Not to speak for others but the main beef that I have heard is that many feel she is too slow and that her style of play was more suited to the long ball approach by Ryan. Who knows how she will fair under the new game plan with Pia?
Whitehill is really slow and all she does is boot the ball down the field and take long throw-ins. I don't know about her getting cut, but I don't think she should be starting.
I think we might be jumping to conclusions too quickly regarding Whitehill. She is definitely not the "gazelle" of the team, but if a defense is planted correctly on the field, it can rarely be beaten. Now, regarding the coment that all she does is throw long balls, and that her style of play was more suited to Ryan's style, well, that was another era, players know that if they want to stay on the roster, they have to adapt to what Pia wants or they're gone. We don't know what is going to happen now and how is she going to perform on the scheme of things that Pia has developed; look what happened to Abby, there were very few long balls to Abby during the 4NT, and she didn't score 1 single goal on all three games, but that doesn't mean she didn't contribute to the team, she was more of a playmaker and she was feeding balls all along; that's how she managed to assist Tarpley on two goals on the 37 and 39th minute on the 4-1 against Finland. Let's just wait and see what she can do... Come on, give the woman a chance to prove that she can do more that what she has been asked to do in the past... if she doesn't perform, then we can throw stones at her... (kidding... )
Whitehill is not the fastest defender but she is one of the smartest. She compensates for speed by being where she is supposed to be and doesn't get beat often. She is extremely valuable on set pieces because of her long throw ins and strong leg. The team relied on the long ball too much in the WC but that doesn't mean there is not a place for it, even in a more possession oriented attack. Sometimes it is necessary to stretch a defense and sometimes it is opportunistic. Variety is the spice of life and smart teams know that there is more than one way to put the ball in the back of the net.
I have no idea how the players look in camp either, so I'm not going to speculate. I agree w/ dianamo-superstriker (and others) in that we really have no idea how certain players will react to a different tactical approach. In addition, I haven't seen players such as Dowling in a very long time and never at this level. Sure, I saw White play in college and I thought she did well at that level but she may not be ready (and may never be) to make the step up. Since I don't see a whole bunch of "I was able to sneak into camp and here's what I saw" threads*, I'm going to wait and see what Pia says. Re: Whitehill, does no one remember the interview where she said she was told to send lots of long balls forward? Also, a center-back doesn't have to have top speed to be effective. I actually think her long balls have the potential to be more accurate if she plays fewer of them. Time will tell whether she can make the adjustment or not AND if there are better options. I've generally stayed away from the keeper threads in this forum b/c I find them tiresome. (Scurry sucks. No she doesn't) However, I think the lack of better options might be an issue here. I would not be surprised if Scurry does make the Algrave and/or Oly roster. Keeper is really where the absence of a league hurts the most, imo. There is no substitute for game pt. *Why aren't there those threads? What are you LA residents doing w/ your time
Well I have a question for you all. Is our keeper problem really an absence of training nowhow in the US? For so long scurry was number one, but scurrys strength was always her natural athleticism. She didnt really have, even at her peak, the technical game. She was just amazingly good at reading and getting to the ball. However that natural ability isnt something always out there, and therefore, keepers need to in many ways be groomed. Do you think our coaching system has been able to do that? I am inclined to think no. Do we crank out ok keepers? yes. However we do not seem able to create the elite level that we need. I think its pretty clear that countries like norway and sweden seem to have an edge on us in this sense. I mean look at Hope. She didnt really get to the level she is at now until she spent substantial time abroad. I dont just think it was about more playing time or confidence, I think she was able to close specific gaps in her game. What s your guys view?
As for whitehill http://bp0.blogger.com/_3BzXN4eoPjE/R690CpHR-2I/AAAAAAAAAAM/EKGts7um-qw/s1600-h/Beep.JPG Is that cat on the far side?
Don't think we (or the Norwegians) have better training for keepers, but I think it is even more important for a keeper to play and to play against hard opposition to become good. I think Solo just did take advantage of playing more against better opposition (she played in a mid level team in Sweden).
It is a stretch to say that Hope spent substantial time abroad - two seasons, I believe. If you look at Hope's development as a player, she did not become a full time goalie until college. It makes perfect sense that she would be peaking now. Also, in her early years, maybe because she hadn't made her peace with being a keeper and not out scoring goals, she had some head/confidence issues. Scurry in her prime was the best in the world. She had weaknesses in her game mainly related to her feet but the US won three world championships with her in the net. That's two elite keepers and there are a handful of young up and comers that need more time to develop. The league will help by giving at least 7 keepers the opportunity to play on a regular basis.
On the Whitehill issue, let's just remember Overbeck. Overbeck was never the fastest player, especially as she got older, but positioning and game awareness made her spectacular. Defenders need more than speed and if she is paired with some one with wheels, Pearce for instance, I don't see a problem. Cox is another person who I don't think needs to rely on pure speed. If you watched her play at Portland, one of her great strengths was that she could anticipate and intercept the pass. And she can get up the flank pretty quickly if she needs to. In the beginning of her national team career, Mitts relied on her speed a lot (like Frimpong) and has now over time refined her game. It's all about development. There are also different kinds of speed. Fawcett probably wouldn't have won any 100-yard dashes, but she had excellent recovery speed and very quick first steps (plus good first touch), i.e., she could blow by people pretty darn quickly after receiving the ball. When you watch on TV, you can be really deceived about how fast people are moving. In person, I am sometimes surprised by how fast some people really are. As to the fitness issue, last time I remember seeing Whitehill I did think she looked gassed at the end of the game. That can be worked on. I remember reading that the first semester she was at UNC, she wasn't very fit and they corrected that. mingyung
well i should correct myself in terms of what i meant by substantial, i shoudl say, ANY time lol. It just doesnt seem like given the shear number of players we have graduating college, the number going abroad is pretty small, particularly in terms of keepers. But maybe the womens league will rectify this. I am just wondering how we got to this point. I feel like we have always had a limited number of goalkeepers up to the level needed for international competition, versus other positions where the talent pool is so deep. I mean even in scurrys time, I dont recall there really being anyone behind her, capable of giving the same performance. Lucky for us she never got hurt. Its just interesting. I also wonder if that is another reason why they brought tony back in with the U20s. I mean he is a goalie coach himself is he not?
a few people have made this point including greg ryan - which is probably the reason we hate/avoid it. i know our wwc hopes blew up over a gk switch. but i don't think what we have can be called a gk problem. you need a great gk with a good to great backup. we have a great gk - hope, and i'm confident that pia will choose a good to great backup. if scurry is still performing well in camp it will be her. if luckenbill or another gk outplays her they'll get the nod. i don't think we have a goalkeeping problem.
I so agree! We had a coaching problem ... not a goalkeeping problem. Happily the coaching problem has moved on to become someone else's coaching problem. I have no doubt but that Pia will make good decisions on the keeper front as we move forward.
i too think pia will make the right choices going forward, my question was have we given her/our national teams in general (U20, U23, and senior team) the quality of goalkeepers needed to compete on the interenational stage?
[tangent] Yes, htide, I think we do/will. I don't think the issue is that the US can't churn out top keepers. I think we can. There just aren't the spots to build long term. Like luvdagame posted, a top team really only needs 1 top keeper and a serviceable backup. There are limited roster spots at every level. Keepers aren't subbed like field players so the much needed playing time is even more limited. Keepers need game time to improve and keepers generally reach their peak at an older age than field players both of which can be problematic w/o a league. Keepers really can't work on their game alone or even in practice in the same way a field player can. There have been keepers to challenge Scurry but for various reasons, few have stayed in the game or stayed at the top of their game as long as she has. Mullinix won the job at one point. She also had injury issues. What's her name(CyberRay's goalie LaKeisha???) made a bit of a challenge and that was b/c she got game time in a top league. Luckenbill improved her game thru the league. Say what you will about Weber and Ducar, they both were had skills in their prime. Weber was on 2 WWC teams. [/tangent] Has anyone actually tried to see just how closed (ie can you sneak a peek) the camp practices are?
Yeah, we need spies!! We need our own scouting team. I'd volunteer but being in Wisconsin makes it kinda hard.
I can’t tell if she is puking, sucking wind, ankle still bothering her, or she is just pulling up her socks.
That was hilarious. It looks like that was the beep test, which DiMartino won. I'm disappointed she was cut but trust that Pia knows what she's doing. Especially with Ellis as assistant coach.