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.

Bookmark to:

Hello everyone. I have returned (did you miss me?)

I hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe holiday season. With 2010 now underway, that means the WPS offseason is starting to come to a close. In a matter of days (10+ according to the countdown clock on the league site) the 2010 WPS draft will take place, kicking off the final stretch of the WPS offseason. That also means its time for me to get back on some kind of schedule.

I have some stuff planned around the draft and I am putting together other articles based on e-mails I have received, the first of which should hit tomorrow. But to get back in the swing of things, here are a couple of links I saved from over the holidays that you should check out if you haven’t done so already.

Sonia Bompastor, Cat Whitehill, and Becky Sauerbrunn write in with New Years plans – Want to know how some of your favorite Freedom players spent New Year’s Eve or what their goals are for 2010. Well the Freedom web site has got you covered.

Washington Freedom – The Offseason So Far – KC Albertina’s is breaking down each WPS team’s offseason and recently he tackled the Freedom. This has been a good series and is worth checking out.

Lauletta’s League Lowdown: Changes afoot for 2010 – WPS columnist Dan Lauletta gets you primed (at least better than this post does) for the 2010 season. Lots of good info.

Ok, that’s enough for today. More coming tomorrow so see you then.

Bookmark to:

It finally happened; the Washington Freedom made their first addition to the roster this offseason when the team announced Wednesday it has signed Norwegian forward Lene Mykjaland.

The last team in WPS to add a player to the roster this offseason, the Freedom were finally able to close a deal over one year in the making.

You may remember that Mykjaland was a post-draft discovery claim of the Freedom last year and it seemed like she would be coming to join the Freedom until setbacks in the ability to offer her a contract pushed her to stay with her Norwegian club, Roa IL, for one more season. With that contract set to expire, apparently she is now ready to move to WPS.

Even though she is only the second Norwegian to sign with a WPS club, Mykjaland won’t be a complete stranger to the Freedom as both defender Becky Sauerbrunn and midfielder Sarah Huffman have played with her in the past.

It should be fun to see how Mykjaland improves the top scoring team from last year. This signing may have been a long time coming but it’s nice to see it finally happening.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

I am warning you now that there may not be much posting here until January. So to add a little more to this post, here is a link worth checking out.

Economy does not affect SoccerPlex (Gazette.net) – Nice to see the home of the Freedom is doing well and will be adding a video screen this year.

As always, feel free to discuss anything WPS related below and I hope everyone has a safe holiday season. And don’t forget, you can get more frequent updates from me on Twitter (@FreedomInsider). See you in 2010.

Bookmark to:

Between blowing through the typical offseason banter in about a week and the fact that Washington is really doing nothing, it should be no surprise that there hasn’t been a whole lot to talk about.

So, in typical standby fashion here are some links – even though there aren’t many of those either. But before that, make sure you don’t forget about the conference call with Abby Wambach and Cat Whitehill tonight at 7 p.m. It looks like it should run about 45 minutes.

• Becky Sauerbrunn checked in from Norway and talked about facing Everton in the Champions League.
• In league news – Boston continues to lose players as USWNT player Angela Hucles retired from pro and international play. Boston has now lost Hucles, Amy Rodriguez and Heather Mitts.
• A team other than Philly added a high profile name this offseason as defending champion Sky Blue FC added local talent and USWNT hero Carli Lloyd today. The news has only come out through Twitter but I imagine a release is coming shortly.

Not a lot to keep you busy but hopefully it is something. Don’t forget the conference call tonight.

Bookmark to:

WPS opened its version of free agency on Wednesday and while there appears to be plenty of impact names on the open market, everything has been pretty quiet since the opening of the market.

Granted, it took the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL years before their offseasons became just as important as the regular season but you would think with the number of well-known stars out there, something would have happened by now.

For those of you who haven’t checked out the list, some of the big names on the market include Han Duan, Cristiane, Formiga, Daniela, Carli Lloyd, Leslie Osborne, Aly Wagner and Heather Mitts. Apparently Chicago is hoping to bring back Cristiane, but other than that, things have been pretty quiet.

The makeup of the current roster suggests there are about five full roster spots open at this point and I would hope the team would choose to fill those spots between free agency and the draft, and not necessarily through tryouts (although Kristin DeDycker was a great tryout pickup last year).

Given that, I would imagine the team hopes to fill one of those roster spots with either Lene Mykjaland or Louisa Necib, given that the team retained both of their rights again this season. Given the fact that Mykjaland almost came over last year and that Becky Sauerbrunn is playing with her Norwegian club right now, I would say it is more likely we see her.

So with four spots left, the topic becomes who should the Freedom go out and get? Should they go after one of the big USWNT names out on the market? Or should they make a couple of small moves to improve the depth of the squad? One other name I noticed was on the market is Christie Welsh, a former Freedom W-League player. Could there be a reunion with her in the near future?

If I am Jim Gabarra, I bring back Welsh, consider giving DeDycker a full roster spot and potentially look for a defender either in free agency or in the first round of the draft. With the addition of Mykjaland that could be going a little attacker heavy but with Ali Krieger hopefully coming back midseason, maybe the Freedom defense can hold out long enough for the cavalry to arrive.

The potential is there for a big move to be made, but as I look around the league I fear things are shaping up for the Freedom to have the quietest offseason of the league. Regardless, it will be fun to sit back and watch things unfold.

So now I open the floor up to you – who do you think the Freedom should sign this offseason? Vote in the poll or leave a comment.

Bookmark to: