

Posted by

Steve Bottjer ,

December 7, 2014 Email

Steve Bottjer

On Twitter:

@BottjerRNO

The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) has announced the list of nominees for its 2014 Canada Soccer player awards. Canadian media and coaches will be asked to select two players - one male and one female – for the Canadian Soccer Association’s top prize, the Canadian Players of the Year award.



On the Women’s side of the equation the award has pretty much been the sole domain of one player – Christine Sinclair – over the last decade. However, with Sinclair delivering a 2014 campaign that wasn’t quite at the incredibly high superstar standard that she has set over the last ten years, the door is now open for one of her national team teammates to win the Player of the Year honours for the first time. With that in mind, it very much looks to be an open race with Diana Matherson, Sophie Schmidt, Erin McLeod and Kadeisha Buchanan in particular fine delivering seasons over the past twelve months.



We asked a handful of contributors to RedNation Online to give us their thoughts on this year's award and who deserves the accolade in 2014.



RNO Roundtable: Who is the Female Canadian Player of the Year?



Here are the nominees:



- Kadeisha Buchanan | USA / West Virginia University | Mississauga, ON

- Diana Matheson | USA / Washington Spirit | Oakville, ON

- Erin McLeod | USA / HoustonDash | Edmonton & Calgary, AB

- Sophie Schmidt | USA / Sky Blue FC | Abbotsford, BC

- Desiree Scott | ENG / Notts County | Winnipeg, MB

- Christine Sinclair | USA / Portland Thorns FC | Burnaby, BC

- Rhian Wilkinson | CAN / Comètes de Laval | Baie D'Urfé, QC



Aaron Nielsen: Diana Matheson



For the women my choice is Diana Matheson, who scored 8 goals and 6 assists in the 2014 NWSL season and helped the Washington Spirit make the playoffs after finishing last the season before. Christine Sinclair, Sophie Schmidt and Erin McLeod also had strong 2014 NWSL campaigns. All will be counted on to lead Canada for the upcoming World Cup next summer.



Kamal Hylton: Kadeisha Buchanan



For me this is a bit of a no brainer, as Buchanan broke onto the scene by shutting down US Women’s star Abby Wambach as a mere teenager and was one of the bright spots for the country at the U-20 Women’s World Cup on home soil. She is also the one pegged as Canada’s next star once Christine Sinclair hangs them up. It will be interesting to see if her game will go to another level at the senior Women’s World Cup that will be held in Canada in June.



Rob Notenboom: Erin McLeod



I'm afraid I'm starting with a lament that's now reached the 'done to death' threshold amongst Canadian supporters ... Christine Sinclair isn't really in 'Christine Sinclair mode' and hasn't been for some time. Although it would be nice to think that her recent marker in a closed-door friendly against Sweden will be a signal that she is once again about to start filling the net, and just in time for WWC2015, she doesn't seem to be able to grab a game by the scruff of the neck like she used to. She played well for both club and country, but others had better seasons.



Wilkinson remains her solid self, but in my view is not really a candidate and additionally did not compete in NWSL this year so that is a mark against her for the award. Desiree Scott had a great year for Canada but falls more into the up-and-comer category for me. Although watching her play well in front of her hometown Winnipeg fans was one of my highlights of the year.



I would love to say that Kadeisha Buchanan should get the award. Watching her dominate Abby Wambach live in Winnipeg was such a treat (someone needs to produce a photo essay of all the times Wambach peeled herself off the Winnipeg artificial turf ... it would bring joy to Canada supporters' hearts), not to mention scoring the opening goal in that friendly, and if she continues this trajectory, she will be (even more of) a dominant force in the back for Canada for years (Rebecca Quinn is not too shabby either ... but perhaps with less flash). Additionally she had very good performances at the U20WWC this summer. But I am more inclined to lean toward those who have put in more time for Canada, perhaps unfairly in this case.



So that leaves long time CWNT stalwarts Schmidt, Matheson, and McLeod. I honestly thought Schmidt was starting to slow down and then she produced a solid two-goal effort vs Japan ... no small feat indeed. Matheson seemed to be on the constant upswing for both club and country having fantastic back to back years at her club as well as game after solid game for the Nats (side note: her unfortunate knee injury was foreshadowed by Sam Gregory on From The Black Hole ... I sincerely hope she has a speedy and complete recovery). Despite this I think Erin McLeod deserves the nod this year. She has shown her fantastic shot stopping abilities consistently for both the Nats and her club, and has been a great leader and organizer, incredibly valuable assets considering the youth movement of Buchanan, Quinn and Yekka who have been operating in front of her off and on all year.



Emily Dulhanty: Diana Matheson



For the second year in a row, my pick for Canadian female player of the year is Diana Matheson. She helped lead the Washington Spirit to a fourth place finish this NWSL season, a huge improvement from 2013 when the Spirit finished dead last. Her eight goals put her second place in scoring for the Spirit, and she also tallied six assists, proving once again that she can be a huge threat from the midfield. As for national team play, Matheson continued to show that among the midfielders coach John Herdman has at his disposal, she is best able to combine with Christine Sinclair. Matheson scored two goals and had three assists for the national team before tearing her ACL in October. Needless to say, her injury is a huge blow to the Canadian team as it prepares for the 2015 Women’s World Cup, and it will be a race against the clock to see if she will be ready to play in June.



I ultimately picked Matheson as player of the year over Sophie Schmidt because I believe she had a stronger year when factoring in performances at both the club and national team level. Though Schmidt scored six goals for the national team this year (two of which came off deflections against Japan and one against Germany which was aided by a goalkeeper error), her performance for sixth place Sky Blue FC in the NWSL (one goal, zero assists) wasn't enough to give her the nod for player of the year over Matheson in my eyes.



Har Journalist: Diana Matheson



Diana Matheson is my choice for 2014 Canada Soccer Female Player of the Year. The 30 year-old led all Canadian NWSL players with 8 goals and 6 assists, in 21 games started for the Washington Spirit this season. Matheson is a dynamic force, and a creative midfielder that makes a big difference whenever he steps on the pitch. The free kick specialist is terrific on corners and her vision and ability to link up with teammates like Christine Sinclair, Melissa Tancredi, Jodie Taylor and Christine Nairn make her and everyone else around her better.



If Diana Matheson is unable to recover from a torn ACL injury, which she sustained against Japan on October, 25 she will be a huge loss for Canada at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Matheson had 2 Goals and 3 Assists in 8 starts for Canada in 2014. She simply can’t be replaced if she is not physically and mentally fit by June 6.



Sam Gregory: Kadeisha Buchanan



The CSA separates the U-20 and senior women's players of the year into two separate categories, but I'm going to ignore the CSA and give my player of the year to Kadeisha Buchanan for the simple reason that the U-20s performance at home this summer was the highlight of the women's program in 2014. Buchanan was a rock at the back for the U-20s playing every minute of the tournament and putting in a player of the game performance against North Korea in the deciding game of the group stage. Despite her age making her eligible for the U-20 World Cup she also made significant contributions to the senior side. She was player of the game and scored Canada's only goal in the senior team's most impressive match of the year as well, a 1-1 draw against the United States in Winnipeg. Buchanan's break-out at both the U-20 and senior levels this year make her my Canadian women's national team player of the year.



Steve Bottjer: Diana Matheson



In my opinion, Diana Matheson deserves her first nod as Female Canadian Player of the Year. She had an excellent season at the club level with the Washington Spirit and continued to be a vital midfielder for the Canadian Women’s National Team. It is somewhat bittersweet to think about the fact that Matheson could earn her first Canadian Player of the Year award in the same year in which she just might have also picked up an injury that could cause the Olympic Bronze medalist to miss next summer’s Women’s World Cup on home soil.