Aah, OK. A little while back I saw someone wrote the same thing in another thread and didn't say anything. Sorry, I usually don't play the correction police, but I know too many Vlads. LOL!
You liked what you saw? I didn't. I saw poorly timed, misjudged tackles, which is, if you think about it, one of the things where you expect rust to show up. She should've been yellow carded 1417938783102803985 is not a valid tweet id But hey! Ertz played 45! Heath is up to 70 minutes! Everything's going according to plan!
Uhm, the Orange Lionesses were very sloppy, despite the high score. The two goals against them in about 90 seconds were inexcusable.
No, that's not a yellow IMO, that's classic Ertz. If you think she doesn't play that way in every match, you haven't been watching her enough. She's a very physical player.
The popular image of "vampires" is that of "seducers." I kind of doubt that "Vlad the Impaler's" acts could be viewed as "seduction."
First of all I've never been a "fanboy" of anyone. I just watch a lot of the women's game. I don't hate Lynn Williams. I just think she has two things, speed, yes, and a hard shot. That's it. That shot may go on frame, over the cross bar, to the left or right of the goal or into the parking lot. No one knows. Mallory Pugh has had a nagging injury for a couple years that finally now seems to be healing. This year she is playing outstanding for the Red Stars. Pugh has speed, hard shot, technique, nose for goal, soccer IQ, fine dribbling skills.
Wow, the Swedes's goal celebrations looked really tame if you compare them to that of some of their opponents two years ago...
i haven't seen this soccer IQ from Pugh that you see. The last game she played for the US, Pugh was attacking on the left and had a US player making a run at the backline. Any other US player would've played her behind the line. Anyone. I was wondering what was taking Pugh so long. It never happened. Maybe ask Coach Riley if he thinks Lynn Williams only has two things. I'll take his word over yours
I’ve said something similar in the past. People that don’t get this, really have never played a high level of soccer. Pugh has MANY MORE attributes than a few of the others on this roster. Obviously looking like a case of she’s not a coaches favorite and may never get back on the team. Pretty unfortunate, but if this team crashes and burns in this tournament, maybe it will open up doors for her again.
Well, after the USWNT shellacking, every other team just got their chances elevated at least 50% regardless of how sloppy they played. I noticed that too. I think they are just shocked at how great they are playing that they cannot celebrate properly or it's out of respect. After all, it's the GOAT of women's football they were brilliantly beating.
We got lots of young players that needs to replace the older players as we have said before. Let’s see how things reach conclusion before we decide what positions needs replacing. Its probably because its still early in the tournament. If they win gold, they can celebrate all they want.
Thought I would do a little analysis of what exactly happened today from 3:30am CT on. I obviously have no idea of how Vlatko is teaching the game, so these clips are framed within our game model lens at @IlliniSoccer #Tokyo2020 #USAvSWE pic.twitter.com/DMIFRze9xw— Lisa Lubke (@LisaLubke) July 21, 2021 pic.twitter.com/5s8KaCLDmR— Lisa Lubke (@LisaLubke) July 21, 2021 pic.twitter.com/LpEXbmGsdf— Lisa Lubke (@LisaLubke) July 21, 2021
You think Coach Riley agrees with you? You think some journo should ask his opinion? You think going overseas is what made most of our attacking players into what they are? Olympique Lyonnais has thrown piles of cash at a few American players, but you think that was the key factor making them what they are? Did Alex Morgan become a great player just for going to OL? Were her best years before or after OL? Same with Megan Rapinoe. Rose Lavelle and Sam Mewis only went abroad in 2020 while the US was largely shut down because of the coronavirus. Were they stars of the US team before they left or not? Don't take it personally. I generally like your posts. But I'm kinda sick of certain lazy opinions, especially when the evidence mounts that they're wrong. Lynn Williams has been hammered here as a liability. You know what, the US team played pretty well when she was a regular on it. While the US looked great in the two games against Mexico (who may have obliged us with the way they came out fearlessly), when else did we look pretty lousy this year? The 3 games against Portugal/Jamaica/Nigeria, when she only played 50 minutes out of 270. Now today. Maybe we should stop talking about her as if she's a liability on the US team? Because the evidence sure doesn't bloody show it. It isn't even just about Lynn Williams. Some people will prefer other young players like Purce, Sophia Smith, Ashley Hatch, Ashley Sanchez, Trinity Rodman even. Fine. But willfully ignoring what Williams does is just a convenient excuse for the fanboys and fangirls of the "stars", the "heroes", the "legends" who are determined to see.them extend their legends regardless of how old or injured they are.
Ignorant question and I don’t mean to imply it determines the team’s tournament trajectory, but was this the worst first game of a major tournament in USWNT history, results-wise or performance-wise?
These women deserved the chance to try this tournament. But how many are actually stand outs at the club level anymore? Many rarely play for their NWSL teams because of injury and USWNT camps. Some are good and some are pedestrian. The CBA the team has with USSF locks players in on a salary and it is very hard to replace them. One, because you can't bring many new players in and two, because the team plays a mostly cake schedule. If a player is not good enough, they will still look good playing with superior talent around them against inferior teams. An example is Lloyd, who has 12 goals and 2 assists in 36 NWSL games over the past three seasons. Weirdly, she has also played 36 NT games in the same period and scored 20 with 10 assists. But again, these players will get this chance. The roster is still full of players that would start for every other team. But this feels like a year late and a fresh player or two short. The format is very forgiving and I would not put it past these women to get it done after squeaking into the knock outs.
Think the early 2000s to at least 2010 since we didn't get very far in WC. Think we won Olympic gold during those times.
Agree with Patrick167. Some of these players are barely playing in leagues this summer. Are they saving themselves so they don't get hurt for the Olympics? Rapinoe hasn't played consistently, Heath hasn't played in a long time, Lavelle hasn't played regularly. Ertz hasn't played in a while and is still hurt. I don't want to hear the comment of, well they practice against the best players in the world. Not the same.
One of the things I have seen commented on when I looked over the past few years is that Williams has a great club goal scoring record, but cannot duplicate it as national team level. She's not horrible, but the expectation is set high, both by her club form but also by the history we have of goal scorers (Hamm, Wambach, Morgan, etc.) that the next player to step in will do so easily and brilliantly. For me, I think at national team level Williams works better on the wings rather than centrally as she has the speed to beat the wingbacks/outside defenders, and the power to whip in a hard cross. But I have not seen anybody really have that discussion. *shurg* So if the discussion is to replace Morgan, the younger players need to get regular playing time. This would have been a great time to bring along one or two.
Vlatko is not on the field not defending the assigned opponent, Vlatko is not on the field getting juked and then falling on the ground, Vlatko is not on the field making bad passes. I can go on. This team is old, stale and strong teams around the world have figured them out.
Agree. Sophia Smith, Mallory Pugh to name a couple. There was no reason to put Carli Lloyd on this team at 40.