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

I looked very closely at the replays and you're absolutely right. The defender, to Pugh's right and slightly behind her, clipped Pugh's right leg at calf height or higher and knocked it towards Pugh's left leg with the result that when Pugh's right foot landed, it landed on her own left heel. On a close look at the replay, you can see it happen. It actually was a very good call by the ref. The commentators were too busy talking and didn't look carefully enough at the replays.

 

And this is exactly the problem with Ellis. Just like with Klinsmann, she spends a lot of time trying to make players play positions that are not their best position. Why does Dunn have to move outside? Why not Morgan? Dunn scores 5 goals last night. What more does she have to do? She is outplaying Morgan. What about Pugh? She is the hottest prospect I've seen in years. I think she could sit Tobin Heath down right now if given a fair shot.

Ellis decides a certain player will play a certain position and it takes dynamite to blow them out of that position. Pugh is ready to start now and Ellis should invest in her. Press should be getting at least 50% of every game now. Dunn should have gone to the WC as a center forward and Wambach should not have gone. Period

 

I feel that there is a tendency to over-emphasize "deliberateness" in penalty kicks. In theory, a misconduct that could draw a foul in the box would only be deliberate if the player thought he or she could get away with it, and most savvy players aren't willing to take that risk. Nevertheless, a team can be deprived of an advantage in the box as the result of reflex actions or completely accidental infractions by defenders. I'm not saying that these calls were correct; I'm just saying that "intentional" is often a high threshold to meet, and sticking to it without exception might prevent PK calls that are actually fair.

But that's just my opinion, which is usually incorrect.

 

The one thing Morgan had from her first 4 years in the NT program was that she was fast and there was no competition because of the speed.. Now, the USWNT has players who are just as fast or better technically, or have been moved to positions other than forward.

She hasn't been in the same 2012 form due to injury. The USWNT has other options. It's up to Ellis to realize when it might be smart to use the other options if Morgan is not healthy.

 

That's what Ellis said against Mexico

 

I thought she looked like that was the save of her career and she seemed very chuffed about it.

 

The problem I have with this is why are players being pushed out of position. The only way this team loses if players are out of position and make bad mistakes because of it or players are out of form.

 

Thoughts on the last two pages.

I really cannot imagine a world where Pugh did not earn a start after last nights performance. She was clearly the most technical and tactically alert player in the attack.

It might be too early to build the team around her since she is only 17 but I think we need to find out if she has the kind of class that would justify that. She might just be on a "purple patch" as our friends across the pond sometimes call it.

I think Pugh, and Dunn if in form,have to be on the field. I am not sure Alex is an auto starter at this point in her form since the injuries. Pugh Dunn and one more (Press, Morgan) could be a goal scoring terror.

McCaffrey is a bit too weak for my taste. She had a hard time beating her marker early and did too much dancing on the ball ala Tobin Heath. Against that team last night we should have been able to tell them what we were going to do and then go out and do it and McCaffrey struggled to beat her mark. Maybe she has a spot in the side, but I hope we have better.

I guess the handball against Mex was soft but it surprises me that only three of us think that trip was a peno against PR. I thought it was stone cold peno live and replay confirmed the trail defender hit the trail leg causing the trip. Accidental or not really does not matter the player was in control of the ball and tripped by a defender.

Pugh, wow, I am trying to contain my excitement, but she is at least as exciting as the Alex one goal per appearance super sub Morgan was.

 

I believe the thumbs up was for the pass.

 

Someone is always out of position because Ellis isnt a big believer in labels Her central midfield is made up of three CAMs and a forward.

 

I saw Colaprico was picked for the U23 team going to Croatia

 

It's a world were people understand being good against Puerto Rico (ranked 108) is a lot different than being good against a Germany, France, or Japan. Let see how she does playing against a team in the top 20 first, like Canada for instance, before anointing her the chosen one.

(I'm actually really looking forward to the (expected) game between the US and Canada, since the US will have already clinched the Olympic spot, so nothing to loose and hopefully Ellis will use that opportunity to start Pugh).

 

Live I immediately thought it was a penalty. On the first re-play though, I thought the referee had messed it up. It took about 4-5 replays before I actually saw the foul. Now I give mad props to the referee for seeing it and getting it right.

The whole discussion earlier about "deliberate" is ridiculous. Referees are not mind-readers; why should we expect them to know if a player did something deliberately or not? In fact, instead of "deliberate," the words used in connection with fouls are careless, reckless, or with excessive force. Careless seems a lot like accidental, eh? ("Deliberate" is used for handling, but even there, the description of arm in an unnatural position, moving towards ball, etc. while not a checklist helps the referee think through whether or not the handling may have been deliberate.)

The higher the level of play, the more likely it is that a good player can make a deliberate/intentional foul look accidental. Its ridiculous to expect a referee to read that player's mind. In the laws, a foul in the box is a pk. Period. If you don't want to give up the pk, you better be more careful (instead of careless) in your defending in the box.

 

The Pugh PK is a very slippery slope IMO and plays into diving and split second determinations that the human referees arent going to be able to make. First, they way u separate a dive from a foul is ignore the result and gauge the actual contact. If u simply go by the result then every dive is a foul. So u have to decide if the actual contact warranted a penalty if Pugh hadnt tripped herself afterward. If that isnt a tough enough determination, u also have to determine who caused the contact. Did the player running behind catch Pugh or did Pugh's leg come back in the natural motion of running and clip a player chasing her? The upshot is it's almost impossible for the referee to determine both things in a split second and get it right all the time. In this case I believe they got it right but that doesnt mean if u broke it down frame by frame u couldnt prove it was a bad call.

 

To make it even more complicated: the foul in the laws does not require contact. Its "trips or attempts to trip" (emphasis mine). Could you make an argument that the opponent attempts to trip Pugh, even if there was no contact? Yes. Do most referees call a game so tightly that they would call a trip without contact? No. Would that make it a bad call if a referee did? No.

(To be clear, I do think there was some contact on the play in question.)

 

I get that and that is why I said she deserves another run to see if it was a one off or is she really that good. She was the best player on the field by a wide margin, and that includes the number one ranked team in the world as well as the 108 ranked team.

The rest of our players also played against that same team and Dunn looked good, but McCaffrey looked poor.

 

A ref can see if a player sticks out her arm to touch a ball. A ref can see if a defensive player takes down another player from the back, or cuts the feet out from another player without touching the ball.

That's what I mean by deliberate. Yeah, sure, if a ref is reluctant to call penalty kick fouls, players are going to get away with some fouls -- but that's far less important than a disputable penalty kick that decides a game. Mexico lost the game to the US because of a questionable -- to my mind ridiculous -- call. That's major.

The general rule for a ref should be: if in doubt in the penalty box, don't call it.

 

Come on. The Puertorriqueña player barely touched Pugh, who artfully tripped herself to earn the PK. I've seen yellow cards given for simulation for much less. No way that little bit of contact caused Pugh's two feet to hit each other. She felt the soft touch and dove.

This isn't youth soccer.

After watching the three US matches, I'd say the biggest lesson is that the level of refereeing is far below the level of playing. What kind of matches are CONCACAF referees from countries without much or any high level women's soccer working?

Three blown calls. One arguably decisive in the outcome of a match and the eventual order of the teams in the table.

 

And asking the official to determine "intent" even makes it harder.

 

While I disagree strongly with you about Pugh, you are right that we do get a lot of soft calls, and calls that go our way. Abby Wambach getting the GK time wasting IDF in the last Olympics is probably the most egregious example of that I have ever seen. I was genuinely embarrassed at that call. Alas, that is one of the advantages of being one of the top ranked teams in the world, the calls often go your way. In men's soccer I root for underdogs and the shoe is often on the other foot.

Michael Jordan's, Lebron James, and Kobe Bryant's of the world get the benefit of doubt. That is the way of the sporting world.

 

Even four years later I still dont feel bad about the McLeod call. First she did it all game. Every time she gets the ball she comes to the top of the box and start faking distribution this way and that. Just get the ball back into play. Second, this wasnt the first time we saw Wambach trying to get this call from a ref. Watch the the quarter final in the 2011 WC and u can clearly see Wambach counting on her fingers to the ref while the Brazilian GK was hanging onto the ball. If u think the rule is wrong that's one thing but if there is a rule I dont see why people think it should not be enforced. A better complaint is why dont we see that called more often.

 

That IS the rule; a ref may not award a penalty unless they are 100% sure.