US v. China, April 6, 2014 in Colorado: Pre-, during, and post-game discussion

Final

2-0

Scoring is overrated.

 

90+2' (of +2') 2-0 USA fk at 5m just outside box left. Rapinoe rolls it back to Klingenberg flat-footed at 19m box top mid-left -- she is startled. Tries to curl far post, gets no curl at all, China heads clear.

FT 2-0. I can't tell how much of USA's smooth backline ping was because we're good at it, and how much was because China was just so bad / slow / uninterested in applying any pressure. If we do it against France twice, then I'll believe it.

 

Just be glad we didn't face Denmark.
If so.

Denmark - 5
USA - 2

 

The finishing has much to be desired - by virtually every attacking player. I think it'd be unfair to criticize one more than the any others since they all seemed to get tunnel vision whenever they have a half chance or they simply have difficulty finishing easy opportunities.

I've said it a few times but what I liked most about this game was the spacing between the CM's and the backline and their crisp, quick passing amongst each other. That is a very big improvement to me and it's nice to see Sauerbrunn and Engen passing the ball fluidly out of the back to not just the midfielders, but the forwards as well. I don't have any doubts right now that they start together in 2015.

 

O'Reilly POTM? Really? I would have given it to someone that wasn't mostly invisible out there.

 

our forwards are lacking chemistry.... They aren't finishing chances at all.

 

1st Half. Lloyd, Holiday, & Brian brilliant. Press nervy, Leroux looked lost, HAO stranded.

Getting a little anxious about or striker situation. How many games in a row do the same combinations have to fail before you try new ones?

Press & Leroux? Doesn't work.
Wambach & ARod? Doesn't work.

 

The polos still look pretty goofy, but I think they're growing on me. Very...very....slowly. They're gonna take some getting used to.

I would've liked to have seen Heath to get a few more minutes. She brought a little more energy and coordination to the midfield toward the end, but didn't seem to have time to settle in...

 

The new uniforms look like cricket uniforms but with bermuda shorts.

 

But it is another victory.
We now have a winning streak again.

 

I felt like the midfield was great the entire game, Heath & Rapinoe provided a little something different in the second and it was good, but it wasn't better. The midfield was superb in the first.

HAO just looked a little out of place on the front line which is surprising to me. We all expected her to be hard driving and find that edge, but she rarely did it when she had the chace.

 

Well, once again, the forwards -- all of them -- ineffective.

I don't like the 4-3-3 formation as played in this game. Too much jam up in the middle. Same as the last time the US tried it against I can't remember who. I thought Krieger and Klingenberg did ok on the flanks going forward, but I'd rather have Rapinoe and O'Reilly as your go-to people on the flank. Cox, I think, would be better than Klingenberg as a defender going forward.

POTM? Well, Holiday got one goal and almost got another -- but I didn't see her do too much else. Rapinoe definitely changed the character of the game when she came in playing what looked to me like attacking center midfielder. That's new for her, I think. Brian did ok, but nothing special. Lloyd, as always, a threat.

 

Can't say enough good things about Morgan Brian. Improves every game. Just excellent.

 

China brought up a few graduates from their 2012 WWC-20 team. Here's their lineup from our Group D matchday 2 on 2012/08/23, ending 1-1:

8 Zhang Jieli
7 Zhang Xin, 5 Liu Shanshan, 20 Shen Lili, 10(c) Song Sicheng, 13 Han Jiayuan
4 Luo Guiping, 6 Huang Yini, 17 Lin Yuping, 2 Wu Haiyan
1 Shen Li

55' 1-1 China subs in (1 of 3) #16 Zhao Xindi for #7 Zhang Xin (LM).
82' 1-1 China subs in (2 of 3) #9 Li Ying for #13 Han Jiayuan (RM).

We had Morgan Brian.

 

Lloyd looked like a reincarnation of Elvis with her collar turned up. I don't like the new uniforms.

 

The shorts were a little longer too, so they made Heather O'Reilly look like Mommy-Short-Legs.
She's certainly no Daddy-Long-Legs. That would be Becky Sauerbrunn.

 

That's true. I wasn't saying that the midfield needed her; they performed quite nicely overall. I didn't see much of the first half, but even in the second half the midfield seemed a lot more cohesive and productive than they were in Algarve. It's just that Heath usually makes things just a little bit more interesting...

 

New Zealand, who we drew 1-1 using the 433. Your right I don't like the 433 at all. It's fragile and has a tendency to leave wingers stranded. I think we saw that with HAO today, some of that on her, some of that on the formation.

I thought it would have been a great formation against China, but the US failed to capitalize on the extreme width of the Chinese defense. There was a lot of space in between the Chinese back line and their CM's.

It didn't help that Press & Leroux switched places 3 times in the first half. It's one thing to make an adjustment like that, and okay maybe even to say "no I don't like that I'm going to go back to what I had before" . . . . but then to do it a 3rd time in the same half? That was odd.

 

I thought Sauerbrunn...

 

Interesting? Like how? Rapinoe Interesting? You never know whats going to happen and she might give the ball away at any moment? Agreed. Heath didn't play long enough to pass judgement, but she didn't do anything that stood out to me.

 

I thought Krieger

 

The problem with Press's style of play is that she always has her head down when in possession of the ball. She does well maneuvering around the defense but Im not sure how she can see another open US forward 2 ft away from her.

 

It is kind of why she needs to be front and center, not on the wing. She had open chances but she was very nervous and distracted today.

You have to wonder if the situation with Tyreso is bothering her.

 

I thought it was a good performance., and some of you guys may be tad bit harsh. China could not get out of their half in the first half. We also scored two and had two cleared off the line. On another day....

 

Overall it was a great performance. When it comes to bags of apples you can get a super market I'd say it was a good batch. We still have to complain about the 1 or 2 bad apples, but we enjoyed the rest.