WWC - Who has the best team, and who is likely to win?

Discussion in 'Women's World Cup' started by thegamesthatrate, May 5, 2019.

  1. MIFA_World

    MIFA_World New Member

    Arsenal
    Iceland
    May 15, 2019
    She will get plenty of attention when she switches over to MIFA.
    A new world football association for her to be proud of.
     
  2. hotjam2

    hotjam2 Member+

    Nov 23, 2012
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    a quick google shows that MIFA's closest thing to soccer is the Manchester International Football Academy, Perhaps she'll play for either Man U or Man City?

    or does MIFA_World simply signify

    the return of the greatest woso soccer fan the world has ever known!...........in that case, welcome back!

    how will my theory hold out that based on a 3 tourney winning streak, the final winner will come out of the toughest group? in this case, I got to go with group D(England, Japan & the underrated Scots).Unfortunately it's not a 'group of death' thanks due Argentina being so non competitive.

    this time around the US might well be in the easiest, has a team ever won by coming out of the easiest group?
     
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  3. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    What I do know is that, when Japan won in 2011, it was in the same group as England as well. :giggle: And the match vs England at group stage was their only loss.
     
  4. flax

    flax Member

    Feb 8, 2012
    Sweden
  5. hotjam2

    hotjam2 Member+

    Nov 23, 2012
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    that & the following year Olympics were the last time the winners came from arguably, the weakest groups of their respective tournaments. But from then on, every team that won it came from the strongest group(2013 & 2017 Euros, 2015 WC & 2016 Olympics( so will that streak continue?

    another thought; the US crushed New Zealand last, 5-0, But is it good to be in peak performance right before a major tourney?

    (if I recall, the Dutch lost 2 friendlies right before the 2017 Euros, yet ended up cruising through that tourney, becoming stronger & stronger with every game they played)
     
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  6. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Both of these points are relative... Ideally, you want to peak during the KO stage of the tournament, not necessarily during or before the group stage. I wouldn't say the US crushing NZ means they're peaking, though... By most accounts, the US' previous game against RSA was a bit more grind-y.

    Also, the Dutch cruised through to the Euro championship partially b/c they faced almost none of the favorites en route due to a lucky draw. Granted, they certainly were playing some of the best-looking football of the tournament, but you can't ignore the lack of facing multiple grueling matches.
     
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  7. kolabear

    kolabear Member+

    Nov 10, 2006
    los angeles
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    In other words, they wound up not having to play Germany or France, the only teams whose FIFA rating was higher than the Netherlands with the 100-point homefield advantage factored in. Netherlands did have to get by England, the 3rd-highest-rated team in the tournament.
     
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  8. L'orange

    L'orange Member+

    Ajax
    Netherlands
    Jul 20, 2017
    I think that after the U.S. and France, which I rate as the second favorite because of their talent and playing at home, there are six quality teams that are each capable of beating any of the other five on a good day: The Netherlands, England, Germany, Australia, Japan and Canada.
    Hey, England beat France and Denmark beat Germany in Euro17. The Dutch may have got a break with that Denmark win, but they played very well in the tourney, are a good team, and were a deserved winner over England in the semi (though a crucial England giveaway led to the second Dutch goal). The Netherlands are a formidable squad with some excellent attacking players up front. There isn't a center forward in the world that I'd take over Miedema, and I'm not sure there's a front three that I'd take over Martens, Miedema and Van de Sanden. Holland's biggest problem is a lack of quality depth--and their centerbacks are a question mark for me, and that's never a good thing.

    I rate the U.S. as favorites, then France, then any of this group---England, Germany, Australia, Japan, Canada, The Netherlands. All are quality teams that, IMO, can beat any other team in the group on a good day.
     
  9. hotjam2

    hotjam2 Member+

    Nov 23, 2012
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    if I recall, the seperate UEFA ranked England as the #1 team in Europe going into that tournament(they beat the US at SBC earlier that year). Germany was coached by Stefi Jones, that pretty much says it all. I mean, her ridiculius weaves & patterns she forces on her team made her players nearly crashing into each other instead of moving forward. France was the one major disappointment, they were looking so good earlier that year, crushing or cruising to victories in the SBC & friendlies vs the likes of the US & the Dutch with a very offensive minded style that their captain back then Abily, said only knew three words, attack, attack, attack! But at his first tourney, fearing his team might get to exhausted by the pace, the relatively inexperienced coach decided to make a 360 degrees turnaround & play more conservative. Plus loosing Renard, Perriset & Majri to cards & injuries, as well as benching the fatest payer in the world at that time, Thomis, killed him by the time the England quarters came along..

    over all the Euro 2017 was like the world turned upside down, as all the bigwigs failed, while 2nd tier squads like Austria, Denmark & Netherlands did so well. A few other things to take away;

    1) the tourney started up a month later in July, so it did give squads extra time to prepare & obviously the Dutch came up wth a strong game plan that worked brillianly wnet put into motion

    2) the failure of Lyon's players as along with the French players all the internationals that bombed in that tourney; Marozsan, Hegerberg, Seger

    but since then, the raiding of rich clubs over poorer ones have only intensified, as now Barca along with 4-5 English clubs have joined the fray as well, yet these clubs barely have any competition for most of the season until they meet each in the CL. So you got to wonder if it's actually hurting Euro soccer a bit? And of course one major beneficiary is the ousiders like US, Australia , Canada & Japan?(who believe in way more balanced leagues)
     
  10. hotjam2

    hotjam2 Member+

    Nov 23, 2012
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    my friend, I believe you havn't heard before of the immortal words....... Sam Kerr!
     
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  11. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    By the way, @hotjam2, you were quite lazy, lately, in updating Sam Kerr's thread, although there would be stuff worth posting there, wouldn't it? ;)
     
  12. L'orange

    L'orange Member+

    Ajax
    Netherlands
    Jul 20, 2017
    Kerr is great, and plays very differently than Miedema. I think Miedema is more clinical than Kerr--a better finisher. Kerr, on the other hands, creates her own chances in ways that Miedema doesn't; Miedema needs service and gets it from her Dutch NT and Arsenal teammates. They're both damn good in different ways.
     
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  13. hotjam2

    hotjam2 Member+

    Nov 23, 2012
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    what I like about Kerr is no matter who or where she plays, she's going to end up leading scorer of the league. She's done it with a weak team(Sky Blue). & with a playoff bound, Red Stars in the NWSL. She was leading scorer in the W-League for the last couple of seasons & of course as well for the Matildas,

    While still young(22), Miedema's route been a bit tipsy; 2nd leading scorer of the Bundesliga two seasons ago, but then up staged by her own team mates(Martens) at the 2017 Euros. The following year, only managing 5 goals in her first season at Arsenal while taking(an forced?) break from the NT at times.

    But if she can lead the Netherlands to at least the finals of the World Cup, then I'll be eating my words!
     
  14. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Does this imply that Kerr will do? ;)

    Which team will do better at WWC between Australia and Netherlands? I guess they're quite close in power...
     
  15. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Eh, I'd say it's more complicated than that, as "favorites" is a looser term. I do generally trust FIFA rankings, but when it comes down to these KO tournaments, experience also plays a big factor, and IIRC there was more talk about Sweden and Norway that year than there was about the Netherlands - not to mention that I think HFA in the EURO is weaker than it normally is.
     
  16. L'orange

    L'orange Member+

    Ajax
    Netherlands
    Jul 20, 2017
    Well, Australia and The Netherlands will play each other in a friendly on June 1, so that will tell us a little. It's the last tuneup for each squad before the start of the WC. I suspect some of the starters from both sides might get subbed out at the half or soon after.

    I'm worried about the centerback situation for the Dutch--it's an area of vulnerability. Dekker is very experienced but also 32 and not all that fast and the type of defender Kerr, with her pace and her runs, could feast on (just as she feasted on Polkinhorne yesterday--an Aussie NT starter!). Dekker's form lately as been a little shaky. Bloodworth is an excellent athlete--but she only plays centerback for the NT (she played the last half of this season as a midfielder for Arsenal and before that an outside back) and so doesn't have all that much experience at the position. Van de Gragt, who started at centerback for the Dutch in the '17 Euros and plays for Barcelona, was out, hurt, for 12 months and has only been rounding back in shape in the last month. So it will be interesting to see how they fare in the friendly.
     
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  17. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Van de Gragt played about 10 minutes at the end of the Women's Champions' League final vs OL yesterday, and she looked quite ok, but of course she needs much more minutes under her belt to be a factor in a WWC. :coffee:
     
  18. hotjam2

    hotjam2 Member+

    Nov 23, 2012
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    there's a pretty good chance Kerr will be the leading scorer; remember, too many of the world's best goal scorers are missing; Pajor, Harder, Hegerberg, Katoto & the North Korean(forgot her name, lol). but then again her team could go out early on a shock early playoff loss.

    conventional wisdom would say that both teams don't have the depth to go all the way to win the WC but if the Dutch can conjure up that same magic formula like they did 2 years ago, then I would favor them. But remember, they had a whole month more to prepare for the Euros, as it started in July, instead of June like the WC.

    you can't eat or drink by Sam Kerr alone, so Australia will have to get strong performances from others. Without a particularly powerful midfield, they'll need all the offense they can get upfront; Devanna at 34, still has a kick in her speed, but Foord seems a tad slow. Years ago I pegged Amy Harrison as potentially being Australia's newset superstar, but 2 straight ACL's did her in
    Or so it seems; this last game she looked like the fastest player on the pitch in the Spirit/Thorns game, far outshining her more herladed Aussie mates(Foord, Carpenter, Logarzo). Can she turn out to be the next Lieke Martens? stay tuned!
     
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  19. HandofAbel

    HandofAbel Member

    Liverpool FC
    Portugal
    Jun 19, 2017
    eu estou aqui
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
    This is Canada’s year. They’re going to find a way.
     
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  20. hotjam2

    hotjam2 Member+

    Nov 23, 2012
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    they'll certainly taking a different approach than their bigger sisters down south; thanks to their Danish coach who makes them play a more Euro, techno style. Plus going to the pro club format as half their youth NT's grow up through the Vancouver Whitecaps(who got to be the richest soccer club in North America thanks to their record breaking transfer deal from Bayern Munich for Anthony Davies)

    but personnel wise, their just don't look that strong; Beckie & Buchanen had a hard time getting playing time over at their clubs, Man City & Lyon. Prince, Chapman or Agnew don't seem to be regular staters at the Dash. Fleming couldn't bring home the NCAA title(even though UCLA seemed to be season favorites). Depth wise, they brought up five u20 players, but that was from a youth squad who had a disastrous performance al last year's Concacaf.

    they'll be playing Spain today, hopefully there's a link to a stream for the game
     
  21. ceezmad

    ceezmad Member+

    Mar 4, 2010
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  22. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Small trivia for consideration: no national team ever, men or women, has won a World Cup with a foreign coach. So count out Canada this tournament, along with Nigeria, New Zealand, and Norway. :p
     
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  23. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    For some reason I was counting out New Zealand already. But it has to be just me. :giggle:
     
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  24. hotjam2

    hotjam2 Member+

    Nov 23, 2012
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Jill Ellis, born in merry ole Portsmouth,England/ that ain't no Murican she's talkin; definitely speaks with an cockney accent

    but do I agree, after Canada's borefest, 0-0 draw, yeseterday vs the Stepford Wifes(otherwise known as the Spanish National team), don't see them winning either
     
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  25. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Well, anyway Canada keep having the best defense of 2019 among all of the WWC NTs. :coffee: They played 9 different teams since January (although just 2 top-10: Sweden and England) and only had one single goal against (vs. Nigeria: they anyway won the game by 2-1): 5 wins, 4 0-0 draws (one of them, vs Sweden, was in the end won at penalty shootut) and an avarage of 0,11111... goals against per game. Probably not enough to win the World Cup, but an impressive performance nonetheless.
     
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