If so she doesn’t seem to have caught on there, given her minutes. Perhaps the loan is them hoping she’ll get more time here and with it either gain the experience to break into their XI or conclusively prove she can’t. Low risk for the return for PSG either way.
Kinda weird she didn’t sign w PSG until ‘23. Says she graduated in June ‘22 but didn’t play in the 22-23 season.
If so she doesn’t seem to have caught on there, given her minutes. Perhaps the loan is them hoping she’ll get more time here and with it either gain the experience to break into their XI or conclusively prove she can’t. Low risk for the return for PSG either way.
Kinda weird she didn’t sign w PSG until ‘23. Says she graduated in June ‘22 but didn’t play in the 22-23 season.
From what I read, she played at USC in the 2022-2023 season, and left straight from there (foregoing her 5th year) to join PSG...
From PSG's news release:
"After playing for Atlanta-based Concorde Fire, she joined West Virginia University in 2019 and played three seasons with the Montaineers (53 matches, 4 goals).
In 2022, the defender continued her career and her studies in psychology at the University of Southern California. She played in all the matches during the season, making a total of 16 appearances and scoring 3 goals."
Low risk for PSG. The loan also comes with the option to buy on the Thorns part. So it seems if they like her, she could be bought...and if not, well then she goes back, no big deal. Buys us another year to find a starting RB. Her contract is through 2026, though, so that might be an expensive buyout for a player that may not be worth it. Guess we'll see!
Yeah, agree. If anything, we're bringing the floor up. If Muller and Payne are playing FB, I don't have to ever see Nally at FB again lol. I'm not mad at strengthening our depth and giving the players at the bottom competition to earn a start, or even the sub spot. For a while now, we've had some deep depth stick around a bit too long imo...
The small rosters make it difficult to carry enough reserves to really “compete” one against the other, and the (at least until recently) low cap meant that once past the starters you could afford to have quality not playing regularly…
Plus I suspect the Wilkinson and her assistant Norris don’t have much confidence in the quality of the reserves. So they don’t get minutes, and can’t improve.
I’m hoping that changes under the new regime, natch…
The 2022 USC season ended in November 2022, so perhaps she wasn't playing soccer until she signed with PSG in July 2023. Or maybe she practiced with the USC team in spring 2023 (this typically includes some friendlies/scrimmages against other colleges), not being sure what she was doing next, and decided to jump ship when the PSG offer arrived in the summer. She could well have needed to finish her degree that spring (2023) also.
It’s pretty common for players to finish their studies before starting
Jessie Fleming signed in July
Bunny Shaw signed in June
I wouldn’t read anything into it. Also, from what I can see … she never applied for the NWSL draft. Lots of players who have signed directly in Europe.
If so she doesn’t seem to have caught on there, given her minutes. Perhaps the loan is them hoping she’ll get more time here and with it either gain the experience to break into their XI or conclusively prove she can’t. Low risk for the return for PSG either way.
Kinda weird she didn’t sign w PSG until ‘23. Says she graduated in June ‘22 but didn’t play in the 22-23 season.
From what I read, she played at USC in the 2022-2023 season, and left straight from there (foregoing her 5th year) to join PSG...
From PSG's news release:
"After playing for Atlanta-based Concorde Fire, she joined West Virginia University in 2019 and played three seasons with the Montaineers (53 matches, 4 goals).
In 2022, the defender continued her career and her studies in psychology at the University of Southern California. She played in all the matches during the season, making a total of 16 appearances and scoring 3 goals."
Low risk for PSG. The loan also comes with the option to buy on the Thorns part. So it seems if they like her, she could be bought...and if not, well then she goes back, no big deal. Buys us another year to find a starting RB. Her contract is through 2026, though, so that might be an expensive buyout for a player that may not be worth it. Guess we'll see!
Interesting. Her Wiki page says 2022. If she really was there until June ‘23 that closes the odd gap.
Yeah, this is kind of a win-win. PSG gets minutes for someone who’d be a depth piece there and we get a possible RB either-starter-or-backup we need.
My guess is she’s got to be at least NWSL-replacement-level good. PSG wouldn’t have bothered even as a reserve if not. Worth a shot, at least.
Yeah, agree. If anything, we're bringing the floor up. If Muller and Payne are playing FB, I don't have to ever see Nally at FB again lol. I'm not mad at strengthening our depth and giving the players at the bottom competition to earn a start, or even the sub spot. For a while now, we've had some deep depth stick around a bit too long imo...
The small rosters make it difficult to carry enough reserves to really “compete” one against the other, and the (at least until recently) low cap meant that once past the starters you could afford to have quality not playing regularly…
Plus I suspect the Wilkinson and her assistant Norris don’t have much confidence in the quality of the reserves. So they don’t get minutes, and can’t improve.
I’m hoping that changes under the new regime, natch…
The 2022 USC season ended in November 2022, so perhaps she wasn't playing soccer until she signed with PSG in July 2023. Or maybe she practiced with the USC team in spring 2023 (this typically includes some friendlies/scrimmages against other colleges), not being sure what she was doing next, and decided to jump ship when the PSG offer arrived in the summer. She could well have needed to finish her degree that spring (2023) also.
It’s pretty common for players to finish their studies before starting
Jessie Fleming signed in July
Bunny Shaw signed in June
I wouldn’t read anything into it. Also, from what I can see … she never applied for the NWSL draft. Lots of players who have signed directly in Europe.