Ugh. I'm kind of glad it wasn't on TV, because..... ugh. And surprise, surprise. Both of Iceland's 2nd half yellows were on takedowns of Lloyd. Looks like they wanted to finish the job started 2 years ago.
Granted it wasn't broadcast so we can't accurately comment on the game.. but it's very apparent that the US continues to have a scoring problem. Worrying.
Looks like all the nagging injuries have put her behind the 8-ball a bit with respect to the rest of the team. Heck, even Alex Morgan hasn't looked the same early this season after coming off of injury. In the last 4 years we've seen 5 different versions of Alex: In 2011 it was this kid who was subbed in late in matches to just go for goal in critical situations. The 2012 version saw her round out into one of the most efficient strikers and playmakers in the game. In 2013 we got the ready to rumble version where she wanted to fight anyone that laid a hand on her. In 2014 she was injury prone, and now in 2015 (after all her injuries) she's become very tentative. I'm actually glad that she received a yellow card today, which tells me that perhaps the 2013 version is back, which I'd take at this point!
On successful teams when someone is off, others pick up the slack. Women's soccer is finally reaching the any given Sunday point. If you want to take out the top couple of teams in a World Cup elimination game, it's possible but they have to be flat and you have to pack a punch. Other than that, there's a logjam of teams who can either show up and sail or pack out early depending on the wind around the net.
I think it's hard to read much of anything into the Iceland game. I see O'Hara, Van Hollebeke, O'Reilly, Chalupny, Heath, and Wambach in the starting lineup, all appearing as possible non-starters in Ellis' scheme of things. And Rampone, Krieger, Rapinoe, and Johnston don't play at all (along with Dunn). It has the looks of a throw-away game chance to put in some players who haven't had a lot of playing time -- which is exactly what a lot of posters on BS have called for in games like this. Although not scoring is a concern.
Internets is fun right now. Thank you Iceland manager, Frey Alexandersson. 575045457904336896 is not a valid tweet id http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/sto...raw-against-iceland-at-the-algarve-cup-030915 //he knows she's a he.
Iceland's coach isn't wrong. And yes, Jill, his team is at the bottom of the group; your team couldn't beat them though.
Once upon a time as part of a project I didn't care about, I played Ether in the background made a quick presentation and walked away with the song still playing. That was before Nas joined Def Jam...
I really don't get articles like this one. The USWNT was playing it's 3rd match in 6 days, didn't need to win, and gave some fringe players an opportunity to start while resting the normal starters who have to play again in 2 days. Who cares that they tied and didn't score a goal? That's not what this game about. How about telling us how the fill in players did? Did O'Hara do anything to hurt/improve her chance of making the team? How did Chalupny do in the MF? How did BVH hold up, will she be a serviceable backup for the WWC or not? Now I get it, this must be an Onion style post.
Well I get it. The problem from what Ive seen posted has nothing to do with who played. Personally Im glad they rested some players and felt they could rest players. The problem is regardless of who is out there the philosophy of this team just sucks. Whether it's the first 10 or the last 10 on the roster, they should be able to move the ball on the ground against pressure and create scoring chances. If they cant do that Id rather spend 90 minutes watching them try and fail than endless hail marys. And if I ever came across the Iceland coach Id buy him a beer.
No, man, you really don't get it. Read the article... see the bit I quoted. The author does not have a problem at all with how the team played the first 2 games, only the 3rd game.
Oh I got that part and liked ur Onion reference. My response wasnt pro article it was anti Ellis philosophy. I probably shouldnt have quoted ur response at all.
Agreed that this article left out a lot of significant issues, issues that this the roster experimentation was probably an effort to investigate. But tying and not scoring a goal is significant. That even the weakest incarnation of their lineup can be stymied by a team like Iceland for a full 90 minutes is not the message that the U.S. wants to send just before their rematch with the French team that gave them a sound thrashing last month. Well to say the least, all three games left a lot to be desired from the team. But in the writer's defense, of the three games, this one probably left the most to be desired.
Here are the other placement matches at the #AlgarveCup:3rd: SWE v. GER5th: NOR v. DEN7th: BRA v. SUI9th: JPN v. ISL11th: POR v. CHN— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) March 9, 2015
So with Brazil playing for 7th and Japan trying to get 9th I guess the heads will be rolling around the woso coaching circles.
To be fair the imbalance in the various groups explains why Brazil is playing for 7th. As for Japan they have no excuse. As for the us, we are in a no win situation. We did what we had to do to get to the finals but some will claim we had the easiest group so our berth is not deserving. On the other hand, we can only play who we are given and there's no saying how we would had done if we had to cope with Germany/Sweden/Brazil.
Ha Ha well Ellis has actually managed to have compiled a worse record than Sermanni but against tougher competition. But yes, she certainly put Algarve in its place.
The Japanese fans might have taken this better if Sasaki hadnt announced that they were at Algarve to win it.
Maybe his definition of win was different. The problem with Japan is the last time they had a lack luster Algarve they won the world cup so no one knows what to make of this performance.