There's nothing in sports that is more of a power move than a goalkeeper saving a penalty, then stepping up to take a penalty successfully, and then as I type this, save another penalty. Naeher does all of it like it's nothing.
#USWNT
I think most absolutist statements in soccer are embarrassing, but Kristie Mewis is the preeminent locker room party legend & documentarian of said locker room parties in American soccer. The experiences she has conveyed & captured are more important than the Mona Lisa.
If I were Rose Lavelle, knowing how she's perceived from all sides, I would never ever shut up about how I won a header cleanly over two Canada center backs, including Vanessa gd Gilles, in the ugliest conditions possible
Andi Sullivan post-game (with a laugh, to be clear on tone): "It's rare that I would say that this environment is less stressful than our club environment, but that's the case for me right now, so I'm just super excited to get into camp."
#RiseUpDC
#USWNT
#NWSL
One thing that kept coming up last summer is the idea that the rest of the world was closing the gap on the USWNT, and what didn't get talked about enough is that the coaching change means the gap is actually going to grow.
I don't have more details than what's here but Ashley Sanchez and Trinity Rodman spent some World Cup downtime as detectives, or pranksters, or prankster-detectives.
Y. Michele Kang is not yet the Spiritโs majority owner, but
#NWSL
has effectively set the stage for the clubโs full investor group to choose her over Steve Baldwin:
The United States is more likely to bring home a gold medal in soccer than any other country, and we still have people saying "no Olympic soccer for the U.S."
One reason this game has kind of fallen apart with the potential injuries is fatigue. Tired players can't be as precise, and that leads to late tackles/rash choices. There's a reason players & coaches didn't want this
#NWSLChallengeCup
schedule.
Soccer journos dividing themselves up into two camps:
- It is dumb to try the spicy cramp drink
- It is dumb to try the spicy cramp drink, which is why I I'm going to try it
At the Spirit's Pride Night and the number of people enthusiastically grabbing the Pride flags the team is giving out (and they are not small flags) really speaks volumes to where this team was vs. where they are culturally
Full transcription of Mark Parsons from yesterday's press conference on how how the Spirit have worked to support Ashley Hatch after the
#USWNT
roster news.
#NWSL
5-time World Player of the Year Marta scoring from the center circle, at 4pm on a Wednesday, in a baseball stadium, in a game that had 11 minutes of first-half stoppage time, is the American soccer experience
Sam Staab on the end of the Segra Field era for the Spirit:
"To put it plainly, that is the worst field I've probably ever played on, and the fact that we're professionals playing on that field was atrocious."
(? from
@838_carlisle
)
#NWSL
Late to this but looking at Naomi Girma's performances during the voting period for the Ballon d'Or list and not seeingher name is causing my brain to want to fly out of my skull
This isn't a deep thought, but the tension that exists between diehard NWSL fans & the clubs/league is going to continue as long as teams make their moves based on valuing getting slightly better over anything else.
It's a little frustrating to see the relaxed, confident, high-pressing version of the
#USWNT
only now, at this point in the tournament. We might never know what was up in the early games.
I do not understand how a kick at that height, then raking down someone's shoulder and hip, got a VAR check, much less wasn't a red card. Intent not an issue at all here, this is a one billion percent red card.
Good on admin for shouting out Mewis, who makes an aggressive choice here in a moment where it's exactly what was needed. Didn't bring it down, just one-timed the pass forward ASAP
That Rodman goal is 90% Midge Purce, who in a system that gets her into that space on the edge of the box (whether she's right back, right wing, or whatever) is going to cook.
#USWNT
Something new from the Spirit: the team's media resources include audio pronunciation files for most of the team (15 at the moment), with players saying their own names and many adding their preferred pronouns.
#NWSL
Stunner from the Spirit. I've said this to other reporters: due to the rarity of Staab's skill set, the argument was there that she was the least tradeable player on the entire roster.
Kristie Mewis has brightened up the USWNT significantly since coming on. I think Gautrat's bias towards team shape was less favorable given how deep the Czechs play in this 442. Mewis is taking risks positionally & with the ball, & it's changed the game.
A thing about Alex Morgan that we all learned in 2019, when she played like 95% of the World Cup on a bad knee, is that her ability to play while hurt and still figure out how to make an impact is superhuman
Vlatko Andonovski says Andi Sullivan & Kelley O'Hara will not start tomorrow, citing the need to build up their minutes as they both continue to come back from injuries.
#USWNT
The Olympic soccer tournament could be a lot better if it weren't designed primarily to be exhausting. They almost made these teams do this with 18 players!
Per Google greater London appears to have 5 Dunkin' locations, though all of them are on the west side of town and West Ham plays to the east in Dagenham
It has felt like this for quite a while: this team has the feel of a team that is too stuffy, too formal. They need the soccer equivalent of someone slipping the DJ a $20 and asking for some music people can dance to
Big night for just a piece of advice for men in soccer, which is that when your woman colleague is talking, you will continue to live if they finish their point before you begin talking again
The
#USWNT
's fight isn't down to one man standing in their way. It's the institution, and the rapid change here shows that regular fans applying consistent pressure can actually change things there.
New NWSL fans, here's an early lesson in being frustrated with USSF's relationship with the league! This game is in direct conflict with a weekend in which 8 teams have games.
The
@USWNT
will play the first game of a multi-match victory tour on Aug. 3 at the Rose Bowl. Opponent is tentatively expected to be Ireland. That will be the team's first game after Sunday's
@FIFAWWC
win.
An England team at home & closer to full strength than the US out-performing the
#USWNT
but only winning due to getting a bit of VAR luck feels like exactly the outcome I'd have expected. Margins are so fine at the top.
New club statement from
#OneSpirit
on Jordan Baggett's status:
"Update: We want to thank all of our fans for their well wishes. Jordan Baggett is home and resting."
#NWSL
Marc Skinner on Phallon Tullis-Joyce: โWe knew she was athletically a freak. To make that save [from Bo Kearns]โฆ I donโt think many GKs do. I think only Phallon gets there. Itโs a big moment. Itโs as big as the goal. Itโs frightening where she came from, to where she is now.โ
Views at Audi Field before the
#USWNT
CBA signing include Lynn Williams holding Crystal Dunn's baby, because Dunn is at the table ready to sign some paperwork
Michele Kang says the Spirit are closer on a "70 acre" training facility that will include an innovation lab for sports science geared towards women's soccer
Ashley Hatch, since the beginning of October 2021:
- 3 goals in 5
#NWSL
regular season games for
#OneSpirit
- 1 goal in 3 playoff games
- 3 goals in 4
#NWSLChallengeCup
games
- 3 goals in 4
#USWNT
appearances
- Spirit & USWNT have not lost any of these games
The Washington Spirit have hired Jonatan Girรกldez as their new head coach.
He'll join the club at the end of Barรงa's 2023-24 season (i.e. after June 16). No interim named yet, club says that will happen "shortly"
#NWSL
Picture Macario's comfort with drifting left and Press liking to drift inside from the left. If they can get familiar with one another's habits, an absolute nightmare for defenses in the half-space on that side.
My spicy (?) take take is that this FSU team, with no additions, would avoid relegation in the WSL, D1F, Liga F, or Frauen Bundesliga with relative comfort
more like Flex Stunt University ๐ but seriously, FSU is next-level by every observable metric. donโt know who in the NCAA could have challenged them โ and honestly, even some pro teams would be pressed
MLS backing out of the Open Cup rather than improving/expanding roster construction methods betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the entire concept of sports as competition
Angry Spirit fans, I know this has been a tough night, but if you asked me how they're gonna replace Sanchez, Croix Bethune would have been my entire answer.
#NWSL
If you want to watch some soccer tonight, Aubrey Bledsoe & Sydney FC have a W-League semifinal at Melbourne Victory at 11pm Eastern on ESPN+.
Tomorrow, it's Sam Staab & Western Sydney Wanderers vs. Melbourne City at 10:30pm.
#CatchTheSpirit
#NWSL
Anyway, this is legit a big deal. Framing the NWSL Championship (that barely had any teams vying to host it) as an economic boon for host cities could genuinely make a huge difference for it as an event.
If you're a person who works in soccer broadcasting and can explain to me, a person who knows nothing, what allows Peacock/Telemundo to stream in such a crisper image quality than Fox, my DMs are open
What separates Williams as a pressing forward isn't just that she is literally an ex-track star with more dawg in her than nearly anyone, but rather the ability to sense when someone is about to switch off, or look elsewhere, or be casual. She feels it in the air.
Meghan Klingenberg talking about how the Thorns have had to alter training due to the air quality in Portland, & says that she's not sure whether there will be a game or not Saturday. "We need to prepare as if we're playing."
#NWSL
Can't emphasize enough how easy it is to not say things like this as a reporter, I have managed to do it over and over for 10+ yeas and I'm only barely able to socialize without incident
A reporter sends a โ๐ซถโ at Caitlin Clark
Caitlin Clark: "I do that at my family after every game.โ
Reporter: "Start doing it to me and we'll get along just fine."
(
@ClutchPoints
)
Sophia Smith's ability to adjust her foot on the first touch that got her past 2 German players before her shot was an unreal moment of coordination. That play shouldn't have worked, Smith is a magician
Sophie Schmidt says that after the meeting between Canada's players & Canada Soccer, she went to Bev Priestman ready to retire from intl. play & leave camp. Was asked to sleep on it, & says that after a long chat with Christine Sinclair, she'll stay on through the World Cup.
A little late night Spirit news: multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell me that Larry Best has not been around the team in any capacity since the 9/28
#NWSL
update on the investigation into the team.
#RiseUpDC
After all the talk about discussions between NC & Daniels about what would be required for her to return, it ended up not requiring her to make any apparent change at all.
๐๐๐น๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฟ mรคstare i USA ๐๐บ๐ธ
I gรฅr blev Julia Roddar amerikansk mรคstare nรคr hennes ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ besegrade Chicago Red Stars med 2โ1 i finalen.
Stort grattis sรคger vi till Julia och
@WashSpirit
๐ฅณ
Louisville vs. KC involves an extremely washed-out, overly bright, 480p-quality image combined with a frantically wobbling camera. Broadcasting is tough in ways I don't even understand, but this can't be an acceptable standard for
#NWSL
It really feels like if this many teams are maneuvering to get out of having an expansion draft via trades, we could just scrap the whole thing & solve the issue by giving expansion teams more resources to make trades.