3 steps forward... and possibly 7 steps back...

Woah. WPS has been a tad bit overwhelming this week...

Trading this, trading that, signing this, signing that... You would expect me to say alot... well you expected right.

Though very confusing, i have been able to gather all my thoughts on the whole shebang...

Let's start start with what started the whole commotion...

Two very strong words, WELCOME BACK!! Of course, i am referring to thee one, thee only, Carli Lloyd from Delran, New Jersey. I saw it coming actually-- i wouldve assumed she was homesick and because she wasn't in her home state, she suffered on the redstars. I think having her on SBS is a pretty big advantage--> adding to that, she's got her home "fanz in the standz". She'll also be able to work well with many of the National rteam members

Delran is located in South Jersey. There's an ice cream shop in her hometown and a flavor named after her, that she apparently invented. I just remember reading that there was cookie dough in it. (so if you like cookie dough, you and carli have something in common :) ) For those of you who do not know of Lloyd's soccer background *gasp*, she played college ball for Rutgers and had her number (10) retired last year at the homecoming game, she was part of the u21 WNT, part of the 2007 WWC and obtained third place, part of the 2008 olympics, and scored the golden goal in the 2008 olympics. She we will be playing in the WNT vs GER game next week.

Talk about jerseyens :) represent!

Of course, i do have to talk about Daphne Koster.

Honestly, i have never ever heard of this woman before, but she must be freakin' amazing. To me, she sounds quite angelic.
She started playing nationally at the age of 16 for the dutch national team and currently holds the captain spot. Oh and did i mention, she's a central defender?

when i heard this, i literally said JACKPOT!! Probably exactly what Sky Blue needed. I have always felt that SBFC has lacked defenders, and with Rampone gone, another strong hearted defender is what i've been waiting to see.

And when Rampone comes back, the defensive line will be even more strong. i think the starting deffensive lineup would be asante center, koster center, rampone right, and schnur on the left. That just leaves Keeley Dowling, who i would assumed will play right deffense for the beginning of the season next year.

So a little bit bout Daphne Kopster...

-Her birthday is March 13th
-She has previously played for the Alkmaar Zanstreek
-She's a defender
-Koster is also the very first dutch player in the WPS
-according to the AZ website, Koster also plays mid

i know, not much, but it's quite hard to find information on her because all of it is in dutch. but hey, i tried :)

I wanna say congratulations to Julianne sitch who has recently been signed with the Red Stars. I think this really benefits her because she will be going to her home state of illinois (like how carli came back to jersey). I bet everyone (especially katie) is ooberly superly excited. i really do hope she gets playing time cuz she's fun to watch; i remeber seeing her for the first time up close at the second SBFC game. She was like running sideways--> pretty sick awesome must i add.

the switch of sitch for lloyd is going to be fantabulous. i think it benefits both players significantly.

and now for the bad side of this...

I really really truly realized this when i read lauletta's league lowdown... i think SBFC has too many national team members. I think having many candidates for the USA national team will be a big loss when they are called up for team duty. Some of these players are:

-Yael Averbuch
-Natasha Kai
-Heather O'Reilly
-Christie Rampone
-Kacey White
-Carli Lloyd
-Meghan Schnur (though she wasn't called up for Germany, she was caled up for camp)

I even believe that Keeley Dowling might be called up because she was a big factor for the SBFC champs title.

Loosing all these players would be a big loss all over the field!! (except the GK position)

However, there are a couple brightsides to having many WNT members...

One simple reason is that they know each other's style of play. This is a huge advantage i believe. I personally play better with people i hang out with all the time and have played with for atleast half a year (i think al of us soccer players do). Adding to that, the WNT play best as a team, and since SBFC has most of the WNT members, i believe they are going to be phenomenal. (AND the usawnt is currently ranked #1)

Another reason is that its good for the fans and promotions. I LOVE the national team and sky blue having the most national team members in the league (or from what it feels, i think they have the most national team members). Having them at games is amazing and most people know them. Also, there could be a promotion like.. "take a pic with the jersey girls" (and if heath comes on sbfc, tho unlikely, the real jersey squad would be here) or something that involves these players.

This is definitely not the last of Sky Blue ...
They are going to be the strongest team in the league next year... and that's a fact.

ps. what happens to free agents if they don't get signed? k thanks