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Soccer Banter

Off the Ball

12/31/2014

1 Comment

 
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Ten questions that will be answered in 2015. 

1.  Will Warrior hire someone that can actually design a decent Liverpool kit? Or will we be left with the Ugly Christmas Sweater jokes.

2.  Which Premier League club will hire a manager that has won 27 of 118 top flight matches? That is Neil Warnock's record with Notts County, Sheffield United, QPR, and Crystal Palace when managing  in the top level of English football. 

3.  Will Tim Ream finally get a run of games with the USMNT?  Jurgen Klinsmann shouts from his perch that he wants his players to go to Europe and fight for playing time to improve themselves as players. Tim Ream has done exactly that, named Bolton Player of the Year last season, but still he has yet to get a legitimate chance during Klinsmann's reign with the national team.

4.  Who will be the next German-American to make the USMNT? And Gedion Zelalem doesn't count, he developed in America. 

5.  Will DeAndre Yedlin play in a Premier game? The 21 year old is off to London, but will he find success like Geoff Cameron or return to MLS with his head between his legs like Brek Shea. 



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6.  Will NWSL make it to unchartered waters aka year 4?  This spring, NWSL will it begin it's third year as the top professional women's league in America, which is also as far as WUSA & WPS were able to make it. 2015 also adds a few other wrinkles to NWSL - a new, yet to be named, commissioner and the Women's World Cup. National team players will be missing games due to training and WC, but it's possible the buzz of a positive World Cup could help the league. 

7.  Will the United States win the Women's World Cup?  The United States recently lost to Brazil and played to a 1-1 tie with China, and immediately Americans are talking about the fear of other countries "closing the gap". If the United States hasn't won the World Cup since 1999, aren't we the ones that need to close the gap? 

8.  Will Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales all advance to EURO 2016?  With the EURO 2016 expanding to 24 teams, it's quite possible all four counties could be in France.  Northern Ireland and Wales are both second in their respective groups, while Ireland and Scotland are fighting it out in the same group along with Germany and Poland.  Now if only those four could advance and England didn't. That would be the best story of 2015! 

9.  Did Juan Agudelo join the Witness Protection Program? Maybe he's become a holistic healer like Ricky Williams.

10.  Which American player will have a breakout year in MLS and force his way into the USMNT picture?  Plenty of young talented players in MLS, but will any of them find the consistency needed to take their game to the national team level.
 

1 Comment

    Brendan Faherty

    Faherty is currently the Assistant Women's Soccer Coach at the University of Washington. He passionately supports four clubs, but is always following the game at many different levels. 



    Off the Ball
    Random observations from the last week of soccer. 



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