SheBelieves Cup 2017

Henry never went back to France after the Shiba Cup. Portland recalled her "early".

 

Apparently, she is going back NOW.

 

...yet, apart from leaving the injured at home, they seem to be bringing their best teams to these games.

so there's likely some combination of money and competition that is motivating them.

they're certainly not doing it out of the kindness of their hearts.

indeed. not solely.

in no particular order...

1. $$
2. top competition in all 3 games
3. not having to travel to get 1 & 2

 

But will Wolfsburg have the courage to attack OL and consequently to open space to the likes of Thomis, Bremer or even Morgan....that's the question...The Germans have clearly what it takes to beat Lyon but everytime they faced Abily and co. they simply sh** on themselves with a pathetic ultra defensive approach....everytime...

 

as much as it's despised, PARK-THE-BUS has become a popular & effective option for coaches. It's a bit different now with a 2 game series and the first home game being in Wolfsburg, who knows if Lyon will do some bus parking themselves(and use all those speedy players to counter attack)?

Should be a great series though, with both teams boasting at least on paper, stronger lineups than any NT in the world, and of course a club team as well has the more practice & play time together than most NT's

 

here's highlights of the France vs USA game, and added bonus, Le Sommer's great individual effort. Well as Camille Abily said "Echouafni's plan is to ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK". You'll see just how swift that is in the Le Sommer's video as the USA defense looks absolutely shell shocked on just how SWIFT those attacks came about. But whats not showing(in the videos) is Echouafni's genius in getting his team successful transition back on defense when dispossessed of the ball




in winning the World Cup, I'm afraid the US created a monster in Ellis. She won the WC with an team originally picked by previous coaches. But now with all the retirements, her own picks have been all wrong, and it's seems like it's only going to get worse!

 

I wouldn't say her player picks have been incredibly wrong... but her tactics are horrendous!

 

I've been openly critical of Wolfsburg's style of play over the past two seasons, and looking at them now, I still don't believe we'll be witnessing anything more positive during their coming two matches vs perennial rivals Lyon in the UCL either.

However, it needs to be said using a 3-4-3 in their recent league matches they've been offensively more impressive than usual, meaning the swift counter attacking threat of Hansen - Harder - Wulleart - Popp all starting in the same team, leaves me presuming Wolfsburg might actually have a plan of maybe facing Lyon head to head this time around...?

 

Sorry, my point was meant to question the motives behind the three Euro sides bringing their strongest possible squads for one match vs the US, and two vs UEFA based rivals they see up close all the time.

France - England - Germany could easily organize high profile financially positive friendlies against each other, all in front of packed stadiums without adding the extra stress/strain of long distance travel and time zone change on their players too; but here they are in a Euro's year traveling to the US again, for... reasons..?

I didn't always believe in the supposed serious nature of the long established Algarve Cup, but the idea this new 4 team tournament is competitively beneficial for all involved is even more bogus to me, reeking of the short term scope and annoyingly false sense of superiority that can only come with the often negative connotations associated to national teams accepting behind the scenes financially incentivized participation.

From a US standpoint, the idea USA would benefit more from playing more open/expansive German - French teams reeks of a bad superiority complex, as we've all seen the trends of the wider women's game showcase the more important struggles top teams face vs lower ranked nations now, utilizing the increasingly effective bunker and counter routine.

Breaking down resolute defensive teams with effective counter attacking capabilities will define who progress deepest into tournaments from now on, and yet we're supposed to believe France - USA - Germany facing each other reflects the highest level and best competition of the women's game... I'm not buying it.

 

Have you every considered that maybe they're playing these games for the entertainment value.
A wide open match is much more enjoyable to watch than a team parking the bus.
Although, this year it wasn't nice to watch from a U.S. perspective because of Jill's tactical fiasco.

 

but Ellis kinda used the same formation at the Olympics as she did at the WC, and it didn't work either; loosing to Sweden, tying Colombia & winning vs France while getting out played by them. At some point we got to say maybe it's her selections that might be at fault > at first glance, some of her picks, Horan, Pugh, Long, Lavelle, Short, Mewis, Williams, all looked mighty fast, but they also came across as very one dimensional. Obviously Ellis forgot to bring along a play maker. or at least someone who could connect the dots. It also didn't helped the other three teams that the players were so familiar with other; GE on average started 5 Wolfsburg players. EN started 6 Man U, obviously Lyon dominated the FR lineup. Ellis team lloked more like her own version of an all-star team.

here is the full game, courtesy our own WWC movement(WWC, with all the youtube money your making, hopefully you still remember the little guy!)

 

Lavelle not a playmaker ? really

 

But what did she actually do in there to help her team win? She didn't play in the GE victory but started in the two games the US lost. She played at the far mid in both games. She was suppose to help out the 3 back defense, but obviously couldn't as France quickly to long ball it. While you got plenty of people complaining about the defense, our offense sucked as well. To be sure, she was fast on the dribble, but her final touch let her down; couldn't aim the ball well, either at goal, or to a team mate

 

Ohai is actually more ideal on this team as an outside mid than Lavelle.
Ohai is faster, better as a playmaker (can create more goals), better at sending crosses, winning corners, etc.
Oh, and Ohai is a much better goal scorer, and certainly a much better defender at getting back and hounding.
She has a lot of Crystal Dunn in her at getting back on defense and picking the pocket of the opposing player.
Ohai is also a little more physical than Lavelle, but both are quite physical - pound for pound.

Lavelle is better at dribbling, and better at nutmegging. That's about it.
And Jill figures, "Well, we've got to get more technical, so by default... Lavelle is the more technical player"

Ohai couldn't have picked a worse coach for her odds.
If this were Steve Swanson, she'd be on the roster.
If this were Vlatko, she'd be on the roster.
If this were Tony DiCicco, she'd certainly be on the roster (he loves flank play, and speed out there)
If this were Randy Waldrum, she'd be on the roster.
If this were Amanda Cromwell, she'd be on the roster.
If this were still Tom Sermanni, she'd be on the roster.

With Jill, she doesn't like strikers / outside mids from UNC (O'Reilly, Ohai, etc.)
Those types of players used to BURN her UCLA teams.
Remember, she cut Dunn (and then heard the murmurs about how the team was too white going into the WWC).

Jill isn't a racist, she just discriminates against UNC attacking players for some reason.

 

If she is played out of position, it does not mean she is not a playmaker...

 

Exactly, Lavelle clearly has high technical abilities but her football IQ is quite average at the moment for a playmaker, specially for a number 10. She can dribble, do tricks but doesn't know how to dictate the tempo...at this level...doesn't read the game well, doesn't have a trained knowledge of what to do on different game situation.
Rose has clearly a bright future ahead, don't get me wrong, her left foot can do magic is easy to see but she has a long way to go to reach the football brain of the various Sawa, Miyama, Kessler, Marozsan, Abily, Necib etc...the best N10 women football has produced in the last 10 years, she is only 21 years old so time is definitely on her side.
I just hope USA is not planning to make her the new Heath....both very creative players but quite different.

ps: Actually USA as a talented deep-lying playmaker who could certainly do a job in organizing plays..... her name is Allie Long, absolutely magnifique when playing CM with PSG five years ago, indeed her being called with the NT so late and not used in her best role is quite weird from a French point of view.

So one thing we both agree it's all depend on Kellermann....if Wolfsburg decides to attack we could witness one of the greatest game ever in WCL, due to the talent of the players involve...if they don't well it will be a shame just like the final last summer....Lyon will try to dominate the game, imposing the tempo, like they always do against any team so everything is on Wolfsburg\Kellermann 's hands....

 

To be honest, outside the slight possibility of seeing Popp - Harder - Wullaert - Hansen all starting, I'm thinking everybody else watching would have witnessed a far better contest between Lyon vs Turbine Potsdam (Germany's best team right now), not Wolfsburg.

Wolfsburg's offensive potential has a higher star factor than Potsdam on paper, but seeing how poorly Wolfsburg's utilized their various talents, and how lazy they've been in aggressively recruiting elite defensive talent from outside the club, I still can't see them being as positive as they could/should be vs Lyon over two matches; this view coming from somebody who's regularly seen Wolfsburg comfortably beaten by a more offensively dynamic Potsdam side.

Of course to obtain a better opinion I'd also tell people to watch the Bayern vs Wolfsburg league match taking place this Sunday to see what Wolfsburg's new 3-4-3 looks like in action, but in the end I still see this coming UCL contest between Lyon and Wolfsburg ending up being about if a certain Caroline Hansen starts for Wolfsburg this time around.

Yes, the opinion Bundesliga's best option to go head to head with Lyon aren't actually in the 2016/17 UCL competition could be divisive for some, but with this non UCL participating team also possessing 4-5 of the leagues best players (Huth - Kemme - Wälti - Wesely - Elsig) in key positions Wolfsburg's constantly lacked confidence or resources to match Lyon as equals, I still remain skeptical about Kellerman's ability to construct what I see Postdam capable of doing on a regular basis.

 

just a question but is is gonna be a shebelieves cup in 2018 too

 

Yes. It will take place in March 2018.

 

and it will be France Germany England USA or

 

Same four teams. It's a multi-year agreement.

 

I believe it was a 3 years agreement, so that's the last one with those four teams, the USA could invite other teams next season.