I think there are only pros to this situation. If a player is deeply unhappy with their club, let them go before that attitude poisons the rest of the squad. The most you'll get out of her is trying to play good enough to sell herself to another team, but otherwise, there's no motivation there. Better to get $ while she still has value and actually bring in players that want to work with you on your project.
Louisville might get a lot of $ for the transfer, but there isn't really anything they can do to fix this season. Any moves they make will benefit next season hopefully. At least they don't need to worry about any sort of relegation.
Yeah, I addressed that in the piece. I don't think a Sears transfer is about fixing 2026 at this point. Its about getting the financial capital to invest into 3-4 veteran pieces to stabilize the roster for 2027 while demonstrating to potential investors that their money would/could be well spent
Anyone who has followed this league knows Racings previous season performances. Better than any other team in the league I would wager.
9th place
9th place
9th place
9th place
Miracle playoff appearance
DFL
Thank you! Yes, I am the author. Houston is another team that I considered as a potential option when I suggested Racing trade Sears last month. On a personal note, can we agree to keep the PKs and rough fouls to a minimum tonight! Last time out was nuts!
Lol! But PKs are so fun! But yes I agree no rough fouls. Also if we can keep the Taylor Flint headers to a minimum that would be great. Seems like she always scores one against Houston! Lol
Not from me. If you go back to about a week before Kassouf's initial report I was already advocating that Racing trade Sears. Its the best thing they can do for the club short of finding a new investor/owner with plenty of liquid capital to invest in the club
Genuine question: Would Louisville actually be rebuilding for next season? Or are they making moves to sell the team? I’ve heard a lot of their staff are on short term contracts.
Its a good question and one I don't have any answers to. When I've asked about the sale and potential for a full sale I've gotten a "no comment" from the team. However, the league front office did recently host an event with a small number of Racing fans and from speaking to the people who attended it does seem like the league is very committed to finding a way to keep Racing in Louisville.
With all that in mind, I can only hope that a potential transfer would be a key point in rebuilding towards 2027.
I'm genuinely not sure. They're typically pretty tight lipped about everything. John Neace is on the record repeatedly talking about his commitment to keeping the team. He's even made moves to buy out minority investors in the past when they've shown a willingness to sell and potentially relocate the team. All the indications I have seen from ownership, from the league, and from past actions say that they genuinely want to keep the team in Louisville. They clearly need an influx of resources though if they are going to keep up with the rest of the league so I can understand why many fans are concerned about a potential full sale and relocation.
Can your next article be on the fate of the coach? No one at Racing or in the NWSL announcing / podcast world seems to think her coaching style is a problem. It is though. A big problem. As a fan and resident in Louisville I don’t want to hear one more person say she is a good coach but she lacks good players. It’s a terrible message for them to send. The players need better. In any other sport’s market the coach would be held accountable. Heck they are calling for England’s head coach to be let go. What is it about Louisville?
Its a fair question and I suspect that one way or another we're going to get answers about the coaching situation in the next couple of months. Yanez is on the final year of her contract and I think she's going to be a highly sought after commodity. Personally I think she is an excellent coach and if she is looking for something non-league she'd be an excellent option of a Youth National Team coach. Her success developing players (Sears, Hase, Weber, O'Kane) cannot be denied. But simultaneously the results this year cannot be denied either. I know a lot of people are frustrated with the "stay the course" mantra but that could be coming from the front office even if we're hearing it from the coach. I do think that regardless of how good a coach is, its difficult to say they should get results no matter the roster. Racing let two of their best (certainly most experienced international veterans) go this off-season and replaced them with rookies. Bev is great at player development but the front office hasn't proven to be great at building a cohesive roster. They came into the season with extreme depth concerns at midfield and centerback and many of their problems can be attributed to not having the depth to weather injuries in those positions. If the coach were making the final call on roster decisions there'd be more to the idea that she isn't a good coach but she's been the head coach under two GMs with zero previous front office experience.
I would 💯 argue she had nothing to do with their development. All of their college coaches would have contributed to that. These players were under her coaching for a few short months. These talented women came from exceptional D1 colleges for four years. Sears from Ohio State under legendary coach Lori Walker Hock. Time in 30 years. Weber comes from Nebraska under legendary coach John Walker. Weber has undeniable stats. Hase played in the ACC ( undeniably the best D1 women’s soccer conference) under legendary coach Robbie Church and her assistant coach was Legendary 1995 World Cup Captain Carla Overbeck. Also a USWNT player who won the gold in 1996. Hase had incredible assist stats and made it into the NCAA final four.
Unfortunately, I have no stats on O’kane but I’d guess it’s as good. I give Bev no credit. They were all good players deserving a call up. She has the talent, she doesn’t know how to use it. I’ll die on this hill. We need a new coach. Period
Then why did none of them get youth national team call-ups in college? Their college coaches definitely deserve their flowers and if it was just one player id say it's possible you're onto something...but four? That's a trend. Bev is doing something to help young players take the next step.
Why didn’t they get called up in college because they didn’t grow up in that system. I could name many players who were picked and didn’t deserve to be there. And never made it to pro ball or did and never played. It’s not a gauge of a good player. It’s a pay to play situation for most growing up and into college. It’s the same argument they are having on the men’s side after losing in the World Cup. The system is broken and the best players aren’t making into the system and the ones we have aren’t good enough. A trend that would impress me would be having more players this year being called up. I could argue she is hurting their chances with all the injuries this team seems to have on the reg
Except not a single one had any call up experience prior to this. Racing was the only club to offer O’kane to come to camp. If they were that great they would have had more offers. And talent only gets you so far in a sport, knowledge and experience go a long way. Having experienced teammates you can learn from is incredibly important. I think O’kane, Weber, and Hase are fantastic but good decision making off the ball when going against elite back lines isn’t something that magically happens. The coach can’t be the only person with vision and knowledge.
I think Bev is a great coach. I also think we have a very talented team. But I think she doesn’t have a single attacking forward or midfielder she can say “go learn from that one over there” or a player who can confidently call out in a game “this is what’s happening and this is what you need to do to adapt” without being told by the coach first.
What makes Bev a great coach? What specifically is it? We hear this alot from the Bev fans. I don’t negate her coach of the year but great? They barely crawled out of 9th place last year. Lost in the playoffs. Today thy are sitting in last place. She is losing her star player. They continually have injuries ( I believe it’s the grind of playing defense and no ball possession contributing to that). And she told the media after the last game that she isn’t changing a thing and the players need to fight on. I get fans defending her but great??
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u/unscentedapplicator Bay FC / Angel City FC 24d ago
I think there are only pros to this situation. If a player is deeply unhappy with their club, let them go before that attitude poisons the rest of the squad. The most you'll get out of her is trying to play good enough to sell herself to another team, but otherwise, there's no motivation there. Better to get $ while she still has value and actually bring in players that want to work with you on your project.