Definitely a good point, a breakdown by positions might be better.. Though I'm not sure I'd count Golden Boot as a forward's "award" since it's not subjective like GKotY and DotY are. Just because you scored the most doesn't mean your value was the highest (even though that's apparently been the case for NWSL thus far... bleugh) Also, the Golden Boot was won my MFs for the first two years, sooooo...
Methinks statistic philes make up stuff just so they can say there is a statistic. The only statistic that counts is goals. BTW what the hell is a 'duel?'
First (non-stats based) league award revealed: Introducing the 2017 #NWSL Second XI 👏👏👏https://t.co/tbpETE4IBW pic.twitter.com/CyeLEJLOOM— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) October 10, 2017
My guess for First XI: Franch Short Dahlkemper Sauerbrunn/Sonnett Krieger Mewis Henry/Zerboni Marta Kerr Press Kawasumi
Hmm... interesting that only one single non-playoff player made the second XI. I'm guessing Kerr and *maybe* Brunn make the first XI. Pretty concentrated talent in the league this year.
If Sauerbrunn makes the First XI, it definitely isn't for performance reasons. Because she wasn't even the best defender for KC this year, let alone one of the best in the league.
It makes sense. The teams that have the players who stand out the most over an entire season are usually the ones who finish at or near the top. A stat very telling to me is Seattle having 6 POTW wins this season, the most of any team. They relied heavily on individual brilliance to get results, which isn't sustainable for an entire season.
One would definitely think so, but the point I was trying to make was that this year it seems that we're seeing a lot less of non-playoff players in the Best/Second XI than we have in previous years. Which seems a little odd to me. Yeah, definitely agree there.
And here's the Best XI: Grab some 🍿 and watch these highlights. The 2017 #NWSL Best XI. pic.twitter.com/joLlbQr3tE— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) October 12, 2017 Disagree on Fishlock and Sauerbrunn. Think both got votes on name recognition and not performance. But I am super thrilled for Zerboni. She's had her best season yet.
Should Portland win the title, it would be quite interesting: just one player in the Best XI of the league, and it's a GK. What could that mean for the people who voted for this selection? That Portland have no solitary prominent name, but are actually a solid, cohesive team, with talent all spread around the pitch? That their true force is defense, thus GK as their best one? That Portland get no love?
Best/Second XI selections per team: Boston- 0 Chicago- 5 (2 1st, 3 2nd) Houston- 0 Kansas City- 1 (1 1st) North Carolina- 5 (3 1st, 2 2nd) Orlando- 4 (2 1st, 2 2nd) Portland- 3 (3 2nd) Seattle- 2 (1 1st, 1 2nd) SkyBlue- 1 (1 1st) Washington- 0
These two points (bolded) are not the same, but I think both are in play for why Portland's field players are getting snubbed. It's certainly true that there's talent all over the pitch - so I think the fact that every player gets their highlight reel moments means that the votes get spread out to all players and may make them fall behind players on still-good teams that happen to stick out more over their teammates. Portland also certainly has some solid cohesion under Parsons that wasn't there with Riley, but considering that Portland's roster is SO stacked, I think that if they truly did mesh well enough to become noticeably better than the sum of their parts, they'd have snagged the shield and championship every year easily, maybe with the slight challenge from Seattle in their two-year power stint.
Mmmm... 0+5+0+1+5+4+3+2+1+0= ... 21!!! You forgot Adrianna Franch, indeed, @BlueCrimson! Maybe because she wasn't wearing the red shirt? So, actually it's (as I pointed out in my previous post): Portland 4 (1 1st, 3 2nd).
Your points about balance for the Thorns, I think, are right on. But I don't think meshing well has been a problem. If you look at the Thorns' rosters early in the season, they had a ton of injuries, and the talent level on the field wasn't what it was the second half of the season. I actually thought they did really well during the first half under the circumstances, but the first half results were too much of a drag for them to pass NC in the Shield race. Here's an interesting item that's worth some thought in relation to balance on a team and players not getting noticed (but not suggesting she should be on one of the XIs, because I don't think she should): Katherine Reynolds missed the entire first part of the season, returning to play her first minutes on July 22 (75 minutes, so almost, but not quite full game fit). The Thorns record prior to July 22: 6-4-4. The Thorns record from July 22 to present: 9-1-1.
I'd argue that Portland's run to 2nd started with Horan's stoppage time equalizer against Houston two weeks before. Hard to say if they go on that run without that result.