Glad we won, the offense was much better in the 2nd half, but the defense is terrible, hope the aerial defense could get better when JJ comes back.
Wwwwwwwwwwwwell. No one will accuse us of peaking to early. Sometimes Grit is enough. But France is very very good. I'm going to see their set pieces in my sleep tonight. #nerveracking
??? If we win the group and France is runner-up, then we're on opposite sides of the bracket and can't meet before the final.
Maybe we should bring back "The trouble with Carli Lloyd" thread again. It seemed to work well for the WWC.
Dunn, Sauerbrunn, Brian and Solo were all very good. Engen and Long were very poor. I would be fine if this was the last tournament for both of them. JJ please get healthy, we desperately need you. I don't understand how Long continuously looses her mark on set pieces. I also don't understand why Ellis had Long marking Renard, France's biggest aerial threat. This match ended the O'Hara vs Krieger debate for me. O'Hara is the starter without any doubt.
Nah. It was the Jill thread that did it. I'm always astonished when people jump on her right after games in which she gets game winners. Have to assume it's a non-USA fan. Previous posts identifies poster as outside the USA.
Thoughts on the game: --France played like France. They outplayed us for most of the 1st half and part of the 2nd, but couldn't finish. But a huge part of their inability to score was the heroics of Hope Solo who definitely kept us in the game. She earned that 200th cap. --We had no answer for the play of Renard. With all due respect to Sauerbrunn (who played the best of the US defenders, imo) in this game on this day, the best centerback on the pitch was Renard. --Engen was a disappointment. I hope Johnston is fully healthy soon. --We seriously need to work out defense on set pieces. I know Renard's height and France's superb service are part of our poor play there, but there really is no excuse for the disorganization on multiple free kicks and corner kicks. We missed Johnston's presence there, too. --Tobin's going to be Tobin. Great game from her, and not just in the flashy tricks that we know she can do, but in her decision making on when to dribble and when to pass and on her hustle on defense. --Dunn's recovery on defense and covering for O'Hara multiple times really was impressive. She didn't have as great of an impact on the attack, but then few did today. --France's quality is a huge reason for why we kept getting pulled out of shape, as well as Engen being inserted into the lineup, but honestly I expect more from our defense...and I mean, our team defense. It wasn't just the backline, but our midfield was getting outpressed by France repeatedly, and there's no excuse for it as its mostly about positioning and work rate. --Brian didn't have her best game, imo. However, her pass to Tobin on the goal is the same kind of vision that led to Morgan's goal against New Zealand. That soccer brain of hers is why she is out there. --Lloyd will be Lloyd. She wasn't involved in play for long stretches, but at the moment when she's needed, she was there. And I'll be happy if she continues to score a goal per game in major tournaments. Looking at the next game, the question becomes who to rest. I hope to see a rotation with Press, Horan, and Krieger all getting significant minutes; JJ and Pugh as well if they're healthy. I'd also really like to see Rapinoe get at least 20-30 minutes before we get to the knockout rounds.
Couple of thoughts - The key to Renard is u have to disrupt her run into the box not try and out jump her when she gets there. - The great French first half seemed to take a lot out of them. If they r having fitness issues Im not sure how they can make it thru the later rounds. Maybe they back off on the pressure a bit to save energy.
Ofcourse it was Carli Llyod again! Morgan is weak tho. Still I think France may win the whole tournament because they have the best team in my opinion. Great from Solo in her 200th cap!
Allie Long was named US Soccer's Women of the Match: http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/201...oup-g-with-1-0-win-vs-france-at-2016-olympics I'm sorry, what?!
I mean, sure, why not? US Soccer could name Tony Gustavsson the Woman of the Match for all I care. We won. That's all that matters.
Deployable game from Lloyd, until it wasn't... Turnover, turnover, lazy defending, unnecessary foul.....goal! Good work by tobin and morgan there Morgan can't let the team ignore her. She didn't show up against a great cb pair. I would like to see much more imagination in her attacking runs.
This article..... http://www.cbssports.com/olympics/n...oics-and-things-to-know-as-uswnt-tops-france/
Another key would be a ref who won't let Renard push off/stiff arm her mark on all set piece runs. Long actually spoke to the ref about it, and then took to wrapping her arms around her on set pieces after that; whether that means the ref gave her permission or just that she got no other satisfaction and had to make her own way... I thought, unlike I guess everyone else here, that Long played very very well against New Zealand- turnovers were more than compensated for by her defensive positioning. Her game was defined by what didn't happen in her area of responsibility far more than by what did. Not so sure she was the best in this game, though-- I had Heath-- but Renard is a real problem as we get a bit shorter and lighter... Kling really stepped up her offense with JJ out. I also liked KO and Krieger on the same side at the same time-- the French never really knew which was going to be the back at a given moment. I also thought Morgan played well, and that we'd have been screwed without her. Her presence kept the French from really committing forward in possession even when they trailed. Brian too-- a lot of people affected this game without being particularly showy. It was a very tough match, against another team that earns its salary; there's going to be bad moments when you play France, because they have some of the say in it. Hated the officiating-- very poor at possession calls, both ways, and Dunn's yellow seemed pretty weird to me; if that was about studs it was far from the worst such in the match, and the French might well have had three or four cards. Bouhaddi seems to have had a good year in the weight room-- that's a lot more leg than I've seen from her before.