Not a starting chance... I believe Jill brought her on for bunker situations only, a big body to clog up a passing lane that's it.
She also may have an important locker room and training pitch role, sort of an Assistant Den Mother to Rampone. To be clear I don't mean that in any negative way. In the Ellis era I see this team needing to coach itself ...
I can see her and Rampone coming on with a lead in the second half for defensive purposes. However, given the indecision and issues in the midfield and at the forward positions, I think the liklihood of having two subs available in the 60th minute is slim.
Nice article on what to expect from Australia: http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jun/05/matildas-tactics-stajcic-throws-gauntlet
I believe Jill will be aggressive in the first game, since this is "Group of Death" and put forth a team balanced in attacking ability and experience. I foresee a 4-4-2 lineup. Not sure if AROD or Leroux starts up top with Abby. I know you have Rampone, but think I would stick with predominant defensive lineup since Algarve Cup (as listed below). Leroux/ARod --- Abby Rapinoe --- Lloyd --- Press Holiday Klingenberg -- Sauerbraun-- Johnston -- Krieger Solo Subs: Purely dependent on flow of game. Can see Boxx/Brian/Rampone/Heath If holding lead late. Heath/ Leroux/ARod/ Morgan/ OReilly if needing a goal or trying to win if tied.
I'd be fine with either but at this point I think Leorux is a better option up top, although bringing her on late when players might be tired is an appealing option as well. That being said, I agreed with Julie Foudy in that I think a 4-3-3 would be better suited to this team's personnel (but I see little chance of Ellis making that switch now).
Yes. I appreciate that Boxx has had a remarkable career and has overcome some pretty serious illnesses just to play again but I'm kinda shocked that we don't have a suitable replacement for her at this point. Although our back line is solid I'm not certain that Lloyd and Holiday can cover that space in front of them.
No way do I start Morgan on turf in the first group game, especially when so many 3rd place teams progress. Now, whatever combination you want to throw up there is up in the air, but I'd pencil in Leroux with her speed. Abby, A-Rod, or even Press would all be fine. For me, I'd try to make as few changes as possible, and thus keep Press in the midfield. If Morgan is fit, I'd pencil her in for a sub appearance first, a start in game 2, sub/nothing in game 3 (hopefully we won't need a result), and then time to get to business in the knockouts.
Ellis tried the 4-3-3 in the first 6 months or so of her tenure...tried and failed. Some might argue that she didn't give it enough time to let it sort out or that she never tried the right personnel in the right slots (sort of like now....). In some respects, it was the same problem as now in never sorting out the midfield and getting the right mix there. In any case, it was scrapped, and the team went back to the more familiar 4-4-2....although now its a narrow midfield in the 4-4-2 instead of a wide 4-4-2 that this team used to play.
But Ellis actually went on record saying it was really a 4-2-2-2 she was playing on a few occasions, which explains the narrow field. And more recently Holiday has not really been a dmid, she's still roaming further up the field...leave big holes in the middle of the field. There just seems to be a lack of defined roles on this team, nobody seems to know what they should be doing, except getting crosses into the box at any cost.
When they first switched back to a 4-4-2, Ellis said that she was going for a box midfield (a 4-2-2-2), or the "magic square," and perhaps that's what it looked like in the first couple of games after the switch. In recent games, the formation has only looked like the box midfield/magic square on occasion; in reality it looks like a narrow diamond. All that to say, I agree on the lack of roles. Ellis has said that she wants the style to be fluid and the positions to be interchangeable, but when you're plugging players into positions that they're not even suited for, it would be better to have clearly defined roles for each position.
Referee crew assigned for the match: Referee: Claudia UMPIERREZ (URU) Assistant Referee 1: Luciana MASCARANA (URU) Assistant Referee 2: Loreto TOLOZA (CHI) Fourth official: Gladys LENGWE (ZAM)
Reporter just asked Ellis if the reason Lloyd was at the press conference instead of Wambach; if that meant Lloyd was going to be captain and thus Wambach wasn't going to start.
on the Fox sunday morning soccer show, Wynalda said not to expect Alex Morgan in the first game -- that it was a long tournament and to expect her later. So I'm going with my expectation that Abby will be the 1st forward sub off the bench... leading to this 4 -1 - 3- 2... which you can call a 4 - 4 - 2 with a diamond midfield: Leroux ---- PressRapinoe - Lloyd -- Brian HollidayKlingenberg - Sauerbrun - Johnston - Krieger Solo
FIFA's spectator information, including very underwhelming Transportation 'Plan'. http://winnipeg.fwwc2015.ca/spectator-information/
Does anyone know if the Canadians are going to be booing Hope Solo everytime she gets the ball due to the recent news breaking out???
Both. Not every formation needs a holding midfielder, but this one does when you're asking your outside backs to get forward continually. And we actually have one, but we have one who's not suited to the position. Actually, to me that's the bigger issue...Ellis is shoehorning players into positions that they're not suited for. This team has the capability to play different formations, so that's not the issue per se. Its that Ellis persists in trying to get the best XI on the field, regardless of what position they're playing, instead of the best players for each position/role. We have players who we assume, based on their skill set, could play a #6 defensive role very well, but they're not played there. Instead we play Holiday there when she'd be better in a more attacking role. We play Brian, Lloyd, Heath, and Press in the wide midfielder position when all are better suited to a central position. Hey, but at least we have a solid back line...one that I'd say is an improvement to what we had in 2011 when Buehler was in the center and LePeilbet was shoehorned to the OB position.
GAME DAY! I'm so excited/nervous right now, you'd think I was going to be actually in the game. <=game nerves
I really just expect that the Canadians will only boo us once per game. Starting with our national anthem, and then continuing through the final whistle, no? It's nice to have such friendly neighbors.
I don't know about booing her, but Canadians will not be rooting for the US, IMO. I am guessing Canadians will be rooting for two teams. Canada and for whoever plays the US.