Gotham FC fan's guide to the expansion draft.
To hear Ruby and Gary’s thoughts on the upcoming expansion draft and who we would protect listen to us here: https://anchor.fm/soccerovergotham or anywhere podcasts are found.
The NWSL just announced the rules for their upcoming expansion draft. This one is big because we have two expansion sides Angel City and San Diego entering the league. There is double the opportunity to lose players. So, it’s vitally important to get your list right. First let's go over the expansion rules.
Teams can protect up to 9 players
Teams can only protect 1 US Soccer allocated players and must leave the others unprotected (full list can be seen here https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/nwsl-allocated-player-list-lynn-williams-kristie-mewis-and-jane-campbell-return-for-2021-season/ )
Players on discovery list cannot be drafted. Who are discovery list players one can never tell. I believe Moultrie is one.
For the expansion teams the rules are:
May select one player from each team for a total of 9 picks
May only choose one unprotected US allocated player and the team losing the player get $150k of general allocation money in return
KC is protected from getting drafted due to a clause when their club was formed.
For full details on the rules go to https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/nwsl-releases-2021-nwsl-expansion-draft-process-and-procedures
Before we get to protecting Gotham players it is good to look at how Louisville approached the draft and what we can learn from it.
Relevant information: Name, current age, position
Addiysyn Merrick 23 Defender
Julia Ashley 24 Defender
Jennifer Cudjoe 27 midfielder *traded back to Gotham
CeCe Kizer 24 Midfielder
Katie Lund 24 Keeper
Alana Kennedy 26 Defender
Lauren Millet 24 Midfielder
Kaliegh Riehl 24 Defender
Caitlin Ford 26 Forward
Katie McClure 23 Forward
Erin Simon 27 Defender
Michele Betos 33 Goalkeeper
Tobin Heath 33 Forward
Christen Press 32 forward
For our purposes we are going to remove Press and Heath from our analysis since those were merely power plays hoping for a later return on investment. Half of which paid off.
The average age of players drafted was 25.4 years. Only one player over 30 and that was a keeper. This is a year removed from the draft, so the average age of drafted players was around 24. That’s what these drafts are for.
This is a fair representation of how these drafts should go. Heavy on high potential young players.
What does this mean for Gotham?
Gotham has two US allocated players on roster. Lloyd and Purce. Lloyd is retiring at seasons end so Gotham has an easy choice in protecting Purce.
Gotham is a veteran heavy roster
Freya Coombe is the wild card. Former coach Freya knows this roster and favors veterans. She may also bring over a veteran player who knows her system and help her organize it on the field
Last piece of background before we get to our picks. Here are the players Gotham protected and current players on roster who were not protected in the last expansion draft:
Protected Players:
Imani Dorsey
Nahomi Kawasumi
Amanda McGlynn
Paige Monaghan
Ifeoma Onumonu
Mallory Pugh
Margaret Purce
Kailen Sheridan
Evelyne Viens
Sarah Woldmoe
McCall Zerboni
Unprotected Players (taken in bold)
Nicole Baxter
Jennifer Cudjoe
Caprice Dydasco
Elizabeth Eddy
Sabrina Flores
Mandy Freeman
Didi Haracic
Megan Hinz
Estelle Johnson
Gina Lewandowski
Carli Lloyd (US Allocated)
Dominique Richardson
Kaleigh Riehl
Erica Skroski
Kenie Wright
Alright. Lets get to the task at hand. Who should Gotham protect and why?
Midge Purce 25 Forward
Gotham's only US allocated player (obvious choice). The future of the USWNT and one of the most marketable players
Ifeoma Onumonu 27 Forward
Gotham’s leading scorer and one of the hottest strikers in the league. Has cemented herself as a starter and It will be a tragedy if she isn’t leading the line opening game next season.
Kailen Sheridan 26 Goalkeeper
One of the best keepers in the world. And at age 26 it is scary to know she hasn’t even hit her prime yet. An easy choice here.
Caprice Dydasco 28 Defender
Caprice is the highest rated player in the league according to fotmob for this season. Caprice is having a career year and there is no doubt that a USWNT call up is in her future.
Brianna Pinto 21 Forward
Don’t let the lack of early playing time fool you. Brianna can ball! ESPN 21 under 21 player and USWNT youth player has a ridiculous ceiling and is just getting started.
Allie Long 34 Midfielder
Allie has made Freya’s system go. She came in and seamlessly fit in. Completing 94 percent of her passes. Allie is having an unreal season.
Imani Dorsey 25 Defender
Imani has potential to be a lock down left back which are notoriously hard to find. During the games she was out injured Gotham tried 4 or 5 players in that spot and couldn’t get the 2-way production Imani has brought since her return. Her profile would put her atop either of these expansion teams lists.
Evelyne Viens 24 Forward
Canadian international who just returned with a Olympic gold medal. Tons of potential here and should get minutes alongside Onumonu or as first attacking sub next season. Evelyne would also fit the profile both expansion teams would be looking for.
Toss up: Mandy Freeman 26 Defender or Paige Monahan 24 forward
Paige Monahan fits the profile of a player that would be drafted by an expansion team if you look at the list above. Mandy Freeman fits the profile of a player that Freya might take because she knows how Freya likes to play and can help usher in the system. Both players are injury prone and haven’t played a lot this season. Both have high potential.
Notable players left off the list and why.
Gina Lewandowski and Estelle Johnson
Both fall under the veteran category and expansion teams want to get players they can build around. As noted above only a keeper over the age of 27 was chosen. I feel these 2 are safe to leave unprotected.
Mccall Zerboni 34 Midfielder
Possible Freya pick as that veteran who knows her system, but I doubt it.
Didi Haracic 29 Keeper
There will be a huge pool of keepers for the taking. Besides, if you listen to the podcast, you know how highly we rate Didi. We want what is best for the player as well. Didi deserves to start somewhere and hopefully that comes with a raise. Also, if you listen to the podcast interview, we did with Gotham’s goalkeeper coach Daniel Ball you will know how highly he rates Mandy McGlynn. “A future US number one” as he put it. We are in good hands either way. Pun intended. She was protected last time around. May be in the running for that last protected spot with Freeman, Monahan, Cudjo.
Nahomi Kawasumi 35 Midfielder
Age related. Again, it’s possible Freya takes a flyer on Nahomi since she knows the system in and out. But I doubt it. There will be a ton of higher ceiling players much younger in the pool.
Jennifer Cudjoe
Hopefully teams learned from last season that Jennifer wants to be here. It would be a high risk to take a player that already has been expansion drafted just to be returned. Maybe just to force Gotham to pay for her back again since they know we will do it. I wouldn’t be opposed to Gotham protecting Cudjo over injury prone Freeman or Monahan.
The NWSL Expansion draft takes place December 16th and teams have until December 10th to provide their protected list. A lot can happen between now and then, but this is where we stand as of today.
Feel free to let me know if you disagree with my list. Share, like and email us your thoughts to make it on our next podcast.
Gary Gibson
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