc part, but at least Jenni will be starting. KD Gaston Anne and CP We are lucky to get Gaston and Withers 2 really good players. If Antongiovanni and Kayulu were to ever start could you imagne the name game with them People just got Speical K and The twins down. We still have 2 international spots so I guess we should wait and see what happens with that and the waiver draft, whenever that is.
Callie Withers story on the Beat site: http://www.theatlantabeat.com/338300.html Supplemental draft is next week. --------------
Fear, any thoughts on what we can expect in the supplemental draft?? And might I add, that picture is just plain scary.
I gotta say San Diego and New York both had really good drafts and if their new coaches can fix all the problems they are both going to improve a lot! I think Atlanta definitely got a good player out of Gaston but the whole knee surgery thing is a scary thing considering that this league is a lot rougher but we will see what happens!
Beat offseason gets an A I must say that this has been a very good off season for the Beat from a roster stand point. They addresed their needs created by departing players and a lack of goal scorers. The German will score, the defense got better with Gaston and the midfield got stronger, meaner,bigger, and even better in the air with Withers. With Gaston and Crumpton, they also got speeeed. Lots of it. Antongiovanni is from Denver, Stone's old stomping ground so maybe she it a find for the Beat? Kayulu is supposedly quite an athlete herself and has a good shot to make the team. Don't look now but the winningest team in the WUSA just got a lot better. Can't wait for April 5th.
I don't follow women's college soccer close enough to have an in depth opinion on this but it looks like the Beat strengthened some weaknesses from last year. We were lacking a little bit in defensive presence in the center of the midfield last year and it appears from Wither's credentials that she has the potential to fill this void perfectly. Cleaning up the midfield, she could make our back line tougher and free up Sawa and Serlinga to push forward and create havoc. I hope either newcomers Pohlers or Crumpton is a speedster at striker. Gaston should help us recover from Smith's retirement. The only weakness that I still see is lack of speed on the wings. All in all, I am excited about the new additions.
I think that between Pohlers and the draft we've added a lot... but the other teams did well too. thre was a lot of talent out there, and WUSA will be pretty wide open. I love this approach to identifying and acquring new talent... a league that can have last-to-first teams will always be exciting.
Anyone else concerned about Gaston's knees? ATL got a beast of a player in Withers. I think she will be a perfect fit for ATL's style. When Stanford visited Satan Clara to open the college season, Withers just crushed Aly & Devvyn Hawkins. With Withers patrolling in front of the ATL defense, I think ATL will lead the league in defense once again. BOS & PHL will regret not taking Withers. Knock them dead girl!
I agree that every team did really well in the draft and I think this year will probably be extremely close. I think every team has the potential to have a winning season and I don't think any team will have a New York season with 2 wins or anything. I think everyone could easily be successful and should make the race for FC 3 much more competitive! I think this draft will really help improve every team.
Actually it's on the 11th. A small blurb in today's AJC about the Beat's draft picks: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/sports/0203/02insocc.html
It looks like the league is gonna set the roster size at 16 plus 2 reserves. Start coming up with your roster lists.
roster, reserves and Gastoni I have also heard 16 and 4 reserves which would seem a must in this world cup year. Gaston's knees..talked to some Beat people and they made some sense of her situation. Evidently, she is not going to be asked to play 90 minutes a game for 21 games so the game wear and tear will be way down from her college season when she never came off the field. See her developing into the right side defender and/or starting sometimes in the middle when Canada calls Nonen away. Furthermore, although she has had numurous knee surgeries, she did not miss a single game due to knee trouble in her 2002 college season that went all the way to the semi-final. The pro season is longer so that may be a factor at some point for her. Man she is fast fast and very hard on the tackle. Should fit right in. As I have said, I like the Beat offseason but everyone is again better so the level should be off the charts this year.
My best guess would be Burt. I really thought she deserved more playing time than an injured Sun Wen last year.
Re: Re: Post Draft Discussion I highly highly highly doubt Burtie will be leaving any time soon, unless she is getting traded. Tom would be stupid to cut her. She is awesome.
I'm not saying she's not awesome, I think she is. That's the reason why I think she could demand to be traded to another team
Remember its a World Cup year and so Emily is probably our best bet when we lose Cindy or Charmaine or both even. And remember last year she had a lot of crucial moments in big games. Regardless if her role is coming off the bench or starting I think the Beat needs to keep her especially this being a World CUp year
I like Burt... she gives her all when she's in there... but Stone doesn't seem to value her very much, or else she's get more playing time.
I disagree. Krzykowski is one of the fastest players in the league... Julie Augustyniak is fast as well. They were our main players on the wings. Lisa has shown her speed many times in chasing down a loose player or ball. I remember one time when Dorrance was questioning the speed of the defensive wings and about that time a ball was kicked out of the backfield with Lisa running down the right side...blowing by everyone. He simply stated, "I guess that answers that question". Lisa also has one of the most accurate passes on the team. A must for our style of play. I believe our problems have been up front, not in the back. Cindy gets lazy and Charmaine gets frustrated. We need a work horse with speed and strength that will get our girls up-top motivated and moving. Hopefully, Pohlers will fill that role and we'll see a lot more goal scoring.