I adore Kim Little. She is a once in a lifetime player and i'm so happy to have the opportunity to see her play. She is a joy to watch, every game. By all accounts she's a great person too. We are so lucky. She has spoiled us for midfielders for ever: can you imagine trying to live up to the standard set by our magic Scottish Unicorn? I hate even the thought of her leaving the Reign. But i think she's played her last game in the Blue and Black.

To be clear, she has not made any statements about it one way or the other. I'm not certain she will leave, not at all. I don't have inside information and i don't claim to know the future. I hope and hope and hope and hope and hope that we are all wrong, but the arguments are piling up and everyone i talk to takes it as a given. I want to be wrong on this one, but it's looking grim.

The arguments:

1. THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS.
Scotland has qualified for Euro 2017 in the Netherlands.  This is great!  The Scottish men have only qualified twice (in the 1990s) and the women never have. It's a very big deal for the Scottish Fans, and for us: Kimmie finally gets to shine in a major tournament.  She deserves this opportunity. I'm happy for her and i hope she makes the most of it. I plan to watch. I might even attend!

However, this tournament is going to be Kim's entire focus from now until August.  So even if she stays with the Reign, she would be gone for six to ten weeks mid-season; and wow that's a lot of travel, probably 10 or 15 trans-Atlantic flights.

(Hey Laura Harvey, here's my brilliant idea: Loan Little to Arsenal for 2017, bring her back to Seattle for a championship in 2018!!)

2. REFS.
Kim is one of the players who suffers the most from the horrible refereeing in the NWSL.  She is fouled constantly. There are no stats on this, but i'm certain she's in the top few players with the most uncalled fouls against her. Teams can't beat her so they try to stop her another way -- sometimes they try to hurt her. A player of her caliber needs the protection of good refereeing and that is sorely lacking. It's really amazing that she hasn't been seriously injured. Commissioner Plush is doing nothing at all to protect the players; it's a scandal. She's clearly fed up with it.

3. FAMILY.
It's well known that Kim is not comfortable being so far away from her family and boyfriend. She talks about that a lot. (Can the Sounders sign Tom Pett?)

4. 2016

I think we were unknowingly fortunate to have had her in the team this past season. The widespread rumor last summer was that she was leaving as soon as we won the championship. But then after that frustrating loss in the game on Jeff' Plush's 'neutral ground' in Portland, she was convinced to stay and give it one more go.

5. PAYCHECK.
It's never spoken, but well known that she could make 8, 10, 12 maybe even fifteen times as much money playing in Germany, France, Sweden, Japan or most likely at back home in the UK.  Little is one of the few in the leauge being paid as 'high' as five figures, but that paltry excuse for payment barely qualifies as poverty wages. Any athlete, but especially a world class superstar like Kim Little deserves a living wage. All male athletes of her caliber are making eight figures.

We don't like to talk about it, but the NWSL is a league for upper class young women who's parents can support them in their hobby for a few years.  Kimmie is a true professional (10 seasons so far!) and so she really needs to be in a real league.  Jeff Plush is just not doing his job: the players must be paid.

6. TEAM CORE.
There was something very special about the 2014 - 15 team. Little was very clear that it was important to her and a reason to play here. One of her stated reasons for coming to Seattle in the first place was to have the opportunity to play alongside Hope Solo.

Sport is fickle; that core is disappearing. Both the Captain and Assistant captain (Winters & Cox) are gone, and Brooks and Foxhoven and Deines and Solo of course. I expect Matthias may be traded and we'll surely lose one or two more. Kim's telepathic buddy, Fishlock is still around, but is that enough?

7. LEARNING.
Kim Little's original excuse for taking the big pay cut to come to the USA was for the opportunity play in a more physical, faster, if sometimes less skilled league. She said she could learn from playing in the best league in the world. After 2015 she said she had learned all she could here. In fact this year she was looking for new things to learn -- that's one of the reasons she played more defense this year: the Reign were kind of looking for things to keep her interested.

8. LEAGUE.
On the other side of the coin, the NWSL has caught up to her. When she first got here in 2014 she was like a super-hero, no one had ever seen someone with her combination of skills: ball handling, vision, game management, soccer IQ, speed, experience, fitness, passion, drive and more. There were many players with one or more of  those but none with all. She could do as she pleased and no one could stop her.  But the defenders have caught up with her and have found ways to deal with her. And she has defined the importance of a dominating mid-fielder that all NWSL teams must have now.

9. TRAVEL.
For three years Kimmie has crossed the Atlantic, about eight times a year, maybe more. There's no doubt she's a professional, but even without the major mid-season tournament in Holland doubling that, it takes a toll.

10. MANCHESTER CITY.
Khaldoon Al Mubarak, an oil multi-billionaire in Abu-Dhabi owns Man City and he's stated repeatedly that he wants to build the world's best men's and women's teams and money is no object. Last year he started putting together a women's super team in the UK. They just won the FAWSL title.

In the NWSL off season last year Kimmie was the main star for (undefeated) Melbourne City, a super team assembled by and owned by Manchester City FC. The UK is home for Kim and Tom plays there. I've talked to several people who suspect she already has a deal inked. This is the biggest reason for the supscions. I hate to say it, but if i were her, i would go.