Photo by Russ Isabella/USA Today Sports
By DAN KARELL
Two of the biggest stars in the women’s game will have new clubs in 2015.
On Monday evening, the Seattle Reign and Western New York Flash completed a blockbuster trade, with the rights to Abby Wambach, midfielder Amber Brooks, and a 2016 NWSL first-round draft pick heading to Seattle in exchange for Leroux and forward Amanda Frisbee.
“Abby is a fantastic player who has proven over the years she is one of the best forwards in the world,” said Reign head coach Laura Harvey said in a statement. “We understand and support her decision to focus on the World Cup this season. The contribution she is capable of making is obvious, so we will welcome her to our club at whatever point she is ready to rejoin the league.”
The deal is seen as a coup for the Flash, who pick up U.S. Women’s National Team star Leroux in the prime of her career in exchange for Wambach, who announced this month that she would be taking the 2015 season off to prepare fully for the 2015 World Cup in Canada.
By moving to Seattle though, Wambach is now closer to her current residence in Portland, and the 34-year-old record-goal scorer could be convinced to play for the Reign following the World Cup.
Battling through injuries and splitting time with the USWNT, Wambach scored six goals in 10 appearances for the Flash last season. Leroux meanwhile, also splitting time with the national team, scored five goals in 24 appearances.
The trade means Leroux is playing on her third team in as many years. Leroux played with the Boston Breakers in 2013 before being traded to the Reign in 2014.
What do you think of this news? Stunned to see Wambach leave her hometown club? Do you see her playing for the Reign following the World Cup? What kind of impact do you see Leroux having for the Flash?
Share your thoughts below.
This is a strange deal all around, makes no sense without an insiders perspective.
I must admit I’m with Alex H. this league could shut down tomorrow and none of the headlines would include any superlatives like ‘blockbuster’. since the first few weeks of the inaugural season this league has not had the ability to provide a blockbuster anything .
I really, really hope Wambach isn’t a lock for this World Cup. I feel like the only reason she would quit her club team is if the national team coach guaranteed her a roster spot….which is messed up. Basically they’re treating this like 2007 when we didn’t have a league.
Wambach is barely still a USWNT player. If taking the year off is the only way she is going to have the fitness and energy to play in the World Cup, that’s fine. However, if that’s really the case, if Wambach really NEEDS to take the time off, then Ellis needs to seriously look at other options. If Wambach NEEDS to take this much time off to be fit, then there is a pretty decent chance that Wambach is no longer a good option to spend a roster spot on.
read somewhere that ‘taking a year off’ equated to missing about 3 regular season games this spring before she would have left for national team training camp anyway. There would be more games after the WC of course.
My first reaction was the same as yours, but I can kind of see her intent.
Yeah. the club team has 5 total games scheduled before the start of the WWC, so it’s probably about 3 that she will miss.
I don’t think Abby should be “guaranteed” a spot any more than anybody else. But I also think it’s foolish to think she has nothing to give the team. I’ve watch a lot of WSMNT games over the past 12 months and while I don’t think she has it in her to be a starter any longer, she can still be a difference maker. Big time.
Nobody abuses defenders or makes them work harder than Abby– she has no direct replacement. It would be one thing if we had some 25 year old player of her build and skills who would be “left behind” if Abby got selected, but we really don’t. To leave her at home would be a very strange decision, to me. It’s a tool any manager would love to have in their arsenal– a battering ram with a proven nose for goal and loads of big-game experience.
The NWSL should be the least of anybody’s concerns. Seems pretty clear to me that Abby is very close to calling it a day, anyway, and may simply have avoided the announcement as a favor to the league as they try to drum up interest for the new season.
Abby isn’t good enough to start for the national team anymore and now she isn’t fit enough to play for her club. I think there is a lot of sentiment in favor of giving her one more chance to win the world cup because I can’t think of any other reason that a coach would take a player that has pretty much retired from club football.
I’m a big fan of women’s soccer but this is an absolute joke when a trade for somebody who isn’t even playing in the league is described as a “blockbuster.”
Agreed. Kind of hope Abby just retires to make Seattle look as dumb as they should after this trade.
Perhaps there is something else going on…salary issues? Abby told WNY that she would rather retire than live in Rochester, so they got something for her?
Are you aware of who Sidney Leroux is? She is one of the best players in the league if not world… and if she is involved, it is indeed a “blockbuster” trade for NWSL, even if she was traded for 1977 Dodge Dart and a ham sandwich.
+1
my first thought was, “Is it April 1st already?”
wow….
Next, Dom Dwyer transfers to the Rochester Rhinos.