The U.S. will be OK--good--but the French are a team that showed today they are capable of beating us. They are athletic, technical, very dangerous on the counter. Playing Ertz and maybe Lavelle will help if these two teams meet again, but I'm not sure if Rapinoe and Heath would make all that much difference against the French. Maybe. We should all hope to see a repeat of this matchup in a WC knockout match! It's a rivalry now....
Thanks for the compliment but we all know that this French team can look like World beaters* at times and then totally crap the bed when it counts. I'll wait & see what my team can do this summer before judging... It's still a great result for us to beat the best team in the World, even if it was just a friendly. Much respect for the USWNT. *we do have some very good technical players.
A strange lineup -- and a not unexpected result as a consequence. I think of France as the best first half team in the world -- and predictably folding in the second half. But they didn't fold today. Davidson showed she could play good defense as a sub at fullback -- but I didn't see any offense out of her. Why isn't Samatha Mewis getting more playing time? She is far better than Brian. As is Lavelle. And maybe Zerboni. I've said it before. Without both Morgan and Rapinoe on the field, the U.S. offense is suspect. Maybe you need Morgan, Rapinoe, and Heath on the field to win the World Cup. Hopefully they still have some mileage left on them this year. .
If this dampers some of the talk about the US being favorites this summer, as cup holders, that’s not a bad thing. Changes the narrative a bit. I’m cool with that.
This won't change anything. The only other team that really is a favorite is the one that you lost to today, and they had all of the advantages (home crowd, players in season, full strength, etcetera). Now if you lose to Spain, then the narrative might change slightly.
Actually, we did. This is the second time in a row after Brasil 2 months ago (3-1) that we suffer a goal in stoppage time. I don't like this and don't want it to become a trend. The coach is aware of it so I'm confident they'll be working on it. I think we need maybe 10-15 more minutes of cardio to wrap the games.
I've often posted that France is the best 'friendlies' team in the world, do to the build in chemistry of 6-8 starters from Lyon. But this time they only had 5 & it was the 2 PSG players that did all the scoring. Diani was a surprise/Katato was their secret weapon that they finally unleashed on to the world. Cascarino is one of the best u20 players I've ever seen(from 2016) but been marred with injuries & now finally coming back into form
Im beginning to wonder if Jane Campbell has slipped ahead of Short on Ellis' outside back depth chart.
Wow! I have to say I didn't expect a US win even before I saw the lineup. I thought maybe the usual starters could have gotten a draw at best but after watching this Im not so sure. 1. I guess Naeher gets the Budweiser award for preventing a laugher but there were no good US players today 2. As Kling pointed out the depth on this team is an illusion or at least is so badly misused that it might as well be one. 3. Morgan accept for a couple nice passes at the end had serious club foot. Pugh was awful despite the late goal. Press despite her usual slick bag of tricks still would still rather bob and weave her way to a forced shot then combining with another player not named Heath. 4. Speaking of Press, where was she while Fox was getting toasted time and again on the flank? It wasn't that she was getting caught forward because the US attack rarely got forward in the first half. Regardless of Fox getting schooled by professional players I was amazed at how rarely Press appeared in the frame during the roastings. 5. I doubt Brian's stock went up much unless making it thru the match without an injury counts. Nice to Mewis dusted off long after it was over. There must be a story there. 6. Ellis continues to remind everyone how bad a coach she is. Cant blame her that no one played well or that she had a bunch of starters get sick but can u be any more inept at building a roster than Ellis? U can justify giving Fox a look against Scotland or Portugal. U simply can't explain why Ellis believed she was ready to play against an in form French team.For the argument that Ellis was unlucky that illness forced her hand on Fox, I say u make ur own luck. a) Why not start Dunn at left back to help her get ready to play left back in WC? Why not start Mewis at right mid and leave Dunn alone? That way ud learn about both Mewis and Dunn who will be at WC instead of learning why Fox isn't ready. b) If ur notion is that none of their reserve mids can play AM in this system then hey Ive been complaining about this forever. U cant build a roster where ur cover players r starters at other position. c). And for the ungteenth time, why doesn't Huerta get a shot at making this team in an offensive position? Tell me why Fox at left back and Dunn at right mid is better than Dunn at left back and Huerta at right mid? d) And if Ellis really believes Fox is a better option than Short I have to wonder why she keeps calling Short in.
I think Ellis used this game to test a few players, as most of the talent did not even dress. We are kidding ourselves if we think she played the best 11 today. The only players who started today that I think start in June were Morgan and Dunn. Brian continues to be one of the more over-hyped players of her generation.
Not sure what's Cascarino exact mix, but I can tell you that Cascarino is an Italian faimily name (as seen with former Irish player Tony Cascarino, who was of Italian descent).
Press was the best player by a mile. What I wouldn’t give to see a front line of Pinoe - Press - Heath. Alex Morgan is a player of a bygone era imo. Completely incapable of creating her own chances if the players around her aren’t able to serve her balls into the 6.
The rest of the world has caught up. Simple as that. Our best players are mostly past their primes. No goalkeeper on this roster is as good as Hope Solo was so we're definitely not getting bailed out in games on that front. Other teams are getting better young talent and learning to develop their players and integrating them into their national teams, something we're failing at the youth levels. We aren't winning anything based on talent alone. This is where coaching and tactics come in, something Ellis is clueless about. Pugh is young and not ready for the spotlight. She's fast but can't string combos. i don't know why Brian is still starting over Mewis, who bossed the midfield of a world class courage team. Heath is good but her sexy dribbling isn't gonna score goals. Press is inconsistent. Morgan can still get it done but she's lost a step. Rapinoe is on her last legs. Time to lower your expectations. Our best players are getting old, and their replacements just aren't talented enough to fill the gap. Couple that with poor coaching and this is what happens.
3 reactions: Fox is obviously not ready for this kind of thing-- looked very much like someone used to being the fastest player on the field and perplexed when her top gear wasn't enough to catch up and cut off trouble in this context. I don't know if it really was injuries or Da Gama's revenge or if Ellis was just sandbagging-- but this really wasn't a lot of starters (even though it was more than two.) So the effect was, we might as well have been sandbagging. The team that plays them at the WC won't look much like that. The French mid field has really gone to school on integrating their defending with that of their back line-- that aspect of their game was hugely improved... Actually another thing-- Diani is well on her way to being the player I thought she might become the first time I saw her-- not quite Marta or Prinz, but at least a while on the short list for best in the world.
This is a bit off. Sauerbruun doesn't start? Dahlkemper doesn't start? Horan doesn't start? Naeher doesn't start (I hope she doesn't)?
It's not all bad; we could fire Ellis. Hire Riley & integrate most of his Courage team unto the starting lineup!
A bit off for you, I suppose I am in the minority. My back line would be OHara, Davidson, ??, Dunn. As for Horan, she has size, but her technical skill is lacking.
Not so much the team itself as its output. After the third goal I literally did start shouting crap just like Colin Mochrie's Hollywood Director on Whose Line Is It Anyway. If the team plays in June like they did today, they would need a lot of luck escape the group stage to say the least. But the team has shown the ability in the past to turn things around on a fairly short timetable [like the months leading up to a World Cup]. France always seems to be the team that's more than willing to supply the U.S. with a well-needed wake-up call. Still a pretty rotten way to start the year. At least we weren't shut out 3-0 in 2017 SBC style [barely]. June 11 - July 7, NO EXCUSES: Not a short-staffed team, Not an experimental lineup, Nothing.
Would you rather have Greg Ryan’s Coronation Tour....or the hand wringing neurotic gauntlets of 2011 & 2015? If that sounds like hindsight rationalization I assure you it’s not. Whatever about lineups it’s also very much about fitness. I’ve mentioned this before. It’s not necessarily just endurance but drive and power. This team has a training taper. They will never be close to peak in January as long as Dawn Scott is prepping this team.
As much as I would have rather had the team play well than not, I'd also much rather lose now than in June. Its better to learn what doesn't work now than midway through the WWC (although learning halfway through seemed to work well for us in 2015...). Also its better to have a loss with a potential knockout round opponent that'll leave a bad taste in the team's mouth and provide motivation than to go in overconfident. All said, I'm not going to be wringing my hands...unless we continue to play poorly through the SheBelieves Cup. I'll also say that I'm glad Ellis either chose to start some of the "B-team" players or was forced into it...better to keep some cards close to the chest now that we're only a few months out.