my ‘conspiracy theory’ was/still is; there’s no way Alex Morgan will NOT make the Olympic team(unless she voluntarily steps down or injury)—-as USSF needs her for name recognition vying for attention & sponsorships vs so many other sports federations in the Olympics.
extended highlights below vs an Domican squad that featured 14 American born players. if going by soccerway chart, US played an 3-back, thus hinting on copying England & the Dutch NT's current/ preferred configuration United States vs. Dominican Republic - 21 February 2024 - Women Soccerway
There’s a better chance she won’t. With a small roster and a smart coach for the Olys, she knows she gotta churn on NT and club. She either gonna get hurt doing that, or be exposing her has been qualities.Not with 5-6 better forwards vying for the roster.
A consideration should be who is likely to be on the 2027 World Cup squad. I do not see Morgan on that squad.
Concacaf has always had trouble drawing crowds for women's events, even when the USWNT is involved. Remember a few years ago when some journalists were touting how the USWNT was out drawing the USMNT in friendlies? They conveniently omitted all the competitive matches where the WNT drew horribly and the men had great crowds (including the Copa).
No, she doesn't. I am so tired of this Morgan hating. She's performed better vs higher ranked teams for a lot of her NT career. But yeah, those clever passes to Shaw (one of which preceded the first PK) were so bad. Fans being worried about Morgan taking away the chances of Smith at #9, but if Morgan played an hour like Smith did yesterday, she would have been widely criticized for her performance.
Did not take it well? That was well struck, close to the corner, and a lot like her SD PKs. Were all her opposing NWSL keepers short/poor? "Boy am I glad they did not have Morgan take that PK. 4-0 Turn out the lights, the party's over." This is what you said after an objectively worse PK from Nighswonger.
A ho, hum match. I was somewhat impressed with Corbin Albert. I hadn't seen her before I thought she looked calm and collected in the 10 position. Sam Coffey looked like a confident, in-charge 6 -- although as a fashion statement, I wish she would untuck her shirt. Maybe she wears it that way to be recognizable on the field? I suggest green hair instead.
Me either. And she wasn't on this one until somebody got hurt. And I do think she is far more likely to be on the '27 roster than Hatch. Also more likely to be on the Olympic roster. And now way more likely than Fishel.
Im not a Morgan fan, but could not agree more. Playing poor competition allows people to create whatever story suits thier purpose. I wish the USA played an greater percentage of thier games vs competition that challenged them all over the field. Unfortunately, its not the case. I see praise for Moultrie, and i get it, but the area of her game that needs testing is unlikely to be vs DR. I read praise for Purce, but having a big physical advantage on your defender that allows you to show the same move, execute Spotify and still win the endline often enough to impact the game says about the competition. Not taking anything away form players, they do what they have to. Smith has been given opportunities vs the better teams and in some ways, she is worse than Morgan against those teams. Morgan has improved a lot in her associative play. Smith still seems to be me first and then what evere is left over if it does not work.
How many 10s played yesterday? The opposition made it look like every CM was a 10! What position did Sonnet play?
To be honest, I have hyped up Purce after this match. I mean she did similar to much better players for Williams’ goal in the NWSL Championship, but fair point. I get the Moultrie hype, but like you said, it’s much weaker opposition. Albert was good, but I’m surprised by just how much praise she’s gotten. I’m still waiting to see consistent flashes of the player on her Notre Dame highlight reel. I watch Albert week in week out due to following PSG, and her best attribute has largely been her box to box defensive work rate in my opinion. I’m assuming we won’t really see much of that until Canada/Brazil/Colombia.
I am interested in seeing how well Columbia do in this tournament. They beat Germany but lost to England at the last WC. They might be a significant factor in this tournament. If they played against each other, I think the US would struggle against them as they did against Portugal at the last WC.
Agree. The biggest battle for players is getting the oppotunity to play. There will always be subjectivity.
they’ve had an nice first game(6-0 win over Panama) but their missing from their roster were 2 of their 3 best players in Ramirez & Santos and dunno if they got the depth to make up for it. Santos had arguably the best goal in the WC(vs England) Ramirez temporarily had the highest transfer fee in woso when Chelsea purchased her from an Spanish club earlier this year. That record got broken though an week ago when newbie FC Bsy bought some speed burner from Zambia for $800K
Totally OT: I love that the announcer said “favored left foot”, emphasizing “favored.” Like emphasizing to the more frequent color announcer “it’s not ‘favorite’ ya knucklehead”
And if you were off when the shot was taken and hit the rebound, you are off even if you got back on.
I’ve always said that Williams almost completely only scored empty betters. She’s this generations Amy Rodriguez neither ever beats the keeper w a shot. It’s uncanny. Williams is a super presser. We will see if that keeps her in the mix w Emma.
well the one thing I’m reading over the rest of the internet is the extreme backlash over the very very small crowd(only 3K) many give various reasons for it as to why the USWNT has all of an sudden become so irrelevant. My reason would be summed up in one name/two words; Catlin Clark! Maybe after March Madness more fans will get iback into it. Definitely looking excited to the April match; USA vs Japan, cuz that’s will tell you a lot of what the future holds
I wondered why Fischel didn't play in the first match... Bad news for the USwnt and for Chelsea Chelsea Football Club can confirm Mia Fishel has sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury while on duty with the US Women's National Team.— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) February 20, 2024
Fishel is the third string Striker on her club team. Emma did not play her last week in a huge game when her team was down by a goal and the starting striker (Kerr) was out with an ACL. Rather than use Mia, Emma signed another striker and played her the full 90. Mia was not making the Olympic roster.
You have to look at the weather and the quality of those games. It rained heavy for two straight days, including the day of the USWNT game. Their opponent was quite weak and the game was on a Tuesday night at 7 pm. The other group stage games so far have been hard to watch because they are so lopsided. The parity of the games will start to get better as we move forward, but that first round was not competitive. I had trouble staying engaged watching it from my living room.
I would not draw too many conclusions from this, but it is a topic that is worth discussion, The USWNT and to a lesser extent, the NWSL are entering into new territory. USWNT is facing a "changing of the guard" from a position they have not been in before. As a perennial power (which they still are) but one coming off its recent WC performances, some people will need more encouragement than others. How events are staged, reported, streamed/televised and marketed is changing at an unprecedented rate and personal brands have become more intertwined with sports thatn ever. I am sure some fans have been turned off by some of the personalities they associate with the team and it may take time for them to identify with new ones. Sponsors have expectations based on having made larger investments in the game than ever before, so we are in for some interesting times.
1. Not a particularly promising match. 2. Entertainment dollars are going to be really hard to draw in Ca. right now-- people have floods to drain, houses needing repair, fallen trees to dispose of, and so forth; did you see the vids of parked cars being swept away down streets that became rivers? Those people are more focused on just finding their car than driving it to Carson...