Sorry for the misunderstanding, but that was directed @ UNC4EVER where they questioned Abby's soccer IQ. Again there was a misunderstanding (regarding my comments about Abby)as i was replying directly to UNC4EVER's comments. I would agree 100% that it wasn't an ideal strategy for Abby(i think i even mentioned that in my reply) nor was it ideal for Alex, but when the game gives you lemons you have to make lemonade as best as you can. So it was unfortunate but had to be done. I also don't put any blame on Alex for not holding and waiting for support. I mentioned in a previous post, i put the blame squarely on Pia's shoulders. Its her job to but the team in the best possible position to succeed and she didn't.... we were very lucky to get the draw. Putting in Leroux for Abby wouldn't have been the answer either. Her game is too similar to Alex, and we would've had 2 strikers stranded up top with no one dropping back to help. Furthermore, on the odd occasion if ball actually made it through, you'd have both running at the ball, then trying to go at a very disciplined and compact defense on their own. Not sure if im getting my point across but, what im getting at is neither Syd or Alex are support strikers nor are their styles complimentary. They're fast, make good runs to split the d, good at taking on a defender or two then BAM back of the net. In order to get the most of those types of strikers(if youre using a 4-4-2), you need a solid (typically)hold up/support striker (or a striker thats going to compliment not replicate the other). Think Balloteli/Aguero(when both are on the field at the same time they switch back and forth both roles), Rooney/Chicharito, Barcelona when they play Sanchez/Messi, A few years back at Arsenal with Adebayor/RvP, i could go on for days with comparisons but im sure you get my point. @alckz Couldnt agree more, except id rather see her A Rod on a wing then centrally. She has great defensive ability but she tends to want to attack. And as far as Cheney, id rather see her up top as a striker, because as a midfielder shes a bit too undisciplined. Actually scratch that, swap KO and A Rod, A Rod at LB and KO on the wing.... That might be interesting.
Just for clarification purposes, when i said replicate(refering to Syd and Alex) i meant to say they're of the same mold, not that they try to be like each other.
I thought it was a very uninspired performance by most on the field wearing red white and blue. Morgan and Rompone were both bright spots, otherwise, very choppy american play top to bottom. The attack was very one dimensional - reminded me of a Greg Ryan game It's fairly frustrating to watch.
After reading through the two prior pages of snarky riposte, it was a pleasure to arrive at your thoughtful comments! The only thing I would quarrel with is when you attribute the idea that Wambach doesn't fit with the team chemistry to my post. That is not what I said. Rather, I said that in addition to age and injury, Wambach faces the challenge that the Team no longer provides the chemistry for service that was so evident in her glory days. I would agree that she has adapted and is now, to the best of her ability, playing a more supportive role. I'll own the Wambach soccer IQ comment. I did say it. At her best, I thought that Wambach was an amazingly gifted athlete, with a great soccer instinct "in the moment". I have never seen her as a particularly thoughtful or strategically creative player. If others see her differently, it may be that I am just wrong? That has happened before... My principal point got a little lost. It was: the problem was with the mid-field (and not just in this game). That is Pia's problem to fix, and she is (IMO) doing a poor job of fixing it (it this game in particular by not subbing earlier in her disorganized midfield). As others have pointed out in recent posts, the problem was not with the notion that a striker might drop back into the midfield-- it was that Wambach was that striker! She does not have the recovery pace to get back up top, and we ended up without much of an attack, even when we got possession. My argument was that I would have rather this problem have been solved from the coaching bench (by changes to the midfield), instead of Wambach deciding to go play as a midfielder. Finally, Leroux was not a "hypothetical", she was the sub. My point was she should have gone in for Wambach rather than Morgan. In a broader context, I don't disagree that she might not be the answer to all our needs on attack.
I got a headache reading newsouth's comments over the past 2 pages. The only current U.S. player he will praise is a 36 year old that will be long retired by the 2015 world cup.......how convenient! As far as whether or not the U.S team will win the Olympics or WC over the next 10/12 years with Morgan as one of our main forwards is ludicrous. The U.S lost in the 2003 and 2007 WC's and it had nothing to do with Morgan. Winning the WC these days is a major major deal and having one player shoulder all the responsibility for them winning or losing makes zero sense. Perhaps we should apply the same criticism towards Marta. She may be the worlds best player, but her national team has won squat. Why not kick her off the team and rebuild around a more centralized style where everyone contributes. Heck, why not kick Messi off the Argentinian national team since they have been a disappointment in the WC as well with him on board. The facts are that Morgan has scored 12 goals in 9 career starts despite a certain person's criticism that she was only good for 20 minute spurts against tired defenders. This ratio is currently better than Abby's. She has also scored 15 goals in 15 matches since the France game and assisted 8 times. Our current woes are not as a result of Morgan's play, but are due to our center mids giving the ball away in our own third leading to easy chances for the opponents. What is Morgan supposed to do, magically teleport herself in front of the goal?! In fact Morgan is doing her role by drawing in 3 defenders making it very difficult for the opposing team to build up an attack from their back line since they have to worry about her intelligent runs. As a fan of the USWNT I want to see them win the Olympics in a few months and worry about the future after that. We have 3 years to rebuild before the next WC and will play twice as many preparation games as Brazil. Therefore, we should concentrate on fixing what's currently wrong with the team today. I don't mind starting either Boxx or Lloyd, but they shouldn't be on the field at the same time. The same thing applies to Buehler and LePeilbet since they don't have the reflexes to contend with quick attackers. I like our team better when Becky, A-Rod, Rapinoe and Lindsey are playing. Lori makes good decisions and is stable, while Rapinoe and A-Rod are dangerous with their curled passes into the penalty area.
Well, coming late to the party here, how I saw it: I thought Abby and Amy played quite well; Abby in particular looked as comfortable as she has in a while, and had a little more speed than in the recent past. What she didn't have was the ball-- because the blue shirts had it most fo the time... Morgan was great, Rampone played well except for the one howler she got away with; O'Hara played well. Cheyney had a terrible game and Lloyd was pretty bad; a couple of good moments on the ball do not make up for loafing on the play that put us behind. Otherwise I din't see much to comment on either way. I will mention in regard to people who wanted different starting and subbing patterns that they have to play Brazil tomorrow morning; inevitably some players were going to mostly sit for this game and the division was going to be, to some extent, based on speed. Oh, and that complaining that players who aren't even in Japan didn't start or play is kinda silly...
I couldn't agree more. People talk about Abby just being physical, but she has great vision and is an excellent passer. I still advocate pushing her into the middle to distribute. For example, her pass to Lloyd in the 71st minute was great and should've lead to a goal.
The comments at US soccer from Pia and US players all glossed over the 1st half to talk about how well the US played in the 2nd half. Can someone who watched the game comment on that?
The point that hasn't been made yet is that Wambach is a mis-match with Morgan. There's been a lot of gushing about the "dynamic duo," but I don't think it's right. Notice I said mis-match WITH Morgan. Not the other way around. All the soccer I.Q. in the world doesn't matter if Abby's legs can't get her where she needs to be in an attack that is relying heavily on a direct ball. She can't run with Morgan (hardly anybody can), and Morgan will more often than not find herself 1v2 or 1v3 and nowhere to cross. If Morgan continues to be the lone scoring threat, then the pressure on her will continue to grow. The priority should be to get another set of fast and fresh legs that can also make a slashing run to the box, and give Morgan more than the option of trying to make something out of nothing. I'd like to see 45 minutes of Alex and Syd up front, and see if something sparks. Not saying Syd is the answer. Cheney up front might work too.
I think the issue is whether or not another forward can play with Abby or not and not vice-versa. As far as the U.S is concerned, Abby is the centerpiece that has to remain as the starter under any scenario. The combination of Abby and Morgan works well against teams like Canada and Denmark, but gets exposed against tougher teams like Brazil or Japan. Moving beyond the Olympics, the only way Abby will be able to keep up with the other forward is if Cheney was the other forward. Perhaps a 4-3-3 line-up may work better in this scenario.
food for thought for the "abby is our hope" posters. we won our last major tourney without her---last olympics. doesn't mean she messes up the team just means that if we get off the one sided playing, maybe we can get better results. our player pool is talented, the excuse of a coach we have however, doesn't seem to know how to exploit it. for example, i've been waiting for a leroux/morgan start on one of the friendlies/algarve games against ranked teams. sorta like, let's see how the team performs if say their key players are hurt or under performing. on the flip side, it'll be cool to see how opposing teams react ("aw shoot, all our practice and drills defending against abby and the long ball, the boxx&lloyd combo, etc. just went down the drain"). also the way the girls are playing lately, formations don't get followed and don't seem to matter...the players we put in those formations do.
totally agree with alckz. people forget we won the olympics with out abby and the talent pool is way too deep for anyone to automatically start... which Pia has more or less stated the starters are the starters, even if outplayed in practices. brilliant! regarding the formation...Abby is often drifting back to the very center of the field..it's not a true 4 4 2. and then abby cannot get forward to help with the attack. I'd love to see Sid and Morgan start together - i think people also forget that they won the u20 WC together - starting up front. so for those people stating they can't play well starting together there is strong evidence they play great together. The team has become shockingly lumbering and slow. age has caught up, as it naturally does, with this team. Rampone is a wild wild exception. How many times has she had to cover for bulldozer lately. Boxx and Lloyd leave HUGE gaps in the middle and can not close down a grandmother, abby still looks hurt, Amy L is Amy L...etc.. A recent USSoccer article stated Hao has played in 75 straight matches. I like Hao, but that is completely insane. What if she gets hurt (yes we have good wingers, but everyone needs match practice with teammates.) I really dislike the current line up. I'd go with a 4-1-4-1 next game: Ohara - Engen - Rampone - Kling Becky S Hao - Cheney - Rapinoe - Arod Morgan I think this team would be most dynamic, they are technical and when the younger girls get on the pitch together these is a much more natural flow in the game. they seem to click better. It's also much more athletic team and faster. which against brazil and Germany and France and Japan will be beneficial. Japan really jogged up the midfield the last two games.
There's little doubt you accurately reflect conventional thinking. But a lot of conventional thinking is often short term, narrow thinking, and I think that's what we have here. I completely agree Abby is more effective against the Canadas, Denmarks and Norways. But it is Japan, France, the Germans, and even the Brazilians, if they ever get their act together down there in the old south, that are between us and the WWC and the gold medal. (Important to the team, if not to most of us). Japan for three straight matches has rendered Wambach ineffective. In addition to ball possession, the Japanese are moving heaven and earth to deny us corner and free kicks. Very effective for neutralizing the tall one camped out in the 6 yard box. The rest of the world is taking notes. If Wambach is the centerpiece, then let's make her the centerpiece. Put her up front in the lone striker position, float 5 mid-fielders and restore Morgan to her role as sub. Now, Wambach's the centerpiece. I can't believe anyone would advocate that. If it is a 4-4-2( and heavy reliance on direct attack), I don't care how much wishful thinking is out there, or longing for the good old days, Wambach cannot run with Morgan and cannot complement Morgan. If that is the formation, you complement the rising star, not the slow, immobile veteran. I'm down with the future, not the past.
I like this a lot, in theory - we've never seen anything close to it before, so it's hard to predict if it would work in practice. I'm not a huge fan of one forward, but Cheney and Rapinoe are by nature offensive minded, so it's unlikely Morgan would find herself isolated. I like how most of the "plodders" have been replaced by more sprightly, quick players. One negative is this particular team certainly wouldn't be as dangerous on set pieces; Cheney is the biggest aerial threat, and she normally takes the corners herself! Also, it's a "risky" defensive lineup, with O'Hara, Engen, and Klingenberg combining for 20 caps between them. But it's not as if they're green kids, either...all three have experience with the youth national teams, prestigious college programs, and WPS clubs. Plus, I can't think of a better mentor than Rampone out there to keep them in line. In the Studio 90 videos, a few players (and Pia) implied that two games in three days would necessitate changing things up for Brazil. Let's hope so. Something tells me at least one of Boxx and Lloyd will be on the field, though.
What makes her downhill runs work, is you still have to account for Abby lurking somewhere on the field, if it's 10 yds behind her, flicking a ball forward for her to chase, or flicking a ball horizontal to give her a clean shot on goal which she did against new zealand? sydney and morgan were a great pair for the u20, and giovanni santos was the star for mexico's u17. it's a different story with the seniors. like i said, in major tournaments you have to beat some combo of brasil, japan, france and germany to win the championship now. throwing balls forward all game to a morgan and sydney combo gets smothered by one of those teams between the Qtrs - the Finals. They don't play well with the backs to the goal, don't turn on balls well like a delie and they have no air game unless it's against the dominican republic. that combo is about as 1 dimenional as you can get. yeah, they will beat banana republic teams and canada down the hill every time, but what about the big players? when pia is gone, bring some diversity into the camps! press has some of delie's attributes. hagen is a bit of a abby clone with fresh legs. henderson lost the weight, so she moves better. henderson maybe the best choice post olympics. in my opinion press and hagen need to get themselves together over the next 2 yrs in sweden and germany like hope and krieger did. those three add different dimensions than run forward or run a defender down. Go Rampone, the True Savoir of Team USA.
I bring real news for a change. The match has been moved forward to 3 a.m. EST but will still air at 7 a.m. EST.
What I don't understand is, why is it not being streamed live on ESPN3 at 3 a.m.? Hell, why isn't it being broadcast at 3 a.m.? What is that channel broadcasting instead that they are expecting higher ratings for? Then broadcast it again at 7 a.m. if you want. Oh, U.S. Soccer just tweeted this: Okay, this really bothers me. Why only delayed on ESPN3? Especially when it was originally going to be live on ESPN3 at 7 a.m.
I'd like to see one formation tried like this (4-3-3 that morphs to 4-3-1-2 at times). ? - Sauerbrunn - Rampone - ? (O'Hara one of the fullbacks) HAO - Cheney - ARod / Pinoe Abby Leroux - Morgan
this seems to put the uswnt at quite a disadvantage, with them losing another 3 hours of rest for their legs. unless brazil played a game less than 2 days ago that i don't know of. i expect to see signs of leg weariness from abby, boxxy et al after all the pressing they had to do against japan in the second half.
Thanks for the kind words! Also, when i replied to you initially i think i may have misunderstood a few of your points, so i apologize for that. Like everyone else on this board, i love this game, and am very passionate about both teams(USMNT and USWNT). So although i may have difference of opinion with someone, it certainly doesn't give me the right to get snarky (love that word btw) As far as your principle point... I couldn't agree more and i think i even mentioned in one of my previous posts that it wasn't ideal at all for either Morgan or Wambach. I was just explaining why she did it and why despite it not being the ideal strategy, it had to be done. The blame rests squarely on Pia's shoulders there, because not only is it her job to foresee problems like this, she also has to adjust. The hypothetical scenario was meant as if Syd started in place of Abby, my apologies for not being more clear. Anyways, looking forward to more debates. I wrote a post about a page or so back that touches on some of the issues in your response, but here's a quick notes version of it. When Pia actually puts in the right players in midfield, Abby's lack of speed isn't an issue because shes playing as a target/support/hold up striker. Not as the main striker. Therefore her job is to get the ball, hold it to draw defenders in(so Morgan wont be going 2v1 or 3v1) as Morgan is making those d splitting runs behind, and flick on or play that killer pass through.(im oversimplifying it, but you get my point) So IQ is more necessary than speed in that position. I want to reiterate that this is when Pia actually puts in the right players in the midfield and not the poor line up choices that was for the Japan game. I know i probably sound as if i think Abby is the end all be all to the position, but that's not my intention. It's a team sport so no one person on the team is irreplaceable and if (hypothetically)we're taking Abby out of the picture, than Cheney would do a wonderful job in her place.