WPS: Aggressive moves bolster Independence roster
Surprised that the Sol made her available, Paul Riley will now count on Allison Falk to anchor the Independence's back line.
by Dan Lauletta – Special to womensprosoccer.com
I think she’s probably the best box-to-box player in the world. I think she’s just in a different class from everybody else. She’s probably the player I’m most excited about because she’s just absolutely brilliant.
— Paul Riley, Philadelphia Independence Head Coach on Swedish midfielder Caroline Seger
(Nov. 2, 2009) — When WPS admitted two expansion clubs for 2010, the league knew it was imperative to find a way for the new teams to acquire enough players to be competitive right off the bat. After an expansion draft in which no existing club could protect an entire starting 11, the Atlanta Beat and Philadelphia Independence were given the top two picks in January’s upcoming WPS Draft and were also availed additional picks at the end of the first round, meaning six of the top 13 picks in the draft would be heading to Atlanta and Philadelphia.
The Independence, though, weighed those selections against the athletes who competed in WPS’s inaugural season and decided to turn their picks into established players.
“We needed to move quite quickly and not rely on the college players so much,” Independence Head Coach Paul Riley said. “I don’t think that the college players coming out are a particularly strong group. That’s me personally.”
Following the Expansion Draft where the Independence were able to acquire several quality players, they made aggressive forays into the free agent and trade markets. With the club’s inaugural training camp still four months away, Philadelphia is already being considered as a contender for the 2010 WPS Championship.
“We’ve got some experience now,” Riley said. “We’ve got some key players in key positions. We’ve got a good spine down the middle of the park. Hopefully we can just kind of expand on the roster at this point. Most of the key players are there.”
The first big splash was to acquire Amy Rodriguez, who everyone around the league fully expected to be moved out of Boston after a disastrous rookie season. Considering how coveted Rodriguez was when the Breakers made her the top pick in the 2009 WPS Draft, the price was relatively cheap. To acquire Rodriguez plus Boston’s fifth overall pick, the Independence sent the Breakers both of their first round picks—the second and 11th overall.
“I really like Amy,” Riley said. “She had a terrible year in the league last year, but she is a very, very good player.”
The coach went on to recount a conversation with U.S. National Team Head Coach Pia Sundhage when he asked her which player she would pick now from among last year’s choices.
“Without the blink of an eye she said Amy,” Riley said. “I think (Amy) needs a different environment and I think she wanted a different environment. We have great hopes for her. I think she’ll shine (next) year.”
Riley said he will not look to Rodriguez to shoulder the goal-scoring load, but he will certainly look for her to increase her 2009 total of one.
The Independence’s other two acquisitions from within WPS bolstered the defense. First they signed outside back Heather Mitts, also a former Breaker, to a free agent contract and later flipped the first round pick acquired from Boston to add central defender Allison Falk and goalkeeper Val Henderson from the Los Angeles Sol. The Independence also sent their third round pick (No. 22 overall) to the Sol in the trade.
Mitts will be returning to the city that put her on the soccer map as a three-year star with the WUSA’s Charge. She remains part of the Philadelphia sports scene through her relationship with former Eagles’ backup quarterback A.J. Feely. On the field she remains a stalwart on defense and should be pleased to return to her customary right fullback spot after deferring to the left side to accommodate Alex Scott in Boston.
“That’s a definite,” Riley said about Mitts being the right back. “We will not play her on the left side unless we’re absolutely desperate.”
The trade with the Sol took some by surprise—Riley included—because few expected the regular season champions to part with Falk. Riley said initial discussions with the Sol focused on the goalkeeper—Henderson and that the Sol first mentioned Falk— who has family near Philadelphia—as a player they wanted to include in the deal.
“I think she had a great year last year,” Riley said of Falk. “To bring that kind of experience now, I think that was just something that we couldn’t turn away from. I just thought it was a great deal.”
Henderson fills the obvious hole at goalkeeper and the starting job will be hers to lose. She saw action in one game for the Sol in 2009 and shut out FC Gold Pride.
“I think the back line is pretty solid at this point,” Riley said. “We’ve got good size. We’ve got decent speed. But the number one priority was to get a goalkeeper. We did the expansion draft and we didn’t get a goalkeeper and then we did the foreign draft and we didn’t get a goalkeeper. We needed to get a goalkeeper. She’s going to get that chance that she really didn’t get last year to show how good she really is.”
In the Expansion Draft the Independence were able to grab Lori Lindsey and Jen Buczkowski with the second and third picks. Lindsey recently returned to the National Team fold and was an unused sub in the friendly against Germany last Thursday. Buczkowski was a reserve midfelder at Sky Blue FC until the tail end of the season when she stepped in at central defense and helped Sky Blue hold three playoff opponents to two total goals en route to winning the championship. Despite those efforts, Riley sees Buczkowski as a midfielder in Philadelphia.
The club’s internationals are falling into place as well. Riley is particularly excited about Swedish midfielder Caroline Seger, who he says is signed up to head to Philadelphia.
“I think she’s probably the best box-to-box player in the world. I think she’s just in a different class from everybody else,” he said. “She’s probably the player I’m most excited about because she’s just absolutely brilliant.”
Have a question, a suggestion, or a story idea? Did you see something we didn’t? Let me know at thirtymtp@aol.com .
Dan Lauletta is a freelance writer and can be reached at thirtymtp@aol.com . The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s, and not necessarily those of Women’s Professional Soccer or womensprosoccer.com.
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