Freedom Insider

Once that opening kickoff is taken tomorrow, all of the prognostications, projections and preseason hype will become irrelevant. We will finally have an idea of what team the Freedom will be in 2010, although as they showed last year, that can quickly be altered.

So, with only a few hours remaining before this entire exercise becomes antiquated, let’s look at some keys to success for the Freedom in 2010.

Let’s start at the obvious – this team had firepower but it also had a lot of defensive holes in 2009. The Freedom led WPS in goals scored and goals allowed and had a goal differential of 0. A lot of the damage came early on when the Freedom struggled to score and went through multiple GKs before Erin McLeod finally joined the team. The defense had a strong central presence with Cat Whitehill and Becky Sauerbrunn but was slow on the outside and consistency seemed to elude the team all season.

So who were the two biggest free agent acquisitions this offseason? Forwards Lene Mykjaland and Christie Welsh, who only add to the formidable firepower provided by Abby Wambach, Lisa De Vanna and Rebecca Moros. And while those moves were definitely adding to the strength of the squad, the Freedom also addressed the defensive side of the ball.

Thanks to the disbanding of the LA Sol, the Freedom acquired a strong defensive presence in Brittany Bock and addressed the lack of speed on the back line by drafting defender Nikki Marshall in the first round of the 2010 draft. Those additions should take pressure off of Whitehill and Sauerbrunn and allow Jill Gilbeau, Alex Singer and fourth round pick Kristi Eveland to provide much needed depth.

Ok, enough from me. But that’s not all I have for this post. I believe in being informed and in looking at multiple resources when trying to get a handle on a topic so with that in mind, here are some other team previews I have found to be very insightful. And as always, if you have any that I missed, leave a link in the comments, send me an e-mail or send me a tweet and I will check them out.

Probably the biggest loss this offseason was that of M Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia), but from the reports out of training camp indicate Homare Sawa is ready to take a step forward. The international vet was the subject of much fan consternation last year as many felt she was miscast by Jim Gabarra as a defensive midfielder. However, what often gets lost is the fact that Sawa’s versatility and experience forced her into that role when Sarah Huffman went down before the season with an ACL injury. With Lindsey gone and Huffman back, hopefully Sawa will slide forward and provide yet another option to the team’s deadly attack.

Of course a 2010 preview can’t be written without mentioning M Sonia Bompastor, who seems to be the spark plug that makes this team go (we all know what happened when she missed the first round of the playoffs last year due to national team duty). So it seems logical to conclude that as Sonia goes, so will the Freedom. That both excites me and scares me. Hopefully when she misses time this year someone else will be able to step up in her absence.

Unlike a lot of teams this year, the Freedom returns most of its 2009 roster and is hoping that once again continuity will be the key success. That strategy fell flat early on in 2009 as the team struggled out of the gate but it eventually paid off in a playoff appearance. Gabarra is obviously sticking to his guns once again and obviously fans hope the team once again reaches the playoffs.

Despite the addition of two teams, the rosters of the other seven squads all appear to be as stacked as Washington’s so strategy and execution will play an important role in determining which teams extend their seasons. Given that fact, I like the Freedom’s chances, especially with the experienced bench players the team now has. What a difference a year makes.

• Previewing 2010: Freedom bolster defense (womensprosoccer.com)
• Washington Freedom 2010 – Are They Defensive Enough? (Women’s Soccer Weekly)
• 2010 Season Preview: Washington Freedom (The Equalizer)
• Previewing the 2010 Washington Freedom (All White Kit)
• Full health means Freedom to roam (Gazette Newspapers)
• Abby Wambach on WPS, year two (Penalty Kicks)

Only a few hours to go – do you have your fantasy teams locked in and have you joined the Freedom Insider WPS league? Time’s running out so get to it.

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I will talk more about the roster tomorrow but for right now, here is how the roster stands after the cut to 24:

2010 24-Player Preseason Roster

1. Marisa Abegg

2. Brittany Bock

3. Sonia Bompastor

4. Kristi Eveland

5. Jill Gilbeau

6. Beverly Goebel

7. Sarah Huffman

8. Jaimel Johnson

9. Madison Keller

10. Allie Long

11. Nikki Marshall

12. Meagan McCray

13. Erin McLeod

14. Caitlin Miskel

15. Rebecca Moros

16. Mara Osher

17. Becky Sauerbrunn

18. Homare Sawa

19. Briana Scurry

20. Alex Singer

21. Lisa DeVanna

22. Abby Wambach

23. Christie Welsh

24. Cat Whitehill

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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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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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First things first, congrats to Sky Blue FC for overcoming all of the coaching drama and doing what the playoff system was stacked against – having the underdog win the whole thing. SBFC went on the road for three straight playoff games and beat the team’s ahead of them in the standings to win the inaugural WPS championship.

Now onto business. I wanted to recap the entire first season for the WPS Washington Freedom from September 2008 to August 2009, but when this article came out last week I decided to start with the 2009 WPS Draft held in January in St. Louis.

Given the state of things between Tony DiCicco and No. 1 overall pick Amy Rodriguez, I find it really interesting that there is the potential for Rodriguez to end up back in Boston. Given how the draft played out and how most of these players made up the core of each squad, I decided to look back at how Jim Gabarra did with his picks.

1. Allie Long (11 games started, 18 games played, 978 minutes, 2 goals) – If you ask this question at the beginning of the season and at the end of the season you get two completely different answers. Allie got off to a rough start and struggled early on but she became an important piece for the Freedom down the stretch. She still seems to hold onto the ball a little long sometimes  but she is making steady progress.

2. Alex Singer (13 GS, 16 GP, 1,143 minutes) – Alex displayed a toughness few on this team were asked to have as she was the recipient of some very crucial knocks during the season. Alex took an elbow from Boston’s Christine Latham that got Latham suspended (although it only drew a yellow card at the time?) and had played every minute of every game until a concussion knocked her out of the lineup. Alex impressed from the get go with her defense but the concussion never seemed to quite go away. With 6 months to heal, hopefully Alex comes back in 2010 ready to lock down the left side once again.

3. Jill Gilbeau (12 GS, 19 GP, 1,144, 3 assists) – Jill was one of the main displays of what Gabarra built this team on, versatility. Gilbeau started and played all over the field and was one of the team’s best weapons in the offensive third with her crossing ability. I think Jill has decent potential but would be aided in her development if some of her versatility was limited next season.

4. Parrissa Eyorokon (0 GS, 4 GP, 43 minutes) – Parrissa was one of two early injuries that really set this team back. The jury is obviously still out on Parrissa, who played on 43 minutes in 2009.

5. Briana Scurry (3 GS, 3 GP, 11 saves, 17 shots, 6 goals allowed, 2.00 GAA, 0-2-1) – This idea was good in theory – bring in the experienced veteran in case your No. 1 keeper doesn’t return to form (or make it into the country) soon enough. Unfortunately, Bri never recaptured any of the form that made her the premier goalkeeper in the U.S. for so many years. I would be surprised if she is back with the team next season.

6. Rebecca Moros (13 GS, 19 GP, 1,162 minutes, 2 goals, 1 assist) – Another player whose versatility kept them on the field, Moros came on as a dangerous attacking option (once she finally got the chance to play). If Moros is left unprotected in the expansion draft, don’t be surprised if she is one of the first players taken off the board. She made a strong statement this year that she needs to be one of the 10 players kept.

7. Sarah Senty (5 GS, 7 GP, 418 minutes) – Not joining the team until after she finished her final year at UVA, Sarah joined the squad and started most of the games she played by supplanting college teammate Singer. Another player who the jury is still out on.

8. Kati Jo Spisak (3 GP, 3 GS, 244 minutes, 10 saves, 16 shots, 6 goals allowed, 2.21 GAA, 2-0-1) – Where Bri failed, KJ succeeded by winning games. KJ joined the team as the developmental goalkeeper but had taken over the starting spot from Bri four games into the season. Erin McLeod joined the team shortly after but KJ did put the team in position to win a couple of games.

9. Claire Zimmeck (1 GS, 3 GP, 55 minutes) – Unfortunately Claire’s claim to fame will probably be the fact that she was the first player ever subbed out of a WPS match. After playing the first three games of the season without providing much spark, Zimmeck was cut on June 10 to make room for Ali Krieger.

10. Christen Karniski (DNP) – Christen was the only player to be on the roster all year but not play a minute. Her status for next season is a guaranteed unsure thing.

Alright, so there is my take on the ’09 draft now that Year 1 is in the books. A look at the rest of the roster building process will appear shortly and the season review will be in full swing. Meanwhile, let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

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