April must adapt or leave I've replied to this subject on a number of threads. Seems to be a growing awareness that this team is playing dinosaur soccer and is still near the top only because of superior talent and great team spirit. The US Womens National Team needs to increase its tactical sophistication. As to the implied question do we need a new coach. Answer- We need a new system. If April can adapt and get us playing 21st century soccer she can stay. But if she just brushes off the loss to Germany as one of those day's she's got to go. But- Her replacement would have to revamp the inner tacitical workings of this team, not just add a few new players.
Re: April must adapt or leave This would require either dumping or re-educating the entire USWNT establishment - including the "Eternals".
Shake up the snowglobe! Personally I think the current staff (players) are, for the most part, all A-players. What the WNT players need is a little fire under their bottoms to get them to that next level. Sure, they are trying their mightiest to win and stay on top, but they continue to play subpar to what we all know they're able of. Nothing gets a bunch of extremely talented under-achievers, who in my mind ARE amongst the BEST in the world, to perform like a big kick in the butts. They need a shake-up to get rid of that complacency. For this reason alone, the USWNT powers that be should bring in someone new as coach. I choose my words carefully: I don't say Ape should be fired. Ape has done a mediocre job. She's not THAT bad. Rather, it's not about what she's done or has not done. It has nothing to do with her. It's about results. To get results out these talented ladies, a sense of urgency has to be instilled. I say bring in somebody new who will guarantee nobody's job. No player should be safe. Every player should have to earn her position on the team. It works wonders in all other sports, especially hockey. Even pointy football (think Parcells). Part of Ape's problem, and perhaps part of why she has a hard time creating this sense of urgency, is because she WAS one of the very players she's trying to get production out of, and not only that but she was also one of their peers. Friendships and being too close to someone often fogs over fact, like whether a player who used to be is no longer, and the ability to make the right decision which are usually the hard decisions, like to bench that same player who is no longer fit or not performing. Simply, Ape needs to go, not as much for the job she has or has not done, but rather because it's the only way to get a very talented US squad to yet again perform at the highest level.
One of the great things about Big Soccer is you can respect another poster without adopting their positions. With that said- April came in with a we got to shake things up attitude. A lot of the vets were put into temporary purgatory. Tisha Venturini never made it out! The team was no better - no worse for the shakeup. As long as we reduce our problems (and their minimal and can be overcome) to this or that personality will never improve. Again I believe women's soccer is in a period of tactical growth. Right now the Germans are leading the way. As more sophisticated soccer nations take up women's soccer they will transfer their vast knowledge gained from the men's game to the women's game. We keep our heads in the sand or we can learn and prosper.
I certainly buy that humstein. To that I would add: in order to instill a "new system" (call it tactical growth), I believe we also need a shake-up in the coaching staff. It works in other sports. It works in nearly all things team-related. And it should work with this talented squad. Perhaps April did shake things up when she first came on board. Admittedly I am not knowledgeable of all her comings and goings and the hard decisions she made when she first came on board, but I firmly believe, that if this was the case, now she has softened. I witnessed several players on that field who in my opinion, and it seems the opinion of many BigSoccer members, who shouldn't have been there due to either lack of fitness, falling off their game, or not healthy enough to contribute (read: Milbrett, Mac, etc.). In an event such as the WC, or even the upcoming Olys, there should be little room for sentimental favorites. The players who can give you your best shot at a W should be those on the field and on the bench. Granted, for team chemsitry, there *could* be an allowance for, maybe, one player who, inspite being not able to contribute 100% on the field, can add another dimension on the bench. But only one. As an aside, the US seem to be a bit too impatient with the ball. Typically when they work the ball up, they bang it around the back a bit before constantly looking for that long break or ride up the flank. All of this is okay, but in moderation. They need to be more patient, work the ball through midfield and coordinate their plays from there. It seems they *try* to do this, but they become impatient and attempt to force plays all too often. They used to play more of a control game, but then again, perhaps they were able to because they were that much better than their competition, and now they can't even do that because, quite frankly, the competition is just as skilled, if not more so. Got me.
Re: Re: April must adapt or leave I think we should fired the uniform manager, that ugly white short that caused us the semi final defeat.
I've come to the conclusion that the WNT's problem is the red jerseys. Every world cup game they had, the white team won. Against Italy, there was no white team, so neither team won.