29 is very very rarely past prime for a team sport athlete of either gender. These aren't gymnasts...
I guess I'm using prime as a synonym for peak. Usually people say it's 25 for WoSo. So 26 is past prime. Even if only 1 year past. Doesn't mean the person can't play well anymore, it just means their skill set is pretty much firmly developed by that time. But a person who isn't yet 25 can still see a lot of improvement before their prime years.
I'd follow sabermetrics and say 27-32, with the absolute peak usually at 28, occasionally 27 or 29. Very large people tend to come off their peak very sharply, and that is what I think we see from Abby. The impact of title 9 after so many years of neglect created the illusion that it was younger for awhile IMO, because each arriving class had had better and earlier support learning their business than the last and outstripped their predecessors pretty quickly.; but I don't see that as true anymore. Carli Lloyd is still getting better at 31 to my eyes, HAO still almost as good as ever, etc etc.
First of all, HAO is a great player, even if she is boring. Boring, so what? She does her job. Second of all, "We all know how big soccer crowd feels about Oreilly [sic]," is not a good statement. (I'm being diplomatic.)
Well I feel fine about O'Reilly. The problem here isnt her age...she hasnt lost a step and is still a 90+ player...it's that the formation the team has been shoe horned into simply doesnt fit her skill set. The team just appear much more dangerous with Press at right forward.
The point was that, at 29, HAO isn't going to drastically get better the way Ohai can between now and her peak, regardless of whatever specific age we may think it is.
But, shouldn't the question be, which is going to be the better player for the team during the WWC? So, HAO may be in a steady state for the next year and Ohai may be improving. So, where does that put them a year from now?
Well that's a bit of a loaded question. The question I was responded to said they were similar, which I disagreed with. So, how should I answer your question? Continuing on my hypothetical that they are exactly the same, in which case it wouldn't matter since you'd get the same thing from either one. Or based on my actual opinion that Ohai is better than HAO in the 4-3-3, and with the USWNT wanting to play the 4-3-3... well, I think you can tell what my answer would be. However, if they give up on the 4-3-3 experiment and go back to the 4-4-2 then my answer would change.
Did anybody see the Chicago Portland game today? Christen played out-side mid for the first 65 minutes; and the CRS were awful. For the last 20ish minutes, she's moved to center forward and guess what, she scores two great goals. Press is so incredible. I really hope Ellis had two eyes and brain while watching that game.
i do think she's lost a step, and hasn't added to her limited arsenal of moves in many a year. still would pick her in front of ohai tho. love ohai. but she has not yet distinguished herself in the nwsl.
And that's exactly why. Any time Press latches onto a ball around the box a goal is possible. No one on the NT creates her own shot better than Press.
Taylor was getting some looks from Pia in 2010-early 2011, and got 2 caps in that timeframe. But like so many fringe players, Pia lost interest in her and she hasn't gotten any more callups since.
Taylor's continued absence, at least from the pool, is perplexing. She's good on the ball, can distribute over short and long distance, is a threat on set pieces (taking the free kick or in the box), uses her body well to shield quicker forwards, is very consistent, and is a leader. What's not to like?
One of the things the Sermanni did disappoint me on was not rewarding more league players. Basically for field players it was just Robinson and Tymrak. Instead he brought in a lot of college players. Ellis seems to be going in the other direction.
Didn't have to pay the college players... Didn't have to pay the college players....Didn't have to pay the college players... Didn't have to pay the...
The college players were younger and hence more eye candy on these old gray eyes. The college players were younger and hence more eye candy on these old gray eyes. The college players were younger and hence more eye candy on these old gray eyes. The college players were younger and... - Tom Sermanni "I like Kristie Mewis the best on my watch because she looks the youngest of them all.
If you really think about it, it really wasn't all that classy. But he certainly always seemed to experiment with the younger ones.
I think it's time to bring Heather Mitts back in the pool. A lot of great ones have come out of retirement before. You know she wants to give it one last crack at winning the WWC. And with a roster of 23 (instead of 21), why not give her a shot?
Pool in Ellis Era GK Solo Harris Naeher Barnhart CB Rampone Sauerbrunn Engen Johnston Van Hollebeke OB Krieger Dunn Klingenberg O'Hara Chalupny Cox Mid Lloyd Holiday Brian Long Mewis K Mewis S F Morgan Wambach Leroux Press Rodriguez Rapinoe Heath O'Reilly
Jeff Kassouf @JeffKassouf 30m30 minutes ago January #USWNT camp will be a combined camp with U-23 group and top players from #NWSL to see if there are still players to pull in. If Ohai doesnt make this camp there needs to be an inquisition.