Have you ever tracked the accuracy of Portland forecasts? what’s the difference between partly sunny and partly cloudy, anyway?
About the same as the difference between "glass half full" and "glass half empty." "The optimist says that we live in the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears that is true."
I saw high 70's by game time. Not too bad but still higher than England is used to. Any hotter and they'll melt in the second half. I really dont know who he will roll out tonight but if you cant try some new players in these games, where can you try them? Do we really need to see Lloyd, Rapinoe, Heath, Mewis, Rose , Obrien, and the others again? Im giving this guy some slack but I have not seen much change since Jill left and I have been hoping, at some point, to see SOMETHING different. There was talk early on about short passing, possession..... where is it? So far it's been the same thing with mostly the same players and this is not what I had hoped to see. If we see this again, I am going to start calling the coach "Jill2" Maybe the OLD standbys cant do anything else different?
That’ll bake the Brits ! I’ll try and get back to the hotel from my late gig here in Evereux France and fire up the old VPN and watch the roasting.
In the early 1500’s, Ponce de Leon traveled to Florida in search of the Fountain of Youth - in 2020, I traveled to Florida in search of the Greatest Team in the Universe........He failed, I won’t. Beachhead established at the Japan Team hotel. Last night, they were moving around the Lobby in triangular shapes. A quick thank you shout out to Semb for arranging the expected 78 degrees at Kick. Q - What is better than 5 USWNT Matches in 13 days? A - Nothing, but 3 USWNT Matches in 7 days is a close second. The ongoing journey with these women will always be GLORIOUS
Spare a though for true American trailblazer ... Rosie the Riveter (Rosalind P Walter) died yesterday. She is the embodiment of our team spirit and an Icon. https://www.thirteen.org/blog-post/remembering-rosalind-p-walter/
One thing I'm curious to find out, from a tactical standpoint, is whether Vlatko makes use of the Press/Williams/McDonald front line much in this tournament or if that was more of a one-time thing in the Olympic qualifying tournament due to the short turnaround between semifinal & final
We won't see it as a starting front line in this game anyway. The starting XI: #USWNT XI via the app. pic.twitter.com/YUzwpawMoG— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) March 5, 2020
And England's starting XI: IT IS HERE. Your starting XI for tonight! 🎉Get that kettle on ☕️ pic.twitter.com/2camH8XSRc— Lionesses (@Lionesses) March 5, 2020
I do not agree with Horan over Mewis... too slow. Same for Heath. We'll see. Spain is much better than Japan... game was streamed off USWNT twitter
O Not this time. But Press instead of Rapinoe seems like a sign of things to come. O'Hara was burned by England in the World Cup for their goal and, I can't remember, possibly on the play which led to England's PK. But the player who burned her for the goal, Beth Mead, isn't on their roster for this tournament.
I know a lot of people are talking about Horan at the 9 position, but I have to wonder - will some teams succeed in playing a higher back line, compressing the midfield, because Horan doesn't have the speed to burn them?
It is supposed to be on ESPN2 but I do not know if it is really there. I am watching on the ESPN app on my Roku. The scroll bar at the bottom of the scree does identify the channel as ESPN2.
Maybe. But, if we had some combination of Press, Pugh, Williams, and eventually Sophia Smith, at the attacking wing players ….. I'd love to see a team pushing up their back line and Horan laying balls off to those speedsters. As an aside, I was the *first* to suggest Horan as a 9. You could look it up on this board.
10' 0-0 USA right ck, outswings to 7m 5-right, Ertz back-heads toward left side netting, Telford catches. 10' 0-0 Telford short restart, USA very high press in England's box. England break it with an adventurous square pass through their own 15m. Walsh(?) sprints through the press to circle center, long diagonal pass to Hemp in stride at 25m wide left. Hemp backs down O'Hara at 15m box left, accelerates past her down box left, whips a cross to 7m 1/3 left, challenged header pops up high to goalline. Naeher measures it, jumps and basket-catches low 13' 0-0 USA's turbo-mode attack generates a few strong shots, all blocked. Lavelle curls unmarked to arc top left, shoots across mouth, Telford dives and punches wide right. 16' 0-0 USA 5(2)-(0)2 shots(sog).
Really? I thought I was. But I will not fight you for the honor. A center forward does not really need speed but it is a asset. A traditional center forward must have the strength to receive the ball and often hold it up for the rest of the team and they "should" be really good in the air. They also need quick feet to get off shots in scrambles around the goal and the ability to be a real defensive presence when the other team has set pieces near the goal. Horan does seem to possess everything needed for a center forward and she also add really good passing ability. She can play both facing the goal and with her back to the goal. In fact she is the closest we have had to true center forward material since a little lady named Abby. The only negative I see is that she is a bit fragile and gets injured pretty easily at times.