Let's see: Starting lineup: GK: Harris. (Naeher hasn't been that good recently. An opening for Harris) Def: Short, Sauerbrunn, Dahlkemper, Huerta. (O'Hara and Smith left the last game injured and Huerta did well enough to get a start.) Mid: Horan, Mewis, Ertz (NZ is too good to mess with a functioning midfield) Forward: Rapinoe, Morgan, Pugh. (Pugh has to prove something or she won't be a starter for long. subs: Brian (also needs to prove something), Williams (for whom? Can she play the flank?), Long (has to prove she belongs on the team), Dunn (another one who has something to prove), Press (maybe), Lavelle (definitely, if she's healthy) . Assuming that Ertz is now a fixture in the midfield, Ellis needs to find a center back to back up Sauerbrunn and Dahlkemper (and compete with Dahlkemper as a starter). Who is that? Allie Long, maybe. Or call Krieger back in (unlikely). Short (I don't think so). Find somebody in NWSL?
USA (Jillian Ellis): Short for #22 Taylor Smith (and O'Hara to RB); Lavelle for #9 Lindsey Horan; Press for #13 Alex Morgan. 15 Megan Rapinoe, 23 Christen Press, 2 Mallory Pugh 16 Rose Lavelle, 8 Julie Ertz, 3 Samantha Mewis 14 Casey Short, 4 Becky Sauerbrunn, 7 Abby Dahlkemper, 5 Kelley O'Hara 1 Alyssa Naeher New Zealand (Tony Readings): Identical. 17 Hannah Wilkinson 11 Kirsty Yallop, 12 Betsy Hassett, 13 Rosie White 14 Katie Bowen, 10 Annalie Longo 7© Ali Riley, 5 Meikayla Moore, 6 Rebekah Ashley Stott, 2 Ria Percival 1 Erin Nayler Ready to go from Cincinnati! 🇺🇸 Meet your #USWNT starting XI for #USAvNZL.Lineup notes » https://t.co/kQ8TP8vUia pic.twitter.com/P2IOt85hkv— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) September 19, 2017 LINE-UP | Here is the #FootballFerns team to take on @ussoccer_wnt today at 12pm (NZT) in Cincinnati. Live on @skysportnz #USAvNZL pic.twitter.com/ityRsohtHZ— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) September 19, 2017
10' 0-0 Sauerbrunn passes up wide right to Pugh, who promptly turns down to box top wide right. Fast bending ground cross to 6m right post, Ertz cuts across from center and (back-??)flicks across mouth low. Nayler dives away from right post, slaps ball across goalmouth, New Zealand clear. Good early-tempo cross from Pugh, although normally the attacking side has more than a 1-v-4 in the center to run onto it. 13' 0-0 USA cross from ~5m wide right, over goalmouth, Nayler reaches back and pokes ball over endline left, over Pugh's head running in from 6-left. Pugh is moving around unpredictably. 14' 0-0 Rapinoe left ck, to 1m left post, headed away. Rapinoe snaps off a quick shot from ~10m wide left, right instep inswinging to Nayler at 1m center. Nayler bobbles it, S.Mewis pokes in through her gloves. No goal, offside on Rapinoe's shot, or foul for playing ball in GK's control. 15' 0-0 Press turns upfield past circle top, 20m knee-high chip pass springs S.Mewis curling past Moore(?) through arc top mid-right -- but she can't receive with right shoe outstretched.
21' 0-0 Press loses balance over ball at circle top left, Stott counters up circle (their) right. New Zealand make short passes through midfield, go wide left to LB Riley sneaking up to box top wide left. Riley crosses left instep to 6-top left post, headed away. Riley gathers at box top wide left, right instep cross to 10m right post, Wilkinson jumps facing away (challenged by Short), back-header pops up short to 6-top and Naeher collects the bounce. 23' 0-0 USA diagonal pass from ~30m arc right springs Rapinoe wide-open through box top mid-left -- is NZL getting caught with effectively a 3-back? Rapinoe touches to 4m mid-left, waits a beat too long, low cross blocked over.
25' 0-0 LCB Moore square-ish pass from own box top arc left to Longo at ~25m mid-right, ball clangs off her foot, leftward to Pugh. Pugh spins and drives to 22m arc tangent left, shoots left instep low inside-out past Nayler's dive, juuuust wide left low. She scored like that vs. Sky Blue to eliminate them from the playoffs ... Juuuuuust a bit wide. Inches away from a @MalPugh opening strike 📏.#USAvNZL | #USWNT pic.twitter.com/61zaMriBf7— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) September 20, 2017
29' 0-0 Ertz, Rapinoe, and S.Mewis are playing like studs -- they're totally in control when on the ball, and constantly forcing New Zealand back. Press, in a deep role around circle top, is looking not-great: she clangs/leaves balls just out of her reach that New Zealand can poke away or steal, and can't quite accelerate away from anybody. Lavelle, Pugh, Short, etc. are sometimes dangerous, sometimes just miss a connection. 31' 0-0 New Zealand sustain a long scramble in our box, with several shots blocked. 33' 0-0 USA subs in (1 of 6) #9 Lindsey Horan for #16 Rose Lavelle. Scripted 30'-ish appearance for Lavelle still returning from injury, like a pitch count.
35' 0-0 Short receives at circle back wide left, turns upfield. Wilkinson slide-tackles from behind, follows through into Short's left ankle. Foul, yellow card on Wilkinson. Short stays down in pain for a few seconds, resumes. 36' 1-0 Ertz backpass to S.Mewis at circle top box right. S.Mewis touches forward, hooks a high cross to 15m left post. Nayler is stuck out at 4m center, Horan outjumps (over) RB Percival, heads a perfect lob over Nayler's backward dive, bounces up into 1/4 right back high. Horan is pretty deadly on headers, and not so easy to box out. Was just a matter of time ⏰.@Lindseyhoran11 goes WAY up for her 4th career #USWNT goal! pic.twitter.com/MYlpafwsJM— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) September 20, 2017 38' 1-0 Rapinoe does ball tricks at endline mid-left, cross cleared back. Press taps right to Horan at arc top mid-right, inside-out diagonal return pass to Press backpedaling to 14m box to create a lane -- that's Ellis's Gate 2 . Press turns behind the line to 10m mid-left, cuts centerward between two retreating defenders -- almost loses it, ball magically bounces off her foot into her own stride. Quick right instep shot bends directly to Nayler's chest at goalline center.
44' 2-0 LCB Moore clears upfield past Press. O'Hara one-touch chip upfield to Press at circle top box right -- and Pugh begins her sprint cut up wide right past Riley. Press one-touch square pass left to Horan (who sees that run), one-touch through-ball springs Pugh through box top mid-right, to 8m 6-right. Calm right instep shot beats Nayler near post over her left leg, into center back low. Yes, Pugh can finish against a GK, she's been doing that for ... years. Perfect Z-pass action distracted Riley just enough for Pugh to backcut her outside-in. Skills to pay the bills.Come for the @MalPugh finish, stay for the @Lindseyhoran11 dime. pic.twitter.com/hVFBG1G0ic— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) September 20, 2017 HT 2-0. Waiting on USSoccer's tweetmeister
I thought both Pugh and Horan have had a more than 4 and 6 international goals respectively. the midfield looks much better with out Long.
The Ertz-Mewis axis in midfield is clicking nicely. I think long term you can play either Horan or Lavelle in the #10 spot, depending on the opponent. Add in Sullivan, pending injury recovery, and Brian if she can regain form (or take your pick of the NWSL mids Ellis has overlooked), and you have a solid central midfield core. As for outside wingers in the 4-3-3, Pugh has to be one. As for the other, Rapinoe is in good form. Heath is a wild card with her back injury. Dunn is being bypassed in the pecking order honestly. She is probably rusty, skipping NWSL and waiting for the FAWSL season to begin, but still. I don't know why she is called up for these games. If you aren't playing club you shouldn't be called in. In my opinion. If Ellis sticks with 4-3-3 it bodes well for Ohai to get back into the picture next year. She is tailor made for it. O'Hara-Dahlkemper-Brunn-Short is probably the best back four right now. But I hope Ellis doesn't put all her eggs in this basket. I'd like to see the Portland duo, Sonnett and Menges, get looks too. Becky has played so many minutes, Ellis really needs to give her a rest and see how the backline fares without her.
46' 2-0 USA subs in: - (1 of 6) #13 Alex Morgan for #4 Becky Sauerbrunn (and Short to LCB) - (2 of 6) #12 Lynn Williams for #23 Christen Press - (3 of 6) RB #22 Taylor Smith for #15 Megan Rapinoe (and O'Hara to LB) 46' 3-0 Ertz chips from circle front tangent left to Pugh unmarked at 5m wide left. Pugh stops over ball, Morgan cuts through box top left, Pugh snipes a ground cross. Hapless RB Percival scuffs ball upward but still into Morgan's stride, Morgan cuts down to 2m 6-left, shoots low into Nayler's legs -- and it deflects into 1/3 left back low hard. *Scheduled tweet*@alexmorgan13 scores. Again. 3rd in her last 3 #USWNT games! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/2ew65CXuHI— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) September 20, 2017 Scheduled tweet