PRE/PBP/POST US vs Scotland (02/09)

And it's only his first game.
If the defense ever improves, then no one is beating this U.S. team in a major tournament, unless the U.S. beats themselves.

Morgan, Press, Leroux, oh my.

What I predict for Wednesday's lineup:

Harris
Krieger--Rampone--Buehler--O'Hara
Rapinoe--Boxx--Heath--O'Reilly
Press--Wambach

I'm assuming Morgan is not going to play. I'd like to see Engen in there but I just can't see her starting - however, she will hopefully be a sub.

I have a feeling that with Tom, no one's position is guaranteed. Not even Solo's. They are going to have to earn it all over again. And I like it.

For too long the USWNT has been an entitlement for some players.

Best moment from the match is when they said that Alex Morgan's prognosis is that she took a hard knock.

I'm not sure that one performance is enough to sanctify Tom Sermanni; still, I gotta say, I really enjoyed that game. For the main, good one-touch passing and movement. Tobin and KAO worked really well together down the left, lots of smart footwork in the center, and (mostly) assured defending. Broon was definitely at fault for the goal, but otherwise I thought she had a terrific game. Kriegs was a little over, shall we say, enthusiastic at times, but she was also quick to get forward, and linked up well with the others. Press = as good as we hoped and expected her to be. And, hey, Carlos had some nice surging runs. I thought Boxx was just excellent. And, finally, delighted to see Mewis and Johnston get some game time. All in all, a good step forward.

Tom actually put these young kids in an international game TO PLAY.

Not just bring them in a 4-day camp at the HDC and then you would never hear from them again.

I am so happy Pia is gone and we have a coach that seems, at least at first look, that he cares about the future.

I always for some reason felt that Pia had no interest in developing future American talent.

OK...lets see. First I cant believe everyone is busting on Miss Carli. I swear she made more passes in that game than all of last year total. She also cut her fouls down to five and under.

Press seemed to do OK at wing. She seemed to play it a little tighter so it prolly wasnt very different than she played at Goteborg. And now u can see why Pia wouldnt cap her.

Heath seemed to play pretty well tho she did manage to dribble into a crowd a few times. Heath should make a pass like the one to Press once a game, yet she doesnt.

Wambach missed Rapinoe and HAO sending in balls. Then when Morgan went out it finished her chance of getting any service.

Morgan sent about a 20 yard weighted pass that someone couldnt quite run onto. It was the first time I ever remember her trying something like that. Hopefully she's back for Algarve.

Johnston would have gotten more time if the defense hadnt coughed up a hair ball in the second half. First they had their once a game make a short pass to an offensive player. Then they continued to create chance after chance for Scotland. Johnston seemed a little nervous.

I rate Scotland about the same as China. China is six spots higher but the fact that they keep 13 players back on defense skews the ranking. Scotland tries to get forward and score and that costs them games.

So other than Morgan this was a pretty good start.

I like the way Scotland played. They weren't scared of the Americans, played physical and actually tried to score.

I love it when we hire a new coach, because there's always the same fact-free ramblings about how bad the last coach was, how they didn't develop any talent, how certain players had entitlements to be on the squad, and so on. Then when the new coach has one game under his belt, beating Scotland or Lower Antigua or whoever, he's a genius who's brilliant youth movement will finally free us from the crushing burden of never finishing worse than third in any major tournament ever and not looking like Barca Femme.

Pointing out that the rate of change in the squad has been fairly constant over the years, under Dorrance and DiCicco and Sundhage and even the evil Heinrichs, is pointless. The last coach played favorites, ignored U-15 stars, and had a brutal style.

Wait four years, lather, rinse and repeat.

If Morgan cant go he may just play Press at forward.

I'll give her a gold star if she says it in Swedish!

April Henrichs could put a team on the field that could crush Scotland.

Get a grip.

So what. This is an opinion board. Fact-Free ramblings? Yeah well, I have followed this team religiously for over 15 years and these are MY facts and ramblings as I have seen them over 15 years much of it live all over the country. And FYI, I rarely criticized Heinrichs or Ryan. That's right, Ryan.
I never got on the hate Ryan bandwagon. Pia, as a coach I didn't care for. Just my personal opinion.

I would guess
Solo
Mitts-Rampone-Buehler-O'Hara
Boxx
Rapinoe-Cheney-HAO
Press-Wambach

Overall thoughts on the match:

-Press definitely POTM. What a way to make a statement in her first game. Two quality goals, and very unlucky not to get a third. Our attack was strong before, now it's going to be even more lethal if Sermanni keeps her in the lineup. I'm still wondering what Pia was thinking going with Rodriguez over her.

-Great to see Krieger back on the field for the US. Solid game, albeit with a few times where she got caught upfield. I expect to see her back to the form from the WC after a few games.

-Quiet outing from both Morgan and Wambach. I hope the knock Morgan took isn't serious, but she should not play the next game just as a precaution, and I'll just chalk this one up as a bad game. Wambach I'm not writing off yet, but a few more like this, and it could be bench time for her.

-The Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde award goes to Lloyd. She had an awful first 20 minutes, but she seemed to play better towards the end of the first half, and had some really good attacking runs.

-Sauerbrunn started off well, keeping possession nicely, but she came a bit unglued in the second half. Not only did she have the turnover that led to the Little goal, but there were some other giveaways that could have been bad news.

-Great to see the rookies getting time on the field. It's long overdue, and while Johnston wasn't in long enough to really show her stuff, Mewis had a decent outing. Hopefully we'll get to see some of the other rookies on the roster for the next game.

-While Boxx had a great outing and a lovely goal, it's time to start phasing her and Rampone out. I hate to harp on age, young or old, but I have to wonder at what point is the performance going to fall off, and how much do those two have left in the tank. I don't want that point to be right before the WC with inexperienced players to have to pick up the slack.

-I know it's only one game, but there are definitely some players who have got to be just a little nervous about their spots on the team. Nothing's guaranteed anymore, and that's the way it should be.

-Not much to say on the keepers. Loyden had an uneventful half, and had no problems the few times she touched the ball. Barnhart can't really be blamed for the goal, and did make a couple good saves.

-Heath and O'Hara worked really well together. While O'Hara is still a little slow to get crosses off, she's improving her defense with each game. Heath did have some moments where she tried to get fancy and lost the ball, but those were few and far between.

I can. Those first 20 minutes were hard to watch. After that, she was better.

I've been a fan of Lloyd since I saw her come off the bench to score 2 goals back in 2007, but that doesn't stop me from seeing when she isn't playing well.

Is it time to ditch Lloyd, and bring in Loyd ???

I don't know where Press was in the past, but boy howdy, she looks like she can really play. She's tough to move off the ball and she really knows how to turn and shoot. Looks like a great addition to the team.

I'm not quite ready to send Abby to the bench quite yet. But if that has to happen, this is one team that is positioned to fit people into her spot and not miss a beat. I mean, Sid Leroux is going to earn a spot full time at some point, she's just too darn good to keep at a super sub spot.

Anyway you look at it, this team has a TON of attacking options.

Waiting for a chance to do that.

What made that crazy was that it was the "official" word on her status.

OK, you are not impressed. So why don't we put it this way:
"As a fan of USWNT, after watching first match under T. Sermanni, what are your worries/concerns/fears?" Huh? I'm so interested!

But thats just it...out of the 90 she 50-60 minutes of solid play. She didnt just put her head down and go toward the goal whenever she got the ball. She didnt persistently foul people...(I had this dream about Carli lloyd and Melissa Tancredi going china shopping...well u get the picture.) She seems to be in great shape. I pick on her a lot and I have to say I thought she played well.

That's all u get from a Florida doctor...hard knock, broken hip and tee times.

I have a feeling that she has a bruise on her lower ankle/foot right now.

It's just too early to gush uncontrollably and award ourselves the World Cup. Let's see what decisions he makes when he has to select a team for a major competition and how he puts a team together against the top teams in the World.

The reference to April was that she beat Scotland in September of 2002 by a score of. 8-2 and By the next Summer blew a World Cup cycle on USA soil losing to Germany 0-3 in the semis with a team that had several players now in the hall or soon to get there.

She misused great forwards and put together an offence so predictable several of Germany's players commented on it. They shut out a team with Hamm, Parlow, Abby, Milbrett, Foudy, Macmillan, Lilly, Chastain, and several more. (Boxx, Rampone, and Wambach are still on the team)

Scotland is not the test and Sermani still hasn't solved any defensive issues. Save the gushing for when top ten teams go at it in something other than a friendly and we beat them 4-1