January 24 and 27- Paraguay and Chile

Chile just fouling out of frustration in the last few minutes; on one end with Dahlien and now on Bugg

 

Final

United States of America 5 Chile 0

 

Full time: 5-0. Solid win for the youngsters. We'll see who keeps getting called up when the core of the team is back in, but I think several of them made their case.

 

Sophia Wilson was at the game watching; she also has been spotted in training with the Thorns (BlueSky). She may be back by SheBelieves, I think?

 

June camp opponents are known!

 

At least to the staff. But Hayes isn't making the same mistake twice , so she says we'll have to wait to find out. Come on, Emma, we won't tell anyone.

 

Absolutely a pen

 

I wasn't crazy about the whole crew-- felt like there was a lot of missed stuff both ways.

I thought Sears the player of the match. Hitting the post may be a miss, but it is still a sign that you did some things right. And her goal was spectacular. Liked Sams game, and Joseph's, and Bugg for the time she was on.

Wasn't very in favor of Ryan's outing. Seemed like every time I noticed her she was explaining what went wrong rather than getting it right. Probably unfair, but...

In general I thought there were a lot of bad touches and not so great passes; but I was very impressed with so green a team's ability to run Emma's stuff, both in terms of player positioning and choices/decisions even when the handling was a bit scruffy. Suggests some of these people are already smart for their age and will grow up to be much better than today as their skills improve.

That roster for Chile may not be much; but still, we were well down our own depth chart against them, and still allowed nothing.

 

Post-match press conference with Hayes:



And Rodman on her goal celebration:

 

I too thought Sears was the player of the match -- although Chile was giving both her and Rodman acres of space on the wings. The facts that Sears played in both games and played the whole game against Chile tells me that Hayes is giving her a close look for another call-up.

I noticed also that Maddy Dahlen was always around the ball after she subbed in. A long shot to make the national team, but maybe another look?

 

Yeah I agree with you. They are all pretty good at this level, it's how do they translate against top 5 type teams, when we don't have the ball 70% of the game, and are going up against a group of world class defenders. Look at a player like Trin and it's crystal clear, she can be mistake prone and a bit frustrating at times, but she just has another level. Mal and Soph have that, probably Thompson too.

Sears looks like she has improved to me and that she could get there. She is just super goal dangerous, always looking to attack. Hopefully she gets a legit shot in the Japan window. Maddy is interesting for sure. Nobody else in the pool can deliver a ball from that left side like she can. I agree, a long shot at this point but I wouldn't be surprised to see her as an important player for the senior team at some point down the road.

Speaking of players that have that look, holy crap, Bugg and Girma together in the middle would be amazing. Bugg is soooo smooth on the ball. Not sure she will have the spot locked down by the WC but there is another player that needs a looong look against Japan IMO.

 

Hard to complain about much of anything after 6-0 and 5-0. And each couod have been worse.

1) For sure going to SheBelieves: Rodman, Dickey, McGlynn, Hutton.

2) Almost certainly in the mix: Bugg, Rudd, Sams, Sears, Sentnor, Moultrie, Wiesner.

3) Possibly in the mix: LaBonta, Meza, Hershfelt, Ryan, Thompson, Wesley, Joseph.

 

Dahlien is really good. The way she held the ball at the end, was really impressive. We have so many forwards, it hard to say that anyone that is currently on the outside looking in has a chance, because there are 5 other forwards on the outside looking in that would be great, too. Looking forward to the start of NWSL. Last year, you could watch Dahlien for one match and say "damn, she's going to be good" (I'm wondering where Hanks is with her recovery). Which rookies will that be this season?

My takeaways are that we need a cruncher. Chile was physically abusing us with impunity. There was a chance at toward the end where Hutton had an opportunity to clean out the player that had pulled Rodman's hair. I was hoping she would. (that's not a criticism of Hutton - she's insanely good. Have we ever had a cm that's better on the ball in tight spaces?).

Speaking of NWSL, I'd like to see Kennedy Fuller tried as an 8, she is so similar to Hutton.

Aside from some really nice finishing, the thing I was most impressed with was that two of our goals came from perfectly weighted, and I mean perfectly, long balls over the top. Rudd hit one last match, I think for one of Sears' goals. And, Jackson hit one last night. It's great that we can play a deliberate death by a thousand cuts build up, and it's great that we can play those perfect balls over the top when it's there. And, speaking of getting in behind, Moultrie played a great through ball to Turner on her goal. And, someone else played a great through ball vs. Paraguay. Playing a ball behind the D to a spot where your player isn't, but only she can get to it, is a skill I Iove. Emma must be coaching these things up.

Sentnor - she's so clever around the box. The dummy that she left for Hutton was fantastic. And, she's a nifty, unselfish passer in tight spaces. Like Arena said about Dempsey, she's willing to try stuff. She has kept her name in the mix, for sure. My question is, as always, about her speed. These matches, played almost entirely in the front 40% of the field are tailor made for her. Can she hold it together against top teams, where things are more spread out. Oh, and she got called for a bunch of offsides. I can't stand offside. If the lane is there, and you are a good, player, that fraction of a second (less than a 1/10th?) gained by being precisely on the shoulder isn't needed. And, I can't stand how the passer gets blamed. Just hold your run for that 20th of a second.

 

OT: this roster shows how awesome it is that NWSL still plays a lot of US-eligibles. Our depth is pretty insane. And, there are a ton of players that a GM could have been blocked on their club team by an import.

All of these players could easily have ended up sitting behind imports: Sears, Cooper, Dahlien, Sentnor, Joseph, Bethune, Reale, Rudd, Sams, Rodriquez, Hershfelt, Weisner, and I'm sure many more.

Coffey was the 12th pick in the second round. If there had been an import in her position, no one would have ever heard of her. And, now, I'd consider her one of the top 20 players in the world.

So important and awesome that NWSL give opportunities to young US-eligibles.

 

USSF seems to be doing a new video series called Camp Stories, which is a bit of a return to some of the older videos with off-the-field type of stuff. This one is from the January camp and is presented as the first episode, so presumably it'll continue. This one is a chat with Hutton, Dahlien, and Jackson; honestly, watching this makes me feel so old.

 

I don't want to think about how many on the January camp roster were born in 2000 or later. Somehow thinking of their ages versus their actual birth year just feels different, probably because I still think of myself as younger than I actually am. I mean, 2000 was yesterday, right?

 

I normally think at any LP that was published around 2000 as "new music".