Freedom Insider

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.

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I saw this on Big Soccer yesterday and felt it was worth reposting here.

Looks like Lene Mykjaland has had a change of heart about coming to WPS.

She has some things to look forward to in the autumn, like a possible professional career in Washington, USA. “It’s exciting and I hope something will come of it. It would be great to try myself out in the USA next year. It looks better now than when Washington were in touch last year”, said Mykjåland, without developing the point.

As well as decisive matches in the Toppserien, the Cup and the Champions League, Mykjåland is waiting for the next discussions with Washington Freedom. Three weeks ago she was ‘drafted’ by the club, which means she can not go to another American club in preference to Washington. Mykjåland’s contract with Røa finishes next season, but has a clause that she can go to a foreign club before that.

http://fotball.adressa.no/eliteserien/article152795.ece

The comment was Mykjaland would have come over last season if the league hadn’t taken so long to allow players to sign, but it looks like Mykjaland is making good on her previous comments. Adding Mykjaland would give the Freedom depth at forward and I would be inclined to believe that she would split time with Lisa De Vanna in Jim Gabarra’s 4-4-2 system.

This move probably limits the amount of time Rebecca Moros will play at forward but that might be a good thing given how shallow the midfield is at this point. Now all we need is for the move to actually be official…

WPS FREE AGENCY

I thought it might be a good idea to recap the free agency action so far. I won’t include either trade in this section, but I will include more info than what is on the league’s transaction page.

FC Gold Pride
Signed M/D Candace Chapman (Boston)

Boston Breakers
Signed F Tiffany Weimer (FC Gold Pride)

Philadelphia Independence
Signed D Heather Mitts (Boston)*

*This move has not officially been announced by the team but if the coach says it’s a done deal then I won’t argue.

Not a whole lot of movement on the free agent front yet but with big names like Leslie Osborne and Carli Lloyd still out there, we can be assured that there still are some moves to be made.

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While most of the league remains silent, the Philadelphia Independence seem determined to challenge for the WPS title right away.

Just a couple of weeks after trading for last year’s No. 1 overall draft pick, Philly added to its defense by trading for LA Sol defender Allison Falk and backup goalkeeper Val Henderson. And according to The Equalizer, the team expects to announce the signing of Heather Mitts and is in pursuit of Carli Lloyd and Tina DiMartino. The moves leave Philly without any first round picks, but that is another discussion for another blog.

The only thing going on with the Freedom right now is a promise from the GM that the team is in talks with free agents. No one has any idea when/if any announcement will be made but Mark Washo has given Freedom fans something to speculate about now just by making a simple statement on Twitter.

So while we wait to see what will go down with the Freedom at the pro level, check out this article on how the Freedom are impacting the collegiate game (and yes, that was a pretty crappy transition). And once something does happen, we will have a response to it here.

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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.

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According to WPS Communications guru Rob Penner, free agent lists should be announced on the league transaction page around lunch Pacific Time today.

Taking a quick peek at the lists of options and other info teams have let out – the big name to hit the market today has to be USWNT player Carli Lloyd. While speculation is that she will want to play somewhere close to her home (Philly or SBFC probably), you have to imagine fans of every team immediately tried to come up with as many scenarios as possible to land Lloyd. Sorry Freedom fans, Dan Snyder owns that other Washington team.

When I went through the list of options yesterday, the notable name left off was Cat Whitehill. Don’t worry about her though, she will be back.

Those not coming back though (or at least their options were not exercised) are Emily Janss, Parrissa Eyorokon and Kati Jo Spisak. After beginning the season as a starter, Janss seemed to quickly fall out of favor with the coaching staff and after May, saw no action the rest of the season. Along with Lori Lindsey, Janss was one of those players who stuck with the Freedom during its pro hiatus and it almost seems too coincidental now that none of those players are with the team anymore.

Eyorokon not coming back surprises me a little. Starting off the season injured, she never seemed to get quite healthy enough to show off what she was actually capable of but I guess when roster limitations abound, players like Eyorokon get the short end of the stick.

Serving as backup keeper after the Briana Scurry experiment didn’t work out last season, KJ seemed to find a way to win, even if she allowed a few too many goals. I can only imagine one of two things happening here, either KJ is resigned quickly or Jim Gabarra wants to go another direction with his third keeper and he takes one at some point in 2010 draft. With it looking like Bri has a multi-year contract, the team’s hands seem to be tied in terms of what they can really do here.

With it looking like the Freedom will have 5 full roster spots to fill between free agents and the draft, there is sure to be some news coming out of the SoccerPlex over the next couple of months. Of course, don’t surprised if we get caught off guard by something crazy. I mean, did anyone see Amy Rodriguez landing in Philly and Boston landing 2 first round picks?

So with that in mind, let’s let the most exciting time outside of the regular season commence.

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