USWNT sues USSF 2019 version

Much ado about nothing - either way.

A "tentative" settlement between USSF and USWNTPA is basically nothing.

No movement on the Solo case will happen until the union's case is done. And unless and until that happens there should be no movement to reactivate Solo's case.

Pretty much all the mainstream reporting on the "settlement" was terrible. While almost all articles and reports I saw (but not all headlines) did point out that nothing was finalized, only a few noted that major roadblocks to getting the settlement across the finish line, much less the short-term political reasons why it was a good idea for the union and the current USSF leadership to make a PR splash at the time.

 

I think we can duly consider all bridges between Solo and the national team well and truly destroyed.

 

Bank ….

 

this probably would make the US with the dozen top paying woso players in the world today. Only other foreigners that might compete
;
Sam Kerr who’s Chelsea’s salary is rumored around 600K Euros & got an Nike Mercurial brand with her name printed on it(though not sure if it’s an best seller ala Ronaldo)
and
Lieke Martens who fit her own athletic clothing line. Though none can compete with Alex Morgan who’s signed so far something like 27 different endorsement contracts

 

Sam Kerr is also the face of FIFA 23, has her own series of children's books, and she is extremely well known in Australia and London, not to mention many other countries.

 

Not published yet but Keira Walsh and Beth Mead are at the head of the line for a pay deal with the FA that will see them pick up £300k in addition to their €uro victory bonus.

 

And has written (or at least co-written) several children's books. If you've worked in a school library, you know that's where the money is.

 

If the USSF was smart, they would realize that the next PR issue will occur when the struggles of the US Womens YNT catch up to the senior level and the US starts struggling in world tournaments.

Start preparing those fact sheets and get them looked at by every PR agency in the country.

 

The success of the USWYNT's has never been an indicator of success on the senior level.

 

Well, it kind of has, hasn't it? The US used to win at every level. Now they're only winning at senior level, and there was a rather substantial gap between the Rapinoe/Sauerbrunn generation and the Smith/Rodman generation.

 

No we did not use to win at every level. Here is the U20 history at the World Cup. We only won 3 times since 2002.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_women's_national_under-20_soccer_team#FIFA_U-20_Women's_World_Cup

Here is the U17's: We have never won the World Cup. In fact, this year was our best year:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unite...er-17_soccer_team#FIFA_U-17_Women's_World_Cup

 

So "win" may be imprecise, but the US certainly used to do better:

U20:
- First 6 Cups: 3 wins, 5 trips to semis, 6 trips to quarters, 0 times stuck in group stage
- Next 4 Cups: 0 wins, 1 trip to semis, 2 trips to quarters, 2 times (the last 2) stuck in group stage

U17:
- They've never done well, true.

We've seen a few years in which players have not been breaking through.

2019 World Cup squad (which was very, very lucky to win): 11 players 30 and over, 2 players 24 and under

2021 Olympics (which did NOT win): 11 players 30 and over, 5 more 28 and over, 2 players 26 and under

Two!

The countries that beat or drew the US were considerably younger.

Perhaps of greater concern -- in The Guardian's list of the top 100 women's players, younger Europeans are pushing ahead of older Americans.

 

The Guardian is a european publication. What else would you expect?

Does anyone believe that Christine SInclair (at 38 years old) was the 18th best player in the world in 2021? Oh boy they even have Ashley Hatch ahead of Cat Macario. Midge Purce ahead of Pugh. That list is ridiculous. And, it shows the extreme varations where we have another publication calling Cat Macario a top 5 player in the world in the same year. Here she is 87th.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...100-best-female-footballers-in-the-world-2021

 

You mean this one?

https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2022/nov/23/belgium-v-canada-world-cup-2022-live



But seriously -- here's the panel: https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...100-best-female-footballers-in-the-world-2021

 

I am not sure what your first link is supposed to mean. But the panel is a joke no matter how you slice it. Just look at how they ranked the players I mentioned alone. They are clearly not watching all of the leagues. Sinclair was a great player. But at 38 years old she was not. Hatch a top 100 player in the world, and better than Macario? You can't take that seriously.

 

The vote was last year, when Hatch had a dream year and Sinclair won a gold medal and the Shield. Not saying I would’ve voted for her, but it’s not like the old FIFA panels voting for Mia Hamm after she retired.

On the first link — look at the byline.

 

For me this back and forth gets a little hung up on Youth NT performances and 2 things can be true at once.
1. Youth national team performance is only loosely correlated to senior team performance
2. The US women's youth teams are doing worse lately and that is concerning though to a a degree I'd argue not surprising.

I do think the basic thesis that things will get harder for the USWNT though is a 100% true.

Historically until 4-6 years ago the entire list of important Women's teams was 9 teams long : USA, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, Japan, China, Canada, Brazil. And you never had more than 4-5 on that list good at the same time.

Now you have 9+ teams all good at the same time: England, France, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Spain, USA, Canada, Japan at a minimum. and this pool is going to keep growing. And I could maybe chuck a few more into that list - Australia? Brazil? One or both Koreas?

But life is going to continue to get more competitive not less on the women's side. USA needs to prepare for more losing over time - see Brazil's men as an example. In a deeper pool you can be really good and still not win World Cups.

 

Right on!

In Full House: The Spread Of Excellence From Plato To Darwin (Harmony Books, 1996), Stephen Jay Gould among many other things set out a theory on why there never will be another 0.400 hitter in baseball. The theory goes something like this, as applied to women’s soccer: Worldwide, players are faster and stronger today than those of past decades, mainly due to better training methods, nutrition, lifestyles, and equipment. There has also been an expansion of the available talent pool as womens soccer has spread globally. As the skills of players improve, and as the pool of talented players to choose from increases, players will approach the maximum of capability and the variation in team performance will decrease. Therefore, over time the ability of any one team to dominate will decrease.

What you are describing in your post is completely consistent with this theory. Women’s international soccer is not yet at the level of maturity as a sport as American baseball or men’s international soccer, but it is going in that direction just as you have described. Thus expecting or even hoping that the US women will -- or even can -- dominate over the long term as they have in the past is not based on how the real world works.

 

Well said above by BCFy and by cpthomas. BCFy's comparison to the Brazilian men's team seems right on the mark.