That was easily the worst weather I've had watching a game. And to think a week ago it was 70. What could have been [emoji37]
It might not be pretty viewing for game 3. I watched the highlights of D.C. United's home opener and the RFK pitch is shockingly bad. Looks bumpy with lots of of bald spots. It's like they know a new stadium is coming, so they are neglecting the current grounds.
And wunderground.com does not have a pitch-friendly forecast: Tuesday: 70 % Precip. / 0.06 in Cloudy with light rain developing later in the day. High around 65F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Tuesday Night: 60 % Precip. / 0.15 in Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Thunder possible. Low 49F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
It re-airs on FS2 at 3 ET/Noon PT on Monday. I wish Fox Sports Go had on demand viewing of past games like WatchESPN does, though.
A wet, sloppy pitch may help to negate France's technical "superiority", but both teams will play on that pitch. At least it won't be icy!
FoxSoccer2Go has on demand viewing. The game is still available to watch there if you have an account.
I was able to watch England-France for free on the first day as it wasn't key locked. But the Germany-France match required a paid subscription, this was a separate charge from my cable sub.
Like I said RFK is a poor venue. pitch looks terrible. Veiwing has never been great. facility about to fall down.
But not really. I did have to laugh when I overheard two women looking for their seats... literally looking for their seats. They were missing.
The pitch at RFK Stadium looks atrocious. I saw the highlights of DC United over the weekend and knew it would be rough. But sheesh. The weather isn't *that* bad in Washington, DC. Certainly no worse than Chester, PA or Harrison, NJ and those pitches were fine. Did the RFK grounds crew just completely give up, knowing that DC United is vacating the stadium soon? Well I got news for them. Audi Field won't be ready until summer 2018 at the earliest, they better get their act together and make RFK playable in the time being. This is just embarrassing. They are basically playing on dirt in large portions of the field.
Except I'm at RFK right now and this past Saturday when I was actually on it. It doesn't look good on one side especially from high angles, but for the most part they are not divets. There are discolored spots. Stuff happens. Since you still won't believe me Weird winter weather has left RFK Stadium field with many patchy spots, especially in south end. Looks worse than it plays.— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) March 7, 2017
I wonder how stagnant the offensive and movement off the ball will be today? Everyone go to their section of the field and run in circles again. but this is great GREAT sophisticated soccer. Love, Jill.
I honestly wanted to see the US play France more than any other game. It was also the team that I thought was most likely to expose this backline. I thought they were the better team last year too but couldn't finish. They solved the finishing issue this year. Will hopefully watch the game itself soon.
I haven't done one of my play by play analysis & breakdowns in quite some time (how many days since last USWNT games, how many days since NWSL?) and find myself with an itch to do it for the SBC. I'm leaning towards two threads. The first is Casey Short. Her performance seems to be the most disagreed about subject among posters on this board. The second is Sam Mewis, where her performance is the opposite & seems most posters think it was good... myself included. I'd like to see if a closer look at the details validates or disproves my initial impressions. So I'll be comparing the play-by-play statistics of Casey Short with the other "wide" CB's like Sauerbrunn (which is just weird to say) and the play by play of Sam Mewis with the other holding midfielders (Brian in games 1 & 3, Horan in game 2). I'm open to suggestions.
The problem with Short is Ellis is using her wrong and in the wrong system. Short's best attribute is getting forward, making crossing runs and making crosses into the box. Which is why we saw Short nowhere to be found in Frances first two goals. If this were a 4 back, i could see using short. In a 3 back, it's idiotic. Short also has some tactical errors in her game. For example, when chasing after a ball or an attacking winger, she rarely uses her body to slow down the opponent. Something outside backs need to do. Short instead relies solely on her speed. Kling, Krieger and even Ohara all learned to use their bodies and get into position so much better. All three mentioned also read the game MUCH MUCH better.
I mean, a lot of the same could be said for Sauerbrunn. She is an exceptional CB but doesn't have the speed for the outside position in a 3back. And Long should not be the last line of defense.
as a UNC fan I've always gotten used to the idea of all 3 defenders in a 3 back being CB types. Short doesn't fit that mold to me. It feels odd to me that Sauerbrunn is outside as much as she is, but she's just as effective in her current position as she is in a 4 back. Her width really only changes when the US is in possession.
Very good read on the tournament: http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/2017/3/9/14869842/shebelieves-postmortem-three-things-we-learned