Thorns-Breakers is up on the NWSL YouTube channel. I'm pleasantly surprised, given how protective ESPN normally is of its content.
Again, Europe has the right of this. U play two games against each league opponent and the winner is whoever is at the top of the table at the end. U also play a single elimination cup series. U add a few semi pro teams to the mix who dont have the ncaa restriction to increase the field. Then u replace the play-off structure with the cup semis and finals. Maybe u play the final at a pre determined neutral site. That way u dont take the chance of having a team like Seattle dominate a season only to have a bad playoff game and get knocked out.
A team "dominating" in regular season needs to win when it matters. We are getting into BCS territory with this debate, but I firmly believe a team has to step up when it counts. I was thinking about a blended regular season play off idea. We do the home & away (18 games) and that's the "regular season". Then you wipe the points clean and the top 4 teams play another home & away (6 more games each). I can see a problem with scheduling all the extra games without knowing whose in it until the end of the season, and I'm not sure what the other 5 teams would do, if anything, but I think you get the best of both worlds here. The games qualify as "step up and play good, against other good teams, when it counts" without the risk of having a team knocked out with a sub par performance/poor officiating in one game.
I agree with 4 out of 9 going to the playoffs. I'm saying if the league expands to 12+ teams, then they need to move it up to 6 playoff teams.
It can, the point where a play-off turn silly is when more than half of the team get in to it. I am not found of them but as long as that rulre of thumb is followed I am ok with them.
Ok, I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but Majority almost always rules in this world, when we have to make a choice between two or more sides. In the argument of, "we don't want games to be on television because we can't watch them streamed live vs. yes TV is good for the league", the winners are clearly the side that claim "TV is good". 177,000 people tuned in to watch the Breakers vs. Thorns match on ESPN2 this past Sunday. However, only 928 people (so far, 24-48 hours later) have tuned in to watch the replay of it on Youtube. So for all those people arguing that they don't want NWSL on TV, sorry you don't have a case. 177,000 viewers are much better exposure than 928. Majority rules here, especially at that gap. The majority (177,000 people) would rather watch it on TV vs. the people that have to settle for watching it on Youtube later (just 928 people here). And some of these 928 people could be duplicates. None of the 177,000 households are duplicates.
idle formation speculation for the Thorns tonight with so many games in a short period (only two days between games this time and they had to travel): Would Riley dare switch to 4-2-3-1 to play it closer to the vest for the first part of the game, only to switch to 4-4-2 later? When both Sinclair and Morgan were absent, playing for their national teams, Riley went the 4-2-3-1 route against Washington with McDonald as the lone striker. Vero and Catley were both with the team and started. Of course, Washington was missing a lot of players on national duty as well: Matheson, Krieger, Dunn. And Devanna and Garefrekes weren't with the team yet although Jodie Taylor played. Portland was also without Long as well as Heath, who will be unavailable again this match. But would a midfield of: Brooks Huffman Shim(or Kerr) Vero Long work at least a half against Washington? A couple weeks ago I favored the idea of staggering Morgan and Sinclair's time on the field when necessary to manage their minutes but they are suddenly now combining well on the field and you're giving away too much to not have them out there for significant minutes together. So at halftime or thereabouts, you'd bring in Morgan and Sinclair for McDonald and a midfielder, probably Shim/Kerr or possibly Long (reluctantly again a matter of keeping fresher legs out there) and switching to their now preferred diamond 4-4-2 (or some say 4-1-3-2) I usually hate planning on halftime subs,it's such a "fan" thing to do but with such short turnaround and the importance of the game, well sometimes extraordinary measures are needed. *** With Catley at LB, who does really well finding McDonald (and we're assuming the 20-year old has the legs to play this match), I don't think that lineup is offensively barren even against a full-strength Spirit team. You have mids who can combine with each other, provide some service to McDonald and you have two intelligent holding mids who can go box to box at moments. *** in case you're wondering - Heath, Moros and Farrelly are all listed as out for this match on the injury report.
A bit late, but I just caught two games from the weekend. Thorns-Breakers Entertaining as hell. ESPN getting involved is a great thing. Also their willingness to upload to YouTube is much appreciated. Vero with the best performance I've seen by a midfielder this season. Always in control, never rushing things (except when there's space to exploit), making intelligent decisions. She's the kind of player I wish the U.S. could produce. I hope she and Kim Little both get chances to shine at the WWC next year. Spain's pretty much in but Scotland is likely destined for the playoff round. Monica Gonzalez sounded fine overall, but it was annoying when she said Boxx was irreplaceable on the USWNT, and the only player who could cover for her as DM was Allie Long. Huh? Talk about drinking the Kool-aide. First of all nobody is irreplaceable. Second of all Long is clearly a better attacker; when she plays DM Portland's midfield looks porous. Despite the scoreline Boston played quite well for stretches. Durkin is the most erratic coach in terms of lineups and formation. You never know what to expect. This game they were clearly set up to counterattack, and until the 60th minute or so did okay. Once it was 5-3 they looked deflated. Whitehill looked exasperated. Reeves is a quality forward who will develop. With better service and luck she could have more goals. Incorrectly called offside early on, when she was in on goal and lifted the ball over Angerer after the whistle had gone. Mewis has no business being a WNT allocated player. Nothing impressive, once again, except for one curling shot that Angerer tipped wide of the post. The most forgettable player on the pitch. Holds the ball too long, and was easily dispossessed by Long in the build-up to Portland's third goal. Can Australia get on board as a fourth federation paying their players' salaries? They have as many in the league as Mexico does. For my money Alyssa Naeher is second-best U.S. goalkeeper right now. Barnhardt had the streak of shutouts, but she looks semi-injured and isn't tested as often. Harris makes highlight reel saves but is prone to mental lapses and giving up soft goals. And Cameron is better than Loyden on Sky Blue, which should tell you something. Franch would be in the mix but for her untimely injury. Sky Blue-Washington Spirit Uh does Washington know they are fighting for a playoff spot? Very little intensity aside from Jodie Taylor's tireless running. De Vanna doesn't have a very good attitude. Finally O'Hara has a break-out game. She benefitted from Nadim's presence more than anybody. KO thrives as a supporting attacker, not the focal point. That long-range shot must've felt glorious after her shooting woes. Attacking left back is still her best WNT position. Right now I'd pick her and Cox. Klingenberg has showed little this year.