Now this exercise might seem completely ridiculous and pointless, I recognize that. I’m not propping up WPS to EPL standards or comparing the leagues or players, because they’re pretty incomparable. But there are some interesting parallels between Women’s Professional Soccer teams entering the 2010 season and clubs in the EPL as they entered their 2009-2010 Premiership campaigns.. Observe:

FC Gold Pride – Manchester City The most obvious choice here. Each clubs had very disappointing seasons the year prior. In the offseason, both clubs offloaded a number of under-performing players who were initially touted with great promise.

Most significantly, both teams somehow wound up with some of the best talent in the league (Tevez, Bellamy and Marta, Abily). Both must now shoulder these great expectations for clubs that had previously lingered in the shadows of its neighbor (Man United, the Sol). With the new crop of big-name leaders adding clout, both Gold Pride and City have rejuvenated also their commercial interests and their brand name.

Moreover, both sides have some similarities on the pitch. Both Man City and Gold Pride were poor defensively last season, so acquisitions were made in the offseason to help shore up the backline. Also, each team brought in young talent that they hope can develop and grow with the club. Kelley O’Hara and Adam Johnson are both wonderful prospects and can perhaps someday be stars for their National Team’s.

Mancini has seemingly handled the pressure well (discounting the sideline dust-up with David Moyes two weeks ago) and could still nab 4th place with his consistent Man City side. Montoya will be shouldered with similar pressure, as he has a revamped side stacked with attacking talent. It’s simple: win with the talent you have or you’re gone.

FC Gold Pride Position in 2009: 7/7 Man City Position in 2008-2009: 10/20

Boston Breakers – Tottenham Hotspur The connection might seem tenuous but look at the managers. Both Tony DiCicco and Harry Redknapp are respected wise men of the game, have been largely successful with different teams and are heralded for their contributions to football in their respective countries.

Harry was in charge of Portsmouth’s miraculous cup run in 2007 which was won by some marquee names (Sol Campbell, Peter Crouch, Niko Krancjar, Lass Diarra) and filled Wembley to the rafters with wild Pompey supporters. DiCicco ‘s 99ers captured the hearts of a country with big names of their own and filled up the Rose Bowl.

The US has yet to win another WWC since DiCicco and Portsmouth’s future is decidedly bleak. Now Harry is at Spurs and his side has been in wonderful form all season after salvaging the club during its poor 08-09 campaign. DiCicco hopes to do the same with his Breakers side.

Spurs have always been an attacking side and Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch and Luka Modric ensure fluid passing and potency in front of goal. Kristine Lilly and Kelly Smith can do the same. Both sides also have classy and tenacious midfielders. The Breakers will hope to bounce back in scoring form after a relatively low inaugural season. Just as the addition of Jermaine Defoe has revitalized the goal count for Spurs, Lauren Cheney will look to do the same for Boston.

Spurs offloaded Robbie Keane (for the second time) in January after the previously-lauded striker disappointed the White Hart Lane faithful in his lack of goals. Boston similarly parted ways with their #1 Draft pick Amy Rodriguez.

Spurs finished strong last season but didn’t quite do enough to go far in the Premier League. But this season, they are legitimate contenders for the 4th Champions League spot. With the attacking addition, the Breakers might also be contenders this year.

Boston’s Position in 2009: 4/7 Spurs’ Position in 2008-2009: 8/20

Sky Blue FC – Chelsea It might not seem so obvious but both Carlo Ancelotti and Pauliina Metillin have inherited title-winning, highly-touted sides of star international players. All the pieces are really already there. It just takes the new manager to make sure they remain stuck together. There a core group of players in both Chelsea and SBFC that have driven both clubs to past successes (JT, Lamps, Drogs and Kai, HAO, Rampone). Both new coaches have to been tasked to deal with the high expectations of repeating as title holders. They each are entering the club after it experienced success with its previous managers (Guus Hiddink and Christine Rampone even though that’s obviously a special situation).

The nuances of a new language, a new culture, a new league and a new organization must be learned fairly quickly in order to keep team cohesion strong. If this is succeeded, Sky Blue could find success just as Chelsea has thus far this season.

Sky Blue’s Position in 2009: 5/7 but won WPS Championship Chelsea’s Position in 2008-2009: 3/20 but won FA Cup

Washington – Aston Villa This one’s also a bit of a stretch but both Villa and Washington reside in the upper echelons of their respective leagues. Both managers, Martin O’Neill and Jim Gabarra learned their craft as players. The Freedom is a team racked with homegrown American talent, just as Villa is composed of a very English nucleus (at least by Premier League standards).

The international players on each team aren’t necessarily box office names (think Homare Sawa or Stilyian Petrov) but they provide the right balance within the team. Though this version of the Freedom hasn’t necessarily been around for that long, some were with the organization in the WUSA days (Wambach, Whitehill and Coach Gabarra). Similarly, some of Villa’s players have been with the club since their Academy days (like Gabby Abonglahor) or have remained with the club for several years now (Nigel Reo-Coker, Ashley Young and Steve Sidwell).

Each club has also lost a big-time midfielder in the offseason in Gareth Barry and Lori Lindsey. Time will tell if Lindsey is asked to perform a more defensive role for Philadelphia, as Barry has done at Manchester City.

Aston Villa had a solid ’08-’09 season but were always vanquished by bigger sides such as Chelsea or Manchester United. The Freedom also finished strong but dropped points to the teams around them. Both hope to find some consistency and press on.

Washington’s Position in 2009: 3/7 Aston Villa’s Position in 2008-09: 6/20

Saint Louis Athletica – Everton Everton are known to be chronically poor starters. After Everton’s 6-1 drubbing by Arsenal to start this year’s season, many Toffee fans feared the worst. Saint Louis had a comparably horrific start to the season in 2009. The Athletica had to wait four matches to get a win. And just as Saint Louis was making their mark, they lost Brazilian star Daniela to a season-ending injury, seemingly damning their campaign. The beginning of Everton’s 2009-10 campaign was also hampered by injuries, including yet another injury to playmaker Mikel Arteta.

Similarly, however, both clubs hit their stride mid-season and Saint Louis went on a roll that resulted in a second place finish. Everton continue to hover around mid-table which is a marked improvement from where they were at the beginning of the season.

The teams also have somewhat similar styles in that they play with a paucity of strikers. Everton’s midfield is typically one of the best in the EPL and the same can be said for Saint Louis this season. Aside from the lone striker up top (usually Eni Aluko and Louis Saha or Yakubu), the goals from both teams come up from the work of the midfield.

Like with the Washington/Aston Villa pairing, many of both team’s role players are not necessarily stars. But they are effective and play together as a team and thus can yield results. It also must be mentioned that both teams have scrappy and dependable American goalkeepers.

Look to see if newcomer Shannon Boxx can make the impact that Landon Donovan did when he came to Merseyside this winter.

Saint Louis’ position in 2009: 2/7 Everton’s position in 2008-2009: 5/20

Birmingham City or Burnley – Philadelphia Independence or Atlanta Beat This one’s a toss-up and will only be resolved once the WPS season is over. For some reason I just have a feeling (that will undoubtedly be wrong) that one of the expansion sides will finish bottom of WPS this season. Neither coach of the Atlanta Beat or the Philadelphia Independence (Paul Riley and Gareth O’Sullivan respectively) have particularly decorated C.V.’s and both teams are composed of players who aren’t used playing together like the established WPS clubs. This might not mean anything but like newly-promoted sides to the Premiership, the teams will start at a disadvantage as they adjust to the level of the league.

Both Birmingam City and Burnley were promoted to the Premier League this season with modest expectations. Birmingham City have been a pleasant surprise this season and have succeeded in making their home ground St. Andrew’s a fortress. The club has climbed the table this season and will probably remain mid-table at season’s end due to their defensive organization, leadership from manager Alex McLeish and good mix of flair players (such as Chucho). A huge accomplishment for the Brum.

Burnley, on the other hand, have struggled with acclimating to the Premier League. For most of the Premier League this season they have seemed out of their depths and unable to cope with EPL sides. The managerial situation certainly hasn’t helped, as original manager Owen Cole left Turf Moor for Bolton. Their squad is mainly made up of players that have been with the club for a long time and have had little Premier League experience. They remain relegation fodder and could very well get relegated.

Atlanta is stocked with promising young talent (particularly from overseas) and other players who can fulfill a role in WPS. Philadelphia also has a squad composed of role players from around the league. They’ll have experience from last year’s best goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc as well as Heather Mitts and Lori Lindsey but many of their forwards are also quite young or new to the league (like A-Rod and Lianne Sanderson).

Again it’s really quite a toss-up between which Premier League freshman the new WPS sides will replicate. It’s really unfair to judge either side until they’ve had a chance to prove themselves. But for both new managers it will certainly be a matter of who can successfully adapt to Women’s Professional Soccer. Both teams will be wishing to be consistent like Birmingham City and not burn out like Burnley.

West Ham United or Arsenal– Chicago Red Stars Granted these are extremes and probably a little presumptuous. But the Red Stars are loaded with an abundance of flashy, offensively-minded players that are capable of playing very attractive soccer. Cristiane, Karen Carney and Megan Rapinoe will be joined by the likes of Casey Nogueira and Kosovare Allsani.

Coach Emma Hayes made her name as an Assistant with Arsenal Ladies and is known to admire Arsene Wenger and his expansive, pass-happy footballing philosophy (despite being a Spurs fan). If she can strike the right balance (balance is so critical in this game) then the sky could be the limit for her young team. But if not, they could end up being as disjointed and disorganized as West Ham this season.

West Ham have historically played attractive, attacking football and each subsequent manager has espoused this philosophy. Current manager Gianfranco Zola was a beautiful player to watch during his time at Chelsea. He seemed to transmit some of the style he played with to his team last season as West Ham did very well for themselves, finishing a respectable 9th.

But this season has been a different story and the Hammers have really nosedived as of late. They’ve seemingly abandoned their offensive-minded brand of playing in order to get results at any measure. Their inconsistency, porous defense and lack of true goal-scorers have made the threat of relegation very real.

If the Red Stars repeat the beginning of their 2009 season, they might see themselves go the way of the West Ham this season. But if Emma Hayes can match execution with ambition, her young players could do very well for her indeed.

Red Stars’ Position in 2009: 6/7 West Ham’s Position in 2008-09: 9/20 Arsenal’s Position in 2008-09: 4

View Original Post at allwhitekit.wordpress.com

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