Kaylyn Kyle potentially lost you'll the game. If she was unselfish and didn't try shooting near post and passed the ball on the ground to the middle of the top of the box to Sinclair, you'll possibly would've won the match. That play bother me more than anything. It doesn't matter if it's my favorite team that messes up there or the team I like the least, that pass should be standard. Way more scoring opportunities are missed when the wide players doesn't make that pass, but elects to shoot near post. This makes me wonder what players are learning at the youth levels and are they applying these practices in their game.
I love these quotes. This is their real feeling, reactions. To many times we hear from athletes, managers, coaches, GM's these none answers to questions, dodging questions, stale answers or straight up lies. It's refreshing to get honesty from them. They could have said their perfectly fine with the decision and support the calls etc.....which we would have known would have been bull.
so, Scott's knee injury was a fake. You must be kidding. With all said, I'll be glad when Pia is LONG GONE, so sydney, press, hagen and henderson can get the caps and play Morgan into her rightful position, as some kind of sub. She is the classic example of playing someone into a position, while killing off all of her competition by not letting them compete on equal grounds. It's insane she has more caps than all of those girls combined, given they play so many senseless games. Then again, three don't even I have one cap, with one on the squad , as some kind of token. Pia must have scouts reading the boards and keeping a pulse on what fans are saying. Baby Horse - FC USWNT involved in the biggest robbery of the Olympics.
I'm not going to go into what I think of that game anymore, that knee injury is real, whoever stated it was faked is a moron, that is a hyperextension and if you know what a hyperextension is, its very painful for a player to take. Shows her character that she toughed it out. As for Pia being long gone, that won't happen for another 2 maybe 3 world cups from now. She isn't close to retiring, which means players like Hagen and Henderson will never get to play with the senior USNT. Which is a huge pity. But I have another solution, if Melissa Henderson wants to play in world cups, she can, she just needs to switch citizenships. And an example of this is Canada, they have two Americans playing for them. Lauren Sesselman who was a revelation this tournament. And Chelsea Stewart who plays for UCLA, normally a midfielder, but has had to come on as a defender because of the ravaged backline of Canada's. Melissa COULD slot into the Canadian roster easily, in fact that was the plan for Sydney Leroux who was born in Vancouver, Canada. But Leroux stated that she thought the United States were the better side and wanted to win World Cups with them, which I can't really disagree with. We all know Henderson will never get a sniff from the senior USNT, and she isn't capped with them. It would be easy for her to do what Lauren did and change her citizenship so she could play at the highest level. In fact I'd love to see her former teammates Maddy Laddish and Jessica Schuveiller switch citzenships to play together. All three will never see the light of day in the senior team. Melissa and Maddy are both great ball handlers and Jessica can play with the ball at her feet and be a force on the backline. I mean Rapone is 38 for crying out loud, Jessica is easily a better player then she is now. Its just such a pity these three will never see any senior time with the National team. Then again, one can dream. I really do love seeing Melissa play, and I want to see her play internationally, I just don't see that happenning ever. :/
Sesselman Father is Canadian she was reward a Canadian citzenship 2010, she's 28 Pia was never going to pick her for USWNT. Sesselman isn't horrible as a fullback(she's a converted fullback), she would perform better on a better team. Sesselman has to stop slide tackling to win 50/50 balls, that's her one weakness I've notice. And she gets burnt plenty of times because of it.
Um... Okay? Really? It takes very little time to get into the USWNT pool once you get noticed. Morgan basically came from on the fringe to sub in one year then sub to starter in another. Syd's basically the same as in 'not considered' to sub, KO wasn't even going to go to the WWC and now she's a starter in one year. Henderson's biggest concern now should be getting on a team that plays regularly in a competitive league either here or overseas and then do well there. Scoring a lot, racking up the points, staying near the top individually will earn looks like Press. Once you get noticed, the coaching staff is pretty good about keeping tabs on your progress and play, but the first part requires some work on Henderson's part.
Are you kidding me? Do you know anything about Sydney Leroux's story? Canada was planning on capping her with the senior team, but Leroux has dual citizenship, she was playing at that time with UCLA bruins. But low and behold, the senior USNT comes in and caps her in a friendly game snatching her away from the Canadian team, you can bet there is a ton of bitter feelings over that. Dude don't talk about the senior team like you know what they do, none of us do here. Sydney Leroux's case, Pia liked her style of play, she is a direct style of player with alot of pace. Those are the players Pia perfers. If Pia seriously wanted to cap players who had all round skills, you would see them capping players like Henderson and getting them experience in friendlies. No one and I mean no one understands what goes behind in the mind of Pia Sunhage, the fact that she uses a 38 year old defender as a starter should be telling. She simply doesn't use her roster, she keeps the same starting XI every single game. Its bloody frustrating to watch. And as for Alex Morgan? She would of stayed as a sub if Amy Rodriguez showed some touch around the goal. The fact that Morgan has pace and the ability to run up to a ball that is longballed to her is what stands out about her. And Amy? She just warms the bench, we never see her play. Why not give her spot to Melissa? Why not give Melissa some time with the national team? I can answer that easily, Melissa is not the player Pia perfers. You just need to look at the forwards on the USNT roster, Alex, Amy and Syd all have the same style. Fast pace, ability to run under direct passes and providing service to Abby in the box.
1st KO isn't a starter in her natural position, that example not a strong case.. 2nd, it's not Henderson's club performances so much that would hold her back. Look at the number of forwards in the pool or should be in the pool, Cheney(yes, I know has been playing CM, doesn't mean she won't be back at striker), Morgan, Hagen, Press, Henderson, Lindsey Taylor, Arod(playing multi position right now), Vicki DiMartino(plays striker & Fullback), KO(if she stays as fullback if another coach comes in), Wambach(if she stays on board), Maya Hayes, Ubogagu, Leroux, Gina DiMartino(another coach may give another look), Masar(new coach may give another look) . Look at how many strikers there are, 15. With 4 of them playing multiple positoin or different position right now, 11(15). How are that many strikers going to get real playing time on the NT? Getting a series of real matches with descent mintues on the national team, is the only way to gauge what a player is capable of, in X-coaches system against actual competition.
Kid moved when she was 15, making sure to get her citizenship in time. She had clearly decided which team she wanted to be in already. Despite her early first cap, she was only being seriously called up for consecutive games start of this year. Considering that last year, she wasn't even an alternate, it really is going from fringe to established member of the pool. I like how you say 'none of us do here' then go on to tell us what they do. Rampone is our best defender. I guess it's telling that she is it for the other defenders, but it's not really a hard decision to make for Pia or, I'd guess, most US fans. Except for Barnie, every player in the tournament has been used. I have my issues with Pia's selection and use of friendlies, but it is certainly not an unusual thing to not have giant turnover in between a WWC and Olympics. As spots free up from retirements and a new cycle begins, people will get their chances. Henderson was called in, had her chance to make her case to Sundhage, and like you said, Pia liked Leroux more. Well... Of course. There are only 11 spots on the field and at most, 1-3 forward spots. If Rodriguez was on a goal tear and is doing well, then yeah, she is going to stay the starter unless Morgan makes her case that she's a better one than ARod. Can Henderson play wing? I think we're still looking for one to pair with Pinoe... That being said, as above, not many coaches want to mess around with rosters between WWC and Olympics (unless, of course, there is something drastically wrong with the roster), Leroux notwithstanding. And Leroux's call in was based on the fact that ARod was being switched to the wing so we needed a sub forward. Personally, I'd rate them differently... Alex is (IMO) a Lotta Schelin type player - clearly, not as good or polished yet, but similar. Amy is a poacher, who hangs around the box. She's clearly got some foot skills but asking her to run under balls is actually really really problematic because she doesn't have the first touch to control them. The type of balls you need to give ARod when in space are on the ground - stuff like what Vero or Necib would provide. Syd is ... Hrm. I'm not sure what to call her. She's more of a forward destroyer. Alex's got deceptive strength, and Syd is more ... pushy? She likes driven shots across the face of the goal and Alex likes to do chip shots more. Anyway, I haven't watched Henderson all that much, but your answer doesn't seem to respond to mine - that if you get noticed, you can very easily become (sometimes within a year) involved with the USWNT. Granted, getting the attention can be hard and depends on what the coach views as important, fits his or her vision, etc. but that's another issue entirely. At the end of the day, all players can do is do well and put themselves in a position to be seen in a good light.
I missed this. Go watch the Sweden videos when teams say they prep to stop her. She doesnt have true running mate in Sweden like magicDan (boy, i miss good ole Dan ) and Stanford , is more like a Delie now. And refer back to the Philly and Boston playoff games, esp Phi;lly. it was the press show. Abby should have subbed herselfish out. Al l this means she continues to improve. What is Henderson doing now? She definitely isn't leading the top Sweden league in scoring prior to the Olympics. Press on the current roster is just a fraudulent move by Pia. Oh, did Henderson win the Hermann or a pro league rookie title? I can't say post Olympics but Press could win the scoring title in Sweden. 'I''m assuming Henderson won a ncaa title, which is a nice team effort. Press > Henderson. You guys kill ,me sometimes.
Alright so you know quite a bit about of Leroux, you then know she also played for the U-17 and U-20 Canadian teams at the tender age of 15. The fact that the United States capped her while she was in college shows how important she was to them. Canada was going to call her up to the senior level to cap her, she may of wanted to play for the United States and she has stated that her chances of winning a world cup were better for the United States, but getting the call up to the senior level was the important thing and lucky for Leroux, she was in the long range plans for the USNT, because if she wasn't in the long range plans for the USNT, then you can bet she would of taken the cap for Canada. Yes that is what I am saying, NONE of us here on this forum has any idea what goes behind Pia Sunhage's mind. Many of us wonder at the choices she has made. Nice I guess I deserve that last part of your statement. But to reiterate, where does Rampone play? Where did all 3 goals from Sinclair come from? Who is suppossed to be marking her? Do I even need to say her name? If Canada can keep Abby under check and limit her to a PK goal, then it would seem that the United States should of kept Sinclair under control, no matter how good Sinclair is, the United States backline played badly, and the key defender who is suppossed to mark Sinclair failed at her job, and we know who I am talking about. As to everything else you stated, I agree with with them for the most part. Morgan like Schelin? That is high praise indeed, I don't know if I would go that far, but otherwise you were on point.
Press may have more accolades to her credit, but she was on a powerhouse Stanford team, They were slated to be NCAA champions and for 3 straight years, they made the NCAA championship game and until this year, they came in as bridesmaids, Stanford won it this year. Stanford plays a possession football game, they control the ball and their midfielders dominate the play by feeding their strikers. Press was that one striker, her best year was 23 goals and in the final, Notre Dame shut down the midfield, Press just couldn't get service from her midfield and when she did, she couldn't create for her team. Henderson on the other hand is a creator, she was making bombing runs on the sidelines creating havoc on the number one defense in the country in Stanford. She helped create the one goal that won the Championship game for Notre Dame, she drew 2 defenders to her on the side of the box, then dished the ball of the Adriana Leon for the goal. For me Melissa Henderson will always be the better player, she is an allround forward that can play on top or move to a midfield role and be a playmaker. Then again I am biased, I love Melissa and I want to see her in the Olympics and World Cup.
Oh brother, did you ever think Sinclair had an out of the world game like Marta had in 2007 against USA? it wasn't Rampone's day at the office vs her yesterday or anyone's on the backline. The last time I watched Rampone closed Sinclair out after 1 goal. Canada was 0-3 or something like that this year coming to the Olympics vs the USA, and Sinclair wasn't much of a factor in those games. Everyone has that one moment in time.
Look I will give credit where credit is due. I am not saying that Christine Sinclair is an average player, she is not. She had a superb game, but look where the goals came from. Right in the middle of the box, who is suppossed to mark her? We know who had the good game, my point is there is a player that had a really bad game defending Sinclair. And I am not making any excuses for the poor play of the United States backline. Their marking of Sinclair was poor. Christine had a fabulous game, all credit to her.
Sure. A lot of players do that. Ali Riley has said she didn't see herself in the long term plans of USWNT so she took the NZWNT offer, is happy with her decision, yadda yadda. I'm not saying that USWNT doesn't identify players early then fast track them through when they feel that the player is ready, the team is ready, etc. It's actually pretty interesting to see who USWNT brass is keeping a STRONG eye on by seeing who gets calls up early or to a higher age level. [My guess? Morgan Andrews - called up to U23 WNT camp, maybe Jane Campbell - I can't remember if she was called up either to that U23 camp, but both of them are U17; Kristie Mewis, gotten training camps with USWNT early as a collegian, apparently beat out Wells] Eh. Well, I didn't mean to say you're not a US fan - I really don't know. Just around the forums and elsewhere, there is a lot of praise for Rampone (and I respect her game highly too). Rampone ran down Marta just last year. Of course, Marta got her shots in, but Rampone had a lot to do with our success. Buehler? Buehler is definitely doing better since her rather disastrous WWC run, but she's still not what I'd call a strong point of the US defense and she's pretty bad at marking, for some reason, despite being called to do so all the time by the US coaching staff. Um. To clarify, we are talking about Buehler, right? I said a really rough, unpolished and inexperienced Lotta Schelin, okay! Everyone just jumps straight to the Lotta Schelin instead of my (imo many) qualifiers! I hope she gets a chance too! However, I was not speaking of their college qualifications. Press did not endear herself to the USWNT staff because of her college play. (There was some angst by some people about this.) Press made herself more attractive when she went to play in the Damallsvenskan - Sweden's pro league and considered one of the top / strongest league, probably just below the German Frauen Bundesliga - and ended up, for a number of weeks, being the leading goal scorer there. (I am uncertain whether she still is the leading goal scorer at this point in time.) This is why I said it was important for Henderson to get regular game playing time in a competitive league so that she can showcase her skills - and do so against other internationals. For those who are not necessarily in the team's "vision," showing that you can play at that level is very important. Solo wanted to show she could become a starting GK so she went to Sweden (and Lyon for one year) to get game time, become better, and make her case. Krieger went to Germany and has noticeably improved in her time there. For awhile, she wasn't in the "mix," but as she produced, the USWNT started giving her looks and then started bringing her in.
First off, the ref was terrible. Inconsistent the entire game on what she called and carded. This went both ways as I was suprised on a bunch of non-calls and calls that should have been cards that weren't. The players "adjusted" to this and it got more physical (on both sides) and the ref still didn't respond by controlling. Safe to say, I'd bet she bombed on her assessment. the two calls above: the tackle on Scott. Was very close to a 50-50 ball. the injury was actually during the body momentum of BOTH players. Was it a foul: yes, the US player was a 1/2 step late that caused a collision. Was it cardable? Probably, but given what the ref had done already (or not done), that's not a card. The indirect. You are miss-understanding the laws of the game. Before I say this, there's no way in the world I believe that call should have been made. However, once she made it, she HAS to give and indirect kick and no card is warranted. The card you see given for this is for delaying a restart, since the ball is in play, there's no restart to delay. Once made, her ONLY option is an indirect kick where the ball was when she decided to blow her whistle. Any other outcome would result in a protest by USA and it would be upheld and a replay then held. Should she have made the call? From what I saw: NO. However the keeeper had been warned at half-time, and at least twice did hold the ball FAR longer than the allowed 6 seconds. IF the keeper had previously been warned, and hopefully VERY publically, then it's a somewhat better call. However from what I saw this was never done, so I believe this was a bad call. On the resulting kick that cause the handling call. This one I think is a good call. the ball actually had contact with two Canadian players, the first in the wall (probably not what was called), then on a second person who was turning in the air and her arm was out from her body (well her elbow was). Blaming the result on this one call, is not really fair, she did a poor job the entire game, who knows what would have happened with a decently called game.
You know what Newsouth, I'm actually starting to enjoy your negative posts against Morgan, and here's why. When Morgan had gone almost 4 games without scoring a goal I noticed that your negative posts towards her had reduced from 10 per day to around 2. The last thing I want is for you to make a case for Morgan to remain a starter on a USWNT that you dislike so much. So please keep bashing her in your posts since I'll know that she's performing well and scoring goals. I personally hope that you make 100 posts against her after the Japan game.......it would really make my day.
Stanford's style looks different from almost any other Pac-12 team that visits Washington State in Pullman. All game long, Stanford do quick backpasses from midfield to active backline, swing sideways, and go forward somewhere else. This defuses midfield chasing, and ensures that Stanford goes forward along a channel they choose, rather than from a semi-random walk of a ball clanging through midfield. It's fast because all 4 defenders can one-touch pass, move and shift as a unit, and know where each other are without having to settle the ball. Unfocus your eyes, and it looks like a safety net or trampoline under bridge workers. Other teams (esp. UCLA) do this to some extent, but not smoothly enough to make it a ball-repositioning weapon. It's the most frustrating style for WSU to chase, since we're frankly mediocre passers, and rely on midfield hustle to win more of those random-walk pings. Hilarious: after facing Stanford and UCLA a couple of times, WSU has started to do the same backline lateral switches, and beat up on everybody else with it
Delie had the same shot, ignored Thomis box top, shot tight near post, and Fukumoto saved it. Later, Thomis had the same shot, cut back to center, and Le Sommer scored. One mitigating difference was that Delie and Kyle were both chasing the ball going endline-ward, while IIRC Thomis had settled hers. So Thomis could spare a glance without danger of a turnover, while for the other 2, any head-turn was as committal as a shot.
Hmmm... from my vantage point watching the replay it looks like the player charging didn't make contact, and then the player in the wall had their hand/arm in front of their face/torso when the ball hit.
That was an exciting game! I do think the IDFK was unfortunate and that Canada is deserved in feeling robbed. Which happens A LOT in soccer. How many times do we say, "that's soccer", with a shrug when team gets an unfair result? Many. Sinclair was amazing and the US defense is in trouble. I love watching O'Hara come up the side on offense, but I think her inexperience in the back was exposed on the first goal. Does anyone look at the roster and say, Hmmm, Sinclair is tall, how about we put a tall girl on her for set plays. Hello? I would like to see all of the old guard of the USWNT retire and find the young players who have been taught by good coaches in our clubs. The style of play is changing and I prefer Japan and France to the USWNT. We have NO midfield. Congrats go to the University of Portland for 5 goals yesterday. Rapinoe and Sinclair are the best players on the pitch.
What we witnessed yesterday was a travesty to the sport. I'm not going to dissect every call ad nauseam, but I'm having trouble comprehending how people can deny that there was something fishy going on. Never in my twenty years of playing and watching football have I witnessed such deplorable, one sided reffing. It is a disgrace to the sport. I don't hate the American players, their fans, and I truly couldn't care less who wins the Gold Medal game. Their medal to me will always be tainted. I think everyone knows that.....you can't blame the players, nice ladies, classy too...(esp Abby last night). Still, it in my gut, it doesn't feel right. As for the Canadians, they should be proud of themselves and the entire country is talking about the, beaming with pride and anger over this robbery. Finally, tonight's game has made Christine Sinclair relevant to the average Canadian. Something long overdue. Her performance yesterday cemented herself as a true legend of the game. I've always known her to be a top two player in the world, but now every Canadian can appreciate her. She's is no Sidney Crosby to women's soccer, she's a Bobby Orr, or Wayne Gretzky. Truly a class act! She and her team deserved so much better than last night. Shame.
As one of the articles pointed out, Sinclair had exactly three good chances all match and buried all three of them. That's impressive almost regardless of the quality of the defending.
If Tancredi's play was the sort that resulted in red cards, Abby Wambach would have spent half her career on suspension. Tancredi plays like an American and does it well. Get over it. Untrue. The assistant referee made a general plea at the half to keep the play moving. There was never a warning to McLeod for time-wasting or any reference to the six second rule.