A 1-1 tie vs Canada a few years ago would have been a disaster. Canada looked at their program, went and hired a good coach and while we got April. Since then, Canada is no longer a walkover and we're no longer unbeatable. It should be obvious to everyone what a good coach (or lack of one) can do. April MUST GO and it will take a major failure at a major event to get people on the band wagon but mark my words.... it's coming and it is too late for us to fix it now
While I agree that April has been less then steller, I hate to out all the blame on her for the US not dominating the way they used to. Saying that means that DiCiccio was the reason the US was so great. Umm, what about the players. I'm pretty sure that they have something to do with the game. Coaches set up game plans- players execute. The US problem as of late has been finishing shots, something the players (not the coaches) are in control over. Against Iceland, the US had 27 shots - 1 goal. Iceland had 4 shots - 0 goals. Seems to me the game plan was fine, the players didn't do their job. The thing that bothers me about April is how inconsistant she is with the players themselves. I'm all for experimenting with new players. I don't mind her putting them in big time games. But, at this point in the year, this close to the WC, there should be none of it. We need to build a team that knows and trusts each other. A team that knows where people are going to be before they even get there. Chemistry is important, and with a lack of a residency camp, I think its important to get the players that are playing in the WC on the field as much as possible with each other. I know people hate to hear it, but the world is catching up. Its going to continue to get harder for the US to dominate the way they used to. What they need to do is go out and get the most out of their opportunities. Jay
The only way the USA is going to be as dominant as they once were is if countries like Canada and others go back to the hokey national soccer programs they had when the USA was dominant. It's not too hard to beat teams that are 1/10'th as well prepared as you are. Did the USA not just win the 4 Nations Tournament?? What does that say about the USA's strength against the traditional soccer powers? What's changed is that other countries like Canada and Japan are no longer the push-overs they once were. Canada has now played the USA to a draw over the last 7 games 2-3-2. Japan has tied the USA the last 2 times they've played. Why blame the players or the coaches for Canada and Japan's improvement?? As for 3-0 or 4-0 against the current Canadian squad...that's more fantasy than reality. It's nice to think the heroes of the past would dominate today like they did then but it's not very realistic. The reality is that women's international soccer is better and more competitive that it ever was. I expect that over the next decade it will come to look more like the men's game... faster, more skilled and more parity across more nations. All good stuff...except if you you expect your team to dominate the rest of the world.
Yes, some teams in the world have become better but the real story is that we have absolutely slipped. Our style of play and game plan have gone to the dogs. Where we used to look like a well-oiled machine under Tony, we look unorganized and confused under April. Accidental offense rules. We still have some of the best players in the world and have more depth than anyone by a long shot. What we don't have is the leadership and guidence that we once had. Tony was great while April is not. We will not win the WC and it's not because the rest of the world has caught up, it will because we've stalled for the last few years and waited for them to catch up.
Seriously, our games have been totally boooooring. What ever happened to those games with the dazzling one touch passing and cutting through balls to the forwards? As one poster said, we just don't have any chemistry at all. Jezus christ April, pick the number of plays that you are allowed to take with you to the WWC and add 4 or 5 to that. There that's your player pool. For goodness sakes, the past two years was your experimental stage. Now is the time to start picking the team.
she'll pick the team a week prior to WWC and the team start to gel right after we lose the game for third place.