Having watched the game a second time, I think my earlier assessment of Tobin Heath was a bit harsh. She did alright when she got the ball and had a few clever exchanges with teammates. I think my problem with her style of play is that she doesn't actively seek to be a part of the attack. She reacts to the flow of the game more than initiates. Against a better team than Colombia she could be easily neutralized.
She was neutralized against Colombia. I think the first assessment of flash and no substance was right on the mark. When you go into the corner you have one of three options: 1) beat your man and get a good cross into scoring territory. Lacking that, at least get the corner. 2) draw the double and then get the ball back up the sideline to your wingmate who will be there for a new and likely open path to goal. This game it was Krieger, who has been showing lately she knows what to do with it. 3) try and nutmeg two defenders and look cool, even though the play has .002% chance of succeeding. Nobody has told her about options 1 and 2 yet.
That charm needs to be carried to Mordor close by Barad-dûr and carried up 15,553 foot Mount Doom and thrown into the fire, Precious.
Its good that we're winning but I am concerned with the difficulty we're having in finishing. We wont get the number of chances in the next round that were getting here and Im afraid well see 1-0 games... maybe with us on the wrong side Abby is playing poorly and Im wondering why she's staying on while ARod gets the hook? ARod also was playing poorly but at least she was involved. Im beginning to think Abby's done at this level I didnt think Tobin was very good and have a big problem with our left back. Cant believe she plays over Mitts All and all im concerned. I just dont think well go the distance this time... lots of teams are looking better than us at this point
I can't claim to have followed the USWNT as much in the last couple years so if this is a dumb question then please excuse me. But do we need to avoid Wambach potentially getting another card against Sweden, especially if we end up playing Brazil, by sitting her for the game?
The Abby thing is math, if not fair. Abby has 118 carreer goals, which makes behind only Prinz among active players. The hope is it will start clicking and she will get that back. She is doing other things well. AROD really isn't doing anything well right now but spraying shots from point blank. She really needs to retool her game. Meantime, others will play. What team is doing better? Just curious....
looking better on the field ... France, Japan, Germany, England ... would all give us a run right nowl
C'mon. You said looking better, not give us a run. This is soccer. Anybody can give anybody a run. Germany and France played NIGERIA. They only managed one goal. Germany looked shaky against Canada for a long stretch. Let's see either France or Germany against each other and see how they look in the field. I'm picking France at this stage. Ditto Japan and England Of the four you name, the best is Japan. Brasil looks like they have never played as a team. We'll see about Denmark later. There isn't a team so far that has wowed me. No one has anyone who can't be stopped. Every one is flawed. Whoever wins it will have to keep improving. It could be us.
Not the best game today by us; I wouldn't even rate it a "solid" one. The buildup was terrible, the backline was again worrying. The one thing I found lacking was composure on the ball. We seem to have reverted to the dump and hope attack instead of an intelligent one. Some praised Arod last game, but I still had my doubts; and this game proved that not much has changed from her game. It's great or whatever if you can smoke your last defender, but if you continue to throw away chances you should have AT LEAST gotten on goal, I don't really see the point in it. I'm extremely disappointed that morgan didn't get in the game. She's the complete package. She's got great movement on and off the ball, and can actually FINISH unlike our current forwards. I pray to god HAO is ok, because it would be absolutely DEVASTATING if we lose her. She's the only one who gives us consistent performances in the attack. Going forward, we need to play calmly and intelligently like we did in the PRK game, not like today's.
Not solid? Hope made a goalkeeping first. She made 5 saves on four shots on goal, which i didn't think was possible. they creamed us on goalkicks, though. There are pills for the worrying part.
here is our next opponent's stats against the same team we played today One thing is similar. All the scoring was done by the 57th minute. I'll take ours.
ha! you quote me statistics when I address the flow of the game, our lack in creativity, and the same defensive breakdowns norway took advantage of in the pre-tournament games... Big deal, we dominated minnows with shots, but how many of those shots were actually dangerous ones off the the run of play? We won because we out-muscled and out ran their players. But Brazil, England, and Germany won't have problems with that. Also, their goalkeeper sucked on holding the ball and positioning...you think we can bank on Angerer on doing the same thing? We were lucky we sputtered against a very weak team; if we turn in the same performance against the bigger teams, I doubt we'll get the same result.
Like it or not, statistics, especially when so one sided, are often a pretty good indicator of what is going on. I got those stats off a betting site. There is a reason they go through the trouble. We won't have to worry about Norway from the looks of things. They just got pasted by Brasil by the same 3- nil score we won by. I want to hear From you about how Brasil sputtered.....we had more chances and a better ratio on goal. Teams have UP's and downs. And before you tell me about how Marta is so good, she got away with a blatant foul, so Brasil only had two legit goals. They must really have sputtered. The next team we have to face is Sweden, and we did MUCH better against a common opponent. One at a time. Well, at least three. I'd say Rapinoes cross bar challenge was dangerous, and Abby's post, and a few others. We put half of our shots on frame, which is about 5 times better than we have been doing. I keep hearing this. You ruefully pointed out the loss to Norway as evidence for this line of thinking. We beat Germany the last three outings. They don't look very hot right now. Why is it that folk want to point out a friendly loss to Norway and ignore three Friendly wins to Germany? If you use one as evidence, you have to accept the others as well. Besides friendlies as are friendlies. They are different than the WC Finals, right? Brasil is alway an issue as long as they have Marta, but we ran them into the ground in the Olympics, we can do it again. We don't have April setting the defense. If you want to pull the Angerer card, Angerer doesn't have a clean slate. Hope does. Angered didn't stop Sinclairs shot, and Rapinoes and HAO's shots were in the same category. We may not face Germany. They are behind in their group and might end up against Brasil. Tough on them. Besides, they have an even shoddier shooting record in this cup than we do. I want every ball to go to Garafriekes so she can shoot. Germany have score 3 goals so far. One should have been called back. They have one legitimate goal against a world class keeper. If you use Angerer, I counter with Hope. I think Solo is better. I think it's a stretch to call 21 shots, 55% possession and a 3:1 shot and shot on goal differential sputtering or luck. We won because we outworked the other side, as we almost always do. That got the chances that lead to the goals. You can claim they were minnows, a point I dispute after their game with Sweden, but when you beat a team in EVERY statistical category, the sputtering cry just doesn't hold water. Colombia, minnow or not, got dominated. HAO's shot was not sputtering. If it was, I want more. Rapinoes goal was a brilliant give and go with Cheney and brilliant finish. That wasn't sputtering either. And I'm not going to apologize that LLoyd knocked the keeper over with her shot. ( off a perfect feed on Cox's first touch of the game, I might add. Hardly sputtering, there) Maybe Angerer stops that one, maybe she doesn't. It would have been a 2- nil result anyway. Even just one of those scores would have been enough with the shutout. If you want to talk about run of play, fine, we could do better. But all three goals were fair goals in the run of play., caused by pressure and keeping the ball in their end. No questions on any of them. That's better than a lot of teams are doing in this cup. And the defense, for all it's blunders, is covering for each other. It's what good defenses do. And they are perfect so far and have the best keeper on earth behind them. We aren't there yet, but other teams aren't either. they are extending themselves to get into the offense. I guess that's where you and I differ. I don't think bunkering and getting all compact is all that great a concept. It just means more of the run of play is in our end.
The time to criticize how "beautiful" we win games is over. In the WC only one thing counts.... wins. Win and advance and I don't care how you do it. I'm not a huge Pia fan but one thing she always seems to do is get her teams to play well at the big tournaments. For all her head scratching decisions this team is playing its heart out for her right now and that is going to pay dividends. You don't see US players yelling at their teammates in the tunnel at halftime or glaring at a coach after being substituted. Bringing Cox on might be a warning shot to LePeilbet just like Cheney starting over Rapinoe. Arod has really struggled but if HAO can't go look for Cheney to start up top in place of her with Rapinoe returning to her starting spot. I think Pia might start Cox as well. Whatever she does, the team has already qualified for the quarters after two games and only needs a tie to win the group. What more can you ask of team at this point?
+1 I agree... The game vs Sweden will go a long way in determining if the USA can win this thing or not.
I noticed LePeilbet was icing her knee on the bench. I wonder if the injury that she was dealing with in the WWC build-up is still affecting her?
I'll say this again when a pregame thread starts for the Sweden game but I'll get something off my chest now. Pia should feel free to start Abby on the bench to avoid another yellow card. She should rest Rampone. If a couple extra days off would help O'Reilly, she should rest her, too. I would just assume play Brazil now in the quarterfinals rather than later. They're just not that sharp right now.
agreed, the US is really deep overall, Pia has options, every sub (incl. Tobin) worked out well. I still think we can beat Sverige without our customary 11 b/c we have options. Maybe put Mitts in as well. I like her bringing on Cox, we might need her down the road (or sooner) and getting some playing time was a good thing - same for Mitts. with Cheney playing as well as she is and Morgan so bright sitting Abby might be o.k. I'm not sure I buy this whole "needs a goal to get confidence thing".