With April planning on announcing the roster at the end of next week and everyone throwing out ideas about who will or won't make it- I was wondering what was everyone's final 18 and if you want go ahead and name some alternates. Will Brandi's injury keep her off the squad, does MacMillan really stand a chance? Go ahead and put down your best 18 and we'll see what April comes up with. Discuss.
Now is it 18 or 18 and 4 alternates? If 18 and 18 alone, then 2 goalies, 4 forwards and 6 middies and defenders each (my preferences only): GK: Scurry, Mullinix (by default, but would have liked to have seen Solo get the second slot based on her superior work in Sweden); D: Reddick, Mitts, Fawcett, Rampone, Markgraf, Benson (sure, space heaters have a better chance of being sold in hell then Jenny making it, but do you really want to give a roster spot to a Chastain or a Slaton and then have her not be able to play much?); M: Lilly, Aly, Boxx, Tarpley, Chalupny, Hawkins (see Benson, Jenny for no chance in hades of this, it will of course be Hucles and Foudy who get a free pass while Devvyn and Lori sit, but have either really earned a spot?); F: Mia, Abby, O'Reilly, Welsh. If it's 18+4, my alternates would be Chastain, Solo, Parlow and Foudy. As bad as the WWC pill was to swallow, it can be a good thing, eventually, since you need to have every single person healthy and not go into this with 25% of your roster unable to perform. Comments? Paul (since the roster will probably be announced next week; is that a bit too soon?)
I like all your choices Charge, except Benson and Hawkins. While they both are good players, they only have a couple of caps at the senior national team, and haven't even been looked at this whole year. With the roster being announced next week (if that's true), IMO it's a little late for bringing in new players. It's a strange situation, because you feel bad for those players in camp who perform well and work hard, but know they won't make the roster. But at the same time, April should have picked her line-up a while ago, and went with it to develop more team chemistry. My Olympic 18 1- Scurry 2- Chalupny 3- Pearce 4- Reddick 5- O'Reilly 6- Brandi (if she's completely healthy, don't bring her at 75%--maybe Bivens) 7- Boxx 8- Welsh 9- Mia 10- Wagner 11- Foudy 12- Parlow 13- Lilly 14- Fawcett 15- Markraf 16- Tarpley 17- Mitts 18- Siri (it'll be Luckenbill though) Alternates 19- Hucles 20- Roberts 21- MacMillan 22- Bivens Starting XI (4-4-2) GK:Scurry RBearce RCB:Fawcett LCB:Markraf LB:Reddick DM:Boxx RM:Tarpley LM:Lilly AM:Hamm RF:O'Reilly LF:Wambach
first and foremost this is what I THINK Ape will do... scurry, siri or lucks (with the other on the alt.list) pearce, sobs, joy, BC (dead or alive she'll be on the team) cat, mitts lilly, foudy, boxx, aly, chalupny or mac (even though most say ape shot herself in the foot...there is still the other foot to shot... and we are talking ape...it will be done.) TR or bivens mia, abby, cp (i'd take millie no matter what her condition anyday over cp) Tarp (gotta have #16 out there) Alt List Lucks or Siri Chalupny or Mac--- if they make the roster they'll be riding the bench. TR or Bivens--- see above comment Welsh- this is my choice. ape may still bump her but i feel she should be there. ape never gave her a fair shot. and Welsh has always done well when she played for the nats... her stats in 2000.. under Tony 15 gp/ 5 gs 744 mins 11g 3a 25pts when Ape took over Welsh was cut. I don't get it!
You've got Wambach in your starting 11, but not on your roster. I'll play... GK: Scurry, Luckenbill D: Fawcett, Rampone, Markgraf, Reddick, Mitts, Chastain M: Foudy, Lilly, Boxx, Tarpley, Wagner, Chalupny F: Hamm, Wambach, Welsh, Parlow Alternates: Mullinix, MacMillan, O'Reilly, Hucles (If she's healthy. If not, take Osborne)
I think you've nailed it. Maybe Mac instead of Welsh. See how WUSA goes this weekend. If Mac doesn't look good, then I'd feel better with Welsh.
Mac being healthy isn't the issue. The issue is if she is playing well enough to be on the Olympic squad.
i guess we'll see on july 3rd against Canada, if she deserves to be on the oly roster or not, but i'm absolutely confidence she'll make it...because : she is Shannon MacMillan.
My bad, I forgot Wambach. How could I forget her?! To make a spot for her, I would drop Mitts. Even though that leaves only 5 defenders (assuming Brandi is healthy), I think that's okay because they usually play the whole game, every game. If one gets injured, bring Mitts or Bivens in as an alternate. Ape will most likely keep Mitts and drop either Welsh or Heather O. Most likely O'Reilly. Thats 3 big forwards on the roster, and I think a little one-dimentional. Also, it doesn't really matter but the Wombat will have to switch numbers again. She wore #22 at first, then changed to #20 for the WWC, now will have to switch again.
I'm so damn lost with all these Oly threads. BTW Kristin Luckenbill wishes everyone a HAPPY BUNDY FAMILY SATURDAY!!!!! And Joe Dirt is on Comedy Central! That's mine except swap O'Reilly in for Welsh.
I said as much on another thead; but I don't understand why the WUSA "festivals" should be used to evaluate players--it just doesn't work, not the same as even an international friendly. So, at this (late) point April should just wait to name the Oly roster till the last moment--like right before the US v China friendly on August 1, have "The Team" play that game. Of course she should have named the team a very long time ago--been working on that "team chemistry" rather than playing head games with everyone in camp. I hope this is the 18: Scurry, and (I guess) Luckenbill Kate M., Joy F., Christie R., Heather M., Cat R., Brandi C. Lilly, Foudy, Chalupny, Tarply, Boxx Mia, Abby W., MacMillan, Welsh, Parlow Do we get 4 alternates? And do just two get to travel? If so, that's just weird; what are the non-traveling alts for? Anyway; O'Reilly, Siri M., Wagner, Bivens for the Alts. Of course April will pick a bit differently; i.e. Wagner is in (Chalupny in her place as alt? and O'Reilly is there over Mac.
the rumors I'm hearing are that O'Reilly is out (and she's looking to avoid going to Thailand for another U19 championship) of the mix along with Chalupny. Bivens is also on the outs (and no one's even mentioning Tif Roberts) As for using WUSA festivals, why not look at people playing competitive matches instead of US vs. minnow nations international (despite the fact we havent' exactly been stunning in those matches). Oh yeah, and CP will not only be on the roster but start - frankly without CP, Wambach and Osbourne you've got 20 players all about the same style and size (including Scurry). Not a great situation. It does not sound like we're really moving in the right direction in terms of team dynamics or developing that "next generation" everyone's talking about. (again, this is NOT first hand info, but it's coming from more than one or two places) I'm afraid we're looking like another disappointing international tournament. I hope the vets can pull the team together despite the coach and go out with an upset win! I can't imagine they'll be interested in another two years of what they've been through lately.
Heinrichs is currently being interviewed right now by Beth Mowins and Dorrance and Dorrance asked about the Oly roster and of course Heinrichs danced around with an answer. She said their will be vet leadership, a middle group (Pearce, Sobs, Parlow), and the young bucks.
Don't get FSW, so: Did April actually name the "middle group" as Christie R. Kate M. and CP? (Did she really say "Pearce and Sobs?"--ha ha) Did she name names for the "vet leadership, and "young bucks?"
I'm paraphrasing here and if someone is at home with the tape maybe they can chime in... She mentioned something about a middle group and players in that group included Pearce, Sobs, and Parlow. No names were mentioned with regards to the older players or younger players.
She mentioned the vets later in the interview, but it was in a different context. Fear is right. No names were mentioned in regards to the kids or the vets. At the end of this article there is some analysis of players trying to make the Olympic squad: http://cybersoccernews.com/wusa/040627WUSA.shtml
After looking at the WUSA Festival games on FWS, here are my picks my Olympic team 18 players: 1- Scurry 2- Chalupny 3- Pearce-Rampone 4- Reddick 5- Hucles 6- Brandi (she's not 100% healthy; but she will be on the roster for sentimental reasons) 7- Boxx 8- Wambach 9- Hamm 10- Wagner 11- Foudy 12- Parlow 13- Lilly 14- Fawcett 15- Sobrero-Markgraf 16- Tarpley 17- Mitts (could be replaced by Bivens if she keeps underperforming like she did yesterday) 18- Luckenbill The Four Alternates: 19- Siri 20- Bivens (as a defender, her size is keeping her out of the 18; she have better ball-handling skills than Mitts) 21- MacMillan (her play was uninspiring in her WUSA festival game) 22- Welsh (yesterday, this lady had three or four chances to score and missed all of them. Bad luck or bad technique, either way, that type of performance will not entrice any coach to pick you for the team.) I believe O'Reilly will be sent down to under-19 World Cup team; the USA got placed in the tough group over there and the team definitely will need her speed and skill to get out of the group stage.
So far, most of the lists have pretty much included the same people (well, except for Charge Fan) with only one or two names being different. Frankly, I'm not convinced that at this point who makes the roster is really going to matter in relation to bringing home gold or not. At this point, I think formation, tactics, and how the players are able to work around them (if it isn't "working") is what will be the difference between gold and not. One example of what I'm saying is the right back situation. We all know that Pierce (I've now forgotten her new name) will make the team. The bigger question is will she make the field when it matters?
Exactly. The US does have the most overall talent of any country in the world. (Germany was up there, but now with Wiegmann and Meinert gone, the US has the edge.) You can have the best 18 in the world, but still lose if they aren't used to the best of their abilities and strengths. Playing the right formation is key to a teams success as well. We saw in the Japan match (as well as the WWC) how the 4-3-3 doesn't really work for team USA right now--especially against quality teams. Every game they have played the 4-4-2 (with Mia as the AM) has resulted in a faster paced, possesion style of play, and above all, wins. Also, playing matches together as a group is the only way to develop team chemistry on the field, and hopefully Ape will do that in the remaining friendlies...preferably against Canada, to give them a few more games to get comfortable. With the core of the team decided, its time to finalize a starting XI and go with it. All that remains to be decided is the bench/role players like Mitts, Wagner, Brandi, O'Reilly, and Mac.
I agree. I'm even ok with using someone else at Amid, providing there are 4 people in the midfield. I'd also like to see us avoid the "just take it endline and cross it" as the sole offensive tactic.
great post, after reading all those senceless postes about individual play making. specially by Millie,s fans. you make my day by making the point I had made clear on these boards. it's about the facts you have made not one on one play making. it about getting the ball to who ever is open at the present. team chemistry and unselfish play making, that what will get us the Gold in the Olympic.