On-target insight. It also highlights that playing the last 10 - 15 minutes is different from the first 75 - 80 (same principle in overtime), because the other team does things differently when down a goal and needing to equalize. The result is you find yourself playing quite differently from the way you played up until then, of necessity, both on offense and defense. Because of the different attacking postures, you can't simply "do what you've been doing up until now;" you have to adjust to the differences in approach. And, sometimes teams play better in desperation mode than in regular mode. Sometimes, it produces goals that otherwise would not have been produced absent a deficit - and would not have been needed, then, either. I say this because I think this is a point overlooked by those who say "all the USA had to do the last ten minutes was what they had been doing until then." It's simply not true.
US got Abby as the tower and Morgan to set the deadly counterattack but seems like they want to control the ball so wasted chances, you can see after it went to 1-1/2-2, the US restarted to create chances. Seriously I'm really afraid when France grow mature they will be the biggest threat of the US.
They totally outplayed the U.S. in that semi-final. Even Burke and Foudy said France took control and was about to take the lead. But France forget to play defense when the U.S. countered. Technically though France was clearly superior on offense to the U.S..
France hurt themselves by repeatedly taking long shots - all but one of which were easy grabs by Hope - rather than trying to break down the US defense and get closer. It could have been a different game for them with a better strategy.
They lost this time because they are too young and inexperienced, but they are on the way like their men did in 1998, hope Necib won't become their female ZZ.
The weak spot of the first five-- thought the context made that obvious... Morgan wasn't used either time, which would suggest she has established in practice that she is not the better choice...
They outplayed the us in the midfield because they pushed players forward. Not sound balanced play. Even then their only score was a 51 yard shot that happened to freeze Hope with a forwards dummy. Ever seen that happen to her from a 51 harder before? I haven't. Technically, they were very naive. They didnt cover counters toothier pressure, they had poor keeper play and horrible corner kick defense. When you don't put a player on the back post against Abby, you just aren't very smart. Nice team. Pretty to watch, deserved their loss.
Their midfield is pretty tight, just like their men's team 10 years ago. Yes they are inexperienced, not good on finish chances and got holes on their defense, so they lost to us, almost lost to England and lost to 10 women Sweden. But many of them are young, once they become more experienced 4 years later they are pretty much the strongest team US will face. Compare to their men's team in 98-06, they also need a super super star, who can not just do the playmaker job, but also stand out when the team is in danger.
They will be better, no doubt. They weren't that young. A stat of the day chart I'm looking at shows they were around 26 1/2 years average. Most teams were younger. We were a little over 27 1/2 years and the oldest team. I suspect that will change with a couple of the older players retiring.
They got 3 players over 30, so most of them will be able to play in 2015, including Necib, lose Bompastor will be a problem. For now Necib is just the playmaker, not the true heart of France. I hope the US can successfully replace the old players with youngblood and improve our style a little bit, 2015 is a good chance.
They have any 38 year olds anchoring their defense? Rampone may be the difference in their age and ours We will need to do better on defense, no doubt. From the looks of it, so will everyone else.
Yeah, I'm really really sad when we lost, Glad for now we are still the best team in the WWC like Brazil in WC.
France really didn't outplay the US. Sure, they batted the ball around midfield, but they produced very few good chances. I keep reading how well the French played, and somehow they only managed one goal on a flukey play.
Yeah, the US showed maturity and created better chances to beat France. If only they have a little bit of luck in the final...
Here is a clip that actually should provide some solace to American fans. The USA was not beaten by a blown play, a choke or a fluke. This was skill. Maybe most of the time it does not go in. Rarely will it hit the other team's best player and redirect away from the goalkeeper. But, it feels better to have lost through what on this view appears to be a great play. Credit to Homare Sawa. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIqh8Ui8TNM"]Homare Sawa's Heel Shot Goal - WWC2011 Final Japan vs. USA (slow-motion)‏ - YouTube[/ame]
It's good but we got many more chances than them and countered their tactic well, if only we have a little bit of luck...
If you watch the Sweden/Japan match, you see Sawa pick the team up, but them on her shoulders, and carry them across the finish line. She's the reason they won the whole thing. However, I have to mention what seems to be a giant double standard here between our expectations from the men's national and women's national team. I keep hearing all sorts of high praise and "oh darn" from fans regarding the horrifyingly bad finishing displayed by the forwards. 27 shots and only five requiring a save by the opposing keeper? That's disgraceful. Don't even mention the penalties. Were this the Men's national team, players jersey's would be in the trash. Just google "David Beckham - missed penalty - 2004" to see how fans who hold a player to a high standard react to such plays. If Donovan or Dempsey missed some of those wide open sitters in a Cup Final, the Big Soccer servers would have melted down with hate posts. I'm not saying that reacting that way is right or proper, but just that there seems to be a double standard in the treatment of the men's and women's squads.
If the men beat Brazil and France to make the cup final, it wouldn't matter how they lost in the final, they would still get mobbed at the airport, there would be parades, they would be on every talk show and news program, we wouldn't have to watch the game on ESPN, Howard and Donovan would be signing million dollar endorsement deals, people wouldn't be saying how the men's team style of play was so ugly and how it was good that they lost. The women's team has won two world cups. People got excited when the men's team got a late goal to get out of the group stage. Different expectations? Double standard? Yes, and water is wet.
How about we try to intelligently criticize, and leave the harshness to polar solvents and Warren Zevon and stuff like that?