Freedom Insider

Now that the drama has subsided, I guess it’s finally time to take a look at how the Freedom roster is shaping up for the 2010 season.

But before we get to far let’s look at those who are already under contract for 2010:

F: Lisa De Vanna, Lene Mykjaland, Abby Wambach

M: Brittany Bock, Sonia Bompastor, Jill Gilbeau, Sarah Huffman, Allie Long, Rebecca Moros, Homare Sawa

D: Becky Sauerbrunn, Alex Singer, Cat Whitehill

GK: Erin McLeod, Briana Scurry

*From what we have been told by the league, those selected in the dispersal draft were under contract for 2010, although Nigerian International Faith Ikidi (the Freedom’s second round dispersal draft pick) is under contract in Sweden. This move means the Freedom relinquish the International rights to Nilla Fischer, also under contract in Sweden. Previously the Freedom had held the International rights to Louisa Necib.

**Note: While she is not under contract right now, expect D Ali Krieger to rejoin the Freedom at the conclusion of the German Bundesliga season. Last year she joined the team in June.

The Freedom entered the offseason with most of last year’s roster under contract again for 2010 but with the unexpected disbanding of the Los Angeles Sol, the number of open roster spots the team has to fill has decreased while the caliber of the competition trying to win spots has increased.

The lone signing before the draft was that of Norwegian forward Lene Mykjaland, a player the Freedom have been trying to get to the U.S. since before the 2009 season. Mykjaland adds even more firepower to the dangerous duo of Wambach and De Vanna, and if Jim Gabarra decides to play a 4-3-3 at any point this season he will be able to put a huge amount of pressure on any opposing defense.

After losing Lori Lindsey and Sarah Senty in the expansion draft, it was clear the biggest needs the Freedom had entering last month’s draft were a defensive midfielder and a defender. Gabarra addressed defender with his first pick, selecting Nikki Marshall from Colorado. Gabarra followed that up with midfielders Carly Dobratz (Washington State) and Beverly Goebel (Miami) with his next two picks and went defender in the fourth round with Kristi Eveland out of North Carolina.

Before Thursday’s dispersal draft I would have guessed the team’s top four draft picks would have been locks to make the roster with the final three picks – GK Lauren Robertson, M Mara Osher and F Caitlin Miskel – all having a good shot to earn a spot on the developmental roster.

With the addition of Bock, Gabarra has stayed true to his philosophy and added another player that can be plugged in anywhere on the field. Obviously Marshall has the inside track on one of the remaining roster spots and two of either Dobratz, Goebel and Eveland should finalize the 18 woman roster. There is still a chance someone like KJ Spisak or Freedom W-League standouts Brittany Tegeler, Katie Watson or Kimmy Germain earn a developmental roster spot but it looks like preseason camp will open with a fairly completed roster.

And hopefully that roster is good enough to get back to the playoffs and make a run at the 2010 WPS Championship.

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I realize this story probably flew under most everyone’s radar last week but it probably shouldn’t have.

If you have clicked on the above link, you were taken to a story announcing the resignation of the Freedom’s Director of Operations, Louise Waxler. Anyone who knows Louise knows this is a huge loss for the Freedom. But that’s not what worries me.

Sky Blue FC took a lot of flak throughout the year as they went through coach after coach after coach. In one season the team went through three coaches and has hired it’s fourth for the 2010 season. If this were any other sport, ESPN would be running nightly features on how dysfunctional the organization must be. But because this is women’s soccer, it takes something extreme for most mainstream media outlets to pay attention.

Because of this, I think a lot of things that have been happening in the Freedom front office have flown under the radar. Does anyone out there realize that Waxler’s resignation is the fifth change in the front office since this calendar year and sixth since the Freedom announced they would be a part of WPS?

For a team that focused on consistency, familiarity and cohesion on the field, it sure has had trouble finding it in the front office. I’m not going to pretend to know what the situations were that led to the changes but I do find it suspicious this continues to happen.

But I wonder if I am the only one.

Alright, enough of my soapbox rambling and on to the other thing I missed earlier this week…

If you are looking for a good chuckle to get your weekend going on the right foot, make sure you check out this video of Allie Long at a local corn maze. Between talking back to a cow, getting weirded out by a pig eating mud or actually trying not to get lost in the maze, this video is pretty entertaining and does a good job of showing the off field personality of Allie.

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Well, I am finally over the bug/virus that wiped me out for all of last week so now comes the task of getting back to business as usual.

Apparently the new way to break news in WPS is in 140 characters or less … or at least it is that way for the Freedom. Over the course of the past week we have learned via Twitter that the team has retained the rights to International players Lene Mykjaland and Louisa Necib and that the 2010 options for Abby Wambach, Homare Sawa, Lisa De Vanna, Erin McLeod, Rebecca Moros, Sarah Huffman, Becky Sauerbrunn, Allie Long, Jill Gilbeau and Alex Singer have been picked up.

Don’t bother looking for that news on the team web site, it has only been mentioned on Twitter and on the team’s Facebook page.

For those of you looking for something longer than 140 characters, check out this article on the W-League combine. Coach Jim Gabarra is quoted throughout and it looks like 4 of our W-League players (Jessie Wolfe, Kimmie Germain, Katie Watson and Brittany Tegeler) were there to participate. As of Tuesday morning the WPS Draft is still 108 days away, but it is never to early to speculate who from the farm team might make an impact in WPS this year.

Finally, a bit of sad news out of Germany. According to this article (which is very poorly translated via Google’s translate page), Ali Krieger has yet again broken her foot. There was no mention of how long she will be out but this is not good for her. If you remember, it was her recovery from a broken foot last year that got Frankfurt FC to loan Krieger to the Freedom in the first place but with her contract up in June, you have to wonder what will happen. This situation bears watching.

Ok, enough from me. As always, feel free to leave a comment or you can send me an e-mail through the site’s contact page.

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Part 1: The 2009 draft
Part 2: Roster review
Part 3: Top 5 moments of 2009

Another week, another look back at the 2009 season. This is going to be my last look at the 2009 season unless there is a public outcry for more. After looking at the Top 5 moments of the season last week it seems only fair and balanced to look at the Bottom 5 moments as well. So without further delay, here are the moments I am sure all Freedom fans would like to forget from 2009.

5. Freedom lose league opener in LA

The Freedom were the only team in the league to maintain an existence outside of the WUSA and WPS. The coaching staff spent years looking at talent and preparing for this moment where most coaches only had months because they had just been hired. The coaches had been active in the top level amateur league and already had the foundation of a team in place. On draft day, the Freedom took most of those players, banking on our chemistry to get them through the early part of the season.

And just like in the WUSA, the Freedom had the opportunity to kick off this new league. With the deck supposedly stacked in the team’s favor, the Freedom fell flat and lost to LA in the league opener 2-0.

The reason this loss is No. 5 is because after the match, this loss certainly felt like less of a loss. Having gone six years without a pro league at home, players like Abby Wambach and Lori Lindsey were happy just to have the opportunity to play pro again in the U.S. while many others were happy to finally have the opportunity. And while that feeling was good for the first match, it was a good thing it didn’t last.

4. The Chicago Red Stars

Despite the fact they struggled against everyone else this season, the Chicago Red Stars quickly became the Freedom’s nemesis on the field. Even though the Freedom didn’t lose to Chicago at home in 2009, that fact becomes little consolation once you consider the Freedom ended both of those matches with an 11 v. 10 advantage.

In April, defender Frida Ostberg picked up two yellow cards for her rough style of play, being sent off shortly after the start of the second half. But Washington couldn’t get through the Chicago defense and wound up with a 1-1 tie. Then in June, Karen Carney received a red card for a hard foul on Abby, putting the Freedom a woman up with 30 minutes left in the match. And once again, Chicago hunkered down and preserved the scoreless tie. Once Chicago finally finished a game against the Freedom at full strength, the Red Stars won 2-1. Washington did finish the series with a 3-2 win at Chicago while trying to secure a playoff berth, but instead of posting a 1-1-2 record against them this season, it easily should have been 3-1-0. Hopefully this isn’t a pattern that will repeat again in 2010.

3. Huffman goes down for the year

I mentioned a little about this when talking about the makeup of the roster but Sarah Huffman’s injury was a huge blow to the Freedom. Going down during the first week of practice, the loss of Sarah really jumbled things up in the midfield. I am convinced that if Jim Gabarra had everyone healthy to start the season we would have seen Sonia Bompastor play defender, her position on the French national team, and we would have seen Huffman pairing with Homare Sawa, Lori and Allie Long in the midfield. Who knows if that midfield would have produced better results but losing the No. 1 overall pick from the first domestic draft the league held certainly hurts.

Here’s to hoping Sarah is recovered and ready for 2010.

2. Goalkeeping in crisis mode

During the January draft, Gabarra surprised everyone when in the fifth round he drafted the most capped keeper in U.S. history, Briana Scurry. Having pulled out of previous drafts, it seemed that Scurry was seriously considering retiring before the Freedom selected her in the draft. Gabarra drafted her as insurance in case starter Erin McLeod wasn’t quite healed from the ACL injury she suffered in the 2008 Olympics but as the season got closer and McLeod got held up on Visa issues, it became clear the backup plan would be put into effect.

Scurry started the first three games and the results were not pretty. Not that everything was her fault but when the offense had scored only 2 goals in 3 games and the defense had given up 6 in that same span, Gabarra turned to his third option, KJ Spisak. KJ would be in net for the teams first win but would give up 3 goals in the process and the following week she gave up 3 more goals in a tie against Saint Louis. Fortunately that was enough time for McLeod to get her Visa straightened and lock down the goalkeeping situation for the Freedom.

1. Playoff loss to Sky Blue FC

Using another card analogy, the deck was supposed to be stacked against SBFC as it began its playoff journey. As the last team into the playoffs, SBFC had the unfortunate task of needing to win three playoff games on the road in order to win the inaugural WPS Championship. That road began in Washington against a Freedom team they had finished 0-2-1 against during the regular season. The Freedom suffered the big blow though as Sonia missed the playoffs because of the 2009 Women’s European championship. Apparently that leveling of the field was all SBFC needed as they beat the Freedom at the SoccerPlex, making the Freedom the first WPS team to lose a playoff game at home. At least they weren’t the last.

That does it for my recap. Agree with my moments? Disagree? Let me know either by the poll or in the comments.

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I’ve seen that most of the discussion surrounding the Freedom lately has been centered on Jim Gabarra’s decision to protect Allie Long over Lori Lindsey. A lot of the discussion though, has been centered on if Lori will really leave given everything she has been through with the team and its many incarnations. So putting the desire to leave D.C. aside, let’s look at the positives and negatives for both players.

WHY PROTECT LONG?

Let’s first look at why Gabarra decided the way he did. If I am making the case for Long, the backbone of my argument is the fact that she is a young player with a ton of potential. She has some offensive versatility, having played both attacking midfielder and forward. I was once told by a North Carolina assistant that they wish they had had Allie for all 4 years of her career because the UNC staff felt she was a special talent. In her first taste of the pro level she managed to start 11 of the 18 games she played in, scoring 2 goals. This is a player who should continue to learn and grow and she gains more experience.

WHY PROTECT LINDSEY?

Now let’s look at the other side of this equation. Here is a player who has remained with the Freedom since she was traded to the team in 2003. She is a fan favorite, a face of the franchise and the living embodiment of everything professional women’s soccer has been through this decade and has managed to show she still is a top player in this country after the pro level took a 6-year hiatus. In her return to the pro ranks, Lori started 18 of 19 games, contributing 2 goals and 1 assist this season. But more than that, her work ethic and hustle earned her a callup to the latest USWNT camp, her first callup since 2004.

WHY IT SHOULDN’T BE LONG

Now let’s look at the cases against each player, and again we will start with Allie. My biggest thing against Allie has to be the fact that at times she looked like she had trouble staying engaged in the game. If Allie had played like that in Boston, she would the topic of a feud with a coach, not Amy Rodriguez. Allie has enormous potential but for whatever reason it seems like Gabarra is having a hard time tapping into it. In a league this size, how bad would it be if you lost a player with her potential in a draft only to have another coach tap into it and reap the benefits? Is it enough to turn some of you diehard fans against you for letting one of the faces of your franchise get away?

WHY IT SHOULDN’T BE LINDSEY

While Lori has persevered through a dark age in women’s soccer, she didn’t do it remaining the ripe age of 25. If the idea is to build a solid foundation for your squad would you rather have the player yet to reach 25 or closer to reaching 30. Also, the recent WNT callup is nice but what happened between 2004 and now – why did it take so long to earn another callup? Apparently we know the ceiling on Lori, a borderline WNT-capable player, but is it good enough for WPS?

WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN PROTECTED

This question is a constant that managers of all sports face all the time. Do you really keep the potential star and hope she reaches it or do you keep the rock of your franchise who stuck by you as the team waited for another league? I really like Lori and appreciate everything she has gone through however, 9 times out of 10 a player with great potential always get the nod and I believe in this case, where not much separates each team, it should again. Unfortunately for all of her strengths I think Lori can be replaced with a player already on the roster. Whether it is Allie, Homare Sawa or possibly Sarah Huffman, I feel Lori’s role is in good hands. Not to say Allie is irreplaceable, but it is too soon to give up on that potential. Now, if we sit here a year later going into another expansion draft and Allie repeats this year’s performance – she should go – but for right now, let’s hope Gabarra can get through to Allie.

Who knows, maybe Rebecca Moros or Alex Singer will be the first player taken from the Freedom, giving Gabarra the opportunity to protect Lindsey and keep her here in D.C.?

Agree or disagree? Let me know by voting in the poll on the home page and then tell me your reasoning in the comments.

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