I am completly torn in my opinion of Abby Wambach. She sells a great dummy on the first US goal against Greece - one of the best plays I've ever seen in womens soccer. She scores on a good header. Then, she lounges about on the ground, cries on almost every call ( though not the caution ), and pouts about when things don't go her way. So what is it, Dr. Wamabch, a great player, or Ms. Hyde, the Whiner?
Abby Wambach has more talent in her left toe nail than Cindy Parlow has ever had. And I say this while still scratching my head after April subbed out Parlow in that one WWC match where she was playing the best I ever saw.... Target forwards, like Abby, are often the most kicked, pulled, scratched, punched and fouled players on the pitch. Some go to ground when touched so that they aren't roughed up as much. Others, tend to lift their own physical play and get stuck in with opposing defenders. I would prefer that Abby start working on the latter.
simmer, now. I meant she learned all she knew about falling and getting up slowly from Parslow. You won't find a bigger Abby fan than I. And for Dr. Boob to give April credit for "developing" her pisses me off.
Parlow has a lot of talent and is a very smart player. She has an uncanny knack for great timing. Always seems to be in the right place at the right time. She's just slow...the same malady most of us suffer from.
Yeah, that Chinese player at Hartford that Parslow stuck with her cleats just loves her timing. (Sorry to hijack the thread, but CP has been horrendous in the past 3 years and should not be on the USWNT in Greece. Eight years ago when the referee left her standing on the touchline in the last moments of the Atlantympic final without letting her on as a sub, I really felt sorry for her. I loved watching the young kid that had the potential to become Michelle Akers' replacement. However, she never had the heart to fight through tough situations, choosing to dance along the outside or ridiculously hold the ball at the corner flag. Then she developed this habit of laying cheap-shots on opponents. Sad to see. )
You summed it up perfectly. Abby has the size and ability to dominate a game physically. If she ever decides to become that type of player, instead of divin' and cryin', the rest of the world better watch out. She has the physical tools to be the next Michelle Akers. The jury is still out regarding whether or not she has the mental toughness.
She Dr. Wamabch she scores every game what more do you want? Plus she doesn't play like a machine like most of the other players she actually thinks. I will give her a compliment now she plays like a guy.
Why is parlow the first off the bench as a forward she is too slow. That irish girl O' Reilley should be the first forward off the bench
I'm afraid that I didn't see the incident you're referring to, so I'll pass on that. CP has 4 goals this year (4th on the team) and 8 goals last year (2nd on the team, last year Mia had 8 and Wambach 9), so her stats speak for themselves. CP only started 5 out of 13 games this year, so for those calling for a reduced role for her, it's already happening. CP has been one of the more prolific scorers in the history of the team, and her scoring pace has only slightly reduced due to less playing time. CP never had the potential to replace MA, I don't know where you ever got that idea. They are two completely different players.
right on! parlow adds little to the front line at this point. whatever the reasoning was for adding o'reilly to this team should be the same for being the first sub.
I personally have given up trying to understand Heinrichs. And I say this as someon who was once the Official Heinrichs appologist. In any event, I think the team looks bored out there. There is a lack of passion. I hope that it is a temporary thing, caused by playing the Greeks.
Great player. Not Michelle Akers, but a great player. And the most fun player to watch in women's soccer today.
really, i'm with aweinspiring. i've posted this before. i have no clue what you guys are seeing. here's a woman who runs and dribbles well for her size, scores goals on a more consistent basis than anyone on the team (maybe better than anyone in the world), dishes out punishment, takes the punishment that all good forwards suffer, and you guys are complaining about the fact that she cries when she gets called or when she gets fouled. in the rough and tumble world of international soccer, if you do not complain to the person making the subjective decisions, you tend not to get heard, and you tend not get important make up calls sometimes late in the game. abby wambach is probably the best big foward in the game today. she needs to go down when she is fouled, and complain to the referee judiciously if she thinks she is wronged. that's the intelligent way to play the game!!!!
She is an awesome talent but she will hit the deck if she feels a slight breeze. I guess she is trying to draw PK's and free kicks but it isn't very convincing when 6' Abby is bumped by players much smaller and she goes down in a heep....constantly. Obviously she is going to get taken down quite a bit due to the position that she plays however the fact that she constantly cries wolf may hurt her in the long run. I would rather see her muscle off defenders and hold possession of the ball deep in the opponents third of the field. She can't look for shooting options or passes to teammates when she is gathering grass stains.
she only goes down when she is fouled as far as i've seen, and as a forward, especially the most profilic forward on a good team, she gets marked hard and closely. there is no crying wolf here afaics. further, she passes and shoots fine by me. her offensive output is by far the best on the team.
If she only went down when she was fouled, the nats would be getting a plethora of PK's b/c she spends more time on her ass than a bus driver. What is really aggravating is the way she lolls about EVERY time she's on the ground effectively reducing her squad to ten while she soaks in whatever. There are plenty of diving sissies in the men's game. we don't need them in ours.
Originally Posted by luvdagame: really, i'm with aweinspiring. i've posted this before. i have no clue..... and you guys are complaining about the fact that she cries when she gets called or when she gets fouled. in the rough and tumble world of international soccer, if you do not complain to the person making the subjective decisions, you tend not to get heard, and you tend not get important make up calls sometimes late in the game. abby wambach is probably the best big foward in the game today. she needs to go down when she is fouled, and complain to the referee judiciously if she thinks she is wronged. that's the intelligent way to play the game!!!! elroy's response: So you want her to be Ms. Totti. i said when she is fouled.
Hey Luvdagame! I notice that you didn't answer my other post - the one about all the PK's the US should receive b/c Abby only falls when she is fouled.
my bad obviously. that's not what i meant because that's not true for anyone. let me reststate: she only goes down when there is genuine contact that would put her down. i don't see her playing the "sissy" game. she may not have the balance of mia, but she just keeps getting up and scoring goals - which is the best revenge. this is truly a "different strokes" sort of thing i guess, because i see abby as a truly outstanding player who gets the kind of treatment that all good forwards get - tough defense. there are indeed plenty of diving sissies in the men's game. i saw some today while looking at the olympics. but abby is not one of them. that's just the way i see it.
Although she has gotten better about it, Abby still does too much flopping. I can remember how disappointed I was when watching her or Fotopolous play against San Diego in the WUSA - battling against little Fan Yunjie, they took every opportunity to hit the deck, and then look toward the ref, expecting a foul to be called...