New Women's Pro League!

Harry Redknapp wrote:I'd love to see the UP alumnae. But please spare us the sad sight of Abby Wambach in a Portland shirt. She's never had much in the way of finesse but I watched the USA-Ireland game at Jeld-Wen and her first touch was astonishly bad. Just shocking.

I didn't see the ROI match but based on what I have seen, pass on Wambach.

If the Thorn get Rapinoe and Sinclair, they would have two of the best at getting the ball to the open player. Put an aggressive forward like Enyart (is she healthy?) out there and watch the scoring. While watching Christine all those years in a Pilot uniform, two things impressed me the most: her amazing first step that got her to top speed and her ability to always put the pass right where her teammate needed it to be effective. Many have talked about how many more goals she would have as a US player, but I think it would result in even more assists to scorers like Morgan.

So, if not Wambach, then who would the other USWNT player be on the roster?

Winters? Cox? Strong central defender.

They are talking about 3 USWNT players on each team. I thought it might be Wambach, Rapinoe and Winters for the Portland team.

If we are talking only about USWNT draftees, one may not like Wambach's style of play, but she brings a lot to the table.
Leadership, a tremendous work rate, proven scorer, respect from teammates and opponents alike, a willingness to work with younger players to help them improve their game. She has very high name recognition, even non soccer fans know who she is which would be a big plus for a new team trying to fill seats.

All fine and well. But it's style of play that's the problem. If you have Wambach then you have to play a physical long ball style. It defines the team in a way that doesn't allow for finesse. And hard to imagine that you get Sinclair and Wambach on the same team. And Sinc would be my number 1 pick. Hands down.

There will be 24 US Soccer Federation-paid players in the League, three per team. Plus 16 Canadian and 16 Mexican Soccer Federation players, two from each federation per team.

Keelin is one of 28 players who was in the US WNT pre-Olympics camp. She might or might not be one of the 24 USSD-paid players in the League. If not, she will be a free agent, meaning free to work out a deal with any team -- there won't be a draft of free agents.

Stephanie Lopez Cox also was one of the 28 in the camp.

We could end up with Megan, Keelin, Stephanie, Christine, and Sophie (Schmidt).

I like the sound of that, UPSF.

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:There will be 24 US Soccer Federation-paid players in the League, three per team. Plus 16 Canadian and 16 Mexican Soccer Federation players, two from each federation per team.

Keelin is one of 28 players who was in the US WNT pre-Olympics camp. She might or might not be one of the 24 USSD-paid players in the League. If not, she will be a free agent, meaning free to work out a deal with any team -- there won't be a draft of free agents.

Stephanie Lopez Cox also was one of the 28 in the camp.

We could end up with Megan, Keelin, Stephanie, Christine, and Sophie (Schmidt).

Or not....

http://www.redding.com/news/2012/dec/26/megan-rapinoe-celebrated-a-golden-summer-at-the/

Megan Rapinoe plans to return to Portland shortly before she moves to France after the first of the year so she can play for a professional soccer team in Lyon.

"The French team has shown great interest in her and offered her a nice contract," her dad said. "She always wanted to play abroad."

Following six months of playing in Europe, Rapinoe is likely to be part of a new women's professional league in the U.S. that's expected to form for the summer.

Megan is going to love Lyon, probably one of the nicest cities in the world....and the people of Lyon are going to absolutely love Megan....it should be the perfect fit!

@sincy12: Hoping that by the time i land in china i will know where i'll be playing in the new league. #excited!

We're hoping too, Christine.

The allocation lists for the three FA's were announced.

Four Pilots made the lists

USA PLAYERS
Pos., Player Name
GK, Nicole Barnhart
M, Shannon Boxx
D, Rachel Buehler
M, Lauren Cheney
GK, Ashlyn Harris
M, Tobin Heath
D, Ali Krieger
D, Amy LePeilbet
F, Sydney Leroux
M, Lori Lindsey
M, Carli Lloyd
GK, Jill Loyden
D, Heather Mitts
F, Alex Morgan
D, Kelley O’Hara
M, Heather O’Reilly
D, Christie Rampone
M, Megan Rapinoe
F, Amy Rodriguez
D, Becky Sauerbrunn
GK, Hope Solo
F, Abby Wambach
M, Keelin Winters

MEXICO PLAYERS
Pos., Player Name
D, Alina Lisi Garciamendez Rowold
M, Veronica Raquel Perez Murillo
M, Teresa Noyola Bayardo
F, Maribel Dominguez Castelan
F, Monica Ocampo Medina
GK, Aurora Cecilia Santiago Cisneros
M, Lydia Nayeli Rangel Hernandez
F, Renae Nicole Cuellar Cuellar
M, Teresa Guadalupe Worbis Aguilar
F, Anisa Raquel Guajardo Braff
M, Dinora Lizeth Garza Rodriguez
D, Jennifer Marie Ruiz Brown
D, Luz del Rosario Saucedo Soto
D, Rubi Marlene Sandoval Nungaray
GK, Pamela Tajonar Alonso
D, Marylin Viridiana Diaz Ramirez

CANADA PLAYERS
Pos., Player Name
D, Melanie Booth
D, Robyn Gayle
M, Kaylyn Kyle
GK, Karina LeBlanc
M/F, Adriana Leon
M, Diana Matheson
D/M, Bryana McCarthy
GK, Erin McLeod
D, Carmelina Moscato
M/F, Jodi-Ann Robinson
M, Sophie Schmidt
M, Desiree Scott
D, Lauren Sesselmann
F, Christine Sinclair
D, Rhian Wilkinson
D, Emily Zurrer

There are only 23 USWNT players on the list, so one of the eight teams is going to get only 2 USWNT players. If the Thorns get Megan, Keelin, Christine, and Sophie I guess I could live with that.

We're going to know on Friday who goes where.

The way I see it, we should be getting 2 or three more off the list.

Garciamendez and Dominguez-- maybe Solo. Would be nice.

I hear she isn't thrilled with the management of the Reign.

Is the draft going to be public?

It's not a draft. It's an allocation. Appointed "experts" will divi up the players, who have already given a list of teams they would be willing to play for.

The college player draft on the 18th of January will be a true draft were teams choose players.

Then after that here will be free agent negotiation with players who don't fit into either category.

Will the allocation be public? Live on ESPN, lots of athletes and sports reporters from all over the country on hand to ask the allocatees serious questions?

A_Fan wrote:Will the allocation be public? Live on ESPN, lots of athletes and sports reporters from all over the country on hand to ask the allocatees serious questions?

I don't think so. That would involve a big expense. This league appears committed to limiting cost in order to survive over the long term. I think that's an excellent approach.

I'd love to see Portland get Christine and Sophie from Canada; Megan, Keelin and anyone but Wambach from the US team; and I don't know the Mexican team but a GK and a central defender would be a good idea m

Announcement soon.

Here's hoping nutmeg moves to Portland.

Got my fingers crossed.

This person seems to think so....

http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2013/01/thorns-fc-highlights-new-portland-nwsl-players-have-sparkling-skills

Pretty cool as far as I'm concerned.

Seattle Times blog reported the following as allocations:
Not to spoil it, but Christine and Alex Morgan in Portland. Sweet! Buehler and Heath too!

Boston Breakers -- Sydney Leroux (USA), Heather Mitts (USA), Heather O'Reilly (USA), Adriana Leon (CAN), Rhian Wilkinson (CAN), Anisa Guajardo (MEX), Cecilia Santiago (MEX)

Chicago Red Stars -- Shannon Boxx (USA), Amy LePeilbet (USA), Keelin Winters (USA), Erin McLeod (CAN), Carmelina Moscato (CAN), Maribel Dominguez (MEX), Dinora Garza (MEX)

FC Kansas City -- Nicole Barnhart (USA), Lauren Cheney (USA), Becky Sauerbrunn (USA), Desiree Scott (CAN), Lauren Sesselmann (CAN), Renae Cuellar (MEX), Marylin Diaz (MEX)

Portland Thorns FC -- Rachel Buehler (USA), Tobin Heath (USA), Alex Morgan (USA), Luz Saucedo (MEX), Marlene Sandoval (MEX), Karina LeBlanc (CAN), Christine Sinclair (CAN)

Sky Blue FC -- Jill Loyden (USA), Kelley O'Hara (USA), Christie Rampone (USA), Sophie Schmidt (CAN), Melanie Booth (CAN), Monica Ocampo (MEX), Lydia Rangel (MEX)

Washington Spirit -- Ashlyn Harris (USA), Ali Krieger (USA), Lori Lindsey (USA), Robin Gayle (CAN), Diana Matheson (CAN), Alina Garciamendez (MEX), Teresa Worbis (MEX)

Western New York Flash -- Carli Lloyd (USA), Abby Wambach (USA), Bryana McCarthy (CAN), Jodi-Ann Robinson (CAN), Veronica Perez (MEX), Pamela Tajonar (MEX)

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