Since we have a roster, I thought its about time for a thread. The team is in camp in Portugal, and then will play France on Jan. 19 (2:30 pm ET on FS1) and Spain on Jan. 22 (2:30 pm ET on ESPN2 and UDN). GOALKEEPERS (4): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash; 3/0), Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 19/0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 38/0) DEFENDERS (8): Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage; 30/0), Tierna Davidson (Stanford; 12/1), Crystal Dunn (NC Courage; 75/24), Emily Fox (UNC; 2/0), Kelley O’Hara (Utah Royals FC; 112/2), Becky Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals FC; 149/0), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars; 27/0), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC; 26/0) MIDFIELDERS (7): Morgan Brian (Chicago Red Stars; 81/6), Danielle Colaprico (Chicago Red Stars; 2/0), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 73/18), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 62/7), Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit; 20/6), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage; 41/8), McCall Zerboni (NC Courage; 7/0) FORWARDS (7): Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC; 142/25), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 265/105), Jessica McDonald (NC Courage; 3/1), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride;153/98), Christen Press (Utah Royals FC; 106/46), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit; 43/12), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC; 145/41) Campbell is back in, which is a bit of a surprise. I just hope someone besides Naeher gets some minutes. I'd love to see Franch get half of a game. Davidson and Zerboni return from injury. Fox, Colaprico, and McDonald make another roster.
Yeah, this one is a huge surprise for me. Her last outing was the worst WNT performance by a GK I think I've ever seen. Nice to see Davidson back.
not saying advantage or disadvantage, but what a sharp contrast between #1 USA & #2 Germany. While Ellis might have a possible ten 30 year olds on her WC squads here's an unofficial roster from the soccerway website USA - United States - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news - Women Soccerway Germany only got one 30 year old listed,(and from what I know will be dumped) Germany - Germany - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news - Women Soccerway
Nice to see Fox and Colaprico on the roster. Also, nice to see Davidson and Zerboni back from injury. Have we seen the last of Huerta?
Stray thoughts I think we know with close certainty 20 of Jill's preferred 23-player roster-- subtract Campbell, Fox, and McDonald or Colaprico/Zerboni and you have 23. The shortage of true wingers concerns me. All 7 midfielders listed here (plus current outsiders like Long and Sullivan) are central players. In Jill's system, width comes from the outside backs and forwards. Rapinoe and Heath had amazing 2018s, but they are getting older, and Pugh is the only other genuine wing option. Press has been forced into that role, and has improved, but still looks unnatural out there. Someone like Ohai or Huerta could be useful in this role but they are fringe now. Brian really needs to prove herself. She is coasting on past form and reputation for 2 years. I think Colaprico is a better option than her on club play. Campbell was super shaky against Mexico, and inconsistent in NWSL. I would call up Bledsoe or Abby Smith ahead of her. Then again, not even Franch can get a cap. It's old hat, but every time Emily Menges gets overlooked I feel compelled to make note of it. I appreciate the wealth of good possession midfielders we have now. For years, under Ryan and Sundhage and even Ellis, we bypassed the midfield and lumped the ball forward to Wambach and other targets. Now Ellis is in the position of almost too many options. For the last forward spot, I prefer Lynn Williams to McDonald. Williams didn't have the greatest USWNT audition a few years ago, but her speed is an X-factor and would strike fear into any defense. Simply her presence on the restraining line would keep them honest.
Something big that McDonald brings is her throw ins. There are times in a game when being able to put her in just for that could be helpful.
I just finished watching (again) NC's 1-0 victory over Lyon. McDonald played about 30 minutes of the game and she was really, really good on defense -- as well as being in a position to score a couple of times. She offers enough to make the National Team.
agreed. i've been preaching. her heading ability in the defensive box is crucial. has anyone seen the uswnt defend corners recently? some time in this wc, in the last 20 minutes when they're desperately trying to hold on to a result, she will turn out to be worth her weight in gold. equally important, i'd take her over williams because of her combination of pace (not as much as williams) and heading ability that scares defenders (way more than williams). she's the closest mini-abby threat since abby, that stresses out defenders enough to give our other attacking players an edge in the penalty box. + long throw ins. there's no way I wouldn't have her on the roster.
Doesn't Lindsay Horan do headers as well or am I thinking of another robust player? Also while we are talking about who should be included and who should be off the final roster, can anyone explain to me the reason why Jill Ellis keeps Christen Press when she barely ever uses her? I don't even remember her playing much in the 2015 WWC.
I'm leaning towards williams instead of press. press has declined in my opinion. both williams and maybe mace - if she scores a lot for chicago (or whoever else gets her) are threats to press' spot.
Andi Sullivan was a late add to the camp roster: https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...van-added-to-roster-for-january-training-camp This seems a bit odd, considering that camp is in Portugal, unless she travelled with the team and they just announced it later. That also brings the midfielder count up to 8 (with Lloyd and Dunn able to sub in there as well). And it looks like Ellis is still looking for her preferred back-up for Ertz (or more likely someone who can backup both the #6 and #8 position). Who would ever have guessed that we would have this many central midfielders?!
may be part getting backup players familiar with the system in case somebody goes down, and part having two teams with subs available for tough practices against each other. Ellis: https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...ings-to-know-about-the-wnts-2019-january-camp
Clarification: the oddness (to me) is more in the timing, seeing as camp has already started and that the camp is overseas, rather than the calling in someone else. I get looking for backups.
Perhaps Sullivan was asked to delay her travel to Europe until she had accumulated sufficient frequent flyer miles?
Perhaps since the camp roster was announced another player on it in the meantime is not reporting or isn’t healthy?
Most likely. Several players coming off big injuries and they probably decided they need another warm body rather than push the recovering players. But Ellis has tried to squeeze in these younger players. While she calls in players excelling in NWSL, she tends to call in YNT stand outs first. Or it is easier for her to call them in. Davidson instead of Menges, Sullivan instead of Zerboni or Colapriccio (all three are now there), Fox instead of Huerta, et al.
Given the way the injury was described at the time it happened, it seems kind of implausible that Zerboni could be ready? She's tough, and it wasn't a leg, but still ...
I heard she only recently could touch her nose with her thumb. She was not an Allocated Player, so she didn't have to be called.
January camp has always served in part as an evaluation and testing camp, so I'm sure they're evaluating how healthy Zerboni is. Anyone know how many players get named to each game-day roster?
This was from about 7 weeks ago: Experts have stated not humanly possible except in rare cases of extreme awesomeness.