It has been a while since there has been a Deep Dish, but we have sufficient material to produce on on this night. So let’s get to it.
RED STARS TRADE McCASKILL, NAGASATO: On Monday, the Chicago Red Stars traded forwards Savannah McCaskill and Yuki Nagasato, the #5-pick in the 2021 NWSL draft, and international roster spots in 2021 and 2022 to Racing Louisville in exchange for full roster protection in the upcoming expansion draft which is on November 12th. The Red Stars still have the 4th, 6th, and 8th picks in next year’s draft.
The trade was processed before Friday’s deadline, but was not announced until Monday in order to contact players.
“I think one of the hardest things to explain is the number of things that were being traded off,” said Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler.
“What’s the right mix of players? So, you look at the depth chart. Where we’re strong, where we’re weak — you have to look at the financials, right? Salaries. You know salaries matter. Allocated players matter — not just because they’re some of the best players in the world, and they’ve won World Cups, but because their salary is lower than other players on the roster.
“At the end of the day [we]have to balance a lot of things and trade off a lot of things to make sure that we keep our fans happy, are able to win on the field, stay sustainable, and able to manage the losses in women’s pro sports.”
It is not certain if all five of the Red Stars’ allocated players–Julie Ertz, Casey Short, Alyssa Naeher, Morgan Brian, and Tierna Davidson–will remain as such for 2021 and end up added to the Red Stars’ payroll.
Acquired by the Red Stars via trade in June 2019, McCaskill made 28 appearances over two years, including 10 over the span of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup and NWSL Fall Series. She scored two goals and assisted three more during her time in Chicago, including a goal in the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup Semifinal.
Nagasato was acquired by Chicago in May 2017 after having previously won a FIFA Women’s World Cup and UEFAWomen’s Champions League with FFC Turbine Potsdam in 2010. Nagasato made 52 appearances for the Red Stars and lead the league in 2019 with eight assists and earned a place in the 2019 NWSL Second XI.
“Trades are never easy … We certainly did not want to lose Savannah or Yuki. They’ve both been big parts of what we’ve done in the last year and a half,” said Red Stars head coach Rory Dames. “Yuki’s connection to the city, the fan base. Her professionalism has raised standards in our team that I don’t even knew that they existed prior to her being here. So it, it’s a loss that will ripple through the group, I’m sure. And then you know Savannah, especially after the year she had. It’s hard to move her on because of the growth she showed this year.”
THOUGHTS ON THE FIRE: Despite the immense turnover in roster, not making the playoffs will be considered failure for Chicago Fire FC. On Saturday, they failed to get three points after conceding a stoppage time equalizer to New York Red Bulls and now face three road matches against teams in playoff position. The Fire are level on points with Inter Miami, but behind on wins. Speaking of which, the Fire are the only team in MLS yet to win an away match this season (the win over Seattle in the MLS is Back Tournament does not count).
The road has been hell for the Fire over the past few years. They are 15-78-33 on the road in MLS since the start of the 2013 season. It was 2012 in which the Fire last won more than four times on the road. They now will have to win on the road in order to have a shot at the playoffs this season.
WAVE CANCEL SEASON: Last Monday, the Milwaukee Wave of the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) announced they were cancelling their 2020-21 season after being unable to come to an agreement with the Wisconsin Center District that would allow use of UWM Panther Arena (formerly the MECCA).
“There’s a lot of uncertainty as far as when and if the Milwaukee Health Department will allow attendance at live sports events, and, if so, how many people can safely share a space,” said Milwaukee Wave owner Mike Zimmerman. “So, the District can’t give us a line of sight past January 1st to open the arena at capacity limits that work for us. Currently the limit is 250 and we need closer to 4,000.”
The Wisconsin Center District – which collects ticket surcharges from Fiserv Forum and hosts three teams at the Panther Arena including the Wave, the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, and University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee basketball– predicted that there would be no fan-attended sports games before the end of 2020 for the Milwaukee Bucks’ Fiserv Forum or for the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena’s tenants. It was reported on October 16th that the Wisconsin Center District budget assumes there will not be any games at the Panther Arena until fall of 2021.
The Wave, who have been playing indoor soccer since 1984, averaged 3,847 last season which was top of the MASL before the season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Wave won the league title the season before. They are the their team to announce a sabbatical after Mexican clubs, Monterrey Flash and Soles de Sonora, opted out of play because of travel restrictions between their country and the USA. The league is still hoping to play in 2020-2021 announcing an All-Star Game for Kansas City on December 5th.
