U.S. v. Australia 7/29 (2018 ToN Round 2) pre/pbp/post

The winner of this match will be in total control of their fate in this pseudo-tournament. If it is a tie then all bets become equally valid or invalid. There could be some real complicated situations if there is a tie in this match and a winner in the earlier match particularly if that winner is Brazil.

I believe the US will win but it will be far from simple as Australia showed a LOT of class in its complete dismantling of Brazil. They will be very hard to beat.

I believe we will see a big difference on both sides in personnel and formation and it is hard to predict how each coach will react. The US is no longer feared by the better international sides and expect a bit of an open game at least at the start.

The purpose of these friendlies is to discover both strengths and weaknesses and that may entail some unexpected lineup and formation changes to find possible solutions to problems that may crop up in important matches.

This could be the most fun match to watch in a LONG time. It will be "interesting" in the spirit of the curse, "May you live in interesting times."

 

Now that we're less than a year from WWC 2019, is it possible teams might want to hide things from "big" opponents? I have no idea if that happens. Any thoughts on that?

 

In soccer, generally, you do not hide things because if they are hidden they cannot be tested in game like situations BUT you can prepare for surprises. An example of that is the first US goal by the US against Japan at the last World Cup. Everyone knew that the US had a big height advantage and we were sure that Japan had intensely practiced defending high balls particularly to the back post. So what did the US do? They went low to the near post and scored fairly easily against a surprised Japanese defense.

That low near post corner had been tested in some friendlies leading up to the WC so it was not unknown but it worked as a surprise because it was unexpected.

That is the nature of soccer; you cannot both practice something in game situations and hide them from others. You can only hide when they will be used.

As much as can be in a friendly these matches will be played to win with the proviso of there being some fair amount of experimentation. At least that is the way a reasonably good coaching staff would handle this kind of friendly and both Australia and the US have reasonably good coaching staffs.

 

All I know is that the USWNT needs to schedule the remainder of their games (before WWC 2019) against opponents who bunker, not attacking teams.

 

And someone REALLY needs to learn how to shoot effectively from outside the box. There are two ways to break a good bunker. One is intricate short quick passes through the defense inside the box and the other is effective shots from outside the box. The second is a lot easier if you have an effective shooter or two. Effective shots do not have to score but they do have to challenge the keeper and look dangerous. The threat of a shot serves to loosen defenses and that make the first option not be near as hard. If you only have that first option then it becomes nearly impossible as the defense can collapse on every attempt to pass inside.

 

Another way is pelting a box with crosses and long balls and hoping for the best. Posters are going to hate me for saying this, but that's where we miss Wambach as she was essentially the only USWNT strategy for breaking down bunkers for over a decade. We don't have a player right now who can replicate what Wambach did, so we're trying to go for intricate short passing instead...and I'm not sure we have the players for that either.

 

Actually we do have players that can create the dirty goals in the box, Julie Ertz, Megan Rapinoe and not a few of our defenders to name some. However they either do not play the "correct" position to be regularly in the box when we face a bunker or they are seen as generally more valuable out wide and delivering the crosses.

That is pretty much why I did not include the "cross and hope" option in my ways to break a bunker. Also I do not really think of "cross and hope" as a way to break bunkers as I believe it is really a response to being unable to break bunkers AND it is the strategy against a bunker that is most likely to result in effective counter attacks.

 

FanofFutbol, interestingly perhaps to you, I attended a Portland Thorns practice recently and after practice was "over," two players stayed for about a half hour after and worked on shots from distance: Sinclair and Horan. And, Horan outstayed Sinclair.

 

That is interesting as Horan plays such a position and in such a way that outside shots should open up for her. The parts she has seemed to lack for shots from range was power and the willingness to take the chance. Maybe that is changing. I just hope that there are others taking it on themselves to practice for the needed function.

Free kicks and corners also have to be practiced when there is no glory in the practice and as we saw in many matches at the Men's WC set pieces can win matches and the kick is the most important piece of a set piece.

Edit to add: I remember how dangerous Michelle Akers became against bunkers when she was moved back in the formation and started taking shots from outside. I remember one match I attended where the bunker was holding the US and nothing was opening up and she nailed one from about 30 yards out that went in just below the bar. It was hit with such force that had it missed it might have decapitated a fan or two behind the goal. After that shot it seemed every time she wound up everyone's first thought was to avoid being hit and she got three or four assists just by not shooting. Those passes would never have opened up if the threat of the shot was not always there.

 

THIS will be an interesting game tonight.
One which will prove the hardest test for USWNT in a long time.

Oh and once again...I'll need a stream that works here in €uroland.
pretty please.

 

I.M.P.O.S.S.I.B.L.E.
Nada
Ain't gonna happen

What in the H. am I doing in Hartford, CT. Oh yeah now I remember, 23 world-class athletes united to form an unstoppable force. My Hotel is already filled with U.S. fans of the same mindset.

The World would be a better place if there was a USWNT match every 4 days.
The Journey, no matter the destination with these Women will...........
always..........be...........GLORIOUS

 

Free kicks, including corners, and crosses have always been a key way to beat a defensive-minded opponent--you see it everywhere in soccer. It's hard to score on a team that bunkers--period. Short, intricate passing doesn't work very often because bunkered teams typically crowd the middle and it takes Barca/tiki taka deftness to score. The U.S. has players who can head the ball--Horan, Morgan, Rapinoe, others. Heading is a Horan strength; otherwise, I'm not all that high on her midfield play against good international competition. But she can head the ball.

 

This link has all the streaming options available for tonight's match:

https://streamwoop.net/s/_5f41bc05d3a5a76e65be2d75404e470b24d5b7530cca7fa330d47bf0fa0a235e

 

Someone convince me that Emily Sonnett is a better outside back than Casey Short. KOH better, yes, Dunn, maybe, I just don't think Sonnett is anywhere close.

 

[USA-AUS]

And now for the main event! Meet our starting XI vs. Australia in East Hartford.#ToN2018 lineup notes » https://t.co/rAns56k0X8 pic.twitter.com/gcibMkhKuh

— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) July 29, 2018

The team is in!

⚽ @TheMatildas v @ussoccer_wnt
⌚ 9am AEST
📺 @FOXFOOTBALL 505
📱 My Football Live app#GoMatildas #ToN2018 pic.twitter.com/9Z2HLyw4rF

— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) July 29, 2018

 

Game on.

 

01' 0-0 Kick-off, Rapinoe spins and taps to Horan. Horan (Portland) instantly pings down wide left, Carpenter (Portland) is ready for it, Rapinoe (Seattle) is not. Morgan drifts over to apply some pressure, Carpenter turn-and-hoofs into near touch. Thorn vs. Thorn

04' 0-0 Brian lunges but Butt(?) blocks ball off her foot at 25m mid-right, passes inside-out down wide right for Raso. Cross over 6-top misses everybody, De Vanna runs on at 14m mid-left but Sonnett steps up and shin-blocks.

05' 0-0 Dunn receives up wide left on an overlap, early cross over 10m center but nobody there.

 

07' 0-0 Rapinoe left ck, low inswinger to 6-left foot. Ertz makes that near-post run, slide-lunges but can't do much with it. Ball trickles out to 10m wide left, Rapinoe shoots again but bends it wide left.

09' 0-0 Dahlkemper chips long, Kellond-Knight(?) volleys it upfield. This is our idea, midfield control, tap back, and a look downfield.

10' 0-0 Morgan gets loose down wide right to 5m, cross over 8m center is over Rapinoe's head. Horan stops ball at mid-left, cuts inside, shoots hard -- off Polkinghorne's back across 6-top hard, off Kennedy's face, bounces just wide right low.

11' 0-0 Heath rounds Kellond-Knight to a high bounce, Kellond-Knight slips and sprawls trying to jam a forearm into Heath's back. Foul on -- Heath

 

pinoe needs to put that on target

 

13' 0-0 Kerr dribbles upfield through 25m mid-left. Horan slide-tackles perfectly, pokes ball away and Kerr trips. Another turnover, Butt dribbles to arc top mid-left, Ertz slide-tackles perfectly -- drives the ball hard into Butt's left ankle.

15' 0-0 Kerr runs 1-v-2 through arc top box right, tries a square pass left, ball deflects off Sauerbrunn, rolls to Naeher.

15' 0-0 Brian touches past circle back, long pass drops over Rapinoe's shoulder into box top mid-left. Ld.Williams is that far out, smothers ball. Reign vs. Reign

17' 0-0 Rapinoe harasses Logarzo(?) at midfield wide left, pokes ball free -- and starts her own run. Brian taps to Morgan, Morgan slips a vertical pass through Gate 2, Rapinoe blows past the right flank, 4m onside. Carpenter(?) overtakes on the outside, Rapinoe slows down to 15m left post, shoots right instep bend but shanks it high wide right with no bend. The tempo of ideas is very high

 

20' 0-0 Wow, USA's possession is manic tonight. Sonnett dribbles to circle top right, taps left, Sauerbrunn dribbles past circle top left. Dunn and Rapinoe finally miss an idea, both run curls and neither take ball

21' 0-0 Quick chip past arc top left, Morgan runs inside-out and Polkinghorne jostles her from behind. Morgan unbalanced on the run, eventually face-dives and slides. Foul.

22' 0-0 Rapinoe fk at 20m wide left, low into the wall, cleared toward left flag and over.

 

That's a bad goal. Bad defending on that break.

 

Aussie Aussie!!!!

 

22' 0-1 Rapinoe left ck, cleared out to arc top mid-(Australia's)right. De Vanna gathers going centerward, lures Sauerbrunn that far up into a lunge even further -- then a drag-ccw spin opens daylight, and De Vanna outsprints Brian through circle right to 27m center. Logarzo makes her own run from the left to 1/5 right, De Vanna rolls a perfect pass through box top into stride, Logarzo blasts it just inside right post hard. Not really Dahlkemper's fault, she was basically 1-v-2.