I'm curious as to why Leroux hasn't gotten a minute yet? My guess is that they know she is coming off a injury, and they want to give her more time to make sure she is 100%. But then again Rodriguez is healthy and hasn't seen much PT lately, so I'm not sure what's going on. And Lavalle with zero minutes?!? I haven't seen her in training but why not give her a few minutes?!?
I feel Leroux must not be 100% if she doesn't get any time on the 16th because she is such a class player who tormented defences. Who knows what going on with Rodriguez, Ellis is treater her like dead weight at the moment on the roster a few minutes in the WC and none in the VT. That being said McCaffrey is similar to Rodriguez in her style of play and maybe McCaffrey is just performing better at training. I really want to see Lavelle play (also her twitter is hilarious).
I thought Alex Morgan looked good -- except.....she didn't get a goal. In fact, I thought all the US players looked good. Horan did ok -- well enough to stay in contention for a spot on the Olympic team. McCaffrey -- ditto. Hinkle -- ditto. And old faithful O'Reilly still has some energy. Press is looking like she did a year or so ago when the goals were falling for her. Where's Engen? Where's Leroux? Where's A-Rod?
Doing a very good vanishing act. I struggle to see how she makes the olympic roster if Ellis NEVER plays her.
I agree that it's pretty lame that Leroux, A-Rod and Engin have gotten no playing time. Ellis basically just just randomly put Johnston in back, her defense wasn't that great but she scored a couple goals and since then, it's been only Sauerbrunn and Johnston, no discussion. But seriously, you have 5 games total against T&T, Haiti and Costa Rica and you don't play any of them?? That's pretty bad.
Engen and Rodriguez did both play (and both scored) against Costa Rica and Engen also did play against Haiti.
Yeah but Sonnett or Rampone could fill that 3rd CB spot and if Sonnett can also play DM it makes her pick more attractive because of the shortened roster. Also, how much competitive play does a CB get against a team like Haiti. If the USA wasn't so worried about their unbeaten streak I think you would see a wider range of players starting rather than just going for the safe options. You learn a lot more for loosing than you do from winning.
Heath may have had a quiet night, but this piece of brilliance by her deserves another mention. I'll just leave this right here... Ok Tobin Heath. Ok. #uswnt https://t.co/AwwwA0XD4A— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) December 14, 2015
Im starting to get familiar feelings about Ellis and her player selection. Take Press for example. She replaces Morgan at 79:00 and scores at 81:00. Morgan plays 79 minutes and nothing. Three goals the other night too. Tell me again why Press is not starting? All the production is coming from Dunn and Press. I think its very good that Wambach is retiring. Watching her now, shes a ghost of what she once was and i'm more sure than ever that Ellis told her to retire before the Olympics to avoid the embarrassment of being cut. There is way too much young talent these days for her to be part of the 19. It is time to go for her. A few others too btw. We should be bringing on the next generation totally. A-rod, O'hara, Leroux, O'reilly...are on the bubble in my opinion. Press is nipping at Morgan's heels but I doubt Ellis would make that change at this point
Not sure this is really so new. Ellis seemed to not favor her that much in the WC either. I think Ellis needs to either use them or cut them for good and stop jerking them around if they're not going to be part of the team going forward. I think the old Ellis is starting to show herself again. She caught a break when injuries forced her to change her lineup and formations in the WC and it worked out. Not sure she'd be looked at as the super coach she is now had not fate made her look so good. Either way, it's a new day and the WC is over. Once again, her lineups are suspect. While we looked so good against minnows like Honduras, we were not as good against a better team like China, though we did win in the end. The problem for Ellis is that the scoring is not coming from the ones she favors the most. Will she make lineup changes or will she continue to try and push her selections? We will have to wait for Olympic qualifying to see who the new first string is. Maybe it will take injuries again to make Ellis look like the brilliant coach some think she is.
Well, if u want to Monday morning quarterback, the move would have been starting Press for Lloyd in this case. Lloyd had a very meh game and missed two absolute bunnies. Morgan also missed an open header but most of her shots were on frame and she had a goal called back on a questionable off side. Im still of the opinion that Morgan is getting so much time because Ellis believes it's the only way to get her scoring confidence back. If it were me Id be mixing and matching Press, Lloyd and Morgan in the two central attacking sports every match.
Heath isnt making anyone forget Rapinoe but the attack is more balanced now. Instead of the play starting on the left most of the time, Dunn and Heath seem to be having an equal amount of the ball.
So - I think the offense played much better against China than they did at WC. They made a bunch of good chances. - Naeher made a spectacular save considering she'd been standing around for 90+ minutes - That's the second goal on this tour that Morgan has lost on a marginal off side call - Dunn continues to impact matches on the right. - Johnston looked a little nervy in front of the home town crowd. - They need to spend a lot of time on set pieces. It's gone from the best part of the offense to the might as well play them short. - Not going to complain about Lloyd because if anyone deserves a pass it's her.
Pretty sure it was more she pulled an ab early on. After she came up rubbing it she played much more conservatively and looked to others to carry some of the offensive load that is usually hers