I agree with the assessments of Short's performance. However, the most important reason for her presence in the back line is her speed. Sauerbrunn and Long are slow; Short is the only one with any pace at all. I do think Mewis and Brian had a huge beneficial effect on our defense. The outside midfielders were not wide enough, and were not passed to enough. Usually, these positions are running up and back constantly. I saw our formation as a 3-4-1-2. Germany did look jet-lagged. Unfortunately, I think Ellis will want to see how these same players do against France's style of play, so we won't see some of the different players we long to see.
How about some facts to temper your subjective impressions: Brian, born Georgia, school Virginia* Campbell, Georgia, Stanford* Dunn, New York, North Carolina* Harris, Florida, North Carolina Heath, New Jersey, North Carolina Horan, Colorado, no college* Johnston, Arizona, Santa Clara* Krieger, Virginia, Penn State Lavelle, Ohio, Wisconsin* Lloyd, New Jersey, Rutgers Long, New York, North Carolina* McDonald, Arizona, North Carolina* Mewis, Massachusetts, UCLA* Morgan, California, Cal Naeher, Connecticut, Penn State* O'Hara, Georgia, Stanford Pinto, North Carolina, not yet in college* Pugh, Colorado, UCLA* Press, California, Stanford* Sauerbruun, Missouri, Virginia Short, Illinois, Florida State* Sonnett, Georgia, Virginia* Williams, California, Pepperdine*
It was great to see @Blaze20 and @jackdoggy at the game. I just wanted to say a couple of things about the game experience. It was a tough day to prep for weather-wise. 72 degrees at 3pm, going down to 55 or lower by 8:30 pm. Heavy Rain in the forecast. It was raining right up until about 15 minutes before kickoff. Fortunately, the predicted late-afternoon thunderstorms (and lightning) did not materialize. It was very windy for both the games, which, as others noted above, did affect corners and lofted balls. I had to pull all the dry warm outerwear out of my cinch bag in the rain, so the security guy could 'see the bottom,' before getting wanded. A lot of people's print-at-home tickets were too soggy to slide into the bar code reader, which slowed things down some. One women had hers in a plastic sheet protector, but the reader couldn't scan the code through the clear plastic. So much for being clever and thinking ahead..... After the USA game, the stadium video board cameras followed players around during the post-game mingling. Alex Morgan gave a big big hug to her OL teammate Josephine Henning . RE: The play. I think Steph Houghton is, for England, a cross between Beckie Sauerbruun and Christie Rampone both skillwise and leadership wise. She is on my all-world active players team. Jordan Nobbs had a great game, even excluding the goal. She seems to be as much of a leader and on-field inspiration as Houghton. In the future, people will not be able to describe how good a player Wendie Renard is. Initially, 5-11 Jill Scott marked Renard on corners and free kicks, but she was not doing so on the final corner and goal.