Who you play depends on you opponent and tactics, but It's hard to run when you don't have a ball to run for.
While Ellis gets props for contributing to the victory, this match was a major blow to the Ellis regime. What she basically did here was back off almost everything she changed in her time as coach. 1. The veterans will lead us ... with three vets out it was their less capped subs who brought energy, quickness and a winning approach. Instead of holding the ball they 1 & 2 touched to players moving into space 2. While they were still supposedly playing the 4-2-2-2 that Sundhage. I mean Ellis favors. ...................Morgan.........Rodriguez ......................Heath...............O'Hara Klingenberg...........................................Krieger ........................Lloyd.............Brian .................Sauerbrunn.............Johnston What we actually got was a straight 4-4-2 ...................Morgan.........Rodriguez ............................Lloyd .....Heath..............................................O'Hara .....................................Brian Klingenberg...........................................Krieger .................Sauerbrunn.............Johnston Now the outside mids r playing wider, though Heath comes inside on the left making it a bit of a diamond. Lloyd was basically the CAM. 3. Blitzkrieg with the fullbacks, which is Ellis' favorite tactic has also has evolved into a more traditional positioning. Instead of seeing Kling and Krieger trying to get to the end line, a position nearly impossible to defend from, they r now spending more time deeper in the offense looking for an occasional overlap. Because they r in a better defensive position to start with there has been a noticeable improvement in their defense. 4. Back to goal striker like Wambach who mostly helps the defense pack the box with bodies was out in favor of the attackers facing goal and probing. While it didnt result in goals it did produce more chances for the forwards.
I admit that I was wrong about what Jill Ellis would do with the lineup & tactics for this match. The change she made to the lineup & tactics were not the sort of change she's made before in her coaching. I did not think she had it in her to make the adjustment. Well done to her for stepping outside her usual & proving me & others wrong for this game. I find it interesting that several players mentioned this game being "fun." I don't think it was just b/c they won.
It was fun because China was not athletic enough to really challenge the USA which made everything easier.
Just a note to say how GOOD I thought Tobin Heath was last night. Crisp and precise with mucho flair. Good on you Girl
No, it isn't that simple. But if you couldn't see that the difference in their play & in their body language & their words after a win, I'm not sure what can be said to convince you.
I'm not saying they weren't having fun out there I'm saying its always more fun when you can do whatever you want against an opponent, and that's in any sport..
A couple of comments: Obviously the changes in lineup/tactics were caused by the yellow cards; but the choices were determined by the nature of the opponent. This is what works against China, and it is silly to think the same thing will work against Germany. Brian can play the "Dd-er mid" against China. But she'll get rolled and tumbled if she is put there against Germany. She'll get stronger with time, but she's just a puppy still. If she starts against Germany I'd switch her for Lloyd, at least. IMO Abby was subbed in for defensive purposes, set piece type. Re the O'Hara substitution-- presumably that was a broken nose. Remember that the players are monitored now-- a whole new world. I don't know what specifically is monitored, but I'd bet the rent it includes oxygen utilization-- the bench likely knows how the injury is going to affect her play before the effect even starts. I'd bet the lunch money, anyway, that that sub was forced, not planned. Lloyd plays because she's physically up to playing every minute of a tournament. I think people here tend to forget that you can't make six subs, unlike a friendly. You are going to have to have a couple or three players who play the whole thing. She's a very constructive influence despite the turnovers; but she does turn it over a lot. But we as fans need to focus at least as much on the things each player does well, not just what they don't. It'll make the coaching a lot more comprehensible to us even if we don't like the coach much. At this point I am assuming that the training staff sees HAO as a 45 minute player, hence not a potential starter unless against a greatly overmatched team, a Thailand say. Can't think of any other reason she gets so little time...
For the record, Abby has now done more coaching from the sidelines than Ellis. You all noticed the slight shift in tactics from previous games, highlighted above. I am wondering if the players did that on their own.
I do like that the China game has give Germany something else to think about. We were dynamic for even a longer period then we were against Colombia - even without an effective Morgan A-Rod though needs to finish to make Germany worry too much about her
Nice to see the growth. FOX-Record 5.7 Million Watch USA Defeat China in FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2015 Quarterfinal Audience Peaks at Over 8 Million Viewers Third Most-Watched Women’s Soccer Match All-Time - The 2015 USA-China Quarterfinal is now the third most-watched women’s soccer match of all time, trailing only the USA-China 1999 Women’s World Cup Final (17,975,000) and the Japan-USA 2011 Women’s World Cup Final (13,458,000), dropping the USA-Nigeria 2015 Group Stage contest to fourth place. The Brazil-USA 1999 Women’s World Cup Semifinal drops to fifth (4.9 million), followed by USA-Sweden 2015 Women’s World Cup Group Stage (4.5 million). - The five USA matches on FOX and FOX Sports 1 have averaged 4.7 million viewers, +114% better than the 2011 tournament average through the quarterfinals (2.2 million) on ESPN. - The 2015 tournament is averaging 1.142 million per match across all networks (FOX, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2), +42% over 804,000 averaged on ESPN and ESPN2 through the quarterfinals in 2011. http://www.foxsports.com/presspass/latestnews/2015/06/27/usa-china-quarterfinal-ratings
This was in regards to Alex Morgan. I guess the question is why was A-Rod able to get service and be dangerous then from the same midfield?
Arod was allowed to stay high, on the defensive line, with limited duties beyond find and chase...Morgan was tasked with making different runs including dropping deep, far from goal. Morgan pulls the defense towards her which creates the space behind her for Arod or others to exploit. In the end, they had the same number of shots (tied for team lead) but Morgan actually put two on frame while Arod had zero.
alex morgan is venturing into Jozy Altidore territory with many US fans. Lack of dynamism and when things don't go their way it's the old "lack of service" argument.
Her problem is that she is not fit and has not played with the team for a while, so she is rusty. The logical thing would be to play her from the bench.
well then shouldn't she have more influence over the game then? we're still better with A-Rod exploiting that space than Abby
morgan is undoubtedly a top 5 player in the world when she's healthy and in rhythm, but she has to turn down diva mode. once she started being heralded as a star and received tons of media attention, she became noticeably egotistical on the field. several times in this tournament when she received a ball offside, she quit playing and nonchalantly walked back upfield. didnt run back onside, not even a light jog, didnt keep alert, she literally momentarily quit. it's understood she couldnt receive the ball or it'd be called, but to just shut down when you know the ball will still be in play is arrogant and childish. when she got smacked in the face during the england game earlier this year, nothing hard or malicious, she also quit playing and just freely gave away possession. in the nasl, how dare the refs call anything against her. she acts like she's owner, president and ceo of the production. hard to watch. i used to be an indiana pacers fan and remember the same thing happened with danny granger, which opened my eyes to the culture of pro leagues -- how individualistic they are, the star calls, the preferential treatment, completely money-driven -- and i've since paid little attention to them. grinds my gears. college athletics and international competition is a much more pure and enjoyable form of sport imo, even if it does exist there as well, to a lesser degree.
Carli Lloyd doesn't pass to Morgan, Rapinoe does. Usually Carly is on the right and Morgan is on the left so that explains some of it but Morgan is consistently making runs and rarely gets a good ball. She is not a 10. She needs good service to add something to the team. It would be better to leave her on the bench and play a more complete forward like Press if the plan doesn't involve some good long balls and through balls. I don't know if it is personal but I suspect there is something between the two players and has been for a looooong time.
Plus, when Morgan goes to the bathroom at half time two Chinese defenders follow her in. I thought Morgan had an effective match. If A-Rod has space it's because the defense doesnt want Morgan to beat them.
Observation: Early in the tournament, the US most successful offensive attacks began from the left. Against China, they began from the right. Against Colombia, the US "bunkered" for a major part of the game. Against China, the US applied very high pressure. Are these random changes, or are they planned changes? Where do they leave Germany in terms of what they are planning to deal with?
There was a floating rotation of forwards mixed in with a midfielder or two pre-China on the right in the midfield. With KMO or HAO in against China they both tend to make the field wider not drifting to the middle. That coupled with ARod moving to space and Morgan getting a lot of attention allowed a lot of action down the right side. Both KMO and HAO also play defense and push to the end line which allows Krieger some support and she can be a connecter on passing and not trying to make the perfect pass into a crowded center of the field. On the other side its simple, Rapinoe was out. I think high pressure to start, push Germany early, they played 120 minutes last match, make them chase and work them as hard as possible the first 30 minutes. For us, stay strong defensively, play team defense, look to counter with speed up front and make the goalie save the ball by being on frame when we shoot.