here are mine: gks: solo, naeher defenders: o'hara, krieger, johnston, sauerbrunn, sonnett, klingenberg mids: heath, horan, lloyd, brian, mewis, long fwds: pugh, press, morgan, dunn alternates: harris, o'reilly, engen, hinkle yes. no pinoe. i know, i know. harvey said.... rumors are that.... i wouldn't pick her. unless there's strong evidence to the contrary, (is there enough time for that?), you don't take this big a chance on a recently injured older player.
gks: solo, naeher defenders: o'hara, krieger, johnston, sauerbrunn, engen, klingenberg mids: heath, horan, lloyd, brian, long, rapinoe fwds: pugh, press, morgan, dunn alternates: harris, o'reilly, sonnet, lavelle Rapinoe and Hao both go to Rio because they are important to the team, if not on the field, but for their experience and leadership. Lavelle makes it because it will be valuable experience. I like Engen's experience over Sonnet's, no question there.
I agree about Pinoe. If the roster hits on July 9 as reported I dont see what she has time to do before that date that would displace anyone else on ur list. It is further complicated by the Lloyd injury because it makes them want to carry the extra CM just in case. I guess u could carry Rapinoe as an alternate. That would give u another month to evaluate both her and Lloyd without completely discounting her. GK...Solo, Naeher CB...Sauerbrunn, Johnston, Engen OB...Klingenberg, Krieger, O'Hara CM...Lloyd, Brian, Long, Horan, Mewis F...Morgan,Press, Dunn, Pugh, Heath Alt...Harris, Sonnett, O'Reilly, Rapinoe
Ill tell u why I picked Engen over Sonnett. If something happened to Johnston I wouldnt have any problem with either Engen or Sonnett starting with Sauerbrunn...BUT...if something happened to Sauerbrunn, a pairing of Johnston and Sonnett would be really inexperienced.
I don't see a need for both Mewis and Long on this team.... both are good, neither are amazing, both somewhat clunky. one or the other, no need for both. probably not popular opinion, admittedly.
GK: Solo, Harris CB: Sauerbrunn, Johnston, Engen OB: Klingenberg, O'Hara, Krieger Gibbles: Mewis (UCLA), Horan, Brian, Lloyd Gobbles: Pugh, Heath, Rapinoe, Morgan, Press, Dunn This is your team (as of now). It's too darn easy to read Jill Ellis. And if Leroux didn't get pregnant, Christen Press might be in some serious trouble right now. It would be Press or Dunn getting cut. Pugh is going nowhere (except the starting lineup for the opening match).
Assuming they stay with the 4-3-3, 5 CMs seem prudent. If u wanna argue why Ellis seems to have a very narrow view of what a CM is, Im with u.
I think we have enough leadership without HAO and Rapinoe on the team. We have Solo, Krieger, Sauerbrunn, Heath, Lloyd, and Morgan for experience at every level on the field. If they can't provide leaderdship at this stage in their careers I don't think they will ever be leaders. Also, the team isn't the youngest group ever assembled with O'Hara, Klingenberg, Press, Long, Engen, Harris, and Naeher all at or past 27 years of age. gks: Naeher, Solo defenders: Engen, Klingenberg, Krieger, O'Hara, Johnston, Sauerbrunn mids: Brian, Heath, Horan, Long, Lloyd, Mewis fwds: Dunn, Morgan, Press, Pugh alternates: Harris, Hinkle, Lavelle, Sonnett
yeah,i guess you're right...but man, nobody has any sympathy for Rapinoe huh. cut throat mutha ********ers trolling big soccer. i'm ok with it, but let's acknowledge it. still, i'd bring a Rapinoe who's worth 60 minutes the entire tournament over Mewis. she's just more important.
Who I would bring (not my guess of who Ellis will bring): GK: Solo, Naeher Defenders: Johnston, Sauerbrunn, Sonnett, O'Hara, Krieger, Kling Mids: Lloyd, Brian, Horan, Heath, Mewis, Rapinoe Forwards: Morgan, Press, Dunn, Pugh Alts: Harris, Engen, Hinkle, Long
no place for sympathy, even for our favorites, in smaller olympic rosters. i actually prefer a young, healthy mewis to an older, returning from injury rapinoe i'm not sure of. ussoccer has been down this road before, and it doesn't tend to end well when you bet on a recently injured older player.
but she's Jill and the team's favorite, stating so many times how important she is to the team and if she's healthy she's an integral part of the team. i'm taking Jill's side on this one. #teamrapinoe
being jill's favorite not important. starting many, many times, important only if she's as good as last year. if she's healthy is the important phrase. if she's healthy, i'd definitely take her ahead of mewis.
#USWNT roster for Olympic prep. Of 24 players,18 will make final roster, four will be alternates, two will be cut. pic.twitter.com/50hn4GPXiV— John D. Halloran (@JohnDHalloran) June 23, 2016 Camp roster
U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position: GOALKEEPERS (3): Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars), Hope Solo (Seattle Reign FC) DEFENDERS (9): Whitney Engen (Boston Breakers), Jaelene Hinkle (Western New York Flash), Julie Johnston (Chicago Red Stars), Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns FC), Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit), Gina Lewandowski (FC Bayern Munich), Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC) MIDFIELDERS (8): Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash), Allie Long (Portland Thorns FC), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC), Samantha Mewis (Western New York Flash), Heather O’Reilly (FC Kansas City) FORWARDS (4): Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Mallory Pugh (Real Colorado) Bigger version
Press release: http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/201...-camp-roster-for-july-9-match-vs-south-Africa "...Also on the roster for the first time since last December is midfielder Megan Rapinoe, who is continuing her recovery from ACL surgery. Rapinoe is in camp for training and evaluation and will not play in the match." So no actual games played to see if Rapinoe is ready, only practice. It seems to me Ellis is selecting Rapinoe no matter what and hope she is ready by the start of the Olympics.
My picks G: Naeher, Harris D: Sauerbrunn, Johnston, Sonnett, Krieger, O'Hara, Klingenberg M: Brian, Horan, Lloyd, Heath, Long, Mewis F: Morgan, Press, Dunn, Pugh Alternates: Solo, Engen, Hinkle, O'Reilly Cut: Lewandowski, Rapinoe Jill Ellis will pick Solo over Harris (can you imagine Hope Solo reacting to being named an alternate??) despite league form. She will probably pick Engen over Sonnett for experience in case one of the center backs gets injured. And she seems set on taking Rapinoe if at all possible, even at less than 100%. I disagree with this, for a) Rapinoe's own health and future as a player, b) the utility of needing fully fit players on a small roster, 3) it diminishes the hard work and form of players week in and week out in the league. Some might question my taking five center mids and only Heath as a wide mid. But honestly Dunn, Pugh, Press (midguidedly) and maybe O'Hara will feature as wingers during the tournament. I like having both Long and Mewis because they permit Horan to have a more attack-minded role. And both, especially Mewis, offer an aerial threat if we must resort to route one. I can see a good argument for taking O'Reilly over Long or Mewis, for extra wide depth, but Ellis really does not rate her.
For me the Pro and Con arguments for HAO have nothing to do with her. On the Con side Ellis doesnt even use her in friendlies when she has six subs to play with. Not sure u can waste one of 16 spots on a player the coach wont play. On the Pro side the best argument for taking HAO is the way Press played at CM in the last friendly. If Ellis thinks that a Press. Lloyd. Morgan triangle at the top is a viable option, it does sort of obsolete Mewis or Long. Then I guess u can justify HAO as a wide forward option instead of Press.
GK 2: Naeher, Solo DF: 5 Engen, Johnston, Krieger, Lewandowski, Sauerbrunn DF/MF: 2 Klingenberg, O’Hara MF 5: Brian, Heath, Horan, Lloyd, Mewis FW 4: Dunn, Morgan, Press, Pugh Alt Harris, Long, Rapinoe, O’Reilly Cut Hinkle, Sonnett Key points: 1) Rapinoe or not I think its really dangerous to take two players recovering from injury for an 18 player roster, particularly one out injured as long as Megan. If this was the WC, no harm in taking her, but with only 18 players, all of them need to contribute. The US has a tough group, and if MR isen't ready, France is a big challenge and NZ could do damage (anyone wish Ali Riley had picked the US?). Generally we shouldn't expect much from someone just back from an injury of this magnitude. Remember Stu Holden or John O'Brian's performances at the WC rushed back from injury? Actually O'Brian and Rapinoe have some interesting similarities as arguably the most creative player... 2) Long, Mewis, or both As BrooklynSoccer mentioned, taking both Long and Mewis is pretty redundant. If I were making the roster from scratch, I'm not sure either has what I'm looking for. In my mind (but I don't think Jill's), Long was poor in both Japan games.In particular she gave the ball away and hit dangerous passes in the defenseive third way too often. So I'll take Mewis, because those kinds of giveaways will kill the US. 3) Wing play I don't think this team has good winger options on the roster. To me the choice is between HAO and another defender so that Kling or O'Hara could play on the wing if needed. I can see the argument HAO, but I would prefer to play with Kling or O'Hara for better service to the attack. I also think Lewandowski is underrated as a "rookie" with hundreds of Fbund appearances. If the goal is win now, I have more confidence in her then Hinkle or Sonnet. 4) Solo. I agree with FawcettFan that the US is way too dependent on Solo who's form is not as consistent as it once was for club or country (not to mention off the field issues). But having completely failed to develop game experience for other options, I wouldn't make the change now. What I think Jill will do: Jill will take Rapinoe and Long, swapping out Lewandowski and Mewis from my picks. I think that she tends to play people she will end up pick, and it seems unlikely that a player that didn't feature against Japan not named Carli Lloyd or Megan Rapinoe will go to Brazil. I think that picking Rapinoe is a dangerous move, the kind a desperate team that couldn't win without her would do, not something the #1 team in the world with excellent depth. I hope the US isn't desperate! But while I think Jill deserves more credit than some of her critics (Dunn was a no brainer but a lot of people would have sent Pugh off to UCLA and tried to integrate her later), I think we haven't created the pool depth we should have by not including more players in victory tour games/camps (if allowed). In any case, I think there are better options in the league, and its a shame we haven't worked to integrate them. I also worry about Long failing to perform at an important moment, given that she is likely the only fit MF sub for the opener. Again, where is our big time depth. Picking the 24 is supposed to be challenging. I hope I'm wrong...
On Ellis' vision with Pugh...if Rapinoe doesnt get hurt, Pugh never gets this chance and probably gets her first real chance after the U20 WC. This follows the same pattern as Johnston at Algarve and Brian at WC. Ellis is a reluctant genius.
If we take Rapinoe, we'll be lucky to medal at all. Taking injured players is a recipe to disaster. We have pissed away chances at several World Cups by taking players for marketing reasons. We got lucky last year by wasting a spot on Alex Morgan. As the rest of the world catches up to the U.S. the margin of error on roster selections continues to shrink. At some point we'll learn that we can't taking any marketing selections to major tournaments. Injured and not in game shape is not good enough. Our player pool should be more than deep enough to cover for the inevitable injuries that happen to pretty much every team before every major tournament. But to shorten the bench by carrying a player who either shouldn't be on the field at all, or is unlikely to be able to contribute - just for marketing reasons - is a big mistake. I say that as a fan of Rapinoe. And the same goes for Carli Lloyd. If she's not 100% fit, we've got to move on. The 2003 Women's World Cup was a disaster partly because we took three injured players and a fourth broke her foot in the opening game. By the semifinal against Germany our old squad was worn out by the grind of two games/week. We ran out of bodies. Our men suffered a similar fate in 2006 by taking Reyna and O'Brien. Artificially shortening your bench going into a tournament with games every three days is a recipe for disaster. Especially when Olympic rosters are already 3 players shorter than World Cup rosters. What's important is the badge on the front, not the name on the back.
What scares me is that Rapinoe will have no game experience until the Olympics because they already stated that she wouldn't play for Seattle and won't play in the South Africa game. Given the recent history of a USWNT player doing their own thing before a tournament, I really shouldn't be surprised.
5 players shorter, no? and i don't believe that rapinoe will be taken unless she proves to the staff that she is both fully healthy, and better than mewis/long.
I dont think Morgan is a good example. She was one of five forwards among the 20 outfield players on the WC roster so even if she hadnt played the position was covered. She also had a bone bruise and said that she could play in the lead up games if needed. USSoccer was simply being overly cautious. In the end Morgan started five of the seven matches and played well. Rapinoe is a totally different ball of wax. She hasnt played since December and since she wont play against South Africa that only leaves a match against Costa Rica for her to get real game touches. Rapinoe also tends to force things which is ok when she is playing well but can be a disaster when she isnt. A non played in version could actually be more of a hindrance than a help. Finally, Ill say the same thing said about Boxx being carried as an experience sub for WC. When u get to the knockout rounds u cant bring in a sub who can only give u a good 20 minutes no matter how experienced because u cant be sure they wont have to give u another 30 of extra time.