Slaton out due to injury, Jenny Benson IN! Can I get a 'yay' from the congregation ($1 to Stuart Scott of ESPN)?? http://www.soccer365.com/US_home/National_Teams/page_22_40692.shtml 'Bout time.... Paul
No, not that. I wasn't happy about Slaton being injured - she really shouldn't have been on the roster to begin with, since the knee thingy was fairly significant. I guess there may have been one last fitness test and Slaton did not pass 'go'. Paul
slaton has been hurt since the middle of the summer... miraculously she was gonna get healthy??? Still Benson's presence does add a vital skill, sadly lacking from the national side, an outside back with ball skills, who can move forward, and overlap and cross with deadly accuracy, and the ability to tackle with deadly accuracy...
Making the roster comes first... I have no idea what Heinriches strategy is for next september, but aside from slaton, the rest of her defenders wouldn't be my choice.. I say total retooling is needed on the backline, but I doubt she does it.
What are we talking about adam. A buzz saw and who whould be cut on that backline for retooling? Joy, Brandi or Kate? And who wouuld be your back line and don't tell me Cat.
I'm sure one popular suggestion would be to buy 4 plane tickets from Philly to China with TIMBer on the passenger list. Sorry, make that 5 tickets so the keeper situation clears up too.
The back 4 I'd use would be Benson, Slaton, Iverson and Mitts...add your favorites if you wish too fawcett, chastain, and sobrero are not my idea, and they'll be another year older by next september... soccer at the elite level is for youth... I say, get the new ones in there and get them experience... tell me who can take care of Prinz, amongst the old folks?? I know Iverson can, and matching her with a Slaton in the middle covers the speed angle. and I'd use a pure d-mid, NOT Fair.. Heinrichs idea of the team differs from what I look for... A generation switch is needed, Wagner and Wambach are a sign, but the real matter is the back-line, particularly against China, Norway, and Germany.. and if France is in the USA group...Pichon would torch the old ladies.
My problem with the roster is depth in the wrong places. Only 5 slots for four positions on the back line, but 5 forwards to fill two slots. O'Reilly is a great HS player with great potential, but she is not at this level yet. Since when is the national team a developmental squad. I would also drop MacMillan. She looked bad in the Nike Cup. Wambach is missing from this list. On the back line, I agree with Adam to a point. Chastain and Slayton should be there, but Fawcett and Sobrero are a big hole in the US squad. Any team with strength on the left will have success against them. It's too bad about Slayton's injury. She is definately a high point on the back line. I think Benson should have been there the whole time. As a side question to the board: Is Slayton a pure outside left back, or was she put their because she was better than anyone else? I'm not going to go as far as to say that Heinrichs should insert the Charge back line, but I think she can do better. Dwight
Did Italia go wrong with AC Milan?? Of the group Pearce, Fawcett, Sobrero, Chastain, CHASTAIN would be the best of the litter there. I still say YOUTH needs to be served, sitting with established players PAST their prime is NOT a recipe I'd adhere to. It's next year that counts, and people are another year older and there's less time to blood new defenders. Actually, the idea of sitting Fair and using Chastain, in front of the defense is something I'd experiment with. Still, Withers is the future, and Withers on Prinz would be a joy to watch. That's why I'd like Iverson. Clearly China doesn't have a power forward, and Norway tends to go with speed up top, but having a healthy Slaton answers the pace issue. And I believe the ball skills of the Charge defenders are superior to those currently in place. I think merit from WUSA play counts, and those who excel deserve a chance. Canada called up their 17, and Kara Lang is in the mix... Iverson can take care of Christine Sinclair... who on the current roster can???
I don't mean to belittle the rest of CONCACAF, but Team Canada are the only legit contenders. If so, then, you build your team to destroy that opponent. The defenders in the roster don't inspire much confidence about being able to contain Canada's attackers. They are past their prime. They can't even defend well against regular Woosa competition. Hooper and Sinclair are a formidable duo up front. Even if the Canadians resort to playing an uninspired direct style, it will only be a matter of time before those two break down the US defense. How many times have I seen Katia take Fawcett to school? Prinz on Sobrero? Chastain's a remarkable athlete, but she's a mediocre defender at best. Now she's being groomed to lead this defense. Slaton, the best defender, is sidelined. I hope Benson sees plenty of time, and she can teach these vets a thing or two about tackling. To answer Dwight's question, Slaton plays left back at Carolina. That's the same position she played in college, except that in her senior year, she played centrally with Anna Kraus to anchor a very young Santa Clara team. Slaton has the range and the skills to contain an attacker out wide. Pellerud, formerly the Norwegian coach, now coaches Canada. You'd bet he knows a thing or two about beating the US. By picking O'Reilly, you can see Ape likes grooming these kids. That's part of her job managing the women's program; that includes the youth teams. I've heard good things about O'Reilly. If Ape really had her way, I don't think it would be O'Reilly in the mix. The better college strikers - Kelly Wilson, Lindsay Tarpley, etc. - I bet, were held out by their coaches because they're vital to the success of their programs. Team USA are unlikely to lose without Wilson, but Texas would have a difficult time winning without Wilson. College coaches have to think about job security too. O'Reilly over Wambach? Your guess is as good as mine. The acid test is against Canada. Pellerud will throw everything against that defense.
Don't get me wrong i would love to see TIMBer on that back line but i don't know over Kate or Brandi i think Brandi is so inportant right now with out Carla ok i'll give you Joy might be the one on the way out.
My final take on April's goalie rotation... At no point did I, nor have I nor will I say Melissa should be the *starter*. But the numbers she's put up in her pro career demand, I daresay, the opportunity to be on the team. If it's the backup, fine; if it's a reserve third spot, fine. As long as you know you've got insurance in case the starter goes south. Melissa is 2nd in WUSA *career save percentage*. For those who scoff at her GAA, which is tops, career-wise, shouldn't save % alone warrant consideration for a call-up to a training camp? (RHETORICAL ? ALERT! ;-)) Mullinix and Beene are 2-3...in career losses. She has fewer WUSA losses than Scurry. Mullinix doesn't even crack .500 in WUSA career winning percentage. Let Melissa rise or fall at such a trainingcamp. At least you'll know if she has what it takes. That's *all* I'm asking for, not for April to just hand the job over to her. That would be wrong, wrong, wrong. But the way it looks now, this team will have to score goals in bunches because the defense is simply not going to be there like it was in '99. They'll all be four years older. It'll be like speedskating, per Chargefans - just go left Paul
Old defenders play like Agoos in Korea. You need to infuse, hungry, young talent, who's curve is on the RISE, not going down. It's the mentality of the STYLE which determines most of HEinrichs picks. The only test in next FALL in China. Old players, who've gone through a hard WUSA season, will have less left in their tanks, subject to more nagging injuries, which happens with age.
WooWoo! Yes! My girl got another cap in the last game. Now, we need Jenny to get some international playing time.