Lots of nitpicky banter here, shifting lens back to bigger picture for a sec, here’s one of the teams we need to prep for on the Olys:
Do you think USYNT coaching jobs are well paid? What do you think the goal is. To win games or take credit for Shaw moultrie albert etc making the full team? I don’t know the answer, but I’m guessing it impacts how she is perceived. We have not consistently played well vs good competition in a while at youth level. is that all coaching? idk
Quarters are set. We'll face Colombia on Sunday. We'll see you Sunday at @BMOStadium 🔜 pic.twitter.com/wVGY7raL6W— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) February 29, 2024 The rest of the quarterfinal match-ups (As a note of interest, they had to go to drawing of lots to see who advanced between 8th and 9th place, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico): Saturday 1. Canada v 8. Costa Rica 2. Brazil v 7. Argentina Sunday 3. Mexico v 6. Paraguay 4. USA v 5. Colombia
That Costa Rica/Puerto Rico coin toss…damn. Bet it makes the penalty shootout more appealling from a player stand point
In case it's not clear, the bracket looks like this: So if we advance past Colombia, we'd likely face Canada in the semifinal.
It sucks for Puerto Rico, but I don't think one tiebreaker here has much to do with the other. It wasn't to decide a game like a PSO does. These were 2 teams in 2 different groups tied on placement in their respective group (3rd), total points (3), goal differential (-2), and total goals (2). It rarely happens (but does occasionally...looking at you, 1990 WC). This isn't something a PSO solves unless you were to bring in both teams after all group play is finished just for a PSO, which isn't feasible.
She played in the World Cup for Mexico after her freshman year at Idaho State, so if it took going to Santa Clara for the USSF to notice her, that was too late.
I'm not going to do a deep dive into the Mexico game, as I haven't watched it again and I don't know if I want to. But, I have thoughts, lots of them. So, a lot more posters here are prescribing just a change to younger players as the cure-all. Sure, there was some sloppy play from specific players. (Even players who usually play together in the same line looked like they'd never combined on the field together before.) And sure, some players shouldn't have started. (Personally, like many others here, I would have rather seen a bunch of young players out there, even if they had also "failed" and the scoreline was the same, to let this be a game to test them.) But, not as many are talking about the need for a change in tactics. Kilgore is using similar tactics to Vlatko's and she's getting the same results. It felt so similar to the WC. First loss to Mexico since 2010 and first loss to a CONCACAF opponent at home since 2000: the team just keeps breaking records over the last year and not in a good way. The feeling of desperation and panic in the 2nd half was just not something I like seeing in the USWNT. (I don't know what it feels like on the field or in training, but we don't seem to have that leader on the team who inspires both confidence but also relentlessness when down, like Wambach in 2011 shouting, "All it takes is one chance." But that's a whole other issue.) Many have said it for over a year now, and apparently the US Soccer coaching staff doesn't agree, but part of the problem is there's no width in the attack. Williams and Rodman both were playing narrow. I'm confused on who is even supposed to be providing width. You'd think maybe it's the fullbacks, but they're mostly playing inverted although Dunn sometimes provides width. With inverted fullbacks, you also have to have cover sometimes from the midfield, or even the central midfielder then moves out to provides width, which they weren't doing. Really, playing narrowly in the attack makes a good pressing team even more successful in turnovers with our whole offense playing on top of each other. Purce provided some more width when she came in, but by then with the other changes in the midfield to be more of a box midfield, and a narrow one at that, they were almost too far back for anyone to really break lines or take advantage of the way Purce was helping stretch their defensive line. I'll also comment on how differently Morgan and Smith are playing the same position. From what I've seen, Smith gets service and usually tries to use her speed to dribble and run at a defense; like in the WC, she repeatedly was then stripped of the ball. Morgan gets the ball and more often than not tries to provide service to those around her (a way she's changed her game in the last few years). A lot of people are knocking Morgan, but if you're going to play a narrow front 3, it is more important for the #9 to provide service around her. There is no space to just run at the defense. I'm not saying Smith shouldn't be starting, but if that is the game she is going to play, imo, it would be better for her to play as a winger, or for them to play a more stretched out front 3 to give her room. (I'd prefer they switch to a wider front 3, but like Sam Mewis said, maybe I'm a boomer for wanting more width in the front line.) All credit to Mexico; they outplayed us and fully deserved the win. Maybe this game will be the "kick in the teeth" that the team needs to turn things around before the Olympics, but I don't expect Kilgore to really make tactical changes either for the next game, even if we're able to show some improvement on the field as a result of line-up changes. In any case, Horan's probably right, and maybe I'm just too dumb of an American fan to really know the difference....
I would say France is right now better than the US as well, but Spain is a class above everybody else! We really need to go on an Euro road but this probably would be mixed by whoever got the USWNT tv contract(since the games wouldn’t obviously be in prime time one thing I also noticed introduced to woso I. Europe/or at least at PSG is the ULTRAS, who are fanatic fans that will literally stands, stomp & yell for 90 plus minutes. Not sure they can afford those usually high Olympic prices but if they do, will bring a new dynamic feel for women’s soccer
WIkipedia shows she was capped by Mexico at 19, for the 2015 world cup. Was she going to beat out Morgan, Leroux, Rapino, Press, Heath, Rodriguez. I mean we had to reserve a spot for Abby and whoever wheeled her into place at the 6 so she could bang in headers even though she no longer played for a club team Do I think if there was another player scoring boatloads but only playing in HS that would fall through the cracks today? Absolutely....
My problem with this is that if the role of the 9 in our system is to provide service, why not use someone who is actually good at it as opposed to Morgan who has had to adjust to it after she has lost the scoring ability of her earlier career? Why not play Horan or Shaw or Rodman as the false 9?
No one specific. As I don't know the full depth and breadth of all the US players that would qualify to play for our US team. I do think scouts and US coaches are influenced by press coverage over and over of certain players and those are the ones that get in as opposed to digging deeper into players that may not get the accolades. It's not always a field of stars that gets the job done... It's about how the team plays together. No. I can't name any players off the top of my head. Scouts should have a bigger database for that. But I do think scouts/coaches are dazzled by accolades in bringing players in. It's an easy pick as opposed to really looking at and picking players that will play well together as a team. I just think you can't pick the same type of player over and over again and expect a different result. They all play as individuals and not as a team. I don't have anybody particular in mind. It was more of a general thought on who they're scouting. I do think the scouts / coaches pick players with accolades that a get press more than doing a deeper dive into who would be a player or players that play well together as a team. As Herb Brooks said: When you pull on that jersey, you represent yourself and your teammates. And the name on the front is a hell of alot more important than the one on the back! Get that through your head!
we spend a lot of time drawing form lines. Those tend to hold pretty well over the course of a season, but International play is mostly group play followed by one-off games. You can throw out who is "better" because it comes down to who is better on the day. Spain may win an International league, but with the right players and tactics, I would give the USA a good chance of beating them in a one off game. Just like Mexico beat the USA the other night.
I do not understand our lack of width either. If our speed and athleticism are our supposed strengths, then we should want to open up the field, not compact it.
Except…some of us don’t share the same sentiment after what happened with NED, Portugal, now MEX. Similar tactics, lineups, and in-game behavior—- as some prior posts have brought up. The major tourney is just months away. Here’s the other game…2 goals, 19 shots, on less than 50% possession for GER. We are not operating on our touted “elite” status.
who is good at service? I don't think Shaw or Rodman are #9's. Seems a little late in the day for Horan to be switching position. Unselfish target forwards are not glorified in the youth or college game. Hard to develop that in the system we have. look at the arc of a McCaskill. A combiner who seemed to fall off the map a bit
Spain won tht Nations Cup in way more dominant fashion than last summers WC, so their even improving. This tourney had the most difficult of formats to win. Played over 6 months there was NO peaking at the right time there was NO condition your but off to win an 3 week tournament there was NO 2nd or 3rd chances as only the winner of each group got to advance to the semis So basically you had to be spot on, at your best all the time! Germany finally got rid of their ‘only domestic women are allowed to coach their NT’ rule. I mean had the zero female coaches in their Bundesliga and hired instead the veteran & able Horst Hrresch who led the German u23 to 2016 Olympic finals. Holland were missing quite a few of their top regulars; Roord, Pelova & once again Miedema must of gotten hurt(as she played in the previous game vs Spain)—and surprisingly didn’t start Egurrola who’s last minute heroics at the group stage is why then Dutch won their group over England
All of them have experience at forward and midfield, with Horan, IIRC, having started out at the 9 with PSG. She might be the best option given her strong numbers at short passing and through balls. She's maybe our most technical player right now and the one most used to that style, so why not utilize her in a role where its most needed and impactful? But either way, really it was just throwing names out there. The point is find someone who is good at what the coach wants instead of trying to teach someone how to do it.
I get your point, I'm just opining that its not a simple task. I doubt Horan wants to endure the physical part of being a target 9 at this stage of her career even though she started her career as a forward. H think that is more of a reflection of my point. In the USA, you almost have to be a forward or attacking mid who score to gain any attention early. The "easiest" way to do that is to leverage early physical advantages. The environment does not force players to become students of the game to succeed. Many "stars" progress mirrors their athletic development. Horan was and is a student of the game. She continued to learn throughout her youth as her physical advantages levelled off, she had other parts of her game. From my experience, she is a rarity.
your post siad something like the US could beat Spain on an off day. My opinion would be that Spain would be very 'psyched' to meet the US in major tournamnet or even friendly, so hence, they wouldn't have an off day---their currently superior personnel would carry the day for them. And if my prediction holds through, that they play their best will mean that had absolute respect for the USA whereas we had no respect for Mexico, that's why we lost
Who else on the team consistently pulls off those two passes to Rodman from a high central position? Similarly, the assist for Smith vs Vietnam? The two assists for Rodman post World Cup?
Referees for the quarter-finals announced by CONCACAF (Oddly their picture shows Katia Garcia/ Mexico who is NOT on the list for the quarterfinals but could well be penciled in for the semifinals or final depending on how far Mexico goes): Canada vs Costa Rica REF: ODETTE HAMILTON (Jamaica) AR1: STEPHANIE-DALE YEE SING (Jamaica) AR2: CARISSA DOUGLAS (Trinidad and Tobago) 4TH: CARLY SHAW-MACLAREN (Canada) VAR: DANEON PARCHMENT (Jamaica) VAR1: FRANCIA GONZALEZ (Mexico) Brazil vs Argentina REF: MYRIAM MARCOTTE (Canada) AR1: MARIE-HAN GAGNON CHRETIEN (Canada) AR2: MELISSA SNEDDEN (Canada) 4TH: CARLY SHAW-MACLAREN (Canada) VAR: DREW FISCHER (Canada) VAR1: CHANTAL BOUDREAU (Canada) Mexico vs Paraguay REF: TORI PENSO (USA) AR1: BROOKE MAYO (USA) AR2: KATHRYN NESBITT (USA) 4TH: NATALIE SIMON (USA) VAR: EKATERINA KOROLEVA (USA) VAR1: BENJAMIN PINEDA (Costa Rica) United States vs Colombia REF: MARIANELA ARAYA (Costa Rica) AR1: MIJENSA RENSCH (Suriname) AR2: LIDIA AYALA (El Salvador) 4TH: SANDRA BENITEZ (El Salvador) VAR: TATIANA GUZMAN (Nicaragua) VAR1: AMAIRANY GARCIA (Mexico)