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2021-22-23-24 News Thread

Three a year keeps from having somebody lose out on the spotlight they deserve just because they're in a huge induction class. I'm fine with that. And so far the Hall has been really careful about inducting late career DPs who had brief MLS careers, and rightfully so. I suspect we get one woman this year and that it will be either Wagner or Holliday, which neatly kicks the Solo can down the road a year. Again, the only reason to keep her out is because she's a jerk and that's not a good enough reason.
 
jeffbear said:
And so far the Hall has been really careful about inducting late career DPs who had brief MLS careers, and rightfully so.
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Beckham, though, changed the landscape of the sport in the U. S., and has been instrumental in his investing into the American football system (his academy and through Miami FC). And Henry not only spent five productive years with the Red Bulls, he also guided the Impact to the playoffs during his brief stint there. Think it'll be difficult to ignore them, especially Becks.

As for the women, I suspect you're right, which would be too bad for Hope.
 
Ed H in Pasadena said:
But they only take 3 each year (why?) And with David Beckham, Robbie Keane, Thierry Henry, along with Aly Wagner and Lauren Cheney Holliday on that list, how do you choose?
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I thought Holiday had well over 100 caps, but she only had 133, which is only 2 more than Wagner had. And I would have said Wagner had under 100. And on the biggest stages, she wasn’t a consistent starter, nor making consistent appearances. She never played in a final, the closest she came was the 3rd place match in the 2007 World Cup. So I’d say Holiday ahead of her.

The others? Beckham before Henry and Keane. If Beckham hadn’t come to LA, the others wouldn’t have crossed the pond either.
 
For my money, Holiday is a more important player but neither her nor Wagner had anything like the career Solo had. I know she's a problem for the establishment folks but you just can't keep ignoring what she did on the field forever.

And I get all that stuff about Becks, but I'm still not buying it. He was fine ... almost purely a specialist for LA, but at least he was effective at it. I just don't think the "influence" he had on others was as important as people make out, or even fully relevant.
 
jeffbear said:
For my money, Holiday is a more important player but neither her nor Wagner had anything like the career Solo had. I know she's a problem for the establishment folks but you just can't keep ignoring what she did on the field forever.

And I get all that stuff about Becks, but I'm still not buying it. He was fine ... almost purely a specialist for LA, but at least he was effective at it. I just don't think the "influence" he had on others was as important as people make out, or even fully relevant.
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No question. Solo was the best keeper in the world for a number of years. As much as I loved Holiday, and she was one of my favorites, she didn’t have anywhere near the impact as Solo.
 
Weird, transformative NWSL season wrapped up with a really good playoff final that saw Washington dispatch Chicago 2-1 in an entertaining game. That caps a rough season in DC with a storybook ending ... good on the ladies for keeping themselves focused through all the drama. BIG off season for the league as they hammer out a new, more respectful relationship with their players and try to get back on track to be the best home for professional women ... a freaking low bar if you take a good hard look at the competition.
 
More NWSL news ... Chicago parted ways with longtime coach Rory Dames, allowing him to resign under a cloud of allegations of emotional and verbal abuse. So, the shakeup/clean out in leadership in the league continues. I was encouraged to note that one of Chicago's primary fan groups felt the need to admit that they played a role in pressurizing the atmosphere as well, particularly with the way they verbally harassed Christen Press after she left the club. This, IMO, is a big step towards accountability. Fans DO play a role and 100% can contribute to a negative atmosphere.

Now maybe something can be done about letting these abusive creeps walk away on their own terms.
 
More NWSL news ... North Carolina Courage announced that interim head coach Sean Nahas will shed the interim tag and be the next head coach. Not a huge fan of this honestly. He's got a background in youth and development leagues and this is a top flight pro league. I'd have preferred some legit experience here, but honestly ... this is a transition season and maybe spending money on staff is a bad idea right now. They just shipped out two more USWNT players (Dahlkemper's move to Houston was magically turned into a loan and they traded her to the expansion San Diego Wave for an obscene amount of allocation money, while Sam Mewis was traded to KC for promising defender Kiki Picket and the rights to Malia Berkely ... who could be a future star based on her college career), and have geared up with allocation money and extra picks. They can only protect one USWNT player (probably Lynn Williams) so they're set up well for the expansion draft and ready to shake things up.

And look ... I've been told that they basically told the entire roster that if they wanted out after the Riley stuff broke, that the club would do whatever they could to move them. Mewis and Dahlkemper wanted out, and they got their wish. And good news ... they're actually hiring a dedicated HR director.
 
Staying in the NWSL, the Chicago Red Stars made a host of moves, some to accommodate player requests and others to receive draft exemptions from Angel City and the San Diego Wave. Sarah Gorden and Julie Ertz go to Angel City along with an international spot. Katie Johnson and Makenzy Doniak head to San Diego by request and also send Kelsey Turnbow there. Nicole Stanton was traded to OL Reign so she could return to her home state.
 
My take on this NWSL off season ... fans need to take a deep breath and let everything play out without the usual "who won the trade" nonsense. SO MANY players want to move this off season for reasons that have little to nothing to do with the conventional stuff that everybody just needs to take a knee for a minute.

And yeah, Angel City is gonna load up with high profile International players ... and then come the middle of the season they're going to remember that they have to play a huge chunk of their schedule without their marquee names.

More NWSL player movement (see point one) ... Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris are moving from Orlando to Gotham. Neither is star material anymore, but both are still serviceable veterans.
 
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Press, Ertz and Gorden. That's not a bad way to start. Just texted my two eldest daughters and they're both excited. The eldest, in fact, apparently watched some of the playoffs and knows what Gorden adds defensively. I'm just happy L. A.'s getting a team back.
 
Ed H in Pasadena said:
Press, Ertz and Gorden. That's not a bad way to start. Just texted my two eldest daughters and they're both excited. The eldest, in fact, apparently watched some of the playoffs and knows what Gorden adds defensively. I'm just happy L. A.'s getting a team back.
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That franchise's ambitions are going to add more economic pressure on the other owners, which I think is fine. The continuing presence of owners that run their teams on an absolute shoe-string budget while leaning on various national team programs to subsidize their star players is and has always been a HUGE problem with the general professionalism of the NWSL. Chicago needs new ownership, probably, and Washington is in the process of changing hands. Hopefully that will bring those two programs in key markets in line with the professional operating level the league is going to demand going forward. Not sure how the Courage are going to manage this process either, as their owner has gotten away with a VERY small financial outlay compared to their competitive success. Like I said, they're transitioning now ... including adding some professional support in the office for the very first time. That's almost all going to be out of pocket and I'm not sure what the appetite will be for that. If it's going to really be a new era for the NWSL, it's going to take bigger owner investments in proper professional front office organizations ... NOT a couple of player personnel people and a gigantic collection of social media interns, which is what most of these front offices look like.
 
A report commissioned by the FA regarding fan behavior and security around the UEFA 2020 Final at Wembley has been issued. It speaks of barely averted disaster. About 6,000 fans were outside the stadium ready to storm in if England had won and about 2,000 fans without tickets forced their way in to watch the match.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Damning report calls out 'national shame' of Euro 2020 final chaos

A report into the shameful scenes which marred the nation's first appearance in a final in 55 years has found that things would have been even worse had Gareth Southgate's men beaten Italy.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk
 
The MLS semi-finals are this weekend and the Philadelphia Union have 11 players in the health and safety protocol according to Jonathan Tannewald, who covers soccer for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He says they have enough active players to play the game.

 
The Union have had a wonderful season and it would be a shame if they go out with a whimper because of this.
 
RB Leipzig and coach Jesse Marsch mutually agree to part ways. Leipzig are 11th in the table with 18 points in 14 matches. They‘re tied for 3rd in their UCL group and host Man City on Wednesday and will miss the Europa League if Brugge get more points than they do.
 
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