It is allowed. I never suggested it wasn't allowed. But some bald suggestions need to be contradicted just so people don't think it's conventional wisdom. In the case of Crystal Dunn, I think it's especially important. Quite simply because she's black. Which doesn't make you or anyone else who's critical of her a racist. BUT most of us here weren't born yesterday and we know there are athletes singled out for criticism when it's convenient because they are black. And they count on naive or careless or plain ignorant people to amplify their views. Crystal Dunn is a special player. She deserves to be treated with special respect. If you don't think so, you're entitled to your opinion on that, too. But I stand by mine and the importance of making it.
Good grief .... Regarding Klingenberg and Dunn as compared to each other on the field, they are completely different players. And, they play for the Thorns with Dunn ahead of Klingenberg on the field and lots of interplay and overlapping between the two of them, so comparing their strengths is hard since it depends on what their main roles are in their field relationship. In that relationship, from my observation of the games they have played, Dunn has more of a role of a dribbler, move the ball inside, and be a scoring threat (and, she is a scoring threat), and Klingenberg has more of a role of crossing the ball from wide (and, she is not a scoring threat). But, they also interchange roles, so it is not all of one or all of the other. On the issue of assists, I did a tally of all the Thorns assists this year. It provides less than ideal information, since the national team players have been away from the Thorns for signifiant periods of time. I do not think it shows anything definitive about who is the better assister, given that Dunn has been gone quite a bit with the national team. But, to me it shows something really interesting about the Thorns. Here are the assist numbers by player: Klingenberg 3 Rodriguez 2 Weaver 2 Dunn, Westphal, Boureille, Franch, Charley, Salem, Horan, Menges, Smith, Moultrie, and Kuikka all 1 (and I would give one to Everett) What I find interesting is that with the Thorns, the assists come from almost anyone, you cannot focus on shutting down any one player as the playmaker. Also, to be true to this thread, I think Weaver is a good passer and is good at getting herself in a position to assist. She most frequently is on the left and, at the NWSL level, relatively frequently is able to get to end line and cross the ball. She also is capable of delivering a quick, good pass on a fast break. In that respect, of the young players I have seen, she seems like a potential player in the Rapinoe ordinary position (and has the potential to be a better defender than Rapinoe). Plus she is pretty big, physical, and strong. I can see why the Thorns were high on her when they drafted her.
Sweepsit, good graphic. I wonder how many of the players on it have two or more assists. The way the Thorns play, one of her main jobs is to get end-line and deliver the ball across the box, which I am guessing is not included in your graphic since those are not forward passes. Or, if you know, let us know if that is how they are counted. I cannot remember one of her assists, but the other one was a forward pass in a brilliant Franch to Weaver to Smith play.
I’m not sure either but I’m guessing you are right that an end line pass in isn’t considered a forward pass. I think of this as who is progressing play. Not necessarily what she’s asked to do but I was surprised how much of an outlier she is with low accuracy there.
You gat all of this from the following post Because Kling is/was a much better passer/crosser than Dunn. Players skills need to be matched with tactics and complementary players. Dunn natural instinct is to progress the ball by dribbling over passing. I think you are making way too much out of a pretty innocuous post.
Yes. Because it's careless and disrespectful of one of the most special and important members of the US national team. You wouldn't think of being so dismissive of some other players and their special talents if you didn't feel somehow you could get away with such lazy and dismissive comments, like somewhere there's a built-in audience receptive to dismissive comments towards black athletes (cf Simone Biles)
You are really reaching now. Feel free to speak about yourself and your intentions, but stop trying to guess mine. You are way off base.
Just for kicks, here would be my 2023 roster right now. I opted for more turnover than will likely happen, but it's more fun to freshen things up. Only 5 of the players are 30 or over, with the oldest being 32. Sounds alarming to those accustomed to our current geriatric player pool... but it's gotta happen! G: Franch, Campbell, Bledsoe D: Dahlkemper, Davidson, Cook, McClernon, Fox, Purce, Dunn, Krueger M: Ertz (captain), Howell, McCaskill, Lavelle, Sanchez, Macario F: Horan, Hatch, Balcer, Pugh, Smith, Rodman Provisional list/Alternates: Murphy, Menges, Petersen, Sullivan, Pinto, Williams, Weaver Close calls -Morgan and Press could be around still. But they've had plenty of caps and tournaments. Time to build for the future. -Listed Horan as a forward because she is more valuable there with our future player pool. A good finisher with head and feet, excellent target, can hold the ball well, etc. She and Macario are kinda interchangeable as forward and mid. -Besides Ertz (who brings a separate skillset), this is a very technical group of midfielders all good in possession. Passing accuracy was a major weakness in Tokyo. -Sam Mewis will probably be on the roster. I omitted her because of awful Olympics form but odds are just a temporary dip. She'd likely take Sanchez or McCaskill's spot. -I could easily take Menges over one of those four centerbacks. She is a bit older, but the same age as Dahlkemper. Frankly, Menges is less error prone than either Dahlkemper or Sonnett. -If they want a pure left footer, take Courtney Petersen instead of one of those outside backs. -Seems cruel to omit Lynn Williams for a second straight WC roster. Maybe she goes over Rodman, but young Trinity is already a more composed finisher.
Goign to a tournament Going to a tournament with little experience is stupid. Especially with so little time to prepare compared to a normal cycle. The best players are the best players regardless of age and how many times they've been there before. Press is still better than any of the forwards you listed (all of whom are inconsistent) and she's not old by any stretch. I think Morgan will also be there for experience although her form is more questionable and I'm fine with cutting her if she doesn't improve on her current form. Heath can and should make a run if she's still healthy. I mean if the future is with players like Balcer and Hatch I don't think we are winning anything anytime soon. Hatch is not that young and has never shown anything like the current veterans at the same age. The only ones on your forward list who show world class potential are IMO Pugh and Rodman (Horan is amazing, not sure if she's a forward) and Pugh has obviously been around for years. I wouldn't mind seeing Macario tried as a false 9 type player. Maybe bring Purce in as a forward as well.
I saw one of the warmup games live this past summer. Dunn looked like the fittest, fastest player on the pitch (Williams wasn’t playing).
No, she had a couple glaring uncharacteristic mistakes, for example, against Sweden. Dunn still made lots of Dunn plays, even against Sweden. This, too, is exactly the reason why I don't blame Dunn for being sick of playing defense. You get noticed more for mistakes than for good things you do. Look, we're all fans and what fans do is have our favorite players and I try to entertain (and be entertained by) a lot of the various opinions on players. But if we're going to at least try to be constructive, it's kind of pointless to say everyone was equally bad unless you want to make the case to FIRE VLATKO NOW (!!!) But clearly, at least now, Carli Lloyd > Alex Morgan Alex Morgan 2012 > Alex Morgan from 2015 onwards (by a lot) Crystal Dunn > Kelley O'Hara (I can't believe this even has to be said) Tobin Heath before being on injury list for 6 months > Tobin Heath after 6 months on injury list no matter what Mexico says Tierna Davidson > chucklehead VAR (Pawel Raczkowski) Lynn Williams > her critics fan debates over Christen Press > no fan debates over Christen Press Naturally as fans we don't agree on this ether, but one side offers at least a path forward with concrete steps; the other side simply offers excuses for too many fan-favorite players and no path forward
I hear what you're saying and for me... To go along with your "But clearly, at least now," reference I would add Crystal Dunn 2019 > Crystal Dunn 2021 Olympics. To my eye test. She wasn't nearly as dominant at the Defensive, or really her attacking offensive overlaps like she was in the WWC. I do not disagree with your assessment of Dunn>O'hara at this juncture.
I would agree "Crystal Dunn playing LB (even though she hates it) 2019" > "Crystal Dunn playing LB (even though she hates it) 2021"
USWNT doesnt win 2019 w/o Crystal Dunn. France wide players would've shredded us. '20 Olympics version of Dunn was not her usual standard of excellence, but she looked physically off...maybe overtrained...maybe covid...maybe under trained...dunno. But this tourney was the outlier performance amongst what she's given uswnt all these years. That said, Dunn is hugely underrated, underutilized and underappreciated in the US. If she had come up in France, Brazil or Haiti I seriously doubt she'd have been pegged merely an "athlete" and subjected to the incessant squawking of naysayers eager to portray any mistake as evidence of her (lack of) soccer IQ. Few black central midfielders exist at any level of American women's soccer. The men's game is changing, but NOT the women. Draw your own conclusions as to why. Dunn knows what she's talking about on this.
I do not think either of Crystal’s NWSL club teams underrated, underutilized, or underappreciated her, hugely or otherwise. Nor have they or their fans pegged her merely an athlete.
I think there's no question many fans underrate, underappreciate, and would (if it was up to them) underutilize Crystal Dunn. That's what it means for fans (or even some or many journalists) to underrate someone. Fortunately her coaches don't and that's how we know with a great deal of certainty fans are wrong in underrating her. And oh yes there are many who are fans of the US team rather than fans of her clubs (or of the NWSL itself) who underrate her and who peg her as primarily an athlete, not crediting her with great skills or techniques or tactical awareness for either a defensive left back or a creative attacking player. Maybe we see them more at Equalizer or on Twitter than in the select, rarefied atmosphere of BigSoccer (!) but they're there. That's why we must labor to FREE CRYSTAL DUNN (!!!)
I never go to Equalizer and have very few Twitter posters that I follow (who are very pro-Dunn), so all I have to go on is what I know of Courage and Thorns fans and what I see here. If you are correct about Equalizer and other Twitter posters, a bunch of them are idiots. Regarding your above comment, I assume you then take the position that the coaching staff decisions in the Olympics let us know with a great deal of certainty fans are wrong if they did not like the decisions and how the coaches rated the players. Of course, I can say that since I think the US did about as well as reasonably could be respected. And, as a matter of general interest, the other semi-finalists in the 2019 World Cup other than the US and Sweden went out in the Olympics quarter-finals (England-Great Britain and Netherlands), which reinforces my opinion that it is almost impossible to win the World Cup and then win the following Olympics.
PSG is in Louisville for The Women's Cup this week, and two talented American teens are training with the French champs: Gatorade national player of the year Alyssa Thompson and sister Gisele Thompson, who are both committed to Stanford. They've already won UWS & played MLS Next.— Jeff Kassouf (@JeffKassouf) August 17, 2021
If @kolabear can interpret comments like mine to indicate disrespect, underappreicaitation and some level of racial bias to Dunn, then frankly, you can find that all day. It loses its meaning when we associate simple soccer comparisons with the above. I can think Klingenberg is a better passer/crosser and still think Dunn is a great player. According to @kolabear one cannot. At times, it is implied that unless you think Dunn is being wronged by not playing as an attacking player, you are not fully supportive and therefore guilty of the above.