According to the document you linked me to, Morgan went in for Rodriguez at '56. But the defense looked much better at possessing the ball that game than they did previously. Once the midfield was fixed and Morgan was up top, we looked like a completely different team. I think we are a bit stronger because of Morgan. But what about the Japan game? Was the lack of a body on Ogiri's header both Rampone and Buehler's fault? In the men's game, the central defense goes to tall, strong bodies. Considering that Sauerbrunn is (apparently) no slower than Buehler, I don't see the disadvantage. I'd like to see more footage of US players playing on their club teams, but I guess that won't be possible for the forseeable future.
You are right, I was looking at a couple games and it was AROD. It would be great to have a nice tall destroyer. But unfortunately, we don't have one. I don't see it in what I have seen of Becky, and I haven't yet seen it in Engen ( yes, I know she hasn't played any to speak of, but in WPS I was more impressed with her play roaming than in a disciplined back four. I think perhaps her experience in the 3-4-3 didn't help there. Until we can entice somebody like a Gunnarsdottir or something, we will count positioning and team defense as our hallmarks. In lots of games it works well. We went five hours in a row this cup with 3 shots on goal. When it breaks down, people look stupid. But this isn't the men's game. Nobody plays total lockdown defense except the Japanese, and that sacrifice a lot of offense to do that.
That's interesting. Didn't realize the precise FIFA rules about how they determine an assist. Weird, though, that US Soccer doesn't follow these rules. If you followed their stats for the tournament, Rapinoe would have 4 assists.
BigSoccer's opinion of Carli Lloyd was formed well before the start of 2012. I agree that Morgan has had an incredible year, and my hat's off to her. She's our most dynamic player right now. But the truth is, she took two ill-advised shots that flew well over the crossbar in the second half yesterday. Carli Lloyd had a similar year in 2008, when she won US Soccer Athlete of the Year. But had she taken 2 shots like Morgan took yesterday, she'd have been toasted to a crisp here on BigSoccer. That's all I'm trying to say.
Lloyd has an unfortunate history of ill-advised shots. If Morgan starts doing it on a somewhat consistent basis, then she will get toasted and deservedly so. You can't look at it as an isolated event.
Carli takes those wild shots every game though, the contact just happened to be perfect in yesterday's final. And I'm certain Pia tells her to take those shots, every game. But when she's on, she's on. And thank you for being on yesterday. She's still not a 10, which has always been my biggest problem with her play, but is she to be blamed for playing out of position? Her biggest asset has always been 2 dribbles around a defender, 3 HUGE strides followed by an incredibly hard shot. Her defensive positioning is usually off and her passes in the middle are usually flat. Pellurd and Anson pointed that out during the Olympics in ESPN articles. Pellurd predicted what would happen vs. Canada and was dead on. Morgan's play was phenomenal through-out the tournament, she often had 2 or 3 defenders on her, allowing everyone else on the field to get open and forward. I thought Meghan had a great tournament as well, she comfort on the ball continues to get even better, she's very technical. I thought Heath finally showed why she deserved to be playing. Lloyd had some wonderful games as well. Abby is Abby, which isn't negative, but she's not going to win corners or beat anyone on the flank. Tony D said this is the best forward combination in US history... I stated earlier, but i'm really excited to see the back line change and to see if Press can play on the wing or up top with Morgan..? AND DON'T FORGET! the U20 WC is coming up! yay.
Against the best competition often times in soccer you need the great play, consistency be damned. Carli has delivered that now in two Olympic finals with key goals, and she has done it at other crucial times by hitting the field switching ball that springs open the counterattack. There are simply plays that Carli can make that many of the "consistent" alternatives are incapable of. She may not be someone's ideal, but that shouldn't stop people from being able to acknowledge that she actually is on the whole the best central midfielder the US has had to offer these last several years. So get ready for another four years with Carli Lloyd in central midfield only this time being able to settle into the role she played in this tournament with the need to accommodate Shannon Box gone.
I'm glad Becky Sauerbrunn got to play. I hope Buehler is okay, of course, but if Sauerbrunn can calm a viewer like me down, she must have had a similar effect on her teammates.
IIRC, assists were unheard of in soccer not that many years ago outside the US. They were sometimes refered to as "making a goal" for someone else, but were never counted or tracked as stats. I suspect when some of the NASL guys went back home overseas they introduced the concept, but have no proof of this. Of course, NASL based them on Hockey. This is why there is no universal scoring system for them.....
Do you guys think O'Hara and Heath will continue to be starters in the future or do you think they were only stopgaps for this year?
Really? Are you watching the same player I am? This is not a player who concentrates on spraying the ball around, she is a power player who likes to run at the defense and shoot. Lampard and Gerrard are really good analogies.
I am not disagreeing. She is very much like Lampard or Gerrard, but from her Twitter (and her coach/trainer), she is a big fan of the possession-oriented/technically gifted central midfielders. If anyone ever wants a retweet from Lloyd, just tell her that she played like Xavi. I was merely pointing out that there is a discrepancy between her actual style and the one that she wishes or believes she plays like.
Maybe she could learn from Ballack. Ballack was a Box-Box at first as well but later learned to stay behind and use passes to connect the midfield. Lampard was similar this year, you can see his passes in the semi again Barcelona.
agreed, but i think Pia wants her be the other way around and has tried to force her into that role. she's very effective as the power player and pretty average as the finesse tactical soccer player. but i think we all have pretty high standards
O'Hara may be the fittest player on the team moving forward. Her work rate and ability to get forward in the attack should keep her in the starting role for awhile. I think LeP will lose her starting spot when Krieger comes back. As for Heath, I really don't know. She could really benefit from a year of play with a more technical club team in Europe. There are flashs of brillance with her. I think it depends on who's the coach moving forward. Pia loves her but not every coach feels the same.
Heath is a newbie and needs some time, but she displayed some brilliant passing in the Olys. With Heath and Rapinoe on the wings, other teams have major problems. I've not been a big LeP fan, but it seems to me she had a very good Olympics. She was especially a problem for opponents when she moved up the right flank. People may disrespect her for past performances, but I don't think the Olys give a good reason to condemn her.
Can Heath really be considered a newbie? She was playing at the last Olympics! If you meant as a starter, than I see what you mean.. but when I think of newbies on the team, I would think of Leroux, O'Hara, and Morgan before Heath. I do agree though that she definitely showed signs of growth in this tournament.
She had many fewer times where she held the ball too long or dribbled into 3 defenders and lost it, then she used to have. In fact she had less of those moments than she had moments of hold up play that brought people forward or moved defenders opening space. Of course based on past history I winced when I saw what she was doing and expected her to lose the ball. She had quite a few of them in the defensive 3rd. I thought she took a big step forward.
I won't disagree that she did but I feel like she still has a considerable way to go. Also, it's hard to imagine that HAO will no longer be a regular starter on the team.
Heath was better defensively in the Japan match than I'd seen her. More patient and more tenacious. Wambach-Morgan is a tremendous forward pairing. Better (marginally) than Wambach-Hamm, which did some amazing things. I can imagine a Ali - Becky - Rachel/Amy - Kelley backline, but .... I've gotta assume that Pia will leave, and I will miss her. A magician. If she goes to Sweden, Sweden will be a contender in the next WC/Olys.
Yea, she will end in Sweden, as she's stated...question is when... I'm very impressed with the NZ now Canadian's coach, despite his off field antics. The thing with Pia, is she's often out-coached (these olympics were better than previous two major tourneys), but our women refuse to loose, it's pretty impressive.