Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden I'm happy that Bob Ley kept repeating this was a huge upset. That's the mentality we need to maintain given the USWNT's class and superiority over most other teams on the planet- Germany and Brazil excepted, of course. I was disappointed in Darke and Foudy for saying that Sweden earned it. They most certainly did NOT. A PK and a flukish deflection while playing 70% of the game on their heels and defending desperately while the USA blows chance after chance- that's earning it? A fairer result would have been 2-1, USA- but that's not good enough. The US has to put away good, but certainly not great, teams like Sweden 2-0, if not 3-0 or 4-0. The subs were god awful and Lloyd, certainly one of our weakest technical players CANNOT be a center-mid, a position which has to be filled by one of your BEST technical players. Also- Wambach, Rodgriguez, Cheney [twice]- do NOT smile after blowing a golden opportunity for a goal. This is the WC and, in the case of Rodriguez and Cheney, you're DOWN a goal to a clearly inferior [not to to mention woefully out-of-shape] Swedish team. There's nothing funny about this and as a result of your lackadaisical play you face the very real possibility of going out in the quarters to to Brazil. For shame, US Soccer Federation...
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden They will be. Can't really see how USA could lose the semi this year, they will either go out against Brazil in the 2 round or reach the Final.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden Nicely done, however, with LePeilbet & Buehler lumbering about the backline, losing to Brazil is more probable than possible.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden Well, I don't usually post in the women's forum's, and I don't want to hate on this team, but I think we are going home. Yes, some can say a PK and a deflection, but the PK was legit, from the run of play, and we were lucky it wasn't red. Sweden had one goal incorrectly ruled out for offside, and had 2 other offside calls blown. Our goal was complete luck as well, which cancels out the deflection. Oh, and Sweden has beaten us twice this year, this time w/out their best player. The idea that we were unfortunate is a little thin. There are problems with the team itself, and those problems stem from inherent problems in US soccer. Particularly the way we select and develop young players. Team Specific. First, the left side of defense is awful. Second, we don't get much offensively out of the CM's. Third, the final ball (from anywhere) seems lacking quality. Fourth, when presented with a good chance, our finishing is NOT exquisite. Fifth, it seems to me a lot of our players lack tactical nuance/game sense. We panic an try a lot of long shots when behind (I'm looking at Lloyd). We try a lot of near hopeless balls or balls to virtually no one when not under pressure. Sixth, we play too much route 1 ball (maybe because of the other stuff). Overall, how many really class players do we have? Abby when healthy. Hope. Rampone. Krieger. That's about it. Cheney has been pretty good. Chalu and Tarpley are missed badly. Think of the 199 team. How many of these players start, or even make the roster? Which brings me to the inherent problems in US Soccer. We used to win through organization, fitness, and athleticism. And still, the most talented/dangerous player on the pitch was often, if not always, American: Akers, Jennings/Gabara, Hamm, Milbrett, etc. We had dynamic players. Skillfull players. We kept the ball. We knocked it around. Etc. But now, other nations have caught up. They are more organized and fit. Two of our advantages are slimmer, if present at all. Further, the most dangerous dynamic player is often NOT wearing a US jersey. Germany has had it in Prinz for a while now, and have reloaded in a big way. Sweden had two players (Oqvist, Schellin) who were more consistently dangerous than anyone we had. Against Brazil it will be worse. Not to mention Germany. Other nations have better systems for finding a developing talent. Skillful talent. Visionary talent. They have applied it to the women's game (Brazil, Germany, England, France). They are other (better?) pro leagues than the one in America. Our performances in the youth ranks have been disappointing, both men's and women's. Until USSF changes it's ways, our fortunes will not improve.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden I agree with a lot of comment on here. It's frustrating ghat we beat two mediocre teams and people were singing in the streets about how good we are, then a loss and people are tanking. 1) where is our athleticism? I get that we need soccer players, but we are so slow and slow minded. 2) our midfield, like our men's team, has zero creativity. We have two of the same player. Ball winner, physical. Great. But one needs to be crafty on the dribble and unlocking people with a pass. boxx and carly are the same player, just like bradley and jones. This skill set and player is the most underdeveloped position in us soccer, on both sides. 3) Morgan ahead of arod every day of the week. If you are looking for a late game sub to arod is that player. Morgan is your workhorse who can finish, is physical and eats up space. 4) this is not the end of the world. Just another example of what we already know. But I'm still hoping for a win against brazil! 3)
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden "Yes, some can say a PK and a deflection, but the PK was legit, from the run of play, and we were lucky it wasn't red. Sweden had one goal incorrectly ruled out for offside, and had 2 other offside calls blown. Our goal was complete luck as well, which cancels out the deflection. Oh, and Sweden has beaten us twice this year, this time w/out their best player. The idea that we were unfortunate is a little thin." The call on the PK was legit but that was very much against the run of play. Sweden created 2 real scoring chances- one was a great save by Solo and the other resulted in a converted PK. The blown offsides calls only came about because the backline was pushing up and we were chasing the game due to our finishing being so hapless. Wambach's workrate led to her goal, outjumping the defender and it finally brought a bit of justice to what should have been a 3-1 USA victory. And, if memory serves, Sweden beat the US in a glorified scrimmage and in a meaningless tournament in China. The US has to defeat middling teams like Sweden with a sense of imperiousness and contempt. Time to get our swagger back [and cease those insipid and inappropriate "born in the USA"-type celebrations].That attitude did not appear evident on the field today and when you go DOWN a goal [and you have to watch that bizarre Scandinavian celebration "dance"] you do NOT give an "awww shucks" smile when you clang the crossbar when the keeper is TOTALLY beaten and completely out of the net and it's actually harder to NOT score on your tap-in then it is to score.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden Amy Rodriguez has arguably been worse. Time to learn from Germany and bench Rodriguez. Put Cheney up top with Wambach and start Rapinoe. I'm not sure what we can do about our defense at this point. I don't think we need to piss our collective pants over Marta (unless the refs let her get away with more two-handed pushing) but we'll definitely need help for our back line against Brasil. Normally, I'd say shore them up with help from our midfield but we don't have a player who can do that without also hurting our attack, at least not in a 4-4-2. Lloyd isn't the answer and neither is Boxx. I didn't see a whole lot from Heath against even Colombia that screamed "Start her now!!" but maybe she can combine effectively with O'Reilly. Or maybe we go to a 4-5-1 with Wambach up top and Rapinoe, Cheney, Heath and O'Reilly attacking as a three or four-headed monster and Lloyd staying home as a d-mid. The problem there is that we may end up with no effective link between the defending and attacking players if Lloyd, as is likely, is not up to that job. After today's result and now facing Brasil, I don't envy Pia the job of trying to assemble a winning squad for this weekend. Oh well, she made her bed and now she has to lie in it, I guess. Let's hope we can embrace our underdog role (and make no mistake - we ARE underdogs against Brasil) and actually back up that Nike "Pressure" commercial.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden Rapinoe didn't look that good either, unfortunately. She can't give good crosses, which is sort of essential for a winger... It's too bad. I wish we had played a bit more with our defense in the friendlies. It's a little late to change it now. I would have liked to see what a LePeilbet and Rampone CB combination could have accomplished. Work together as a team to defend like last Olympics. HAO being back will help that. I think she's our best MFer at the moment honestly. Perhaps we should put in Lindsey again to help distribute? I don't think so. Heath dribbled a lot and didn't use her teammates (of which HAO was one). She doesn't seem to understand she should pass, which bodes ill for any future play. The worst part is that she wasn't even dribbling effectively. It was dribble then lose the ball over and over again. Part of the problem is that people's first touches seem to go off wildly. Makes it hard to go through the midfield with quick fast passing if the first touch is sending the ball five feet or something. Whatever Krieger learned in Germany is definitely working for her though because she's been the best example of controlling the ball and one or two touch passing. Hope so.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden Everyone was hoofing the balls towards the corners. I don't watch a lot of USWNT, but who is the attacking center mid on this team? Both Lloyd and Boxx are playing level as DMids, which is OK, but there is no one in front of them to receive a short ball. So, we're more of a 4-2-2-1-1, but rather than offering superior depth, we seem to lack a center fulcrum, but we have trouble getting the ball wide in the final third. Just using the players we have, Boxx or Lloyd have to move forward more. Well, Morgan's lack of impact wasn't really Pia's fault, was it? And I know nothing of O'Hara, but if she has some speed, it's late in the game and we've been missing O'Reilly's speed, it doesn't seem to be a huge mistake to introduce her. This World Cup is filled with young players who are making their mark on the world stage and I don't think it's a bad call necessarily to call on O'Hara. Now, if you know for certain that she sucks, well, that's maybe a talking point. And given that Pia had opted for some speed on the right and given Morgan a long run out, I'm not so dismayed by her introduction of Cox. I don't think you always need to sub out a defender for an attacker, but if we were able to get some greater attack from the left, thereby freeing one of our current attackers to get in more dangerous positions, then that is a good thing. Cox made three very nice overlaps in her limited minutes, though she never received the ball. I'm pretty much in agreement with you here. We had more good chances at goal, and regardless of the tactical deficiencies, that is what you play the game for. Cheney's two shots (esp her first), O'Hara's miss, ARod's chip, the long cross just over Wambach's head, the goal line scramble when Llloyd toed it at the keeper.... We did pretty well. There's no need to be doom and gloom here. And I think Wambach is still functioning excellently, even if she's not scoring. She should have had a nice assist to Cheney two minutes after Sweden's first goal. The only thing that worries me at this point is Buehler and LePeilbet on the left. To have an entire side of the defense without much speed is worrisome. I think it was Julie Foudy who mentioned it, but why not shift Rampone to center left, esp if Sundhage is determined to win with a makeshift centre back playing LB?
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden Yet another first in a long line of firsts for Sunil Gulati. First WWC group loss. Seriously: there's no reason to start screaming about Bob or Pia or whoever as long as this failure is pulling a paycheck. This team just isn't very good, and I think they're going out to Brazil by multiple goals.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden I saw Sweden as the better team as well. The US were more dominant in the game but Sweden was more dangerous. What use is possession if you can hardly create any chances. rationally speaking not that much has changed for you guys. To win the WC you had to beat GER and BRA and you still do. Now you will meet Brasil earlier and Germany later should you qualify. Thinking about hypotjetical speaking it could evne be an advantage not to play BRA in the final with tired legs after the GER game.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden I like the idea of playing Arod on the wing, and Morgan up top. Arod and HAO on the wings would be tough for teams to handle. Mitts, Lepeilbet, and Buehler have been getting roasted since Concacaf qualifying in November. Mexico beat USA, I believe Maribel Dominguez blew past our backline several times that game. That's why we had to beat Italy home and away just to qualify for WWC.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden My starting lineup vs. Brazil: [LINEUP-4-4-2]Morgan, Wambach, Rapinoe, Cheney, Boxx, HAO, Cox, Sauerbrunn, Rampone, Krieger, Solo[/LINEUP-4-4-2] Cheney replacing Lloyd at AM/CM. She's has just as powerful and inaccurate shot as Lloyd but better than Lloyd in every other way. Can hold the ball better, distribute better, combine better, doesn't lose the ball all the time, higher soccer IQ, etc... Cox isn't any faster than LePeilbet but she is a true LB and actually has a left foot. Sauerbrunn is just better than Buehler in every way, better defender, better distributor, less spastic in the way she play the game (calmer). Morgan in for Rodriguez, simple really.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden ... You might want to fix this. Unless you really want Solo and Cox as our forwards. Edit: Never mind. Fixed.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden I actually like this a lot. I think it's making the best of what the US has.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden I'm a big fan of putting Cheney in the attacking midfield role. She is more of a natural center player and she would provide great service from this position. I think Cox needs to start over LP right now. She is a more true left back player and LP needs to be center.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden This lineup can beat Brazil. Is HAO's injury mild or is she hobbled?
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden I don't agree with this assessment. I don't think the Swedes could put 10 on us but they certainly deserved the 2-1 win. They got a bit lucky with the deflection but had a goal called back for a wrong offside call as well while Wambach's goal was pretty lucky too if you want to be fair about it. As far as chances, the stats look favorable for us because they went into defensive mode at the start of the 2nd half plus I wouldn't call taking shots from 30-35 yd out that sailed 10 yds wide of goal good chances! Hey we were indeed lucky not having to play with 10 either.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden I like it too but it should have been done many games ago. I don't think you can put in 5 new players for the 1st time in an elimination game.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden I think the Swedes won this game fair and square. Sunday we have the Brazilians. I am not worried about the Brazilians. We will beat them. Great ball skills. Love Marta. But they, IMO are still not disciplined enough to beat the US. Not yet. The Germans, if we get that far, will tear us a new a-hole.
Re: Pre/pbp/post 7/6 USA vs. Sweden This lineup is great. Cheney in middle for LLoyd excellent. Cox has to play for LP, Rapinoe is a weakness on defense, perhaps she will be iinspired. Maybe Rapinoe at left back, and Heath at OM.Reason for all the problems, no Chalupny, no Tarpley, no Hucles, the whole left side of your defense gone from 08, and not replaced adequately. Like Sauerebrunn for Buehler. more speed and better passer. Maybe Solo has some suggestions for the defense?