Hi kids. I agree with Demitri's comments, for the most part. A few tidbits to add: Lloyd looked lost out there - she was almost always late to the ball or out of position, had to make some dangerous plays to get possession back, and had a few bad giveaways that led to China chances. A-Rod, in the little time she played, had several WPS playoff-like chances - wide open near misses. Loyden was so-so. She did make a fantastic save right before the China goal but she hesitated too long and was out in no-man's land. There was no saving the goal from the position she was in. Fantastic shot. HAO looked the best I've seen her play this year (in the few times Sky Blue played in ATL). Cox had trouble handling the ball on the sideline. (This was closest to my seats). I lost count but it was 3 or 4 times balls went out of bounds that shouldn't have. I'm generally in the camp of "Lilly has lost a step" but she had an amazing takeaway right in front of me - I can't even describe it exactly but it was like half slide tackle, turn with the ball and come up with it. Great play. It was an exciting first half, and a less than exciting second half. I'll be interested in seeing lineup changes on Wednesday.
do you think China is in the same level as USA these year? -NO!may since 2003.or more earlier.. yes ,China have fallen a long way.China wasn't the 1999 Steel Rosa again.and i think it hardly or impossiblely to get the same position as 1999.
It has been obvious the entire time Pia has been the USWNT coach that Lloyd is one of her favorites regardless of form. And I've not been shy about my hope that other candidates step up. Thank you to yellowdog and DemitriMaximoffX for the eye-witness reports. Repped. I didn't bother trying to follow matchtracker yesterday. It annoys the crap out of me. I did read the ussoccer write up. Here's a question, how does a player that has an assist & a goal and her team wins with 2 goals not end up as player of the game? Was Rapinoe that active and assertive? Not judging or campaigning, just asking.
On Lloyd being one of Pia's favorites, she earned that distinction with her past play in international competition. She was US Soccer women's player of the year in 2008, so regardless of how she played in one year in Chicago, she has a long record of success in international play and IMO is the best attacking mid we have. But why not let her get some game action in friendlies after being basically idle for the past six months. It's not like it's the World Cup or Olympics. NCAA players like Morgan and LeRoux have responsibilities to their college teams that are in mid-season, so unless Pia planned to start them, it would not have been worth it to have them sit on the bench or serve as the fourth forward behind, Abby, Cheney and ARod in these matches? And wow, Loyden played goal in an international competition and the world is still rotating on its axis. Imagine that. Thanks for the great game reviews from those who were there. Not surprised about Lindsey. I think her legs have been shot for the past month or two.
was in attendance last night. the accounts reported are extremely accurate. i am not as into analyzing as some of you so i can't give you an in-depth analysis that actually means something. the 1st half was amazing, the 2nd half very slow. rapinoe was a monster out there..very active, very aggressive. looked more like she was having fun and doing it well, which i like to see. intense but playful, almost enjoying the crowd and trying to play it up for us. HAO also great game, she's one of my faves anyways so that's a bit biased, but she had a solid game - great playmaker, always a workhorse and keeping the ball alive...it was her playmaking and pursuit that led to the first goal and she stuck with the ball again to get her own goal. boxxy and lloyd not really a presence. man krieger is a brute! and quick for her size...i don't know a great deal about her playing style but was pleased with her work ethic. i'm in agreement the 2nd half was slower because we put in slower (and older) players. i mean a-rod gave a burst of energy right out the gate, but that's about it. lindsey....no. i think she's out of her league...china is not the team they used to be and god help us if we're playing lindsey even as a reserve against someone like, say, germany. china: i was just expecting 1999 or something. i get it, it's not that time again. they did not look good at all 1st half, but what an amazing goal they scored...about 25 yds out, left-footed line drive almost U90 far post. no chance to save that although the initial save was great. the 2nd half was a bit more even since our pace slowed to what theirs was the whole game. i had a good time and was pleased with the game itself. wish i had something to go back and watch though..
Lindsey i don't think starts off well. I think her nerves get the better of her. SHe was that way for the sweden matches as well. She was invisible for the first and on fire for the second. Kool-Aide, i did follow matchtracker an they were constantly updating about Rapinoe stirring shit up. It read like she was everywhere so i wasn't suprised to find out she was player of the game.
Thanks for that info. Perhaps that means we'll see Taylor & Morgan in Philly. The reviews on Lloyd over the last 4 years have been very mixed (and not just by me). Yes, she scored the goal in the gold medal game but she was not all that good for the other 95 minutes. She had garnered a great rep prior to the 2007 WWC and didn't show well at all. Her play vs Germany last Oct was horrid. And she isn't the best amid in the USWNT pool right now--and that pool is incredibly shallow right now. But Pia loves her. eta: highlights appear to be up on the ussoccer site. Why couldn't they webcast?
HIghlights are up in ussoccer.com Rapinoe was everywhere in the first half. The play from the second half looked like it was getting snazzy (no finishing though)
A 4:23 highlight clip isn't enough for me to make any generalized judgments on who what where during the entire game. I can tell that a) how does HAO get an assist on Rapinoe's goal? The cross (which was a good one) was tipped out to Rapinoe by the Chinese keeper. b) ARod badly missed 2 open chances--a theme w/ her it seems. c) if they can film the game for a highlight clip then they can put more than 4 min of action up for us to see. Who the hell wants to see highlights of pregame stretching or players signing autographs (~45 sec of the short clip)?
You never know until you try. HAO was an "out and out" striker before pia moved her to wing. People generally think it was a good move. I absolutely think Morgan is capable, perhaps not Leroux. Our wing play yesterday seemed to be strong. But previous Pia has stated a few times that is the weakest part of the team, which is why i suggested mixing it up in first place. I haven't seen Rapinoe move like that for a long time.
Not really. She played as a wing-forward in a 3 front for a while b/f the switch to midfield. And she has always had defensive duties and intense work rate (angry chicken) that would translate to midfield play. Leroux is not close to the type of forward that would have success in the midfield w/o significant changes to her game. A forward that is getting looks in wide midfield is O'Hara. It will be interesting to see how her career progresses.
Gotcha. Thanks for the info. Like I said, I was just curious. It is so hard to tell how a game goes w/o video. And after seeing the highlight of Rapinoe's goal, I don't think HAO gets a "real" assist (maybe an MLS secondary assist) either.
Oh where, oh where has our little Lori gone? Oh where, oh where can she be? She's sitting in Atlanta, twiddling her thumbs, saying: "oh please, don't forget about meeeee!" Seriously though, either the Beat medical staff should be fired for letting Chalupny play the entire WPS season with serious concussion problems, or the USWNT doctors need to get their act together and clear her to play. We are clearly lacking in quality fullbacks. This indecisive middle ground is frustrating (for all involved, including Lori I'm sure), and it is coming close to jeopardizing her spot on the World Cup team.
Glad to hear that Rapinoe played well, which seemed to be the general consensus among people in attendance. We need her creativity. I can't help but be concerned with our central midfield options. It was the weakest link at the 2008 Olympics. Yes, Lloyd came up with the big goal against Brazil, but how many balls did she and Boxx waste over the tournament? How many attacks were ended prematurely because they weren't communicating, or because Lloyd played some overly ambitious long ball to no one. Here we are, approaching 2011, and its the same combination. Boxx is still performing well in WPS, but she is three years older, and Lloyd is just coming off a serious ankle injury. It's possible they will come back smarter and more tactical than before, and I certainly hope thats the case, but still. The other worrying part is that I don't know who else I would use. Lori Lindsey is struggling, Huffman hasn't impressed, Chalupny is M.I.A., Osborne got injured as soon as she and Boston stepped it up, and everyone else is inexperienced. Tarpley, maybe? Is now the time to experiment, or it is too late? Do we keep the system in place and hope for the best?
Thanks for this summary, I think this makes 2 of us who think this way. Lloyd IMHO is the single most overrated USWNT player for the past 2-3 years. You are kind to say "she was not all that good for the other 95 minutes" of the gold medal, she was atrocious, the queen of the giveaway. The fact she wasn't subbed in 2008 and the fact she is starting now 2+ years later speaks only to the lack of options available, not her performance. Of all the postions on the USWNT this seems to be the black hole, whether Pia (who I love) has a huge blind spot or there simply is no viable option because no one has developed since 2006.
Someone said earlier in this thread that Mitts was having concussion-related issues. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, why the hell is she there and Lori isn't? Perhaps it's not nearly as bad, or maybe ussoccer is in the clear legally because it happened with her club team so they don't care. Just speculation. And I second the suggestion of at least trying Tarp in CM. or play some sort of 4-2-3-1 type formation.
http://www.phillysoccernews.com/teams/independence2.php?article_id=5723 i think Chups might have shot herself in the foot. Since she withdrew from WNT play because of the concussion related issues prior to the WPS season starting.
if she was called and she refused to go, then that's bad. the coach will remember that for a long time. we may not see her again while pia is in charge.
I doubt this is the case; the legal/insurance issues seem to be the deciding factor. Pia just isn't the type to do this. Besides, she's the one who named Lori captain when Rampone was gone. I'd like to say "too bad" about Mitts, but I think there are better options at her position right now.
Saw the short highlights and read some game info. From what Sundhage has said after this game and previously, the U.S. squad was more or less finalised for WC qualifying and the WC a while back. I dont know why she brought in Leroux, even if new faces get caps they wont be seeing Germany. I image Sundhage can see the problems with the U.S. build up play. Without a credible playmaker and not wanting to risk building from the back, she wants the U.S. to play a high defensive line, putting pressure on the ball as far up the field as possible. This is why Lloyd will always play, Pia has given up on U.S. creating from the center of the field. By using a very physical Lloyd and a savy Boxx combo, Sundhage wants dynamic flank play to be the origin points for offensive plays. Its far less dangerous losing the ball out wide than in mid field, thats why all the offensive competition for places are out wide, while Lloyd can walk straight back into the center mid spot unchallenged. Lilly looks set to get a (is it a 6th?) World cup place, but this time from the bench. Wambach is still alone up front, between Cheney and A-Rod I dont think it matters who starts come qualifying. Why is Sundhage messing around with the U.S. defence? I thought that was USA's strongest atribute. It practically won them the Olympics. Chalupny is definitely the answer to the U.S. left full back question, but she also wont be going to qualifying. She is a big time player for the USA, and is a must for WWC if USA wants success.
No, not that she refused, whatever issues she had were bad enough that she had to withdraw from play. Which probably meant they ran gobs of tests of her coupled with the tests they ran on her after Solo KOd her. So they have a lot of brain tests to go off of with her. With Mitts since she wasn't in camp when hurt and healed while not in camp so they don't have anything to compare her with.