A short list of qualified applicants in no particular order and with no idea of being comprehensive... Steve Swanson (he actually, you know, won, with the U20's, and IMHO doesn't deserve credit or blame for this team as Ellis is NOT a delegater) Amanda Cromwell (she basically took Jill's teams that were "ooooh soo close" and actually won, and she's a WNT vet) Janet Rayfield (she's done yeoman service within the game, built a strong program, if not an elite one, at Illinois, and is probably better suited to coaching at the NT level than college) Mark Krikorian (current NCAA D1 Champions Coach at FSU) Scott Frey (basically turned Messiah, PA into a perennial power) Laura Harvey (Seattle Reign, last year's NWSL Coach of the Year, has already dealt w/ Solo, but she's English)
But what about the TD position? That's the one who's running the show, even if she's not officially in charge of the full team. As for your list, I like Rayfield but not for coach of the USWNT at this point (right after Ellis). A Uxx team coach, yeah. And I'm not particularly interest in Harvey for this job, either.
I'd actually like Rayfield in the TD role. But I don't happen to think there's enough dynamite anywhere to get Ape out of there (although I don't think her role is as influential as you do). There are also some current state level TD's who would be terrific nationally, especially since that's more a developmental position. My point with that list was that there's no question that a stable of excellent candidates exists to step into the USWNT head coach role. Anyone who feels Jill was the only person available is smoking like it's an hour before their flight leaves Denver.
Depend of what one means with connected to, Pia had coached many of the players and had enough player support to almost get chosen over Greg so had many connections to the USWNT but only through the players.
Greg's connection to the USWNT & suits was through April. He was her assistant for at least 3 years. Pretty sure that's what pushed him over the top in hiring. And he could garner random support from the oldies that remembered the indoor leagues w/ fondness. Those folks are out there & in the Fed board.
Yeah, well, Sermanni went 18-2-4 and got fired - and that was with experimental lineups and trying out new players. Ellis has an almost identical record despite sticking with tried-and-true veterans.
I think the point was - one coach got fired with the same record because he was rocking the ship with younger players and the vets felt threatened.
By winning the semifinal game, did Jill Ellis show that she is a better coach than either April Heinrichs or Greg Ryan? Those coaches failed to win the semifinal game in the WWC... Would the US Soccer offer Coach Ellis a "lifetime" contract if she wins the World Cup? She could manage the team as long as she likes... Maybe some US Soccer officials feel vindicated in their decision to fire Tom Sermanni after seeing what Jill Ellis accomplished...
I would not be at all surprised if the entire organization from top to bottom thinks this a vindication of their current direction - which is kind of a shame.
I think it is great that we are onto the finals and that the coach has had the ability and insight to use a lot of different players early in the tournament to find the best mix of players who would actually rise to the occasion when it counted --- not to mention the insight and courage to change our tactical approach when needed against Germany. Kudos to Jill Ellis and her staff.
I didn't trash Jill Ellis in this thread but I did agree with a lot of things that was said about her here and many things were actually proven true .... up until the Germany's game. We said Jill were rigid in her use of the 4-4-2 with no true defensive mid and the forwards that were either old or did not work together well. We suggested a 4-4-2 with someone like Box at the back of a diamond or a 4-3-3 ... Jill has actually done better with her 4-2-3-1. At DM, with Boxx's best days behind her, and Morgan Brian, Lloyd, Holiday not capable of handling the duty by themselves, what did Jill do? she put 2 of them at DM and it has worked wonder, both in shielding the defense and in helping to start the attack. We were no longer overwhelmed in midfield. We allowed the outside backs to freely move up the flanks and the other 3 midfielders to join the attack with no fear of a counter. We had many forwards but we/ the fans either didn't like one or another. The only one that the majority liked, Alex Morgan, was the only one allowed on the field. Jill solved all other problems by sitting the rest down. This formation fits the US well because we have always had physically fit and fast players that can move up and down the pitch. Having just one forward wasn't a problem for us. Lloyd stayed up top where she liked and joined the offense quickly. Pinoe and Heath or O'hara were great outside . I think many other players can probably do well in this offense too because it doesn't require them to do more than what they can and let them do what they are good at. Jill has earned her paycheck and she will probably be around for a while. For me, if the US keeps playing at this level, it is fine with me.
At the risk of seeming foolish and unsophisticated-- am I the only one that saw it, at least at the beginning, as a 4-1-3-2? Lloyd was very clearly playing up top with Morgan to start, and seemed for much of the game to be playing sort of a "box-to-not-quite-box" forward?
Holiday and Brian could take turn move up but when the US was under attack they dropped evenly to defend plus they both dropped back and up to help get the ball from the center backs when we had the ball. That's the mark of 2DMs. We did not have 2 forwards either. Morgan was alone up top. If Lloyd played box to box then you can call it box to not so box forward but the name for it is Attacking mid. Somtimes its called withdrawn forward but they dont list it as 2 up top. Its 1-1 as in 4231 or 42211 if you like. If you dont believe me, ask Wynalda.
You are describing Lloyd's tendency to do whatever she wants despite assigned position. She routinely stayed higher than Morgan. If you want to call it anything, 4-1-4-1 would seem more appropriate with Holiday/Heath/Rapinoe forming a diamond with one of Lloyd/Morgan (mostly Morgan). We saw the two DM formation quite often but Holiday had the freedom to move up the pitch. There was a time or two where she was the highest player on the pitch. Brian stayed back in the game, probably the whole game. She was the deepest of the 3 midfielders.
You dont normally have a 4141 with the middle 4 also a diamond. A diamond is also a 121 so altogether you have a 41 121 1, a 6 level depth. When teams play 4141, its typically a 41 31 1 or 41 22 1 .
No. I'm not that unsophisticated. Early in the game, Lloyd was playing exactly as though she and Morgan were forwards in a 4-4-2, and not even in a target-and-runner 2. Parallel. She didn't start coming back at all until a few minutes into the game. I mean, I'll rewatch it after tonight and see if I misunderstood what I saw, but there were two of us watching, our recording had started just too late to get the US lineup, and we were discussing and trying to deduce the intent, and that's what Lloyd was actually doing. It was clearly intended, not free-lanced.
My approach is off as I don't disagree with you at all. I suspect it was intentional by Lloyd to play in that fashion but I doubt it was Ellis' intent to have her there. I understand you here. Again, I doubt it was the intent of Ellis to deploy that formation. I am sure it was a 4-3-3 on paper but, when you watched the play and implementation during the game, it looked like a 4141.