US had way more possession 63% to 37%. Unfortunately, as we often see on the men’s side, it was a lot of possession without much purpose. TBH, ceding possession was probably part of Mexico’s plan.
"Morgan is not who she used to be." Fair enough, but she was involved in three of Rodman's big shooting/crossing openings. What's funny to me is that I think Smith could have done better on all three of those openings, but in accordance with a lot of fans, the coaching staff now seems determined to only play Smith at CF.
The match was not really a "home" match in that it was as much "home" for Mexico as it was for the USA, Judging solely by what the TV cameras showed the fairly sparse crowd was as much in favor of Mexico as it was for the USA. Also the USA has never been particularly good, either men's or women's, at exploiting any home field advantage. This was only a "home" match because it was played inside the borders of the USA. We did not win but, as I said, it does not matter much. We advance and will probably be the best second place team and that puts us at no worse that the #4 seed going into the quarters.
No way #35 is adequate ranking for that Mexican side. They won all their matches last year, tie against Argentina was their first stumble on the way.
There's more to home field advantage than just the site of the game itself. There's the travel, there's the familiarity of the environment, and a myriad of other factors that make players/teams play better at home than away. Regardless, it is humiliating that the USWNT allowed themselves to get shut out at home by a lesser opponent. Maybe, but take it up with FIFA: https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/women
I just hope that the young guns don't buy into the hype, stay humble and ruthless. I haven't see that later element since they won the WC. I love the talent, but we need alot more toughness.
"i think the gap between club play and international play is less important in Europe than USA, mainly because athletics and speed still predominate in NWSL over tactics and positionning" This is such a tired trope. Do you actually watch the NWSL and the Euro leagues? Stop pushing old stereotypes. Macario was raised in the US and went through the US youth and collegiate system. Europe did not reinvent her during her 1+ years of playing overseas. She has not played a minute for Chelsea and missed 1 year with Lyon due to ACL. How do you justify England not qualifying for the Olympics? What is the spin on that? Should they go to the NWSL to try something different?
1. No I didn't see those things happen, and neither did you, because they didn't. It was just those shit colored glasses you glory in wearing. 2. What the hell does "wealthy" have to do with anything? Are you unhappy that women can make a good living at this now? 3. Nobody goes undefeated at home against lesser teams for 35 years-- that's just silly. And the number 35 team in the world is often pretty good-- the 35 reflects how good they've been over their history more than how good they are now. Iceland for example is often much better than either their size or their ranking would suggest. Mexico will be rising in their immediate future even without this result. 4. 63-37 possession and a 2-0 score is hardly "curbstomped." It is a loss, usually due to a failure to get or finish shots. You seem to love not only hyperbole, but also violent imagery. Which is emotion, not reason or analysis. 5. "Survive and advance" is exactly how we won 8 times in 36 years. Any championship dynasty's record will be salted with white knuckle games with miraculous plays and outcomes. They pay the other guys too. Just win baby.
This game was probably the best thing that could have happened to us. A veteran lineup getting outplayed, out-hustled, and out-scored. Emma has the green light to turn the page on some of these vets now. They failed at the World Cup. They failed last night. No longer is it just Vlatko's fault. Becky had a nightmare (not just the first goal gaffe either), playing herself off of the Olympic roster. Like Rapinoe, she stayed one year too long and will go out with a dud. Sonnett was just chaos. As a big fan of Rose's talent, I concede that I cannot remember the last time she has performed well for the US. She is either injured, or waiting for the ball to come to her. She was not part of trying to help us possess in the midfield last night at all. We need to move on from Morgan. At her age she is just a placeholder for the Olympics. She is not better than the youth and we need to get them experience. Nighswonger needs to start over Dunn, who has not looked the same since pre-pregnancy.
Wrong. They played well below their talent level, for all the reasons cited. Because their foes do not enjoy the relative life of ease that wealth provides. Because many of their foes are either semi-pro players or amateurs that feed themselves with other jobs that the USWNT do not have to take. Because their foes have a harder time making a living, the USWNT should have a far easier time beating their foes. [Remember them dancing like idiots every time they scored against a team of Thai amateurs in a WWC? Pepperidge Farm remembers.] Sure. So tell us all about the last time a #2 ranked team got shut out at home by the #35 ranked team. I honestly cannot recall when that has ever happened. Possession without penetration is masturbation. Most of that possession was useless. Much of the forward passing were searching balls in the air, HOPING to reach Horan's head. Well John, I disagree. I disagree that "Survive and advance" should be the hopes of a heavily-favored team playing comfortably at home. Because the wealthier, more talented team playing comfortably at home should reasonably expect to win, or at a minimum, to not be humiliatingly shut out. At home. And we as fans should expect the same.
Ok, that’s one. How ‘bout the rest? And there kind of isn’t any such thing as “sounding Murican” ever heard of San Francisco? La Jolla? Corona Del Mar?
I have posted following comment at Reddiet before: This match takes a lot of time for me to process. I think substitution is a disaster. Subbing Morgan makes sense, although I think Smith should be allowed to play another 15 mins. Smith was not playing well but her speed and relatively high movement frequency is still valuable especially for generating horizontal connections between two wings. Subbing Sonnet over Williams is a good decision on paper, and Sonnet indeed helped stabilize the backline. The problem is the front line lacks any vertical layer, Rodman, Horan, Lavelle and Morgan were almost positioned horizontally which makes buildup from the backline very difficult. The offense in the opening stage of the second half was chaotic which IMO Horan bears the greatest blame. Mexico entrenched on their right lane in the second half (partly because Fox drifted too much inside from the right lane, and the build up through right wing mostly collapsed in the first half), while the middle lane between two lines (pocket and the hole) was relatively empty, Horan bewilderingly dribbled to the left wing persistently when received the ball in the flank between the left lane and center while not turning inward to either dribble into the pocket or make switching pass to stretch the Mexican formation. Horan even made two almost identical mistakes when trying to dribble to the left wing from the flank in the start and end of the second half. The second mistake conceded the throw-in which eventually led to the second Mexican goal. Horan being very poor highlights the issue of the second group of substitutions. Subbing Albert makes sense, but subbing off Coffey instead of Horan was head-scratching. Coffey was very mobile and covered a huge amount of space, she was vital that Mexico could not have sustained spell of offense before she was subbed off. Albert should play higher and sub off Horan to occupy the position 10 and try to make horizontal connections between both wings. Albert turned out to be very ineffective as the holding midfielder, she gave away the ball twice, and Mexico mounted successive waves of offense and won multiple corners shortly after she was subbed on. At that moment, the match had already been lost even though the score difference remained one goal. More optimal strategy might be subbing on Shaw for Horan while leaving Lavelle playing the entire match. Lavelle is not fantastic, but her technical flair was still beneficial. She passed the ball to Rodman for her first almost one-on-one that Rodman failed to shoot before she lost her balance. Lavelle also initiated the spell that led to Rodman's close shot at the back post by passing the ball around the opponents to Sonnet in the left lane back field. If Lavelle remains playing as the right winger, subbing on Purce for Fox actually makes sense, because Lavelle could naturally drift inside and Purce makes use of space by overlapping runs. Very disappointing match, very bewildering tactical arrangements, and disaterous match management and substitution. For the quarterfinal, I would rather play a 442 diamond midfield with Lavelle, Moultrie, Coffey and Sonnet. Start any two of Morgan, Smith and Rodman, while the unstarted one around the 60th min. Fox should not start because she is too used to drift inside and essentailly plays as a central midfielder, while the team needs a fullback (Purce probably, although her one-on-one defense is less than commendable) that makes overlapping runs and pushes to the goal line to create more width.
Ok pfffff .... I watch a pretty good number of matches, not all the weekends because i have a life, D1 arkema on canal +/foot+, WSL on the FA Player, NWSL on the twitch nwslofficial, liga femenina on Dazn, CL matches on Dazn, european U17 U19 on uefa.tv, etc.. i am far from being an expert of countries 's styles of play but i have some clues about it. Of course NWSL teams don't play only "kick and run" games, of course some americans players have more assets than speed and athleticism (and i wrote in brackets that my statement was a shortcut but u didn't notice it...), but the coaching must be really different in USA because what i see in Europe is often much more elaborate, in the construction, the movement of the players, with or without the ball. Differences exist, it s not only old stereotypes. About Macario, she played one and half year at OL, the second part of 2020/2021 season and the full 2021/2022 season (before being injured in june 2022). I never said Europe reinvented her, but well, you have a player who before coming in France had just played in college and youth team, then trained and played a year and a half in one of the best clubs in the world and you think she learned nothing during that time? Really ??? wooow (and no need to repeat, for the nth time, that the french league is soooooo weak, i know your favorite song) England not qualifying for the olympics ? I don t know if u are really aware that 20 european countries are ranked in the FIFA top 30 (6 in the top 10, 13 in the top 20 and 20 in the top 30) who fight for only 3 european OG spots (actually only 2 as France already qualified). Compared to Concacaf with only 2 teams ranked in the FIFA top 30, fighting for 2 OG spots, lol, not to difficult isn't it ?. Sorry but UEFA and Concacaf don't play on the same field ...
It's the perfect time to take the job. Expectations are as low as they have ever been and the perception is a major overhaul is required. The older players are talking themselves out of favor. Not to mention that she is getting a massive salary to coach and Chelsea are beginning to wonder why she has one of the highest payrolls in Europe and the CL seems harder than it should be!
Well, I have watched live woso for almost every weekend and frequently watch replays during weekdays. I don't think the difference in playing styles is very significant between the NWSL and Europe. One metrics to look at is the rate of successful passes, the NWSL and WSL in their most recent season is around 75ish, UWCL slightly higher at 77 and Liga F only around 70. It also makes little sense comparing America vs Europe because there's so much difference in styles and qualities inside European league.
Interesting about Macario, because after her 1.5 years in France she had yet to show quality at the USWNT level. In fact she just had one solid game against Iceland. Her international qualities are yet to be determined. Most of the coaches in the US seem to be from England anyway. So I guess we can blame them. I am fully aware of England's competition, and I am also aware that they failed in it. You are so quick to defend Europe and then cast your tired "country stereotypes" on the U.S. Emily Fox's NC Courage team plays with much more possession and tactical nuances than her Arsenal team. Yet? Am I wrong about the French league? Even Horan and Michelle Kang say it is.
How do you equate club play? Difficult to make relative judgements when the styles of play and competition are so different. To me, Smith is the same player she was at 15. when/if her athleticism declines, I wonder what she will have to fall back on? As long as you let her freelance close to goal and take a ton of shots, she will get numbers, but is that good? Macario has a ton of ability, but she need to get healthy and play with complimentary players. Different players who offer different things.
right, because less than 15 years ago Mexico beat the US with non professional players. Let's act as if LigaMX Femenil hasn't been around for the last 8 years.
I dont beleive this. It's not about athletic advantage. You cannot argue that Sauebrunn, Morgan, Horan, Rapinoe and others are going to maintain an "athletic advantage", One issue is do you stick with players who have an established brand OR go with unknowns? Does Nke throw $$ behind players with no national profile? DO you pay players with no profile 400k + and tell the veterans who have won zero? Its a lot more complicated than you suggest.
Because you cannot play her anywhere else. She needs space in behind to freelance into. She is not an associative player who can combine consistently with others. Our system glorifies goalscorers. We don't look at efficiency. We think high-shot volume players are good if the score a meaningful number of goals. Move up in quality and that rarely works. I have taken all kids of stick for my takes on players Like Smith, Cooper, Ordonez et al. The focal point of good College teams who are allowed to take a ton of shots will score a lot. DOes not mean it will work at higher levels