Yes new players have come in since 07, but I'm thinking more 08 onwards. However the main reasons for 07-08 changes taking place was from senior players stepping down, or unfortunate medically enforced injury list status. I don't think the very similar to now 08 side was much better than 07 either. Radical change was the message passed down from the USSF, and why Ryan lost his job after playing percentage football, losing only one game in the process. Over reaction? maybe. Sundhage came in promising a new out look, but had to get wins instantly. While not a progressive coach, I'm still sure Ryan could have won the Olympics given a second chance. Sundhage sounds like a very astute coach. Is she really as tactically sound as she make out though? I recognise she's handicapped by having to win in every situation she enters, like the Algarve Cup. But when taken seriously and teams set up well vs USA they panic, showing very little sign of a plan B. I mean what if Sundhage's favourite player (Llyod) gets hurt, how can the team ever hope to operate if that happen's. Looking at what Morace has done within the U.S. region with a very ordinary Canada team, only makes you wonder what a unrestrained coach could do with a far better U.S. player pool. I reckon the games after the Algarve will be far more interesting player wise. So far it's only the lack of Wambach time that could catch attention . It's a major nod to way Sundhage is thinking of directing play towards quick counter running football. A much more suited style for A-Rod, Llyod, O'Reilly, and Rapinoe to play. Especially due to sporadic levels of creative mid/wing play produced so far.
Who's talking about Mexico? USA got caught out tactically on a one off occasion by Mexico, tactically. In every game after that defeat though I would imagine USA on home soil smoking Mexico every single time. I was simply saying to suggest the make up of this current team is based solely on Sundhage's astute manegement is neive. I never shifted gears or target by bringing up Ryan's team of 07, even though Sundhage won the (lucky) Olympics in 08. The quick turn around between the 07-08 tournaments meant I had to mention Sundhage worked with what Ryan had built in attaining her initial success. Ideas of improved performance based on Algarve results still sounds a bit desperate right now, but I guess fans can only judge on what they see. Using Germany or Brazil as any base for U.S. comparison has got to be looking for future feelings of frustration though. Both of those teams can play a brand of football USA have been no where near for years, and when USA do play these sides they won't win by out footballing them, matching them on style points. No your right, Canada have done squat as a top ten team. If your only measure of success is winning in a poor concacaf region, or beating the only decent teams in women's football Brazil or Germany, then Canada are definitely a phantom argument. Canada is no threat to USA wanting to remain a world or regional elite, with Canada having no chance of replacing USA as a WC favourite any time soon. It's just as coaches go, in a short space of time Morace has a very ordinary team able to compete tactically in ways the U.S. is still coming to terms with. Tactically smart decisions will be the difference between U.S. success or failure. USA have the athletes, not so sure about the football. The WC opener vs KDPR will tell all. KDPR is as tactically stubborn and rigid as it gets in the women's game. Sundhage will really have to show how this team is really her team, and how much tactically better this side is than 4 or 3 years ago.
USA Algarve games played and minutes: Barnhart 4 games 360 minutes Harris 0 games 0 minutes Buehler 4 games 360 minutes Rampone 4 games 315 minutes Krieger 4 games 291 minutes Cox 4 games 249 minutes Sauerbrunn 3 games 180 minutes Engen 2 games 45 minutes Lloyd 4 games 340 minutes Boxx 4 games 295 minutes O'Reilly 4 games 270 minutes Rapinoe 3 games 199 minutes Heath 3 games 155 minutes Tarpley 3 games 117 minutes Lindsey 3 games 85 minutes O'Hara 1 game 45 minutes Wambach 4 games 180 minutes Rodriguez 3 games 180 minutes Morgan 4 games 159 minutes Cheney 3 games 135 minutes Barnhart, Buehler, Rampone, Lloyd and Boxx played too many minutes. Harris, Engen and O'Hara should have played more.
For the upcoming England friendly, I hope Hope gets at least a half. If she's not ready to play, I begin to worry a bit about her availability/sharpness for the WC. I'd then split playing time between Nicole and Ash, or let Ash play the whole match.
Personally, I hope that Hope will be held out of gameplay until she is 100% ready to rock and roll and take names. If she is healthy, she is driven enough to make sure she is ready. I agree with some of the others, Barnie is a great backup, but has breakdowns, as in the first half today. I would love to see Pia play Harris for the full 90 vs England and get a cap and a full 90 minutes, not the second half dregs. Harris needs time between the pipes for the WNT in international play, period. Let's hope Pia gives her a couple of shots before the WWC comes around.
You are close enough to be righteously sure that O'Hara's injury was not an issue? Me, I see 16 players with over a hundred minutes. To my eyes, that is spreading it around quite a bit. Boxx averaged just over 70-- that doesn't seem like an awful load at all. I'm pretty much thrilled that Cox got a ton of time. I think its in the eye of the beholder's preconceptions...
O'Hara's injury certainly could be behind her lack of minutes. The Finland game was the one that concerned me. There was no reason for the players I mentioned to play substantial minutes in that game when players like Engen, Harris, and even Lindsey & Tarpley, were available.
Glad to know you know there was "no reason." I understand why you would respect your opinion above that of those whose job it is. But I do not see any reason why I should. 16 players played over a hundred minutes. I can imagine reasons for Rampone, Barnhart and Buehler to play as much as they did without straining my brain at all. Boxx didn't really play all that many minutes, and Pia and Lloyd clearly both believe that Lloyd's assignments have recently changed-- which would suggest that there IS some reason for both Boxx and Lloyd to get so much work. In addition there is no obvious need for Lindsey, Tarpley, or Engen to play all that much-- the first two are veteran, known quantities and Engen is unlikely to play much in the WC. What need there is for Harris to play seems pretty limited. There's not more than a 10% chance that she will be needed at all at the World Cup-- and if she will, it will almost surely be obvious by the England game. And there's no real reason to think that an extra 90 minutes will magically transform her from confused rookie to veteran presence. Coaches have to make choices about where to invest minutes, and its hardly sensible to criticize those choices as though all players and all situations are the same and one knows what same they are. To sit at a distance and state that the choices Pia made were all wrong on the basis of what you think might happen later and what you like to think you would do instead is really pretty much politics not analysis. Or at least the ugliest aspect of fandom, not analysis. Sorry if this seems snippy, but we just saw a tremendous distribution of minutes all around a roster, with pretty much complete success; and to see it criticized on the basis of "she plays favorites" is annoying. It seems that the only thing she could do that would satisfy the bbq set is bench her leading scorer and bench one of the best players in USWNT history and hold open tryouts for their jobs...
IMO - If those subs are going to the WC why should they not get playing time/starts leading up to the WC? The bench players, with the exception of Harris and Engen, are as good as the starters, different maybe, but as good. You want to wait to give them needed starts until the WC? No, you get them in the action now JIC. What if some of those constant starters goes down with an injury during WPS?
16 players got over a hundred minutes... including Tarpley. Of the healthy, only one defender and one mid did not get at least a full game's worth of action, and the mid was only short by five minutes. You are pretending that what actually happened did not when you make this complaint.
Because, IMO, the need a game to get in the rhythm. When you get 20 mins here or 20 mins there it is hard to keep the flow going.
How our "Underachievers" faired during the tournament: Lloyd - 3 goals, 1 assist ARod - 1 goal, 2 assists Rapinoe - 1 goal, 2 assists Not too bad for the three players I think we all harp on most. Also, Rodriquez and Rapinoe got on the scoreboard each game they played (3) which is pretty good in my opinion.
I also noticed, looking at the replays, that Rapinoe's assist in the Iceland game came on a cross from the right and that she also, in that game, crossed from the left leading to a goal. Of course, those must have been flukes since the US women can't cross the ball. Nevertheless, it is true that "You ain't done nothin' yet!" The end product is yet to be seen. I'll also say that I thought Morgan's goal in the Iceland game was the best of the four US goals. But of course, she really shouldn't be on the team because other college players had better stats.
After Algarve, I'm really optimistic about our WWC chances. We beat the #4 and #5 teams in the world and even dominated Sweden. Amy and Alex showed that we are in pretty good shape at the speedy forward position. Tarpley and Heath showed that they are back and are creative forces. HAO was a monster the entire tournament and is ready to have a big impact. Krieger played well at right back and showed that she is more offensive minded than we are used to. Buehler laid claim to one of the center back positions. Pia's teaking of the formation leverages Box's and Llyod's strenghts while protecting their weaknesses. I feel better now than at any time since the Mexico debacle. As far as preparing for the WWC. Now is the time to perfect teamwork. I think Pia should play as many of the known starters together so they can get as much film on them as possible so they can break down the film and coach the women on what to do differently. If Barnie is the keeper, I want her to get as much work with the backline as possible so they completely understand each other. I've seen too many communication breakdowns lead to goals. Also with Krieger and Rampone getting forward, who covers and how. As much as people would like to see others be given a chance to make the WWC roster, I think that the team should be mostly set at this time (pending injuries). It's time to make sure people know how to play together. The positions that I see are still open are: - Left mid (Rapinoe, Heath or O'Hara) - Center back (who pairs with Buehler) - Left back (Cox, Rampone, Saurebraun) I'm feeling good about our chances!
maybe they are subs now because they'll be subs in the wc. i think pia is better positioned to make this call. but i don't think this is true for the most part. well said all around. i have a positive feeling about the team too. but i always did. i always thought that maybe some rest and a little tweaking rather than wholesale changes were the tonic the team needed. but i hesitate to pronounce them ready as yet. i need to see germany play. i need to see brazil play. those two teams probably have better skill than we do, so i need to see what they are working with. we may still be a third place team even after the good work at algarve.
Huh? in the Algarve Cup US played, Japan, Norway, Finland and Iceland. 5,7,16 and 17 in the ranking, Sweden (ranked 4th) was in the other group and got beaten by Iceland (and then Japan in the 3rd place game)
Sorry. I got my Nordic blondes confused. Anyway. I'm still encouraged by the showing in Portugal - just not as encouraged as I would have been if we dominated the #4 team instead of the #7 team.
If the WWC roster is 21 (3 goalkeepers), there are still some interesting roster decisions to be made: Goalies and forwards I believe are set: GK (3): Solo (pending recovery), Barnhart, Harris Forwards (4): Wambach, Rodriguez, Cheney, Morgan If Sundhage brings 7 defenders, I think these are them (pending Mitts and LePeilbet recovering). If she takes 6 and Mitts is one of them, then we can assume Beuhler will be playing left back (and one of Cox/Sauerbrunn will be cut): Defenders (7): Rampone, Beuhler, LePeilbet, Krieger, Cox, Mitts, Sauerbrunn That leaves 7 slots for midfielders, meaning we have 5 players fighting for 3 slots. That's a tight race. At Algarve, Averbuch was the woman out, but if the roster needs to drop one more, who. I'd like to think Tarpley played herself onto the team. . . My gut says the center needs cover, so Lindsey is in and it might come down to Heath/O'Hara. O'Reilly, Boxx, Lloyd, Rapinoe (locks) Heath, O'Hara, Lindsey, Averbuch, Tarpley Does that logic seem about right? Apologies if I've forgotten someone obvious.
Like you said, mingyung, goalkeepers and forwards seem to be pretty set. The only change I can envision is if Solo cannot recover in time and Naeher takes her place. Of course, this would mean that our two backup goalkeepers have zero international caps between them (as of now), but I digress. Since the starting defense tends to play a lot, I would take only six defenders and add an eighth midfielder. Midfielders put on the most mileage and get subbed most often. And they are the most diverse bunch: you need a defensive presence to protect the backline, you need wingers, you need central playmaking players, you need creative attacking midfielders to link up with the forwards, etc. My gut feeling is that Lori Lindsey might be the odd one out, given Tarpley's resurgence, Rapinoe and Heath's ability to play wing or centrally, and the need for a more imposing defensive midfielder (Averbuch) to spell Boxx. Of course, Yael didn't get any playing time at the Algarve Cup and Lindsey did, so read into that what you will. My final 21 would probably be: G: Solo, Barnhardt, Harris D: LePeilbet, Beuhler, Rampone, Krieger, Sauerbrunn, Taylor M: Boxx, Averbuch, Lloyd, Tarpley, O'Reilly, O'Hara, Rapinoe, Heath F: Wambach, Cheney, Rodriguez, Morgan
Just out of curiosity why are you including Taylor? She didn't even make the Algarve Cup roster. I'd personally replace her with Cox or maybe Engen depending upon LePeilbet