A related line of thought. I thought Ohai was being tested this game. First it was her versatility on the right (she definitely prefers the left) ... and then Ellis moved Dunn away in the second part of the half. You could definitely see the drop in chemistry, but Ohai didn't stop being productive in taking players on & trying to combine with others. I've said before I don't like the idea of relying on chemistry to create chances, it should be bonus attribute, not something you try to build a team on. Watching how effective & dangerous Ohai continued to be without Dunn... THAT is the mark of a good NT player... not who a player does or doesn't play good with.
Watched the tape just now. Thought Dunn had the best overall match, but I wish she'd get the message that people are going to make that little drop down pass the side edge of the box for her-- she failed to anticipate that about four times. She's costing herself goals... Liked Ohai's game (or rather half) a lot, thought Morgan played well. (I thought she was just trying not to choke on the PK but still put it on frame, and the keeper made a pretty good save on it.) Thought O'Hara was good. Thought Heath was great, Harris pretty shaky, and Horan is snakebit. She could have about six more goals this year with only ordinary luck. Thought the goal we gave up was on Long. Wasn't impressed with McDonald on a simple reflex level-- hard to believe a professional coming off a ten goal year has that much trouble pulling the trigger even if first cap nerves are tight. Was struck by how much Long's conditioning has improved over the first time I saw her-- she's really a lean mean bootin' machine these days. Wonder if we'll ever get to see Franch? And worried that Sunday will be a bloodbath-- the Rumanians seemed to think the way to stop the bleeding was induce some-- looked like the 99ers against Nigeria back when, only the current team is much better at it and gave a bit of a clinic. Good thing Carly wasn't in this game or there'd be some splints on the plane back to the Balkans...
So then this was wrong? "Here's the roster again: GOALKEEPERS (3): Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)..."
Yep. The announcement was in a later press release (See the last paragraph on players who were not suiting up): http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/201...tart-as-uswnt-takes-on-romania-for-first-time
The question for Ellis is not, "Where is this player now?" but rather is, "Where is she going to be three years from now?" That's a tough question to answer.
The analogy here is Ellis getting props for being able to quit smoking when the smart thing was to have never started smoking. Sermanni got fired for trying to introduce a system where open competition for spots ruled the day. Ellis got hired because either espoused a veteran team or was simply told she'd have to have a veteran team to get the job. Then following WC she brings in a hand picked players from the U system none of whom make an impact on the Olympics. Now not only has Ellis come around the Sermanni's way of thinking but wants me to believe it's the platform she used to get the job. Ellis should be in politics.
I think this game would have been a lot closer if Romania wasn't so physically week. There were numerous times where a US player dribbled or kicked the ball into a Romanian player, but the US still managed to keep the ball because the Romanian neither tackled nor touched the ball away from the US. I was also disappointed with McDonald. I advocated for her to replace Wambach on the last World Cup team thinking she was more mobile, in form and equally as effective as a target forward. I'm not exactly retracting my prior advocacy. However, McDonald herself is getting pretty old now and it's hard to imagine her having a place on the team going forward.
Sorry, but this makes no sense to me. If Ellis had started at the same time as Sermanni, they may both have done the same thing. Who knows. Looking at it from a different angle, I doubt Sermanni (or anyone for that matter) would have been able to change much if they had taken over as USWNT head coach within a year from the WWC. I'm not advocating her approach, nor am I criticizing it. I was simply stating that, at this point in time, the system has changed significantly from last years system and that players are now forced to earn their spots.
And two or two and a half years from now the survivors of this process may be regarded as having earned their spots, and the flavor of that month may have to wait 'til next year...
Im just annoyed because this is so typical of Ellis. U dont have to do everything the wrong way first before stumbling on a the right way. She could have opened things up on day one and should have. Of the players who have since retired or been replaced, none had a significant role in the WC win except Holiday. If that roster had been picked on merit following 6 months of open competition for spots, some of those older players would have fallen away. That still would have left her 7 months to gel her WC team and she'd have had a good start grooming the roster she would take for the Olympics. Instead, we want to pretend she couldnt do it then when the truth is she didnt want to (or her bosses wouldnt let her)
I agree, she got lucky in the WWC. I'll give her till 2018 to see if her new style can break down a bunker style defense. I know she didn't want to do it. No one is pretending she couldn't do it. However, when your neck is on the line, you don't roll the dice, IMO. If I were in her shoes, I certainly would not be making too many changes with players or style. Anyway, no use complaining over what was. Let's wait and see what will be. FWIT, I would love to see Vlatko Andonovski (from FCKC) as head coach of the USWNT.
I'm reading all the comments on Long being responsible for the goal & I'm wondering what you guys are basing it on? I've followed UNC for over 8 years now & I'm pretty familiar with the UNC 3-4-3. The US lined up in the UNC 3-4-3, & the "system" Ellis is implementing looked very familiar to me. Now the roles could have been different, but the tradition with the UNC 3 back has always been for the center CB to step up & challenge the ball carrier and her passing angles. The two wider CB's are responsible for players who might be running in behind. Soon as that play happened I saw Casey Short giving a Romanian player all the way out on the touch way to much respect & thought "oh no"... The entire sequence also started with a dreadful Casey Short giveaway... a forced ball up the touch to no one in particular.
as should you, no? like good politicians everywhere, you find ways to avoid giving ellis credit even when she does something right. maybe we should just praise her when she succeeds (wins the wc), and criticize her when she fails (doesn't even make the semis of the olympics).
She doesnt want credit she wants to to revise history. Ill give her all the credit in the world for finally taking advantage of the NWSL as a player source. But hey it's the same CBA they had when she took over. The NWSL was there when she took over. None of the revolutionary things she is trying now couldnt have been done then. Instead it's somehow the players fault that she didnt expand rosters or that she brought injured players into camp. The next step for revolutionizing this team is for the coach to take responsibility. When that happens Ill be happy to give Coach Ellis credit for doing it.