RB Ali Riley – settled in the right-back position, her experience in WPS will have added confidence to her game. Boundless energy, always ready to get forward to support play. Her attacking runs this season showed intelligence, both in positioning herself to intercept and speed down the touchline. Reminds me of former France left back Bixente Lizarazu.

CB Whitney Engen – she is quick and strong, and while her positioning is not bad, she is still developing and gaining experience but showing great promise.

CB Christie Rampone – experience and leadership.

LB Becky Sauerbrunn – one of the most consistent and dependable backs in the league. Good distributor, reads the game well, good 1v1 defender.

MF Shannon Boxx – she has the discipline required of holding mids; she marks closely, resists the temptation to follow the ball but, and at the same time, is always available to receive it.

MF Formiga – timeless. Excellent possession midfielder with good passing range.

MF Sonia Bompastor – quality in and out of possession, intelligent, creative and she also tracks back, a vital requirement at this level.

F Wambach – probably the most dangerous “box” player in the world.

F Kelly Smith – after a season slowed by injuries last year, Smith’s game this season has returned to her usual high standard.

F Marta

One of the keys in this match will be how Sky Blue defend Abby Wambach. Wambach is a top forward and will cause Sky Blue problems especially from set-pieces, and if she is given a regular supply line from wide areas. When the Freedom give Wambach a good supply of passes to attack in the box, they’re one of the most dangerous teams in the league.
Wambach’s strength, the quality of her runs, her tenacity and sheer will to win make her one of the toughest players in the league, and world, to defend;
really looking forward to the Wambach-Rampone/Dowling match up.
Sky Blue’s back four plus Branam are experienced but any defense is only  as good as the two center midfielders in front of them.  Averbuch and Rosana will need to be solid, not necessarily spectacular, and take care of the ball. If they do, the Sky Blue will be difficult to penetrate and score on. But their play this season has been erratic. While there is no disputing Rosana’s talent when going forward, her positioning when defending and her tracking back are areas she can improve.
Sky Blues can’t rely on just Branam to deal with crosses in the box. It has to be a collective effort. Put a body on Wambach and don’t let her have free headers.
The Freedom will have to find a way to control O’Reilly on the flank. O’Reilly for me is a gem. She is willing to do what’s required of her, she brings energy, and is able to focus on team goals. She makes few mistakes, enjoys competing, and is reliable.
Looking at head coaches, Jim Gabarra’s experience in this type of match is key here. He has been around and understands how to set up his teams for such matches.

So which team will win? With Sky Blue having a game in hand they can choose to play conservatively away from home and take their chances on the counter. Washington will want to get all three points, and if they commit in numbers to going forward they could be vulnerable.
It would not be too surprising if Washington won, and likewise if Sky Blue took all three points. Home advantage could be the difference but it’s a really close call.

Here, FC Gold Pride coach Albertin Montoya says, “This year we have played a 4-3-3, a 4-5-2, a 4-5-1, a 3-5-2, and we have been successful for the most part. Now it is just making sure that we really get a couple of systems down where we can make some adjustments.”

Systems only start the game.
It is not a question of 4-4-2 or 4-5-1. There are things which are generally right foundation from the very beginning. Players have to know simple things, like making less mistakes over the entire 90 minutes, and to make accurate passes and to give options. After that it is down to communication, movement and players covering for one another. Move into and make space for others, and don’t give the ball away. If you are organized and realistic is it always possible to win and to achieve something.

You can sign 11 players and still not have a team.
Generally speaking talent alone is not worth of money, unless associated with three qualities in the player; training habits, experience, and technique. Players with great talent do not succeed, as often or as well as those who begin with small ones and train hard. Marta has it all. She trains hard and nobody can ever question Marta’s hunger for football and success. She is not a system player or a role player. She needs freedom and to play instinctively to be most effective.
Having said this, one of the reasons FC Gold Pride has been successful so far is that Albertin Montoya has given Marta freedom to do her thing. “The art of coaching is in allowing talent to flourish.”

Their defensive problems are not because of inabilities of their individual players either. If you look at Philadelphia, for example, you would not say that their back four is better than Chicago’s. As a matter of fact Philly features at least one defender which was deemed surplus by Chicago after last season. But as a unit Philly are well organized, strong and they give nothing away. Interestingly, Chicago seemed to dominate possession in many of their games but the problem comes when you face well organized teams which will punish you on counters.
Philly’s game is to sit back and wait for their opponents to overstretch themselves and then break out.
And when they gain possession they try to cross the field in three passes or fewer, usually ending in a through-ball for the strikers to run on to. They attack in short and quick bursts and then dedicate themselves to letting the opposition do the work. They have enough players with attacking ability to capitalize on only a handful of chances.
Making playoffs in WPS is certainly achievable for a team like the Red Stars. They have a number of high quality, experienced players but you can’t make playoffs and for sure can’t win the title unless you are solid at the back. As the season ends you have to grind out results and giving up 3 goals at home is not the way.

This of course is silly. WPS attendance has nothing to do with sexism. Its a matter of expectations and adjustments.
WPS attendance is the highest in women’s football in the world.
As a matter of fact, it is higher than some men’s teams in European leagues. Check out attendance of bottom teams in top leagues in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Finland and it will make you realize that WPS numbers are not bad even when compared to men.
If any WPS owner or fan expects NBA or even WNBA numbers they are unrealistic.
The attendance and sponsorship benchmarks are now established. They are what they are. Start with what you have and work your way up.
As any start up business owner will tell you, the challenge is in controlling expenses. Player and front office staff salaries will have to be adjusted to reflect financial reality.
Get them in line and you will have a sustainable league. The product is good and improving. All teams have made/are making mistakes but are learning and improving.
Growth of women’s football must be organic and incremental.
As Boston knows, there is no substitute for having a winning team and while a wining team does not guarantee commercial success, a losing team can speed up commercial failure.
Having said that, marketing and social media are only useful when teams can deliver quality fan experience. The exaggerated sense of feel good and well-being instilled by a retinue of Twitter users can distort objectivity and evaluation in ways that are hard to overcome for most owners.
For a typical fan quality experience begins with winning.
A key component of a long term success is management of expectations. Owner’, GM’ and coach’ expectations must be realistic and similar. Too low, they will become a self fulfilling prophecy. Unrealistically high, it will lead to disappointment, division and strife.
Managing player, fan, media and owner’s expectations is one of the key, joint responsibilities of a GM/coach partnership.

Compare Leroux to tactically savvy German players. Bianca Schmidt, Kim Kulig and Alexandra Popp have already earned senior caps, while Desirée Schumann and Marina Hegering previously appeared in Chile, as did Schmidt and Kulig. Germany also have 18-year-old Dzsenifer Marozsan, a technically gifted sharp-shooter who won the adidas Golden Shoe at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2008 in New Zealand. They all appear to possess sophistication levels we all hoped Leroux will demonstrate by now.
Popp’s progress is a demonstration of German training system.
Two years ago, as a 17-year-old FFC Recklinghausen forward at the UEFA European Women’s U-17 Championship, Popp finished the tournament as top scorer. But she looked raw.
At that time German coach Ralf Peter said that Popp is not a natural predator. Popp moved to Duisburg and in two years made staggering improvements to her game. Today she looks to be one of the upcoming talents in the women’s game.