Freedom Insider

A couple of items worth checking out as we head into the weekend.

Potomac Soccer Wire is hearing forward Christie Welsh will be signing with the Freedom before the 2010 season gets underway. I believe someone around here suggested that a while back. The Freedom seem to be pretty stocked at forward but given Welsh’s history with the club, this move should not be a surprise.

More pieces are starting to fall into place as preseason camp gets closer. Today it was announced in a Florida newspaper that the Freedom will spend part of March training at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Spring Training complex, Dodgertown, in Viero Beach, Fla. The team will be there from March 8-13, playing an exhibition against the Chicago Red Stars on the 12th. Dodgertown will be close to where other WPS teams will be training and of course the weather will be a nice draw.

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I didn’t realize it had been a month since I posted the last update to the Roster Tracker, but I guess when there are less than 5 moves in that span it is easy to let things go for so long.

Anyway, the file is again up to date, including the recent signings of Jessica Landstrom (Sky Blue FC) and Katie Chapman (Chicago Red Stars). If I have missed anything, let me know.

[UPDATE: Even though Sky Blue FC posted another player signing to Twitter just minutes after I posted the updated Roster Tracker, I have updated it to include the signing of Laura Kalmari]

Also, in case you haven’t seen this yet, the Atlanta Beat are partnering with Kennesaw State University to build the world’s first women’s soccer specific stadium. Hopefully this is a huge step towards establishing WPS in the U.S. and is a signal that this league will last longer than 3 years.

Finally, if you are looking for quick news and info regarding the Freedom make sure you check out this site’s Twitter feed. I post quick updates and re-tweet interesting info there that does not warrant a full blog post. So jump on the social media bandwagon and keep up with what’s going on.

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I apologize I haven’t posted before today but I’ve been out of commission with some sort of bug or virus. And I apologize that this post won’t have more of my rambling (or maybe that’s a good thing) as I am still fighting this illness off. With that said – onto the links:

• As expected, Sweden’s Caroline Seger was the first pick in the International Draft held Tuesday. It was a European invasion as 3 players from Sweden, 2 from England and 1 each from Switzerland, Denmark and Iceland were selected.
• Rumors of Peter Wilt’s force out in Chicago seem to be premature as Beau Dure of USA Today tells us via Twitter.
• FC Gold Pride seems to be the first team making offseason moves as they exercised the options on five players.
• And finally, on the lighter side of the news – Abby Wambach showed up at USWNT camp with a new dog, 10-week old Bulldog puppy named Kingston. Hey, this is a Freedom blog after all so I had to get something Freedom related on here.

That’s it on this end. Have a great Wednesday (or whatever day you are reading this) and I’ll try to have something more thought-provoking next time.

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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 hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend and I apologize for not having posted anything since last Friday. I was hoping to have the next part in my season recap series up but I will probably wait until Friday. Meanwhile, I saw this item posted on the Women’s Soccer USA blog and wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts.

Before I talk about the content, I wanted to say that while it may drive us crazy that this “anonymous” blogger never really cites her sources, most of what she says often turns out to be true. I have an unconfirmed feeling this person is someone in the WPS league office, especially given the fact the blog posted nothing between March 5 and August 22. That said, onto the claims.

So again, if these claims are true, many teams could be headed for some big shakeups this offseason. Looks like things are a mess in the Bay Area if four internationals and a fifth player all want out. That does not bode well for FC Gold Pride.

Apparently finishing at the bottom of the standings didn’t bode well for Red Stars players either. Moving Carli Lloyd to Sky Blue FC or Philly would be a big get for either club and Lloyd would be the highest profile player traded yet.

One thing that is truly troubling from this article is the number of international players who look like they will not return. Between the four from FCGP, three from Chicago and Han Duan from LA, the talent the league worked so hard to secure is now leaving in droves. I wonder if some of the same things that kept Lene Mykjaland away from the Freedom last year have now driven these players away. I guess it would be possible some of these players want to stay in the U.S., but the wording in the post makes it sound like Frida Ostberg, Caroline Jonsson and Duan are not coming back to WPS.

The last piece of info, according to this blog, is that Philly will make Sweden’s Caroline Seger the No. 1 pick in the International Draft.

I realize there isn’t much (any) Freedom specific news in my post this morning but given the rumors floating around, that is a good thing. That said, don’t be surprised to hear of a Freedom transaction or two this offseason. With Jim Gabarra running things you know there is something up his sleeve he’s just waiting to pull. I thought he would’ve done something last year to land Christie Welsh or something but he hasn’t showed that card yet.

The expansion draft is a little over 6 days away, so sit back and enjoy the ride. Things should really start to heat up once Philly and Atlanta get some players. In the meantime, leave a comment and start a discussion on these rumors or any others you might have heard.

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