NWSL 2019 Season Recap

/ American Soccer, NWSL / By

It has now been almost 2 months since NC Courage won their 2nd straight NWSL Championship. I hope this blog finds you well, friends. I know the long, cold, boring offseason is just beginning. It’s gonna be as big as a mental hurdle, as Elizabeth Ball has had since Christen Press murdered her in cold blood. We also must never forget the people most affected by this offseason. My prayers will continue to be with the WoSo addicts that wake up at the early hours of the morning to catch a game from Australia. As we hold our candle vigil for them, I ask that we take a look back at what the 2019 season had to offer us.

Professional Women’s soccer might be the oddest paradox (did I use that correctly) in all sports. Hundreds of thousands, nay, millions of people pledged their love and support, *cough* Katie Nolan and others *cough*, for 23 ladies, in the summer, every 4 years. 23 players that hold titles as, pro-soccer players in the National Women’s Soccer League. But as soon as the summer ends. Poof! They’re all magically gone. Honestly, it’s this ability to hide under a rock for 4 years that makes Jesus’ escape in 3 days so incredible. But yes, we did have a little spike of NWSL viewers since the summer. SportsPro estimates a 43% increase in October’s final compared to last year. I mean, I guess that’s nice but come 2020 I wanna see those same numbers. But let’s get to what happened this season.

Apparently, this was the Best Eleven

I don’t often call people morons. But there is a good 50% of people that voted on this that, well, you get the point. This is not saying that some of these players aren’t good. On the contrary Horan, Lavelle, and Heath are world-beaters. BUT… they really didn’t do anything in the NWSL this season. I mean, who doesn’t love Kelley O’Hara. But she played 4 games. She has no business being in the 2nd team all NWSL team. I get that she did the ESPN body issue, but that isn’t a reason to give her a vote, or maybe it does I really shouldn’t be the voice of reason. “You saw her butt, cast her a vote!” I, more so, feel for the ones that got screwed over. Yuki Nagasato. YUKI MOUTHERFUCKING NAGASATO! She played better than every player in the league not named Sam Kerr. “Logically, let’s throw her on the 2nd team because she didn’t win the World Cup. Debinha? How do you even spell that? Ahh, just leave her off the list! Lynn Williams? Has been!” I gotta say this list did not make anyone happy. Is there any chance some of the players and coaches didn’t watch the NWSL this season?

I swear these players played this year

It’s always a tough job to critique players when the presumption is that they’re playing their ass off. Training their asses off, working their asses off, and sometimes they just are unlucky. Coming off an MVP season, 13 games for one of the best players in the world should be enough to do, well anything. Horan played, uh, not great. 1 goal and 2 assists in over 100 minutes. She wasn’t the number 10 of 2018. Or even 2016 for that matter. While yes we did have an awesome World Cup to watch, the league took a hit. Alex Morgan was, hey she had a great world cup okay. And 6 games isn’t really enough to say, “Hey, you kinda sucked this year.” And it gets worse, for us at least. Morgan and her hubby celebrated the World Cup championship appropriately. Meaning, the bun in Alex’s torso might keep her away from the league until maybe after the Olympics, assuming she wants to play in them, although her trophy cabinet is starting to get stuffy. Sofia Huerta had a good campaign. I repeat, she had a good season. But, with all the World Cup athletes gone, she could’ve taken that title of the best player in the league. And she didn’t. I expect a rebound season by Sofia and possibly Houston Dash’s first-ever trip to the play-offs.

 

Sam Kerr Fucked Around and won another MVP

Sam Kerr is, well, maybe the Goat? There is no question that Sam Kerr has been the best NWSL in the past 5 years. Anyone that debates this can kick rocks. This season, she broke her own record of 17 goals last season with 18, for her third consecutive golden boot. She also finished 5th in assists all-time. You read that correctly finished. In case you have been under that rock USWNT fans have been under, Sam Kerr got the bag from Chelsea. A nice little 2 million dollar contract, still peanuts compared to what WoSo superstars will be worth someday, but we are not there yet. In the mean, Kerr has become the highest-paid WoSo athlete on earth.

MOM! NC Courage did that thing again!

Like it ever was a doubt. NC Courage made their third consecutive trip to the finals and won their second straight championship. Yeah, the underdog won again. I can’t help but realize that this team is a bit unfair. Debinha, Lynn, Mewis, Dahlkemper, Zerboni, Dunn, McDonald I think you get the point. One after another after another after another, this team is in my eyes, the best team in the world. That’s right! Move over Olympic Lyon! NC Courage is THE BEST team in the league. Suddenly, finishing 9th place in the NSWL doesn’t seem all that bad. Congratulations Orland Pride, you finished in the top 10, just 8 spots below the world’s best team. Look I want to believe that the NWSL has the best talent in the world. But if the league doesn’t let teams begin to spend more on salaries, that title is gonna be snatched away. Chicago lost the league’s best player in Sam Kerr, and the league can’t afford to lose more talent. Wait. I was talking about NC Courage. Right, NC Courage beat the breaks off the Red Stars. So back to my rant. At the very least give the gals some proper amenities. I get that Sky Blue FC’s Alyse Lahue kinda turned things around, but shouldn’t have gotten to that point, and I cannot imagine the rest of the league so very far ahead of them.

So concludes the blog recapping NWSL 2019. Really it wasn’t a great one, but the World Cup was to blame which was a hell of a summer. Lebron James and Katie Nolan can go back to keeping the “C’MON USWNT!” tweets and insta-posts in their drafts until the Olympics next summer. Look, I want the league to succeed and be as popular as ever, as much as the next person, but I don’t want a bunch of fake fucking attention-seeking celebrities to ignore the NWSL. Either be in or be out. Not just seeking where fame is. Hopefully, we get a better season in 2020. But unfortunately, the Olympics might cause a bit more of the same. Oh, and before I forget the GIF of the Season is…

Until next time folks.

P.s. I get that maybe it might be hypocritical of me to write about people being fake because I wrote about the USWNT more than the NWSL this year, but I promise you, it’s because I’m lazy. Toodles

 

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