It's great reading the history of Wag's travels and who was traded for whom. However, the fact remains that Wags has no place on the pitch right now. As I wrote after the game against Brasil in Birmingham "I save my strongest comments for Wags. She didn't belong on the pitch. She is afraid of confrontation. True, the balls were not going through her, but she also ran from side to side on the pitch with no apparent reason for her runs. She backed off on 50-50 balls, making them 90-10 for Brasil. She spends (and I remember writing this after the USA-Brasil game in New Orleans last year) most of her time trying to control the ball and keep it from her opponent than she does being the attacking mid. If she can't control the ball and play it forward to the front runners, then she's of no use on the team, let alone the pitch. She can't play anywhere else. So, if she's not going to work hard and be the attacking midfielder, then leave her off and replace her with someone with other skills the team can use." I saw no desire, no passion out there. Pressure her, and her game goes south fast. She is so cognizant of pressure that she pays more attention to trying (and this is a stretch) to keep the ball under control than she does being a member of the midfield. As I stated above, if she can't be the attacking midfielder that some believe she could be, then open up a spot on the roster for someone who has the desire to play with heart. She can't play anywhere else, not even as a flank midfielder. The experiment is over. Also, I do not believe that you get better by playing matches alone. She needs to show her mettle during the camps. Maybe she does, and then just implodes during matches. I can't figure her out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------- by this you seem to be implying that at one time she was a physical player. Aly has never been a physical player. Not at Santa clara and not in the WUSA and certainly not on the WNT. She never did make the transition from collage to WUSA well, and it is the same for the nats. At the college level you generally have more room to work with and time. Aly excelled in that inviornment because there was very little preasure. but she was not able to transition beyond that point. 5'5" is not an excuse not to get physical when you have to. Mia is also 5'5" and she gets physical when it is called for. and does so very affectively. Same thing with TR who is actually an inch or 2 shorter. Yet is a tenacious defender of the ball.
Either that or Mr. Chastain knew how to utilize Wagner's strengths a heckuva lot better than Heinrichs.
I played against Aly in high school and watched most of her college games at Santa Clara. In college she wasn't pressured as much as she is at the higher level. She had more time to look up and make the "perfect" pass. I think most players were intimidated by her. Because of that, she never had to be physical for the ball. Devvyn Hawkins was always beside her (at SCU) in the middle and she was the physical threat. As for the national team, I think she really needs to change her game and stop riding the free wave. She's too predictable and timid. Boxx does a much better job. Heck, even Julie Foudy refers to Boxx as the replacement for Michelle Akers. Unless the WUSA gets back running and Aly does a complete 360, I think she is taking up space on the national team. When she dribbles, she runs straight into people and does circles with the ball. I think she spends more time on the ground and confused/out of position. Just my opinion...
I hate to defend April, but we're talking about two completely different sports here. Womens college soccer is so far removed from international soccer in both rules and play that I struggle to consider them the same sport.
Right you are. My bad. I should not have said "She will get this confidence back if she...". I should have said, "If she works on her speed and somehow gets more playing time and knocked around, then she *might* get her confidence..." which with more speed might make her a more attractive fit with the WNT.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lol...It;s ok BB thing is she has been a regular on this WNT for what 3 years now? Her first year she was new. other teams had not seen her yet so she had time and space and looked great. But the last two year that has changed. As a player she must realize that something isn't working. and one would hope that the coach is "coaching" and telling her what she needs to do. if you are affraid of bruises and nicks then you have no business playing at this level. I get from watching her when she is out there particularly this year, that players on the field may be reminding her to go after it. as I will see her do it for about 5 min. at a time. then suddenly slide off into her old ways. Sometimes great college players do not make great international players. Sometimes they are just not able to rise to the next level. aly strikes me as this kind of player.
Didn't Wagner have a few assists in the the last 3 tournaments (i.e. 4 Nations, Oly qualifying, and Algarve?) I mean she it's not like she's done nothing. Still, every time she has the ball my expectation is for her to be dispossesed or give it away with a bad pass, and too frequently this is the case. I think Shannon MacMillan--a forward--is a better midfielder than Aly Wagner.
maybe she is as fit as she will ever be. she just can't run. she looks like she's trundling along out there with everyone and everything passing her by. in international play there are a few players who are not fast, but are quick on the one-touch killer pass. she is not. i agree with those who say she has been on the team long enough to show what she is capable of. now it's time to make the tough decision. i think we all know what that is.
Parlow is also VERY slow, she looks as though she's running in quick sand. But she has found a way to compensate for that with other skills. Point is, you can survive at the international level without speed, but you better bring something else to the table. My hope is that Wagner figures this out.
this is what AH has to do for her, change her style of play to Boxx's style, i'm sure she will even be better than Boxx because she has the ability to send great passes...
Agreed, she is outstanding. But you have to have the ball to send a pass. And she hasn't shown the willingness to battle for the ball like you need to do at this level. It is probably hard to adjust your game when a certain way of playing has worked for you for so long. Does she have the work ethic to change and add to her game, time will tell. I sure hope she can adjust, I am a big fan of hers.
She's had long enough to evolve, and I see no signs of improvement, no progress. She is toast if I am the coach. Tarpley or Mia at A-mid.
It is said that a great player good in positioning herself so, she doesn't have to work her butt off to get the ball, it will easily get it, is Wagner in that category of player in your opinion ??
Agreed here too. It's amazing. We "supposers" (most of us anyway) on BS all suppose that if we were coach Wags would have no spot on our roster and in fact would've been sitting (or entirely off the team) a long time ago. It'll be interesting to see what April does...
J&B, I wrote in my live opinion of the USA-Brasil game in Birmingham that AW seemed to be running over the field with no discernible purpose for her running. Also, as mentioned in that thread, when she would get the ball, she would spend more time trying to keep it than in passing to teammates. Her only successful passes were back to Boxx or the defenders. She continues to unimpress which should be grounds for leaving her stateside in August. I was glad to see her not in the starting lineup for the game against Mexico, and I hope that Ape has enough smarts (BIG assumption here) to leave her out of the starting lineup the next time we play a 4-4-2. Start Mia as AM and put Tarpley up front.
She actualy is not the type of player for the system that we have right now, which is more direct and fast & agressive, the system that is played by most of the teams in the world, so, like i said earlier, she has to either change the way she plays or out.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- In my opinion you either have that mentality or you don't boxx has it wags simply does not. Wags might fit in with the Brazilians as they are a more finesse oriented team. but; if she wants to fit in with the nats she must include the physical play as well and she just does not strike me as a player who is willing to do that.
I can immagine how good our team will be if, Hamm-Star, defensewins, Hearthplay, Gandalf21 all in the US coaching staff.
Not me!! Remember I started this thread because I was puzzled by her drastic drop in PT and productivity. And what I perceived to be her "backing off" contact. Just wanted to see what others' opinions were. I don't much care for some of April's coaching tactics, but she is the coach. If she thinks Wags has a place on the team, it's her call. I hope Wagner can prove Heinrichs is right. But one must admit that Wagner is not the impact player she was two years ago.
Maybe becouse she is too busy working for USSF as movie critic At the Movies w/ Aly (Summer 2003) http://www.ussoccer.com/editorial/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=36007&itype=4129&icategoryid=79 Aly at the 2004 Oscars http://www.ussoccer.com/editorial/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=54132&itype=4129&icategoryid=79 By the way, I can't wait for her thoughts about this summer movie season that stars today with TROY
Sorry to say Wags has been washed up since Millie bit the dust. Bring on the new. I still say, based on observation, that the O'Reilly factor will be huge in the end. Can't wait.