That foul count looks so odd (4 against US--13 against Japan, so far). I'd usually guess that its the opposite in a US-Japan game.
I wish Mia Hamm and Michele Akers would be commentators or studio analysts. They are a lot better than the people ESPN and Fox put out. At least Foudy has worked hard the last 2 years and has become much better.
I don't recall the last time I saw Hamm doing tv work. Akers came out of nowhere last Summer. She blocked me on twitter when she was doing her attention seeking.
What a game. Shoddy U.S. defending at times. But my goodness, the fans got their money worth tonight. This Japan 2.0 is going to a contender again in 2019 after some seasoning. Their young players have no fear.
Ugh, that was kind of ugly. For the neutral fan though, a fun back-and-forth thriller. I hope for the players, it serves as a pre-Olympic wake-up call.
Welcome back Ellis, I knew you'd be back at some point. You can't just win games by showing up all the time Japan was far better technically than us. Their touch and control was amazing. They had more skill overall (except Pugh...our best player) but we're simply physically bigger and in the end, it wears them down. US was lucky to get get ahead and Im not sure that would have happened had they not gotten a man advantage. That being said, we were ahead and didnt close it out. That's just poor play and shows what I think we have always had... poor coaching.
That was a great game. Inexperienced Japanese team -- a man down for 30 minutes -- ties mighty US. Exquisite play by Japan during much of the game. The US back line looked vulnerable to me. Morgan was obviously the POTM for US. I wasn't overly impressed with anybody else. After years of never being mentioned during national team telecasts, the announcers could barely utter a sentence without the words "NWSL" in it. Could it be that Fox has a contract to broadcast NWSL games -- and is doing a bit of promoting? Well, bully for them.
I would have preferred a loss. Atrocious performance by just about every US player on the field. Every area was lacking- shoddy defending on the 3 Japan goals, toothless midfield, and the forward line was quiet.
The good news is they got down by a couple early and didnt implode. Bad news is Ellis' theory that there is no place for a defensive midfielder in the modern game just bit her in the back side.
Japan was stone cold: consistent, patient, smart, disciplined, technical play even when outnumbered for almost 40 minutes. I never really saw their fatigue set in noticeably in the second half, the debilitating fatigue that was repeatedly almost guaranteed by the commentators (altitude my eye), even though each player had to work 10% harder. As the commentators mentioned near the end of the match, the mostly young and inexperienced Japanese squad had no apparent nervousness, in contrast to the jitters that strangely seemed to afflict their #1 ranked opposition. They matched the U.S. at every turn and made the reigning World Cup champions look by far the sloppiest they've looked all year. If not for the red card, it's very plausible this game might have ended 3-1 Japan, because an already capable Japanese defense seemed to strengthen after Morgan's first goal, and at 11 v. 11 the Japanese possession may have worn down the U.S. if anything. The U.S. definitely has some recalibration to do before Sunday's rematch. But I'm happy for Japan; this should be a huge confidence boost for them, and they earned it. Aside from getting too physical and a little reckless on the fouls at times, they really didn't make too many glaring mistakes in this match.
Alex manages to muscle in goals, but I don't think she makes great decisions a lot of the time outside of her speed past the defender comfort zone. I thought she was just ok tonight. I'd really like to see press start up front. She has beautiful ball technique. JJ and Brian were the weak links. I fear brunn is on the decline. And I think we need to sit Solo.