WPS on FSC schedule...

Thanks..

Nice find.

It seems that "on frame" is not a concept some have heard.

Auto Pilot wrote:By the way, I agree, Fox needs to get a new pair in the booth. They do nothing but tell me things I can see for myself happening on the field and they don't do much to create any excitement. You could do as well just watching with the sound off or maybe put a mic in the crowd.

You could put a fan from each team in a room together with a live broadcast of the game and record what they say, kind of like a DVD commentary. There's a show in England that does this for Premiership games. I love watching it on FSC.

Yeah its called FanZone and it absolutely entertaining and fun. During the broadcasts on top of the over the top partisanship of each of the fan commentators. There is a ticker that runs below the screen where people email Comments about the game. Its loads of fun to watch.

I'm surely no expert, but I noticed two things. There were some bad finishing efforts, and the WPS is color blind: Sky Blue wears orange, while Red Stars wear baby blue??

up7587 wrote: and the WPS is color blind: Sky Blue wears orange, while Red Stars wear baby blue??

(I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking that...)

Ditto, I was repeating a mantra to myself Orange is Sky Blue Orange is Sky Blue.

If they had the colors correct Sky Blue would wear Sky Blue and Chicago would wear red.

I was reading Auto Pilot's comments on Carly Lloyd this morning. I noticed that bullying incident, too - not nice at all. It got me to thinking that, at least in the games I have watched, the U.S. national team players have been pretty ineffective so far. It seems to me that the most dangerous players have been foreigners and some of the younger U.S players (read, Rapinoe). I also have not seen much out of the superstar Brazilian attacking players. I am wondering if the varying styles of play of the different national teams is the problem. It does not seem to be a problem in the man's pro leagues, but they have had many years to adapt to differing styles of play between national teams and their pro teams, whereas most of the women have played with only one style of play, which is their national team's style. If that is the case, it will take longer for the women's pro teams to build a cohesive style, and some players may never be as effective playing away from their national teams.

Good point, FFA. But doesn't this reflect poor roster choices on the part of the teams and their coaching staffs? If you wanted to play a possession style of play, it would seem like you would go out and recruit the best players who were comfortable in that style. If you wanted to play a run and gun, over the top style, you go out and get the speedsters.

Or maybe you just recruit the best overall talent and let them try to learn to work with each other, in which case chaos may reign for the first few months.

One can hope that the teams develop more personality as the season progresses and that we start seeing fewer passes to nowhere and more of the kind of tight, organized game that we are so used to seeing at Merlo.

I would HOPE that would happen (tight organized games) - it probably will, as long as the individual players are not too fixed in their style of play. A really good point about drafting. You would think teams might have picked players based on the style of play the management (coach) wanted to use on his/her team. Maybe some did - I have only seen a few teams. It will be fun to watch things develop in any case.

The tight team-type of play at Merlo is what got me hooked on the team in the first place. UP games, at this point, are much more fun to watch then the pros, even though the individual skill level is obviously a little lower.

fan from afar wrote: You would think teams might have picked players based on the style of play the management (coach) wanted to use on his/her team. Maybe some did - I have only seen a few teams. It will be fun to watch things develop in any case.

The tight team-type of play at Merlo is what got me hooked on the team in the first place. UP games, at this point, are much more fun to watch then the pros, even though the individual skill level is obviously a little lower.

The way the drafting was done made it hard to actually go for a type of player. There wasn't ever a large pool to pick from, only a small collection of first WNT, foreign pros, and then college players. That made the possibility of pairings like Christaine and Marta on the same team impossible.

Had all of the players been available at once, you might have seen a different team makeup on some squads.

I agree that UP is more fun to watch at this stage, but give it time...Guys like Abner Rogers will shape a team eventually.

I agree that it's definitely going to take some time, however, I still believe that the spacing in the WPS is better than in the MLS right now. Some of the coaches in the MLS coach like they are afraid to lose in my opinion.

If you love the sport, they are putting out a pretty good product and watching the former UP players and the Brazillian players is a treat. By pure luck, Chastain is playing close to home on her college field at SCU, and that is good for the league...

athleticjames wrote:
By pure luck, Chastain is playing close to home on her college field at SCU, and that is good for the league...

I don't think luck had a lot to do with it. Some players made certain squads as much for their marketing potential as for their skill.
Chastain was going to put people in the seats, so if she had any skills left at all, having her their to kick off the league was a smart move.

Purplegeezer wrote:

The way the drafting was done made it hard to actually go for a type of player. There wasn't ever a large pool to pick from, only a small collection of first WNT, foreign pros, and then college players. That made the possibility of pairings like Christaine and Marta on the same team impossible.

Had all of the players been available at once, you might have seen a different team makeup on some squads.

I very much agree with Geezer's comment on the the draft format making for an odd composition of teams. It seems to have made for some strange bedfellows. I guess it was bound to happen in the first year. I assume next year wont be so compartmentalized and the teams will get overall picks regardless of whether they play for the US National Team, International or otherwise. We will see teams seeking to get the best player for the position they are looking for, without consideration of where they originate.

How, many time did you see Megan waiting for players to make Pilot like runs toward the goal to no avail?

I will agree with AFan's assessment of the Brazilians with the exception of Marta who seems to be bringing everything that was expected.

Can't wait for Budgie to come back from Germany. She will be so much better.