July 21 - USA v Australia, rosters/pre/during/postgame {R}

Disagree about Mitts. She doesn't make any more bad passes or botches than the other ones. I have seen Kate M. make many bad passes, but no one picks on her. At least Mitts is fit and fast enough to recover when she makes a mistake. Get off her case, she's good enough and desrves to be on the team. As for your comment on Jen Grubb, I like her. I am a ND fan and saw her many times in college and pros and she is a good, but the word is that she is not fast enough to be on the NATS, and talk about someone who can give the ball away to the opposing team in front of her goal in the middle, I have seen that happen several times from her in college and pros.

 

SCoach,

Sorry, I tried to reply yesterday afternoon, but since I'm not in the elite of posters, I did not get onto the board for several hours. Plus, my computer at home is dead. So, here I am Friday mroning answering your question. I have added some other comments too.

In answer to your question, I would get away from the flat back four which opens us up for runs between defenders (now haven't we seen that before). But, at this late date, I'm not sure we could go with three marking defenders and a sweeper, so I'll just go with the formation and the names we have.

Scurry

Rampone Fawcett Markgraf Reddick

I would put Kate in the middle where she seems more comfortable, and I believe that Cat has enough speed to play strong as a wing defender. I would not put Kate on the wing, because then you cut down on the team's ability to bring attacks from the back on the left side. Kate is probably worse than Brandi at distributing the ball from the back. Joy is Joy and will play well there, although,as we have read in other posts, she is not the "take charge" defender needed there like Carla Overbeck was.

This leaves Heather Mitts and Brandi on the bench where they should stay except for needed substitutions. Brandi's performance last night was not convincing, plus Ape played her out of position. I really liked the statement in one post that HM should wear orange since she is essentially a dribbling cone out there. She also has a hard time heading the ball in the right direction.

So, to answer your question, that's my defense. I don't think it's very strong, mainly because they play the flat back four zone where responsibility for marking is sometimes confused. How many times did we see last night where all four defenders were clustered in the middle third of the pitch allowing an Australian attacker to roam free on the right (or left) wing. We were fortunate that the passes to the wing were often too wide or too deep to pose a problem to our defense, but we were still always playing catch up. Against a moderately good offense, that could prove disastrous.

As far as the rest of the lineup, I'd arrange them this way:

Boxx

Foudy Lilly

Mia

Wombat O'Reilly

Peace!

 

From CyberSoccerNews:

The Road to Ruin?
US finally gets it together in second half
by Merrill Ring

 

I don't post much here, but I have a few questions...

1. What's with all the Aly Wagner bashing? Sure, she hasn't played as well this year as she did back in 2002 and the beginning of 2003, but she still isn't playing so poorly that she doesn't deserve to be on the team. She may have looked like a fool out there vs. Australia, but so did Brandi, mainly because April seemed to have misplaced her brain while she was making the roster for that match.

2. Why put Mia at attacking mid? She played there a few times during the 2003 WWC (vs. Norway and Canada I think), and she seemed to be a much bigger threat at forward. I mean, I guess if you don't start Wagner (in a 4-4-2), then you can put Mia there, but overall, I just think she is a better player up top.

3. I just want to remind everyone of something. You all wanted April's first XI to be set at the beginning of this year. I'm going to assume (tell me if I'm wrong) that you said the same thing before the WWC last year. Well, had April set her roster at the beginning of last year, chances are good that you probably wouldn't have been watching Abby Wambach or Shannon Boxx. Think about it. The US's two best players were added in over the course of the year.

4. I am not going to sit here and tell you that this team is perfect though. I honestly feel that April has problems motivating her team. They come the last two years, win the Four Nations Tournament and Algarve Cup without much trouble, and then what? As much as I want this team to win, I honestly can't see it happening as long as April can't motivate her players after the first 3 months of the year.

5. This is kinda out of place, but can someone remind me how the USSF picked April to be the next coach? Thanks.

I love how my 3rd and 4th points aren't questions really...

 

Brazil???

I'll agree on the wait and see, but any comparison between the USWNT and the the Brazilian men's team are ludicrous.

 

Re: Only in America.

Retire yes. Starting player?? NO! How many 35+ year old men (who are not goalkeepers) do you know who start?

 

This is just great! After watching the last game and hearing all of the comments it seems like the USWNT will not even get the Bronze for the following reasons.

We have a bunch of injured players: Fawcett is recovering, Chastain is obviously still hurt or at least she played like it. Hucles is on the mend and alternate MacMillan is not at 100% What happens if Boxx goes down? I don't think Foudy can fill her shoes. She cannot even fill her own shoes of a couple of years ago. With Boxx, so goes this team.

Mitts, what are we going to do about you. She is a problem. If Australia can get behind her three times and score, what do you think the Germans and Swedes are going to do to this teams version of Anna Kournikova. Good enough to play soccer but not good enough to win. If I were a German or Swede, I would be chomping at the bit to get down her side. She will cost big time in this tournament. The Aussies exposed her and you have to know that the others were watching.

Injuries and the wrong selection will cost the US and April.

 

Ridiculous! Mitts is not a liability. The other defenders get burned also. She will do fine. I feel like I always have to defend her against clueless comments.

 

The team can win the gold, all April has to do is play those Tarheels, Tarpley and O'Riley along with Mia, up top. Real speed is absent from the squad so take advantage of the kids that have some. Plus the two college kids are willing to take players on 1v1. Maybe April should line them all up and race for a starting spot. And if Cat is fast enough to play on the edge with this team, no wonder UNC went 27-0-0, Watley must be super fast.Winning the gold will be hard but so sweet. USA all the way.

 

right on; speed kills. as soon as tarp & o'riley came on, the pace picked up.

 

No, she is no liability!!! You must not be watching to closely. I am talking about the Japan game too. Pay closer attention. Talk about clueless. Let's just you and I come back to this after the Olympics. I will eat crow if I am wrong, how about you.

 

I do pay close attention. I go to almost every game. The only one I missed was the Mexico game. I bought my plane tickets Chicago to Hartford a couple weeks ago and I'm usually right behind the U.S. bench. In the Japan game they all played terrible, don't just single out Heather Mitts. What about the midfielder on her side not being able to close down well enough, I believe against Canada it was Wagner.

 

I'm not going to bash Wagner. Actually, I'm going to defend her. Clearly, opinions on her current level of play differ from one poster to another. It has indeed been a few years since we saw her brilliance, since there was talk of her being "the next Michelle Akers."

This is mostly speculation on my part, but I can't help but wonder...Is Aly another victim of Heinrichs' syle of play?

We lost Milbrett because she's an incredibly creative player and Heinrichs wouldn't allow her to be creative. Back when Aly was great, she was one of our most creative players. Perhaps, like Milbrett, Wagner suffers under Heinrichs constrictive system. Unlike Milbrett, however, Wagner is willing to try to conform, but it doesn't suit her game.

 

Blah, blah, blah Blame everyone else. Face it, she is a LIABILITY!

 

I'm not blaming anyone. I think she's good. That's my opinion. Anyway responding to your sarcastic comments is pointless. It's like talking to a 3 year old.

 

My apologies. It was just your comment calling my statements, "clueless" that set me off. I should have not have taken the bait. We both have an opinion on Heather's capabilities and they are just on opposite ends. The proof is in the pudding so we will wait and see how she fairs.

 

Fair Enough. My opologies also.

 

Why pick on Mitts? Even without the injuries, the entire US back line is suspect. The USWNT's best defense has always been maintaining possession in their opponent's end as opposed to the strength of their back line. Canada and recently Mexico have shown that good strikers need relatively few opportunities to score against the US. Luckily for the USA very few teams have the ability to put their back line under sustained pressure. Germany excepted.

 

MRAD12 you are truly USWNT biggest fan, i'll review all my tapes and see where you were seating...you should get some free tickets from USSF already

 

You have a good point in that our defensive organization has always been a concern and that our best defense is possession and high pressure defending in our opponents half. Best not to mention this is Anson's legacy on this board

As for Mitts, everyone certainly has their own view of things . . . but . . . Mitts is not IMNSHO an international level defender. She's not much of a ball winner in the air, she's not the offensive threat that Chastain, Rampone, or even Reddick is on the flank going forward (she certainly worked hard against Australia to get forward but she's not a threat up there). And she's the biggest ball watcher on a team that struggles with making good decisions within the zone. I find it hard to believe that she outplayed Bivens or Osbourne at residency. The Aussie's obviously agree since they made every effort to attack her side of the field.

 

How many caps does Mitts have now? You are comparing a player who's perhaps started one year on this team, with players who've played 2 - 15x as long. Of COURSE she is going to struggle by comparison tactically. Remember what Boxx looked like when she started in center mid? She gave away 8 balls out of 10. Reddick couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a lofted ball 2 years ago, and truthfully is still struggling with it. Yes, Mitts is getting caught ball watching. That wasn't her problem against the Aussies. Her problem was trying to fill the space behind Markgraf on defense, and trying to cover the space behind Parlow and Wagner on attack. She had too much to do, and got caught by Small for the goal. Fair enough.

As for the Aussies attacking on her side, notice they weren't switching to Mitt's side in midfield, they were making sustained runs down that flank because neither Wagner or Parlow was able to prevent those runs. It was field day all night, and the double team on Mitts was constant.

I am not trying to say Mitts is a great defender. I am not saying she is an attacking threat. What I am saying is that she is fast, fit, and eager to learn apprarently, and we need more players like that. As for Bivens, she's impressed me over the past year, but she needs to learn to defend without giving up set pieces 20 yards from goal, or fouling in the box to give up penalty kicks. This isn't college, and that won't work. Players finish set pieces at this level. I don't know know enough about Osbourne to make a comment.

 

Thank you SCOACH it was Heather side that got beat but you were right she was trying to help Kate AND ALMOST DID GET BACK ON THE GOAL.It's nice to know that you are one of the few who watch the game and saw that midfeild play we not good did we not win 3-1.

 

Good point about the Aussies running amok early in the game on our right side (although they did have plenty of space for a diagonal pass behind Mitts on a 2nd half counter - the pass was a bit heavy and Smalls had to track it into the corner, but the space was there). I think we actually are pretty close in assessing of Mitts, but if you have a young "eager to learn . . ." player, why not blood her AFTER the Olys - or get her in a LOT earlier.

Someone else talked about how Wambach and Boxx were VERY late additions before the World Cup, I don't think that's a good argument for adding people - it's a good argument that Ape isn't doing her job (particularly with Wambach who basically had to play her way on in WUSA).

As far as fed politics, etc. Ape's been the coach for four (relatively barren) years - if she's not allowed to make her own decisions she's should resign. I personally (without any particular inside info) think she's been given a wide berth by the federation (i.e. putting John and Jill Ellis on staff early on - they were hardly fed insiders) and that she IS in charge of personnel and is bad at it. Yeah the fed sucks, but I don't think "Dr. Boob and the Ethically Challenged" cares whether Mitts or Hucles or anyone else (including Hamm) is on the WNT or not.

 

RIGHT ON!

 

Re: Brazil???

Actually, they're fairly accurate, taken from the point of view of their relative places within the sport...

Brazil are the kings of soccer, the side every team deep down wants to be like (even Argentina ), the standard everyone is trying to reach.

The US holds similar status in the women's game...call them the queens of soccer, if you will...

Now, there are a small group of nations on both sides (men and women) who are the elite and are right there at the top - if you follow the game, you know who they are...

However, just as in the men's game there are a number of sides who are closing the gap between themselves and Brazil (including the US!), there are a number of women's sides who are closing the gap between themselves and the US.

Australia is one of those nations.

There's still a gap (just as there's still a gap between the US men and Brazil), but the gap is closing...and will continue to close.

The days of the blowouts are pretty much gone.

I now await the inevitable flaming...