USWNT v Puerto Rico (02/15/2016) Olympic Qualifying

The one against Mexico wasn't all that bogus.
Her hand was way outside of her body (not a legal position in the box), and even though she was beginning to bring her arm back in when the ball struck against it, it was too late.

 

Pugh didn't dive, and it was a penalty. Don't look at her own foot hitting her other, look at the defender hitting her leg and knocking her leg path off, hence the trip.

 

This is a tremendous run of posts, so thank you. Perhaps I should spend more time in this forum.

A fool, perhaps, but a successful one. And while Dunn's presence might have made the road to victory easier (smoother), it's a difficult position to argue. Nevertheless, you may be correct.

Looks can be deceiving - perhaps Lloyd realized she could play at half-speed v Puerto Rico. Remind me how long ago Lloyd was winning a World Cup and receiving the Player-of-the-Year Award Also, count me in the camp that believes in speed of thought, not just speed of foot. Nevertheless, we have many fast young players, so you may be correct, at least relatively.

One more time, you might be correct, but I don't like the odds of your proving your point. Instead, you make me wonder if poor (in-game, tactical) coaching might be good for player development.

An opinion I share, though I suspect both the NCAA and US Soccer - for their own reasons - do not.

 

So she should go to NWSL for the big bucks and/or to improve her chances of getting on the Nats, right?

 

To my mind, if a refs call giving a penalty kick can be questioned, it was most likely a bad call. It is a weakness of the game that such an extreme penalty can be assessed for what often are minor infractions -- or no infractions at all.

The key word that is --or should be -- in the rules is "deliberate." If an action by a defender is not deliberate a penalty kick should not be given.

Thus, in my opinion, all three of the penalty calls the US has been gifted in this tournament have been bad decisions by the referee.

 

Right doesn't change anything for Dunn other than making history. I think anyone who has seen Dunn play in the NWSL knows that if you put here up top and in the center of the field it is very hard to slow her down or stop her from putting the ball in the net. She has even found a way to put the bull in the net from the wide position a few times before last night (some have a nose for the goal). Yep not the best passer but maybe it is time not to have to rely just on Alex Morgan and Lloyd to score all of the goals and you may have to give up some passing accuracy to add a third scorer.

 

I disagree, obviously.

The almost imperceptible, inadvertent contact between the ball and the player's arm hardly altered the flight of the ball, which was moving away from the goal relatively far away from any US players.

A gift from a poor official.

 

What this does for Dunn, hopefully, is to allow Ellis to make tactical changes to the attack without changing personnel. If Dunn is as effective against better defenses which is certainly not a given, then a good tactic would be to switch Dunn and Morgan during the match and force the defense to recognize the change and adapt.

 

If Pugh is just sitting at the end of the US bench watching soccer and not part of the Olympic picture this time which was a fair assessment in January, then UCLA was the best choice. Now Pugh in about a month has become the first offensive player off the bench and situational starts. IMO she also looks a lock for an Olympic roster slot. As we have learned from the CBA, a pro player on full contract who makes the Olympic or WC is pushed to tier 1 so for the next four years she spends in college, Pugh would be leaving over $100,000 per year plus bonuses on the table to get a college education. I just dont see how she can do that. Over that four years u could be talking over $1 million dollars if they won the Olympics and defended their WC.

 

I don't post much, but I find the above post(s) about Carli Lloyd almost embarrassing. Summer, 2015 wasn't that long ago. If she wouldn't have been on the field in those last couple of WC games, the US would not have won the trophy. Is it possible that she just doesn't put things into overdrive for a tomato can like Puerto Rico? Think about it.

As for the anointing of Dunn and Press, let's remember, once again, it was Puerto Rico. When they do the same against Germany, France, or Brazil, then you can question Ellis (the coach of the most recent Women's World Cup).

 

My only comment on Lloyd is Im glad she didnt play the entire match. I realize that she wants to be out there every minute but I thought that was a big mistake with Wambach and dont want to see the same thing happen here. Playing older players 90 minutes in meaningless friendlies and in matches already decided not only wear the player down but blocks the development of the players behind them at their position.

 

I think Ellis lucked into her success at the WC. She was in the process of bombing when situations outside her control, forced her to change her plan. Had this not happened, who knows where we would have finished. She is still routinely playing players at less than their best position which brings her judgement into question. She cut Dunn while taking a very old and not mobile Wambach to the WWC. I would bet big money that Jill told her, off the record, to retire because she was not taking her to the Olympics. It was the only way Wambach could leave on a high point and save face while doing it. No Christine Lilly treatment for Abby.

College athletics are totally hypocritical about amateur status of athletes. They offer these start athletes full ride scholarships which is no different than payment for playing a sport. And yet, a player like Pugh has to play for free while everyone else gets paid.

American football players, at big name schools generate a ton of money for the college while the players get their scholarships. Why would US Soccer want to rock that boat? They dont have to pay anything for amateur players to play forthe USA

 

While I agree Ellis was lucky, I look at this from a different perspective. The biggest problem with cutting Dunn wasnt any impact she might have had at WC but the time she lost not working with the NT. Ellis said she began transitioning Dunn to outside mid in January 2015 so that means Dunn wasted 9 months not playing that position until Haiti last September. Perhaps with those extra 9 months Dunn is a much improved player on the outside.

 

Ellis wants Dunn or Press on the field. The problem is both of them are not a right midfielder. Then again her philosophy of right midfielder is cut inside and turn into the middle where everyone is. Maybe they do fit into that. Both of them are center forwards. That wont happen on this team.

 

It's not always about the money. I'm guessing her family isn't in poverty. There is never a guarantee she's getting paid 1 million dollars in the long run either. The career of a pro athlete is so incredibly shaky and unstable. She's only 17 years old. UCLA is a wonderful school and I don't know where she's originally from but going to a university is a chance to grow into a healthy grounded young adult and finding one's true passion in life. Let her get a business degree or whatever she prefers to study, play college ball, hook up with some guys(or gals) and grow into an intelligent young woman. What's wrong with that?

 

Unfortunately Ellis has proven to put a ton of value on things like training & beep tests that happen behind doors that only she & a select few can see & evaluate. Likewise she put's almost zero value in the quality (or lack thereof) that actually happens during a game.

When I was young & spry, I was one of those players who always did so well in practice that all my coaches always said: "if you only did as well in games as you do in practice" . . . I respect the hell out of those coaches because they were right... I struggled mightily with nerves & was panicky with my touches in games. What happens on a field when everybody is watching is just flat out different from what happens on a practice field next to a picturesque lake with no one about except the occasional joggers.

Ellis being a NT coach & not getting that seems odd to me.

 

I'd like very much for Crystal Dunn to play like a false 9 (she sorta did tonight), underneath a forward like Morgan or Press, so that someone is holding the line & giving Dunn space to attack into with the ball. It kinda sorta worked for her when she was on the wing because Ellis likes her wingers to cut in, which means Dunn finds herself inside & underneath the forwards with ball at her feet in the end.

I don't like the idea of her treading a defensive line trying to tip-toe the offside trap so she can be set in on a break-away... that's just not something she's good at. Remember, Anson Dorrance said any coach that doesn't use Crystal Dunn at the CAM deserves to be shot.

 

Dunno why you would be embarrassed by it ... but whatever.

You can't sit here & tell me that because somebody won a World Cup & World Player of the Year that they become infallible. Every player has strength & weaknesses. Carli Lloyd plays at her best against the top teams & on the biggest stages, and personally I believe it is directly proportional to how dense the defense through the middle is. When there are only 1 or 2 defender she has to worry about she almost always beat them & has herself a whale of a game, regardless of the quality of said defenders. That's what makes her the best in the world, she can pretty much beat anybody on the dribble.

Against weaker teams, the quality of a defender becomes less a factor. The space between defenders is usually what trips Lloyd up, and against teams that will have 2 banks of 5 and load the middle of the field, Carli Lloyd doesn't do so well, & she doesn't ever seem to get why. I always get the image in my head of a mentally ill patient in a straight jacket slamming her head against the padded door, getting more & more frustrated that it's not opening for her.

 

My favorite visual from the match was Gustafson, the PR goalie. Morgan had just crushed a ball at her which she saved and she got this goofy smile on her face like "wow!" I actually thought she was going to walk over and ask Morgan to sign the ball.

 

lines up nicely with the post game selfie they took with the US.

 

I didn't say it's not distributing, but that it's not the long passes. The long passes are the things that Horan has really shined on. And it's just a few of those long ones that got away from Mewis that everyone focuses on, when in reality she had a 93.75% completion rate (only Pugh was higher). Compare that to Hinkle, who I recall someone (I forget who) saying they thought she played well, who only had a 75% completion rate.

lol. Well some might say that. I just think when you see how she played last night... she's at least on par with, if not a step above, all these USWNT players who have already graduated from college. And sure UCLA is a quality program and I think Cromwell is an excellent coach, but you look at the big 3 that graduated from their squad last year and none of them exactly shined in the NWSL. So it would probably be more beneficial for her continued development to play games against NWSL calibre defenses rather than college calibre defenses. If she really wants a college degree (which really isn't as useful as it was 10-30 years ago), she could still go to classes in the off-season/do online classes (and yes I understand that means giving up her scholarship and so she'd have to pay tuition).

 

Do you have a link to the statistics that includes completion rates? Thanks?

 

I'm on mobile right now so can't find it, but someone posted the completion rates earlier in the thread and the bottom of the post had a link to a CONCACAF page that has the info. You have to click on the player's name to see their individual stats.

 

I forgot about her. I knew I was forgetting someone. Should have thrown in an "almost" just to be safe.