After watching the Colombia match yesterday, I'm not taking anything for granted. The U.S. isn't exactly looking perfectly fresh either.
Well, look at the players we put on the field. Other than Carly, who? Rapinoe is still not there. How many of the young players have the proven ability to carry the team? The only one I see is an 18 year old.
The U.S. faces a tough road in the knockout stages. Sweden, like last year, scraped through group play in third place. Really flat performances from them. Sundhage seems out of ideas. And yet, Sweden always gives the U.S. a hard time. Over the last five years nobody else has consistently contained the U.S. like the Swedes. Still, we should beat them. Brazil vs. Australia is not a sure thing. The Aussies could spring an upset but Brazil is reveling in the crowd energy and playing their best football for quite some time. Even in the South Africa 0-0 draw, they played well I think. Should things go according to plan, Brazil is a difficult semifinal opponent. The crowd will be surging, heckling Solo and the rest every chance they get. Plus, at least for the veteran Brazilians who remember 2004 and 2008, there will be a revenge factor. In both those Olympic finals Brazil dominated and should have won. The cards are in place for them to finally make amends. Can't see China advancing farther, but the other three - Canada (the surprise team of the tournament and the only one to achieve 9 points in group play), Germany, France - all offer intriguing and potentially match ups in the final. The U.S. has not put together cohesive performances yet. Yes, they are better in possession than 2015. They are playing a more patient, tactically sophisticated style. But connection in the final third is lacking, and they aren't creating too many chances. They are mentally rattled after the Colombia draw. They are strangely vulnerable on defensive set pieces. Ellis is not inspiring much confidence with her decisions. So, as we've experienced so many times, the team needs to lift itself after a less-than-stellar start to a major tournament. Can they do it again?
Why would they be rattled after the Columbia draw? They are out to win the tournament, not every game...
She won't admit it, but Solo must be rattled after two mistakes, including one howler, that led to goals. And the defense in front of her may be less confident now. Plus in general, to draw against the weakest team in your group is never great for confidence. During the game at times and afterward they were visibly frustrated.
Sorry to disagree, but winning the group is better for confidence than drawing when all you need is a draw is bad for it, or so it seems to me. And it is more likely that Solo is po'd than that she is rattled, isn't it? "Rattled" isn't exactly typical of her... And in my book "frustrated" does not equal "rattled;" "frustrated" is good, and is limited to the day it happens. "Rattled" is bad and may carry over. I think they're fine-- my only worry is that Pia can create "frustrated 2, the sequel" and that might rattle them...
Who says they are? Let's be frank, they stunk in that match but I would hardly call them "rattled" by Columbia. USvSweden is US's to lose, Sweden has looked flat and uninspiring ever since Sundhage took over. Plus they are slow af. We are slightly faster than we were last year thanks to our younger players. Tomorrow will be Pia's last competitive tournament and for it to end with the US beating her is almost full circle in a sense.
Hope might be a lot of things but she isn't "rattled". She's been in the game way too long for something like that to get to her.
Nah, Pia doesn't even know our team anymore. Just wait till she sees what surprises we have in midfield and forward. We are supposed to be afraid of them? Was Sweden jumping up and down with excitement after hearing who their quarter-final opponent was going to be?
USA and France down. Changing of the guard? Or just flattening of the field? Poor England. They might be the favorite if they were here.
US Player Ratings for the tournament overall: Solo- 4.5. Would have been at least a 7 after she saved the team's bacon against France, but two howlers against Colombia and an inability to keep the defense organized against Sweden drop her ranking way down. Pugh- 6. Had some good stretches of play, but also had some invisible periods as well. Long- 3. Very poor tournament. Repeatedly lost her mark on defensive set pieces and contributed very little to the attack. This level is just one step too far for her. Sauerbrunn- 7. Did the best she could with the general chaos around her and was one of the more reliable players on the field. O'Hara- 4. Offensive output was limited and defensive output was shaky at best. Engen- 5. Serviceable fill in for Johnston, but didn't show enough of a reason for more time going forward. Klingenberg- 2. How did she not stay on the bench after an atrocious performance against France? Could not handle the speed of the opposition forwards and had to be bailed out defensively on numerous occasions. Johnston- 7.5. One of the better players. Her presence was clearly missed on set pieces when she sat out two games, and had a number of vital stops against Sweden. Horan- 4. Needs more time. No chemistry with Long and did little more than lose possession and foul. Lloyd- 6. Had a rough group stage and her shooting was terrible against Sweden. But she gets her score bumped up for scoring the winners against both France and New Zealand, and for playing well overall against Sweden (minus the shots, of course) Krieger- 6.5. Ellis' decision to bench her proved to be a poor one, because she looked solid when she did get on the field. Press-5. Had some good moments when she did get to play, but could not finish her chances when she got them. Morgan- 5.5. Was too isolated up top due to the overall lack of service to get a larger score, but did play well and was mostly effective when she got involved in the play. Brian- 5. Too often disappeared in games, but was okay at making the midfield run in the few moments it wasn't a cluster. Rapinoe- 3. Looked rusty and sloppy in both outings. It was a mistake to have her in the 18. Dunn- 7.5. Maybe held the ball too much at times, but was also a spark coming off the bench. Heath- 8. The best player overall in this tournament. What little creativity the team had was coming from her play. Naeher- N/A. Did not see one minute of game time in Brazil.
Speaking of which hate to bring reddit lango in here but ELI5 why is Great Britain not a soccer team every Olympic games?
Solo- 6 one good game one bad one. Pugh- 6. seemed nervous and tentative. Had some nice runs but also looked like she was hoping someone else would do it. Long- 5 Solid if unspectacular. Amazingly got stuck marking the other teams best player on set pieces which is a surprise considering how new she is and boy that is very telling. Sauerbrunn- 9 pretty much was the only player for me who exceeded expectations. O'Hara-5 Did nothing to convince me they needed to replace the defensive minded Krieger Engen- 5. Solid. A little nervy handling the ball but held her own defensively Klingenberg-4. Disappointing. Little offensive impact and isnt there for her defense. Johnston- 6 Defense was fine but little set piece contribution in either game. Horan- 4. Seemed very nervous in possession. Did have some quality chances. Should not have been rushed in new position Lloyd- 6. Better in last match and still finds ways to score but doesnt fit this system & has been given way too much freedom in her role Krieger- 6. played well enough when in Press-5. Probably a 7 when in the middle just making runs & moving the ball but a 3 when u consider how great a goal scorer she is and wasnt so I averaged it. Morgan- 6 Got 2 goals and worked very hard but needs to find ways to impact games when she isnt getting shots. Passing was kind of meh which is unusual. Brian- 7 thought she had a good tournament tho her role seemed to change from game to game. Set up 2 goals and several other good chances, Defended well. Never seemed to grab hold of the game which they needed someone to do Rapinoe- 3. more of a hindrance than a help. Crutch for Ellis. Never should have taken corners. Twice hindered subbing pattern. Dunn- 7. Still good for a few loose passes but really showed me something. Best player against Sweden Heath- 8. The best player overall in this tournament. What little creativity the team had was coming from her play. Naeher- N/A. Did not see one minute of game time in Brazil Ellis - 2. once again made mistakes in roster, subbing, game plan and tactics only had to pay for it this time.
Solo- 5 - Had highs and lows. A good but not great performance. Pugh- 6.5 - Disappeared at times, yet was one of a few players that showed true creativity and the willingness to take risks in the attacking third. Long- 4 - Wasn't terrible, but when you're going up against the best of the world, an average showing doesn't look as good. Sauerbrunn- 6 - Would be higher as she was incredible in the group stage, but I place Sweden's goal squarely on her. O'Hara- 5 - Got beat at times but raced back as normal. Help in the attack was not creative. Engen- 4 - Held sufficiently, but the drop off from JJ was clear. Klingenberg- 5 - Got beat defensively yet did so at mostly unthreatening times. Unusual lack of creativity in attack. Johnston- 6 - Snuffed out a lot of attacks early. Did well considering part of a 2 back defense for large periods of time. Horan- 5 - Limited time never let her get comfortable. 5 instead of lower in large part to nailing pk at the end. Lloyd- 5 - Scored multiple times in group stage and nailed pk, yet was at the core of midfield issues and was never creative in attack. SoT % was TERRIBLE against Sweden. Krieger- 5 - Saw limited playing time, but as advertised good in defense and wasn't instrumental in the attack. Press- 3 - Her play itself wasn't terrible except that she didn't seem to be on the same page as others. Missed frame on shots. And then that pk. Morgan- 5 - Scored a couple clutch goals, but also missed some similar opportunities. Generally had good movement. Pk was on frame at least. Brian- 6 - My MVP of central midfield. Won tackles and distributed. Made solid runs when she had the energy. Biggest downside was that she ran out of energy. Rapinoe- 2 - Had a mental determination that did contribute to scoring sequence against Sweden. Otherwise she was clearly not game ready yet in any way. Dunn- 7 - Fast, determined, and creative. She helped offensively and defensively. Heath- 7.5 - Best player, most creative and dangerous. Not much really needs to be said here other than, why wasn't she the one taking free kicks and a pk? Naeher- N/A Ellis - 4 - Rapinoe was clearly not ready for Sweden. Krieger would have been a better sub than Press so Heath could attack. Press should not have been the final pk taker. First 4 were fine (Yes, Morgan was a good choice). I've generally been an Ellis fan, but this was just a little too much.