I like it NC I was thinking (which is dangerous), the EURO's could stage one heckava ShebaLeaves junior type of competition this Summer. France, Germany, Spain, Norway - - play the Matches at times/days that don't conflict with the Olympic Tournament. But God (and lil) only knows if the FIFA rules would allow it.
Y'know, I never really appreciated how short the turnaround times are at the Olympics compared to the World Cup. 6 matches in 17 days (for those who make it to the finals); as opposed to 7 in 30. You'd think it would be a big advantage for teams that made good use of the depth of their roster and weren't weighed down too much with overly old players or ones coming back from injury....
Not so sure that is true; in a straight knockout, it would be-- but the group stage gives the older, savvier teams the opportunity to knock the younger healthier ones out in three games, and after that only face older teams un the knockout rounds...
One reason I'm ok with playing Sweden first. Then I could see resting players v Aussies and New Zealand.
Throw in the shorter rosters and you can see why I've been complaining about this for years. Even World Cup rosters used to be shorter. I have long suggested that had Germany and Sweden's spots in WC03 been reversed, we would've beaten Germany in our opener and gotten run off the pitch in our semifinal against Sweden. We had the best single game team in the tournament. In fact, since 1996 (well China has a shout in 1999) we've always had the best single game team in every tournament. But these tournaments aren't single games. They're a game every 3-5 days and depth and fitness and recovery matter. Germany made us look old in 2003. Part of that was that we were old. The other part is that we rarely develop new players until its too late. A lot of pundits threw Kylie Bivens under the bus. But Bivens and Boxx were thrown into the deep end with precious little international experience. We kept trotting out the golden "Founders" for friendly after friendly, never giving the young players on the end of the bench any meaningful time. When age and injuries caught up to us as the tournament progressed, a fit and healthy Germany took full advantage of our young players' inexperience and our old players being ground down.
I've been going round and round on the current roster as being the best iteration of the USWNT ever, at least the 2019 WC squad. Not sure I've ever seen a more dominant front 3 and midfield on a US national team with exceedingly great back ups. The one argument could be goalie, Hope Solo debate, and perhaps the defense... I think younger Becky and Ertz in CB was a better combination? But Dunn and Kelly on the outside performed at a high level. Obviously, when comparing generations, its extremely difficult. Which brings us to the Olympics. We have the horses, when healthy, to sub without a noticeable difference. Very few teams in the world can say that. Perhaps Ertz and Becky being the two exceptions. I wouldn't want to face the US early in this tournament, hoping to avoid the USA until the medal rounds. As France and Spain found out in the WC. Also, I thought Sweden v US a few weeks back, the USWNT line up was not the "best" line up the team can field on purpose. So Sweden couldn't scout our best versus they're team. Edit: Obviously, anything can happen which is why they play the games.
Why isn't Amy Rodriguez being called into USWNT camp anymore? Vlatko knows her very well. She scored a lot of goals for him as her Coach at FCKC when they won Championships.
I would say that it is one of three things: 1. She no longer can perform at the level needed for the National Team. 2. She no longer wants to be called up. 3. She just does not fit in the mix. There are a lot of real good players playing her spot(s). Remember that performance at club level is only a loose indicator of performance on the National Team. Some players are very good at their club but just cannot produce on the National Team. There are also players (harder to find) that are only "OK" with their clubs that really shine on the National Team.
Right. He could call up A-Rod, but he'd have to ignore Pinoe or Lloyd. I mean if they hold an Over-35 World Cup, we'll be ready!
Kind of a liability on set-piece defense, isn't she? And how's her mobility? Seemed like her ACL was kind of a bad one... Williams may still improve, though its not looking promising; A-Rod is surely going to fade from here. It's a bit frustrating that her NT experience seemed a bit snakebit-- she seems like an easy athlete to like. But then she's made a great living off the game-- and Lindsay Tarpley could show her a thing or two about snakebites...
But not every day. And that's the whole point. We could suit up an over-30 team and probably be the odds on favorite to beat any other team in the world right now. But make our over 30 squad play a series of games on a three day interval and we would be in trouble real quick. World Cups and Olympic Football Tournaments are both a sprint and a marathon. It's not a single game.
Definitely, because now we would be talking about including The Great Joy Fawcett on the Roster. I have researched the driving distances between the cities when we win the Group and continue to march on to once again conquer the World. A little different than Canada 2015. I realize it’s the “Tokyo” Olympics but I really hadn’t looked at the Match locations. Some of these intervals may not even require a Hotel change. However, The Greatest Team in the Universe may just hang with the Emperor at the Tokyo Imperial Palace for the duration. Match #1 Tokyo >> then 18 miles to << Match #2 Saitama >> then 75 miles to << Match #3 Kashima >> then 75 miles to << Match #4 QF Saitama >> then 46 miles to << Match #5 SF Yokohama >> then 23 miles to << Match #6 FinalTokyo.
Highly solid point. I'm a little slow on the uptake, but I'm beginning to realize one of the big US advantages is we have, at this very moment, 5 forwards to select from for a front three and not lose too much with any 3 we pick; that we have the "problem" of 4 midfielders for 3 starting positions — and a coach who seems to recognize what an advantage this is going into a tournament with such short turnaround times. Even if we all agreed (which we don't) Rapinoe or Morgan were our best forwards, it's crazy to expect them to play 90 minutes (or close to it) in even 5 matches out of 6 over a 17 day span. I think Vlatko will spread out the minutes between Rapinoe, Press, Morgan, Lloyd, and Lynn Williams; just as he will with Horan, S Mewis, Lavelle (while Ertz will spend the lion's share of time in her usual d-mid position, with Horan or Mewis seeing some time there). On the backline, Tierna Davidson is going to see significant playing time including 2 or 3 starts. This kind of rotation is a luxury the US has which almost no other team in the Olympics has and it will be a big strategic advantage for them.
could add Spain to your list as well. Europe made up 7 of the 8 quarter finalists at the WC 2019, they truly deserve more than 3 spots for the Olympics. Asia should only have two/let them play New Zealand for an wild card for the 3rd place. Should even consider holding South America to just one spot; only Brazil managed to get into the playoff rounds of the 2019 WC(Africa did better with 2 teams). I remember one friendly a few years back where Chile only managed a tie with the Basque national team!
I enjoy speculating on substitution(5) patterns and strategies however I’m severely limited by my lack of general and specific knowledge as it relates to: The tactics of the World’s Game The energy expended and recovery times of World Class Athletes. I want to echo that T makes sense for a Roster Spot because she could start and substitute in 2 different positions - - - actually providing rest for a “starter”. While flexibility is great and valuable, the fact that JJ can sneak back to Defender or Crystal can do anything up to and including providing the TV play-by-play while on the Pitch …… those moves do nothing to rest those specific players. Although younger on average, our opponents face the same questions. Can 3-5 year younger legs play every 3rd day without collapse?? But What The H. Do I Know. And don’t forget our Secret Weapon - - - - we will also have Charlie in Tokyo. Yes, for this Tournament if we could magically replace England with Spain ….. I know I’d pick them for the Semi’s. Spain scares the stuffing out of me (today, tomorrow and 4 years from now). World Renowned Neurologists in Dallas have confirmed that the Spain WWC 2019 Match decreased my Life Expectancy by 17 months. But I want Endler in this Tournament - I need Endler in this Tournament - I require Endler in this Tournament absolutely standing on her head in Goal.
Endler is the reason why I call Group E (Group Endler) the Group of Death. Admittedly I don't know Zambia's team at all, but Endler is the single biggest gamechanger we know of on the three Pot 4 teams from the draw. She can single-handedly hold one of the other teams to a tie which can knock them out of the tournament.
You have to figure, with a few of the teams the USWNT will play, the entire game might be a "rest day" from at least a Defensive stand point. Out of curiosity, is it just win/loss or do points on goals scored matter in the first round?
I do not know exactly but the tiebreakers are something like: Goal differential. Goals scored. maybe (head to head) and so on to yellow cards and then coin flip. Once you get past goals scored the tiebreaker is more a matter of luck than anything else. If the US "needs" a tiebreaker to get to the knockout round then something has gone very very wrong. The only team that should have a decent chance against the US looks like Sweden the others in the group should be easily handled. I do not think the US would lose to any of the lesser teams in the group even if the US has to play with 10 and play their backup keeper.