The two weeks leading into the 2017 NWSL College Draft have been tumultuous to say the least. Top star Alex Morgan is off to France through the summer. The 2015 MVP, Crystal Dunn, signed a new deal with Chelsea in England.
Mike Dean’s track record is unreal. He pioneered the Dirty South sound of the 90s while working with the Geto Boys, Nate Dogg, Tech N9ne and UGK. In recent times, he’s worked with Kanye West on all of his albums, Jay-Z, Frank Ocean and Desiigner. He’s a living legend, but Mike Dean has received a ton of criticism lately after wrongly sending off Sofiane Feghouli in Monday’s match between Manchester United and West Ham.
Bruce Arena's first USMNT squad probably won't tell us much. The Europe-based players are unavailable because it isn't an international break, and the USA-based players aren't in shape because the MLS doesn't start for a while. Also, the games won't be anywhere near competitive international matches.
That said, it is his first squad and therefore people will wildly speculate on what his team selection means. Maybe we'll learn something about the type of player Arena is looking for. More likely we won't.
The NWSL could use a positive headline in the next few weeks. First, the NWSL lost its biggest star in Alex Morgan, who is moving to play at Lyon through the summer. Her parent club, the Orlando Pride, will open their brand new stadium without their biggest attraction.
Surely the picture above is not some kind of metaphor for Missouri Governor-elect Eric Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, shooting down a proposal for an MLS team in St. Louis that included a hefty chunk of public funding for a new stadium.
That would be ridiculous.
Greitens has once-and-for-all said that state funding will not be used for stadiums if he can help it.
Crystal Dunn is one of the most explosive players in the USWNT player pool and has been one of the best players in the NWSL in the past few seasons.
Now she's heading to England to play for Chelsea, following USWNT teammate Alex Morgan (at Lyon in France) to Europe.
2016 was a great year for the NWSL as the league marked a record fourth season for professional women’s soccer in America. Meanwhile, the US Women’s National Team had a disappointing year, finishing medal-less in Rio following the high of winning the World Cup in 2015.
Here is a look at the key dates throughout 2017 for both the league and the national team:
January 1st - Collective Bargaining Agreement Ended
In the weeks around the holidays the NWSL has been fairly quiet in player movement or league news. However, the league office made a big addition last week, and one that cost the USL a successful leader.
Last week the NWSL announced the Amanda Duffy would become the new managing director of operations for the league. Duffy joins the NWSL leaving a great position at a rising USL franchise, Louisville City FC.
According to ESPN, Real Salt Lake and another team from the MLS Eastern Conference have entered discussions with Landon Donovan over the 34-year-old continuing his career in 2017.
Donovan made a shock return for the LA Galaxy in 2016, appearing in nine matches for a Los Angeles squad that had been left depleted in attack following a serious injury to Gyasi Zardes and the questionable fitness of Robbie Keane and Steven Gerrard.
On Tuesday, it was confirmed that Swansea City parted ways with Bob Bradley after just taking over the team in early August. It may come as a surprise to many, taking into consideration he's only been in charge for 11 games, but it's a decision that the Swansea board felt needed to be made with the team sitting in 19th position on only 12 points.