This was an interesting read -- I've also been really on the fence about the choice between legacy and novel players.

I do think something that gets lost in the debate between "they're just taking [legacy player] for jersey sales" and "the team would literally fall apart without [legacy player]" is that putting together a team is always a balance between who has the best pure stats and who brings other skills to the table that we might not see from the outside. For example, someone like Rapinoe may be less capable than she was in terms of athleticism, but she seems to be very important to the team in terms of leadership, playmaking, and morale.