Yesterday’s news that the Houston Dash had traded popular right back Ari Romero to the Washington Spirit in return for Niki Cross brought a swift and predictable reaction from the Twitterverse. Emotions generally ranged from shock to tears as fans expressed their views on the trade.

Dealing a young, up and coming star for a player on the back end of her career seemed unfathomable to many fans. Factor in that Romero quickly established herself as a fan favorite last season, and the reaction is understandable. The intimacy between fans and players in NWSL means that there are very few players who could be traded away without some disappointment felt, but the degree of fan support that Romero enjoyed means the Dash may have lost some fans in the near-term as a result of this trade.

If there was cynicism in some sections of the fan base about the Carli Lloyd trade, with some seeing it as more about selling tickets than winning, those doubts should be put to bed now. This trade clearly does just the opposite; this is very much about winning next season and not about selling tickets (although winning should ultimately result in higher ticket sales), especially given the fact that it could actually have a negative near-term impact on ticket sales.

Soccer is a business, however, and teams cannot afford to be too attached to players as they seek to get better. Taking emotion out of the equation, there are several factors that need to be considered in analyzing this trade:

The Dash are committed to winning, not in a couple years time but in the here and now, In 2015, playoff participation will likely be decided by which teams fare best during the World Cup period, Inexperience across the entire team, but particularly at the back, was a bigger issue than talent for the Dash in 2014, There are more moves to come.

In our end of season wrap up interviews with Brian Ching and Randy Waldrum, it was made very clear by both that losing was something neither enjoyed and they were both focused on making the playoffs in 2015. The one year turnaround enjoyed by both the Washington Spirit and Seattle Reign provided a blueprint for how this could be done.

Equally clear from their analysis of the league was that experience is key to winning. While Waldrum clearly loved the team and players, he also frequently lamented the lack of experience in the team and the impact that had on the overall record. For much of the season, the back line was essentially a 5th year senior group and the inexperience there could be directly linked to the number of goals the team conceded (especially the number of early goals).

Increasing the average age of the team – as well as the talent level – was always going to be a priority this off-season. The second priority was figuring out how to win in a World Cup year in a salary cap world where only amateur players can be called in as replacements for players away on national team duty.

We saw with the Houston Dynamo this season what can happen when a team is ill prepared to lose players during the World Cup. If not for the horrendous performance while Brad Davis and Boniek Garcia were away on national team duty, the Dynamo would have made the playoffs in 2014.

NWSL teams are looking at losing their World Cup bound players for as much as half the season in 2015. Prior to this trade, the Dash preferred back line would have likely been: Meghan Klingenberg, Osi Ohale, Lauren Sesselmann and Ari Romero; all four of those players may well feature for their teams in the World Cup.

There is virtually no way to replace an entire back line for half of the season and expect to win. The Dash have Stephanie Ochs to plug in at one fullback position and Marissa Diggs – who performed well at times last season but is still very inexperienced – at center back. They needed to bulk up at the back, and with the trade of Whitney Engen, realistically they needed a starter quality center back for the entire season, not just the World Cup period.

Just as realistically: the Dash don’t have a great deal of trade ammunition at the moment. The barrier to making trades last season was that other teams weren’t particularly interested in the players the Dash had on their roster. There are only a handful that could bring back good value, and at this stage most of those would be considered irreplaceable. The one thing the Dash did have to work with, however, is three starter caliber fullbacks on the roster in Ochs, Klingenberg and Romero.

Ochs has too much value in 2015 as a player who will not be away at the World Cup, so the best trade ammunition the Dash could offer up was Romero or Klingenberg. With experience a key factor in decision making, Klingenberg isn’t going anywhere. She has the double advantage of being young (26) and experienced in addition to coming off of an autumn period where she was a standout player for the United States.

Klingenberg took a bit of time to adjust to NWSL after she arrived with the Dash, but by the end of the season she was very good. Heading into 2015, she will likely be one of the best players on the Dash roster. Romero, for her part, is energetic and extremely popular with the fans but she is inexperienced and made plenty of mistakes last season. For 2015, at least, she was the most expendable player amongst the three fullbacks once you take emotions and fandom out of it.

In Cross, the Dash gain an experienced center back who has played with the likes of Bayern Munich, Newcastle Jets and Medkila IL. She did not stand out during her time with Washington last season (although she was very good against the Dash on July 17th at BBVA Compass Stadium), but as was the case with Klingenberg (and Engen), much of that could be put down to adjusting from Europe back to the NWSL game.

Cross can be a beast in the center of the defense and may well be a season long starter. With her in place during the World Cup period, the team can feel better about having a less experienced player like Diggs alongside her. Cross can be one of the players that makes all the difference between winning and losing during the World Cup. From a pure business standpoint, the trade conceptually makes sense.

The lone justifiable question mark is could the Dash have gotten more value for Romero; especially given Romero, as an allocated player, has no impact on the Dash salary cap (although that could change in 2016)? As a straight up deal, Romero for Cross looks slightly lopsided in the favor of Washington. However, there is a clear premium this season around quality players who are available to play during the World Cup and this is the case with Cross as well.

So, am I in love with the deal? No, I’m never particularly keen on trading young talent, especially when that talent connects with the local fan base so well and ultimately brings fans to the game. Do I understand the decision and recognize the positive aspects of the trade for the 2015 season? Absolutely.

Losing a fan favorite like Romero is never easy, and I’m certain that once Waldrum has returned from Trinidad and Tobago and can talk about the trade, he’ll express that of all the difficult decisions that have been made about players, this was the most difficult. Still, fans should look at the move and be happy about what it says about the Dash: they want to deliver a winning team to Houston for the 2015 season.