Four U20 july (5-12) matches in europe

Canada U20 v USA U18 YNT in Australia

PHOTOS | @bev_priestman's @CanadaSoccerEN had a strong start to the international series with a 4-1 win over @ussoccer_ynt in Canberra. pic.twitter.com/erJo7lxz4x

— The Women's Game (@TheWomensGame) July 6, 2017

 

[China U16 - USA U16]
10' 1-0 China square pass to #9 in center circle, USA's back 4 are weirdly in a diamond around circle (our) back. (Why are our two CBs stacked on the centerline in an I-formation?) Pass to #8 at circle top left, #10 sees she has 1-v-3 all bunched in the center, with a gaping left edge, and flat outruns #5 Michela Agresti up mid-left. #8 quick diagonal out-pass into her stride, #10 perfect foot-trap on a full sprint at 27m mid-left. Pure foot race through box top arc left, one good touch keeps #10 in front by 1/2 step. She veers inside to 8m 6-left, steps over a slide-tackle and shoots left toe-poke under GK #1 Angelina Anderson's left hand low, into back right low. Our high line got outsprinted from circle back, so maybe that's too high. (First thing that pops into my mind: Haha, China's been playing against North Korea so long, they're starting to play like them.)

21' 1-1 #5 Agresti pk, left instep to left post low, GK # dives and saves. Ball bounces up to 1m 3-left, Agresti arrives first and spins a left roundhouse past GK, to 3m center. CHN #5 whiffs on a turn-and-clear try and foul-slices it backward, it bounces just over her own goalline center. #9 Jordan Canniff would have poked it in anyways.

24' 2-1 CHN #11 square pass right to 29m right post, USA shift kind of lackadaisically toward it -- we did not imagine any danger. RF #7 Yang Qian sees our high 3-back along arc top (why are we that high?), makes a hard diagonal cut from 22m mid-right throgh arc tangent right -- nobody reacts to go with her. CHN #9 one-touch pass through arc top center, perfectly in #7's stride at 15m center, she veers past spot and shoots left instep under Anderson's left hand, into back right low. Our high line gets out-cut while ball-gazing.

Seriously tho, that pass was Montana-to-Clark-to-win-a-Super-Bowl good.

 

31' 2-2 USA square pass right(?) to #18 Payton Linnehan at 22m box right, she dribbles to 14m mid-right with CHN #3 backpedaling. Linnehan fakes a cross, stutter-and-go drive leaves #3 flapping behind her, alone to 3m 6-right. Simple square pass beats GK at near post, rolls to 5m center, #19 Ainsley Ahmadian trails and dunks.

Now a meme recurs three times, as in Russian figure skating: once to see it, once to understand it, once to applaud it.

33' 3-2 CHN #9 square pass from box top right touch to #7 Yang Qian at box top wide right. Yang dribbles a couple steps inside to box top mid-right with little pressure, shoots left instep fast lob over Anderson, off crossbar 1/6 left and deflects down into back left low. Not quite sidespin bend into side netting, but it's basically the same shot window.

45' 3-3 Canniff nutmegs #3 rightward at box top arc right, runs around forehand behind her turning back to 17m 6-right, one-touch right instep pull across mouth floats into left side netting.

60' 3-4 USA square pass from 15m right touch between 2 to 16m just inside box right. Canniff pounces from box top mid-right, dribbles between 2 to 10m box right, shoots right instep shross floating over GK stranded at near post -- off crossbar 1/3 left, deflects down into 1/4 left back.

 

Finally, we return to the same meme from which we began, namely of a high back line getting outsprinted

63' 4-4 CHN square pass right to #9 at 32m center, USA's back-4 are strung across 24m. RF #7 Yang Qian sees the hard right edge, sprints past it diagonally inward from 25m mid-right -- #9 rolls a vertical pass from 30m right post between LB #3 Kate Wiesner and LCB #4 Tori Hansen, Yang collects in stride at 14m 6-right and dribbles to 10m. Anderson charges out to 9m, Yang passes ball under her into 1/3 right back low, trips over her.

90+3' 5-4 CHN #8 creeps to box top mid-right -- #19 lurks at 12m mid-right, held onside by the RB at 11m. #8 slips a through-ball between 2, #19 does a perfect trap-and-twirl ccw to 9m, half of USA's defense stop playing and raise arms for offside. LF #11 is onside behind ball at 10m left post, strolls right past two raised arms standing still. #19 hooks a ground cross to 5m left post, #11 slide-pokes it in, with Anderson frozen at near post. Thereafter, USA bounce around with both arms up.

Dang -- on replay, #19 did everything right: she came from 8m wide right, in an offside position -- but #8 was still dribbling, and #19 outran past spot, beating our RCB stepping up to spot, before #8 made the final pass touch -- #19 is peeking across the field, and she knows the target she needs to beat. At the instant of that touch, #19 was indeed onside. Thereafter, #11 is correctly looking back at her, staying just behind the ball.

We should learn to do that. We could do drills: one side do it, the other side ... stop it.

 

Correction: our PK was by #3(c) Kate Wiesner (unruly auburn witch's-broom), not #5 Agresti (dark black ponytail).

All things considered, we got what we wanted out of this tournament: a severe test, with the full int'l travel-and-stay protocol, and the full-stadium experience. We probably learned a tactical lesson or two about a high back line with no midfield pressure, and also the age-old lesson of playing the game with your feet and ears (until the whistle), not with your arms up.

There's still quite a bit of time before CONCACAF qualifiers for the 2018 WWC-17. We've learned that Japan are human after all , but China will hammer tactical naivety. Keep learning, young ladybugs.

 

These results are very concerning. I watched the entire game on line and pretty much saw the same old same old. Chinese goals were more sophisticated than ours. No Ashley Sanchez or Sophie Smith like kid in this cycle (yet) who can convert a relatively high percentage of chances she creates herself. Poorly organized defense. Little in the way of creativity and nifty final balls. Caniff with some decent individual effort, but overall no real team attacking prowess and she doesn't have the athleticism of the other two I have mentioned. Still thinking dribble endline cross as our primary attacking tactic. Expect even poorer performance in this cycle as the world continues to develop and we stagnate. I was blasted when I predicted that last u17 cycle might struggle with limited time and space presented to them. I don't put a lot of credence on results at this point, but again not seeing advancement in sophistication that will be necessary to develop our game. At this point I see potentially more of the same so far.