I have no idea what good reason there was for Horan to lift her elbow on that play. That was an easy card.
Australia probably deserved a goal out of this series, but maybe we shouldn't have made those subs...it might have been helpful to have a DM instead of a 5-back on that one.
Another fun one, and a great way to close out the year for the USWNT! I think we got to see some exciting stuff from players, and hopefully the coaching staff learned a lot. Also it was good prep for the WWC...for the players seeing Australia and playing in one of the WWC venues as well as for young players looking to become mainstays on the team, but also for fans prepping to wake up at crazy hours.
So Vlatko remains unbeaten as an friendlies coach, there still got to be concern if knows how to mentally & physically prepare his squad for an major tournament as all of a sudden our pacing was an step too slow at the Olympics
I really hope Vlat isnt thinking Horan is the next big thing. She isnt. Somehow I have a feeling he thinks she is. If goes back to calling in the dinosaurs next game that matters then he must go. There are too many here now Rose - I used to like her a lot. Now Im not so sure. Last year when she played in the UK. She rarely started. They were not that impressed. She was a late sub most times
As a second friendly match in a short period this one did not suck too badly. Murphy did not look as good in this one as she did in her first but the goal was very much not her fault. A deflection like that will score against any 'keeper in the world. However she was more clearly much more nervous in this one than she was before. That is fixed by simple experience. She made a couple of ball handling errors and was too slow several times. Again that is very fixable with training. She really only had one or two saves in the whole match but she looked fine in positioning. I like what I have seen from her but she needs further match play at high levels and she needs to be further trained hopefully by a 'keeper coach that can teach her how to better use her size to advantage. One thing I do not like in general is for 'keepers to face the corner on corner kicks. Most all 'keepers do that and it just seems wrong. When the cross comes they have to, 90-05% of the time, turn their whole bodies to face where the actual danger comes from. I takes longer to turn the body than it does to turn the head. Also it is harder to be aware of players behind them when they have to do more than just turn their head to see them. Murphy does that as well but she is quick enough that it does not really matter much and it is not really a flaw as it is just something I think she could do better. The overall play of the US was OK but finishing remains an issue and players need to be aware that if you miss the goal the ball can't go in but if you hit the goal, even with a poorly hit shot, there is a chance the ball can go in or be spilled by the 'keeper. That is nothing good come from missing the goal so any shot not on goal is wasted and you might just as well pass the ball to the defense. In fact a pass to the defense would be better as you can then directly try to win it back but missing the goal gives the 'keeper a breather and allows a uncontested restart. As far as just getting a tie goes: It is not bad but this was a match that should have been won if the forwards, and others that tried to shoot, had just hit the goal a few more times. The last part of the second half was about as disjointed as I have seen but that is expected with the number of subs allowed. This set of friendlies served their purpose and we did see a rather huge number of new players and that is a very very good thing.
As a former Goalie, I will say, facing the corner is critical in several ways. One, you judge the ball, is it going to be short, long, near, far on the approach plane. Two, if the approach is near you, can you get to it for a grab or a punch. And three, some goals have been scored by bending the ball IN from the corner. You must be warry about that possibility. If the ball is launched far, rather than middle or near, you still have time to turn and adjust. My 2c.
I agree, I really think she has more potential "upside" that anyone else I have seen. However she is unvaccinated and that is a HUGE negative. For me no one should be allowed to play team sports or even associate in groups unless they have been vaccinated. The only viable excuse is if you are allergic to components in all the vaccines and that is highly unlikely for an otherwise healthy person and, with all the choices currently available, it is usually easy to find at least on vaccine that does not contain offending chemicals. If she does not get vaccinated she should not play any team sports for either club or country. That would be a loss but, should she infect others by her lack of caring, it would be much worse. While vaccination is not perfect and you still "can" get infected and/or infect others even if you are vaccinated it reduces the probability of transmitting the virus greatly. She is showing that she does not care about others by her stupidity in not being vaccinated.
Since it was on ESPN the ESPN app should have a replay available. It can take as long as 24 hours for a replay to show up but, usually, it only takes a few hours for replays to become available.
I'm watching the game right now on ESPN: espn.com/watch/player/_/id/f38f2e8a-ffa1-4a4c-978d-41df591e36a2 Comments on first half. Davidson has been great and Cook has been good also. The Fox-Capenter-Raso matchups have been fun to see. Huerta has put in two or three excellent crosses. Purce looking good. You know you've got a young U.S. team when Lynn Williams is the old hand on the field. I've hardly noticed Sullivan. Has she done anything good? I never thought of Ashley Hatch as a strong competitor for the National Team. But, hey, two goals in two games get some attention. She seems to be an efficient goal scorer -- which is not true of many U.S. forwards.
Never been impressed with Polkinghorne. She gave us the ball in one tournament. Can't remember which one, but she was back passing w/o looking. We finally anticipated it (it took a while) and picked it off for an easy goal.