Moore, Solo, Tietjen-Prozzo, Fair, Benson, Mitts, Smith, Pichon, Scasna, Tullock, Monroe, Arrington, McVeigh, Misaki, Kraus and Makinen. Reserves: Alexa Borisjuk and Trina Maso de Moya. No Melanie Hoffmann. Paul
Someone sent me the media release and here's the list that I got: No. Player Pos. Pronunciation Age Place of Birth Last Club 1 Moore, Melissa GK 27 Van Nuys, Calif. San Diego (WFC) 2 Fair, Lorrie M 23 Los, Altos, Calif. U.S. national team 3 Moore, Mary-Frances M 23 West Islip, N.Y. UCLA 4 Kraus, Anna D 22 Mt. Vernon, Wash. San Diego Spirit (WUSA) 6 Benson, Jenny D 24 Fountain Valley, Calif. North Huntington Beach 7 Makinen, Anne (**) M 26 Helsinki, Finland Washington Freedom (WUSA) 8 Smith, Kelly (*) F 24 Watford, England English national team 9 Scasna, Pavlina (*) M 20 Prague, Czech Republic FC Bayern Munich 11 Pichon, Miarinette (*) M/F Pee-SHON 27 Saint Memmie, France OL Saint Memmie 10 Arrington, Deliah F 22 Pawleys Island, S.C. Clemson Univ. 12 Misaki, Erin M 21 Tarzana, Calif. Univ. of Portland 13 Mitts, Heather D 24 Cincinnati, Ohio Tampa Bay Extreme (W-League) 15 Tullock, Stacey M 24 Saltburn, England Arizona State Univ. 18 Solo, Hope GK 21 Richland, Was. Univ. of Washington 22 McVeigh, Mary M 21 Northampton, Mass. Dartmouth College 25 Tietjen-Prozzo, Jennifer M/D TEA-Jen 25 Mineola, N.Y. Long Island lady Riders (W-League) -- Hoffmann, Melanie (*) & M 28 Dusseldorf, Germany Duisberg 19 Borisjuk, Alexa D 5-10 3-Jan. 1980 North Haven, Conn. Univ. of Connecticut 21 Maso de Moya, Trina F 6-0 25-Jan. 1980 Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. FAU The Charge's 16-player roster does not yet include German midfielder Melanie Hoffmann. Dependent on visa application.
WNBA got game; we got height... Finally. Makinen. Maso de Moya. Borisjuk. Can I get a witness?? ($1 to ESPN's Stuart Scott) Paul
From last July 24 on, you could say it ended badly. 2-0 which became 2-3, and then scoring but 4 goals in the last 6 games. Paul
Not that I've been paying attention, but I'm surprised at all the new players - I count 7. (The Freedom, by comparison, have 3.)
I'm not too surprised at the massive roster turnover. Zhao and Liu and gone, as is Iverson, so basically it's 4 old faces replaced by the 3 first rounders and Misaki.... The developmental players could be very subject to some speculation, is it Spinelli or Kruze. Spinelli offers width out on the left and played well against Maryland. Kruze basically did the Tullock role and played well too. Tough choice between those two. As to Hoffmann, she wouldn't be here if the visa wasn't eventually being finalized. You can track that stuff on the State Dept website, but you need the case number.
Looking to the season... 1) weakness - well what to do without Iverson..I assume Borisjuk assumes the role, with McVeigh gradually getting experience to assume it. My concern is deadball situations and defending them. This might be a reason to go with Solo, who should be better in this area than Moore. But keeping is a toss-up, and Krikorian could go either way. 2) strength - Kelly Smith and Marinette Pichon and Dee Arrington together on the pitch are the strongest set of attcking players and team can offer. so 4 out of the 1st 5 matches are road matches, and with lots of new faces, and a question in central defense, a slow start seems in the cards. Krikorian history is to shut down the other team in midfield, which makes Monroe a vital player here. Gone is the brilliance of Zhao, but theres the counter being the brilliance of the 3 aformentioned attackers. And then there's the will of Kelly Smith. The Charge this year are NOT quite the team they were of April and May of last year. Resolving central defense and young players growing are the key. Right now, I say the Charge are the 4th best side in wusa, but by the end of July, given the emergence of Borijusk or McVeigh and Hoffmann, this team will be a difficult side to beat in any play-off match. The Charge remind me of the old Brazil sides, where there was so much attacking skill, they seldom worried about having to defend. That's the upside. Be ready for lots of 4-2 scores.
if not alot of 4-3 and 5-4 need two goalies just to shed the workload The good: Kelly's back, arrington is for real, monroe is healthy, pichon is pichon, man thats a lineup. The Bad: McVeigh was unimpressive at CD hoffman still cant play, and Bjorsuk is a reserve even though she seems the best of the lot. Id expect some 3 in the back sets myself. Sascina seems to have been run onto the bench IMHO. The Ugly: Wazzup with makinen? she still has roster status in the air??? Ditto Hoffmann. Id say that we do the useall kirk toss at spartan and use our 2 weeks off to solidify everything...after that...look out...id say we are 3rd place, i am NOT sold on omid getting any form of defense together in SD and or pia doing any improvements in boston (unless we give them iverson) My lineup DC Atl Us Bos Sj SD Car (dont think thy will have the same successes with prinz in and out with callups) NY (will be a doormat for a long time as long as Marenhoff is at the helm)
Right now, I'd say DC and Atlanta and Carolina have less questions than the Charge. And right now I like Carolina getting Boyd and DC, Minnert. So they have a known defensive presences being added. I do wonder if it's Makinen in central defense, as g4m points out, Borisjuk is a reserve. so my hunch is... Scasna and Pichon up top Smith Monroe and Tullock and Fair Benson Tietjen-Prozzo Makinen and Benson Moore... Arrington comes off the bench and Scasna drops into midfield, as Monroe sits... Still I see Carolina and DC and Atlanta fighting for the home semis.. with Charge, Boston, San Jose and San Diego for 4th... The league is well balanced talent wise. Charge are where they are because, there's so many new faces, and the questions if Zhao and Iverson get adequately replaced. Still haven't seen Maso de Moya play, but with her size, it presents an option we were asking for in the off-season.
Well, the scuttlebutt about the Freedom coaches' issues with Makinen was that she was not playing good defense. Seems like a strange place to put her in any case.
ive been saying that all along...makinen is NOT a central defender, would rather see fair at right back and mitts at CD than makinen trying to play defender.
Charge style of defending is more like the Brazilian men, emphasis is on ball skills and possession. Makinen is my suspect for defense, given the absence of others whom I'd select for that role. Borisjuk is a reserve, and given the scrimmage I saw was the option I'd choose. McVeigh is similarly skilled like Tullock, but is more frail. Tullock might be the suspect in central defense, and Makinen might move into midfield there. This is the area which causes me to downgrade any forecast for the Charge. As we saw in Korea with Agoos, any weak link can be exploited bu world class players. And right now the Charge have a missing piece to their puzzle. But Smith and Pichon and Arrington will create tons of offense. And will this aspect of the game offset a flaw. The Charge model is very Brazilian in this sense... Whatever the case, when the Charge play, we'll see lots of entertaining football, chances going both ways.
id rather have tullock (who was drafted as a CD) than makinen, ive seen mak try to defend...not pretty.
in the scrimmage against Maryland, Mitts was a central defender...for the last 15 minutes g4m, you weren't there, but in every dead ball situation, Maryland was very dangerous. Last year, Iverson won all those balls. Who will win them this year!!
not makinen, maybe tullock...i agree someone needs to step up and from your observations...it doesnt seem that mcveigh is ready yet. too bad that scrimmage got cancelled or id be there figuring it out for myself by now
McVeigh played well in the 2nd half when she moved to midfield. We have to remember Krikorian style is to look for skill before any other quality. The one thing McVeigh could do was defend space in a counter style game. When Maryland was in transition, she looked fine. The whole style the Charge have is to dominate the ball in midfield, have Monroe shut down any thing before it happens, and create havoc offensively. People will grow into their roles, and I'm sure some one will emerge in dead ball cases. You have NOT seen Arrington yet... let's see other wusa defenses deal with Pichon and Arrington, with Smith running everything... there will be fear in the heart of every opposing coach..
i know but i trust that shes for real this years charge is beginning to remind me of last years breakers alot... you got the killer triangle and big mids but not much defense...the difference and why we will make the playoffs is we have much better goaltending and better dmids than the breakers had.
The Charge style of play offensively differs greatly from the Boston side of last year. Pichon and Arrington have the ability to get behind you with speed. Teams will need to concentrate on Smith, to deny her the ability to create. That's the key to beating the Charge. And then you still have Mitts and Benson overlapping. Charge are very mobile in attack, not static at all, and it requires mobile defenders to defend these woman. very interesting to see how Hoffmann firs into this equation. Scasna against Maryland played the role of Clemens in the 5 person midfield of last year, except Scasna had an idea of what was required. Poor Mandy never had a clue what she was being asked to do.
http://www.philadelphiacharge.com/press_room/348423.html sounds like some one has been reading some of our critiques
4-3-1-2 is the way to go. Benson, Mitts, Krause, Tietjen in defense. Fair, Hoffmann and Makinen in the Midfield. Then Smith. Then Scasna and Pichon. I would change that to add Tullock alongside Smith because she can be creative and still plays good defense. Maybe alternate Tullock and Makinen. Have Makinen in the 3 and take her out and move Tullock alongside Smith. With this team and those great subs, I don't see how we can lose. Maybe if we are desperate for goal we can add another forward. Arrington coming in at halftime for one of the midfielders would be great. Otherwise bring her in late in the game. Her speed will be very bad for the opponent. I would also like to say that we should especially take out players more often. At the end of last year, our defense didn't play as well and I believe fatigue might have played a part. While we don't have as many World Cup participants as other teams, it would be probably be a good idea to alternate a few players. Don't overwork them.
Better to be too athletic than *not athletic enough*.... At least IMO... Anyone, from a seasoned watcher to a casual fan could have seen from the Maryland game and the dead-ball issue that height was dire-ly needed and I do think that's why Borisjuk and Maso de Moya made the final cut. A need was addressed positively. Paul
Dennism, with your 4 backs, who are the central defenders. Kraus looked uncomfortable against Maryland, really reluctant to go forward, when there was ample chance. If you go the 4-3-1-2, I might just drop Tullock into central defense. Addressing the dead ball matter for the millionth time, positioning and timing are critical elements of defending dead ball. But you have to mix this skill with the way the Charge play the other phases of the game, defenders are asked to pass the ball with proficiency and maintain a high level of mobility. Speed of play, changing the focus of attack. Those qualities are needed in the type defenders the Charge look for. being able to maintain possession is a prime aspect of defending. While dead ball concerns exist, take the global perspective of the team, there are far more positives than this negative. Krikorian is no dummy, he knows what he'll be doing when things really count... does anyone really believe he's gonna use the 4-5-1 which he did against maryland?? Concerns need to be proven not to be significant, and this team will be fine. We surely know, it will be entertaining...and that's why I go to watch em play.
Well, let's see. Tullock could be a central defender. I've always wanted her to expand into a more offensive mdifielder. But maybe not now and for us. We have Smith and McVeigh. So I guess we can have Tullock in central defense alongside Tietjen and Mitts and Benson on the wings and have them overlapping. Have Monroe start in the middle then alongside Fair and Hoffmann. Still Smith playing back a little would be perfect for her skills and downright terrifying for a defense that would be trying to cover Pichon and Scasna.