There has been some discussion about the foul leading to Rapinoe's penalty kick. Watching the replay, I had no problem with the ref call. The foul started in the box, pushed Ohara out of the box, and she was already going down when the leg got tangled up behind. That's from slow motion. In real time, defenders angle was wrong, she didn't attack from the side, but more from behind. I wonder what kind of shape Tobin will be in come Olympic time.
I agree with your analysis. Imagine if in early 2020 (with the expectation of Olympics in summer 2020) or in January 2021 Vlatko had announced: "We can't win a 2021 gold medal with our aging stars. They are great heroes who have done so much for the U.S. team and the country, but (insert four or five names here) are out." The outrage would have been unprecedented. The subsequent pressure on Vlatko and on the young replacements would have been out of sight. And if the younger U.S. team then DIDN'T win the gold medal, everyone would be bitter, second-guessing would be endless, and Vlatko would be fired. It may prove that Vlatko has gone too long with the great heroes. We'll see. I hope it'll be a glorious last hurrah for them and for those of us who are their fans. It is surely not guaranteed, but I believe it's possible. Even with all the weaknesses that have been rightly noted by many who have commented. I look at it this way: there are various teams (including Sweden) capable of beating the U.S. But there's no team right now where it's reasonable to say: we can't possibly beat _________.
Speed matters but not as much as skill. Maybe their attacking players had a speed advantage over our defensive players, but don’t think there was a difference in the other players. I like Lloyd more than Morgan, but Morgan seems to work a little harder and connect better. Morgan used to be a speed player, but that is gone. O’Hara has been injured so much I think it is impacting her game. But Purce and Sonnet are not as good on the defensive end. I think Sweden surprised Vlatko with the 3-4-3. It kept Dunn and O’Hara from getting forward.
And O'Hara was actually in contact with it while playing it when the foul was initiated-- or perhaps I should say the first of three fouls-- she shoved Kelly out of the box with a forearm to the upper arm, lost control of the forearm and smacked her in the face/neck with it, and then crossed behind her and pinned her outside leg between her own, tripping her up. Nothing controversial about it and JP and Ally should be ashamed of themselves, blush and silence ashamed.
1. Not having Dahlkamper was a real problem; took away the threat of Rte 1, which is important to this offensive lineup. You have to stay with our forwards more if they might get a long, accurate service at any second, and that opens up a bit more space for the mids. 2. I thought Naeher's choice on the goal wasn't much of a choice-- you see that dangerous a shooter somehow unmarked there, you have to go try to keep the ball away from her. She just got bumped off stride and couldn't get there, is all. The real question is, who should have marked her... 3. Great game from Ertz-- even when her passing's been poor the last couple games her defense has been great, and this time she passed great too. 4. Terrific game from Horan. All over the field... 5. Rose was good. 6. Only thing I can think at this point is that Vlatko is hoping that playing Williams steadily will maybe raise her game eventually and make all that speed useful while she still has it. But she's really not very natural instincts-wise... 7. Its hard to quite see how and why, but when Pinoe is on the field good things happen even though it doesn't look like she's got the speed or strength or anything else really to be dangerous-- "by their fruits shall ye know them." And if she's on the field and a PK happens, its a gimme these days. I remember when that wasn't true at all. 8. I dunno as I'd say Sweden's faster than us now-- but they do seem to be faster than they were. Mostly I think they planned how to clog up our transition really well and that reduced our pressure enormously... 9. I guess I have to figure out how to put someone on ignore again; not doing so is raising the tedium level more than doing so again...
@lil_one My issue with the goalkeeping was that Naeher decided late to come for the ball and then was nowhere near it. This isn't the first time that she's had some questionable decision-making in air. I'm not sure we have a better choice though, we certainly don't have a clear group of world class keepers. @NCChiFan I agree that it seemed like a fair penalty. No reason for the defender to make the choice she did.
Megan Rapinoe has her detractors (and worse) here, both for her wonderful political activism and for her play on the field. But imagine that in a close do-or-die game there's a penalty kick. Does anyone want a player other than Rapinoe to take it?
Yes, it is. And the currency goes up and down in value but 10 000 SEK (Swedish Krona) is pretty much always just under 1000€ (984€ today) and a bit over $1000 ($1170 today).
You forgot to put the Eiffel tower in the background though. Welching on bets is just one of many bad habits of his.
The US was flat but not horrible. But way too many cheap giveaways. I’m sure I’ve missed it, but I don’t see why Williams starts. She doesn’t combine well. And today, Press’s passing was also poor. So was O’Hara’s. Lavelle was far and away the best US player against Sweden.
didn't think of this, but absolutely, yes! just the threat of the long diagonal directly to a dangerous forward improves your attack appreciably. yes. 10 times. this is one of my main take aways of the game. vlatko has said that horan has been instructed to go and find the game or something like that. the thinking is sound. horan is an outstanding player with high soccer iq, and the ability to solve space problems better than anyone on the team (especially ertz). we need to remember that it’s something new they’re trying. it will only work if she gets a little faster, and a lot fitter. a tired horan at the attacking end is a big problem. (btw, why doesn’t asllani get a yellow for dragging down horan at the beginning of the game. that emboldened the swedes right away. a deserved yellow there changes the whole game. no?) very good. can someone explain to me why she isn’t starting at mancity? that affects her ability to go the full 90 when she comes to the uswnt. a full 90 rose means we probably win this game. yeh. don’t get the hyperbole in some posts. it’s tiring.
While it is probably late to change the formation, our forward play has pretty lackluster except for Press at times and I think we get our best players on the field with a 4 women midfield, particularly if Heath is not ready to go.
Should have seen how Trinity Rodman score that goal in her debut. Should its one game, but lets see how she progresses through the rest of the Challenge Cup.
I am very curious what the line-up is going to be on Tuesday. Carli and Lynn hopefully will be dropped off the starting XI for sure. Regarding Lavelle and Mancity... Very confounding how she is being treated but apparently there are players better than Rose friggin Lavelle on that team so.
frm reading previous posts; Rose kept getting injured during practise early on when she first arrived at MC where she either kept missing games or wasn't 100% fit. The player that starts in front of her is an Scott named Carolyn Weir(8 goal, 3 assists so far in the WSL season), MC only uses 3 mids, Sam Mewis & Keira Walsh(at DM) are the usual midfield starters along with Weir
Or possibly there are enough starters who cannot go 90 that their subs are already accounted for, so they don't want to start her until she's (or someone else is) fully fit? That would be a kind of self fulfilling prophesy, but I suppose it does happen sometimes...
Rose has been getting starting games in recent month or so. As long as she's not injured, the coach will use her more especially with FA WSL ending soon with 2 point difference between Man City and Chelsea for the top spot. I believe they will face each other soon. That game will pretty much shows who will win.
Looked to me like we're not nearly athletic enough. We looked kind of lead legged generally. And, there were few players with a willingness/ability to take people on. With the team we fielded, we have some speed, but very little agility. Press is not good at taking people on - she got owned by Sweden's right back. Carli isn't good at taking people on, and she looks slow. And, Lynn definitely can't take people on. Linsday can't take people on. That leaves Rose. It's a very unagile group we started with. If we play with that group in the Olympics in big matches we'll get beaten. Oh, and O'hara looked lead legged, too. (good for her for winning the penalty - more on that in a sec). Vlatko has got to have more young legs in the mix. At the least, Tobin has got to play. And, Mewis (Sam) has got to play. The pen was clearly a pen. The rule on whether it's a pen is: where does the foul start. Often times, it's called a free kick, vs. a penalty kick as the player's momentum carries her into the box. Foul starts outside the box, player falls down in the box. Free kick, not a pen. This was the unusual opposite. The foul on KO was initiated inside the box, she falls down outside the box. "She fell down outside the box! Clearly not a penalty!!!!" WRONG The foul started in the box. It was a penalty.
Megan follows up on that after the Sweden match “Following last month's triumph at the SheBelieves Cup, Rapinoe had remarked that the U.S. "still need our punch in the mouth that we haven't got yet." When asked if the team got that from Sweden, Rapinoe joked, "I still have all my teeth, so that's good," but noted that the challenge of playing top sides like Sweden and France -- who the U.S. will face in Le Havre three days from now -- will serve the U.S. well. "This whole trip, that [punch in the mouth] is exactly what it's going to be," she said. "It's a lot to travel overseas at all. Just ask our staff about that. But certainly during COVID and all the other things happening and to play two of the best teams in the world is exactly what we need."
Congratulations to Carli on 300!!! So appropriate that she joins fellow LEGENDS on that prestigious list. Longevity much?? You can fake a lot of things in life but not 300 Caps. Don’t fret Step back from the ledge R-E-L-A-X No need to hide the sharp objects Take a chill pill Sweden is good - - can we give them that much? Great service on the Goal by Asllani. I marvel how some of those corners are served up on a laser, essentially through a hula hoop. The marking was obviously lacking and Alyssa’s action was incorrect or poorly executed. If she stayed back on this particular attempt, I doubt if it could have been saved as it rebounded off the far post- - Great execution Sweden. Huge props to Alyssa for coming up big on that breakaway right before half. Megan is just money from the spot. With all the little factoids they give us during the broadcast, have they ever said when her last PK miss was?? If ever? I thought it was interesting that Aly gave T a thumbs-up towards the end of the Match but on the post-game, ATHOR (I think) said she “hurt” her Olympic chances. Official jackdoggy Sh*t List 1a. Melissa Tancredi 1b. The grumpy old curmudgeon Dr. Joe Machnik Goalie Development? Alternative PK taker? These questions, along with many other Planetary problems and Societal ills could be remedied with the realization of my life goal, my ambition, my sole objective, my dream……… 40 United States Women’s National Soccer Team Matches per year.But how you ask…..simple……Friendly Match Double Headers. Wedn/Sunday, roll in the Good Korea and Costa Rica. Split our Squad - Blue Team/Red Team, add a few players, possibly designate some emergency backups from the other Team. Blue/Red plays opposite opponent in the 2nd Match and Voila everybody wins!!!!! And before lil picks up the FIFA Rule Book and smacks me over the head with it, let me just say….. FIFA – SchmeeFIFA. This is when General Manager Markgraf will pick up the phone, call Zurich and say “Hi this is Kate, and this is the way it’s gonna be”. After all, she IS the most powerful person in Women’s Football on this Planet. I IIIIIIIIIIIII I believe I believvvvvvvvve I believe that I believe that I believe that when Lighting Williams hits the back of the Net that the Goal will start looking as big as the Super Dome in New Orleans.
The USWNT have played three good teams lately: Canada, Brazil, and Sweden. In all three games, especially Canada and Sweden, players had open looks on goal and fluffed the shot. Multiple times Beckie for Canada and Erickson (I think is her name) against Sweden. These things happen, but they also even out. There is no reason we should be allowing so many breaks behind or unmarked arriving midfielders. I'm afraid we are not learning because we are eeking out results and that at the OGs, some team is going to convert some of these or some golazo's to even out the soccer karma. I do think the plan was to bring the WC winners to the OGs for a shot at doing the double. But with the postponement, we are going two years into the new cycle but still using the veterans, because they are still going to get that shot. But we are going to have to find some younger players to step in for some of these greats.
The older players need to get back into it as well especially playing in NWSL. No excuse not to be playing if they want to stay in the NT.