How he doesn't even mention Sasha is beyond me - she's the only woman to be on both of the last two world podiums (and 4th the two before those.) And I love the Japanese women but aside from Asada they have not been as dominant/'ready' as he seems to think.
He also didn't address how COP-friendly the women are.
It does not give the date when this was written, but I imagine the writer gave a general list of possible skaters for each team and commented on their year so far. Alissa had a pretty good year for a newby. Of course, Michelle was the wild card so someone had to be eliminated.
Yeah the article sounds like it was written sometime in early November. Because he's only judging by the Grand PRix circuit. Not a very accurate article. I'm sure Paul would have different opinions now.
My thoughts, exactly. Not to be nitpicky, but this isn't exactly accurate, given the results at Nationals. Granted, Alissa had a strong Grand Prix season, with a silver medal at Skate America and a gold medal at Skate Canada. I'm assuming that's the reason Alissa was listed in this piece - her gold medal at Skate Canada.