Steffiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Points (Road to WWC 2019)[R]

since you keep mentioning the USWNT, we've got one huge advantage in that woso remains highly popular in country, which means that it will be producing an abundance of prospects/talents for years to come. And the numbers are staggering; millions start at the youth level, than it might start dwindling but still good enough that 382K an year. play at the high school age level, 39K play in college. After that there's over 100 Div 2 teams along with finally a very strong pro league(which was missing last decade in the US) that one team, the Portland Thorns, has started to average nearly 20K attendance, another team, NC Courage, beat Lyon when they came to play over here this last summer.

So this is what the rest of the world has to deal with; popularity of woso in the US)

England has decided to finally throw a lot of money into woso. but when watching their games on facebook(with it's chat room) I notice their fans starting writing about what'sever happening with their men's teams, instead of the woso game that's on)

(since I only started watching woso this decade( German started out with a bang/ or at least interest was on an all time high as big crowds were seen at both the 2012 u20 as well as the 2011 WC. But now it seems like the crowds are dwindling every year in the Bundi as well as at NT, so as an outsider, it feels now that Germany is in a race with time to produce another winner if the talent pool is becoming smaller(in conjunction with less interest in woso).

as an outsider(along with Thomsen) I just don't get it, why on earth is Jorgie Low still head coach of the men's NT after that disaster in Russia, or why is Meinert still coach after two successive failures at u20?/or it'salmost feels like Meinert has decided to give up winning considering that Lohmann wasn't chosen for the u20 but good enough to make it on the seniors.

and then the biggest question of them all; why on earth isn't Horst staying as NT coach? (I mean someone out thee in the DBF should of given an offer that Horst couldn't refuse as honestly he would of been GE best hope to in next year's WC

 

I didn't mean that, but the gap between the best teams and the second best teams isn't that big anymore - that's great. It's not only the traditional teams in woso anymore.

 

I feel like you're too harsh on Germany lol I mean, to me it sounds like you're slightly indicating that this team should win every tournament or it's a failure lol. Fourth place in a WC isn't that bad - especially in a tournament where I feel Germany struggled due to injuries and lack of depth really lol. Yes, Neid's tactics surely didn't help, but every coach in the world has some flaws in their coaching...

 

I'm surprised too that Hrubesch doesn't continue until the WC lol as I believe he could form a team competitive to challenge for the title
but again this is because DFB has acted so amateurish towards their women's program

 

Doesn't answer any part of my question, asking why it's not seen as a negative for the USwnt to continue beating up on various top 30 ranked nations, as they remain at the top of the female side of the sport.

I mean it seems like people were far more interested in attaching the failures of Germany's wnt to a potential healthy sign for the future of the women's game. And this even though it's pretty damn clear Germany's women have none of the advantages of US women.

 

LOL, from the old footage I've seen of empty stadiums, and completely unbalanced score lines, I would think current facts about the health of the league would say otherwise.

But when it comes to the national team program, I don't think it's surprising to see crowds becoming smaller when you consider the increasingly poor performances from the senior team.

Seriously... i think people forget the senior team LOST TO ICELAND AT HOME lol. And they lost in way their opponents could have scored even more than the 3 goals they celebrated on the day.

See.. you don't reach 3 consecutive U-20 finals, having the record of never having missed any FIFA finals as a part of competitively strong UEFA, and have issues lacking credible talent depth within your nation.

But you also can't hide the effects of bad football being showcased to a highly knowledgeable potential audience like the one's you'll find in places like Germany.

 

I honestly don't understand how it happened, but the continued apathy of the DFB allowed Meinert to lead her two separate youth teams, at the same time, for two very different events.

So even if I haven't personally understood her recent decision to start selecting weakened squads for various Euro and FIFA events, I think the last U-20 WC team was instantly doomed to fail once the apathy of the DFB felt it OK to have Meinert's attention split between both U-19 and U-20 tournaments.

Just look at other Euro elite U-19/20 nations like elite Spain, or France, both headed into the recent U-20 WC, and you'll two nations who selected all their best players, and all their best coaches, to work full time for their U-20 team.

 

If your not going there to win, why are you there at all...? With much of my opinion being formed around the DFB actually helping create really healthly conditions for their wnt programs success, only to see it completely wasted over a decade of stupid politics, and persistent amateur attitudes.

So it might sound like I'm expecting perfection, but it's only holding Germany to a reasonable standard; a standard a wnt who's had the benefit of various highly successful junior teams, provide coaches access to a conveyor belt of some of the games top talents.

Seriously... there's no excuse seeing numerous nations with far less resources than Germany's wnt program, producing significantly better teams with little they do have access to.

 

Does anybody have any faith in MVT...? But I agree with opinion suggesting Hrubesch the only option to see this team accomplish something more than another early tournament exit.

Maybe Hrubesch sets the foundations for MVT's WC team, but right now what does that even mean with every position but the GK still wide open to new competition.

 

DFB is a mess these days, we're seeing it affecting the men's team as well. I just feel like Germany are producing too many of the similar talents these days

 

I'll give her some games but I'm not very convinced after watching Switzerland these days... Yes Germany is a much better team still lol

Anyway I'd go for this in one of the games:

Schult
Maier - Doorsoun - Demann - Simon
Leupolz - Lohmann
Gwinn - Marozsan - Däbritz
Popp

It's actually a ridiculous strong squad he has available lol considering that the likes of Kemme, Gössling and Dallmann aren't even in the squad

 

So apparently Schult injured herself today and had to be subbed out
Wolfsburg conceded their first goal of the season

 

Bayern only manage a 1-1 vs Sand
Demann out with a slight injury it looked like
Should've won the game anyway

 

look at this from Maro

 

Schult is out for the games
And Schmitz and Benkarth are injured
lol

 

I'm still not convinced with Leupolz as a DM. Honestly feeling like Magull's more important talents as a CM continue to be overlooked with peoples incorrect belief she's a CAM, and therefore a rival to Maronzsan's role.

With Gwinn for me not being remotely worthy of a place in the team ahead of Huth too, making it slightly unreasonable to see her preferred over somebody who's done so much more, for so much longer.

But reading how Demann's also injured now, and knowing Elsig still retains an unfair untested status among this group of players, I'd hope to see Elsig starting both matches versus this tougher opposition, just so the coaches know she's actually competent at this level.

 

They've produced impressive FW's, but the senior team didn't use them. They produced talented CAM/CM/DM's, the senior team didn't use them. They produced more than enough DF's, and guess what... the senior team didn't use them either.

So what are these more unique individual talents supposed to do, when they impress at junior international and league levels as one thing, only for the senior team to ignore them for so long they can only become valuable somewhere else...?

I mean the myth Germany's wnt doesn't have players capable of being quality CB's is just dumb, knowing how many times Meinert's converted various names into surprisingly impressive tournament viable CB partnerships.

 

This was Germany's best team never to win a U-20 WC...
----------------- Benkarth ---------------
Maier - Wensing -- Cramer - Simon
------- Hendrich - Petzelberger -------
Leupolz ----- Marozsan ------ Däbritz
------------------ Lotzen ------------------
and this team had Magull, Rolser, both coming off the bench.

So how can the senior team become so bad, when something like this U-20 side existed with so many of the current senior team overlapping with this particular generation of talent...?

Just swap Wensing - Cramer with Doorsoun - Elsig, Petzelberger with Magull, placing Huth on the right, and Popp up front. And your currently looking at three highly successful generations of junior talent, all playing in what should have been a highly successful senior team.

But the coaching has been so poor, it's become normal to suggest Germany's entire wnt program currently unsuccessful, because it spend's too much time creating too many of the same player..

 

It’s confirmed that Demann’s out so this is a golden opportunity for Elsig

 

Well Leupolz will probably start as a DM anyway... and I just want to give Gwinn a chance again, not saying that she should start over Huth

 

I believe it's not as easy as people might think to translate success from the junior wnt to the senior wnt

That being said though...... Germany have been poor as you pointed out with their junior players... Feel like Neid and Löw have both done the same mistake: sticking to their old core of players where too many of them sit on the bench

 

don't think Horst is going to all of a sudden the 4-2-3-1, think instead he'll stick with the diamond mid(single DM & AM). Both Italy & Spain are slightly stronger teams than Austria or Iceland, so don't expect too much experimenting with the new players/or at least in the 1st half. The Spanish coach is an ball control freak, so we might even see Germany the more 'direct' soccer team. Take it Marozsan will probably start as AM cuz of her creds, but Dabritz been terrific at that spot, while Magull has yet to have her breakout game for the NT/ Be great if Elsig can start, but she'll never be as dominating if she can't play her own game of long balling as Horst still seems to like the pay it from the back & counter. coming up the sides.

this would be my starting lineup

Hendrich..........Doorsoun........Elsig..........Simon
..................................Leupolz
Huth......................................................Rall
.................................Dabritz
.............Schuller.......................Popp

from the little I've seen on highlights of Rall, she seems like an athletic type winger, so need her to compensate for Schweers not being available.

in the Hendrich./lil Leo debate; Italy has one of the fastest wingers in coming down the left flank inBonesea, she'll eat up alive lil Leo(ala Rapinoe), so I'll start Hendrich. But yeah, against the slow poke buildup of Spain's style, even lil Leo can make it back in time to defend

 

Elsig’s still great at playing balls through the ground as she showed against Austria

I don’t know whether you’ve seen Hendrich for Bayern this season, if you have, you wouldn’t start her in a FB position..

 

Hendrich played right back all game long vs the highest ranked team Horst has played against, #5 Canada. And she looked pretty good at it on defense & worked well with Huth moving the ball up the right side.

in the meantime, lil Leo came in the 2nd half at left back, committed a foul in a dangerous area, of which CA scored from a FT.

sometimes it's really about defense!

 

Without Schweers in the team as a winger, I'll acknowledge that Gwinn definitely the strongest option in the squad capable of producing early crosses; this skill being significantly better than somebody like Huth, who's somebody that never crosses the ball early, or particularly accurately.

But Huth's impressive contribution as a wide AM should be undeniable by now, when it's for seeing her score goals within a team that's still incorrectly forcing two forwards into central areas, when it's obvious these various forwards aren't working very well together, or very good at actually scoring goals regularly lol.