Some interesting call up since Lilly, Lindsay Tarpley and Heather O’Reilly all have previous commitments. he called up Danielle Slaton, Leslie Osborne, Lori Lindsey, Jacqui Little and Venus James. should be interesting to see who they play.
We are talking about this Venus James, right? I mean, there isn't more than one? I must say this guy Ryan begins to impress me. I thought James, who has been in Europe for the last year and a half, was far off his and everyones radar. I personally don't believe she's got what it takes, but she is playing competetive football for a top european side. It's good to see that he is aware of her and think she's earned a try-out.
and johanna lohman - has he called her before? and which one of these ladies is the left wing replacement - no lilly, and no chalupny remember? i can see: ------------------------------solo------------------------------- mitts-------------reddick--------------markgraf-------------slaton -----------------------------boxx-------------------------------- ------fair------------------wagner-------------------??????------ ---------------wambach--------------welsh---------------------
Finally Woznuk gets a shot. I'd like to see Ryan play Wagner one half, and then Woznuk for the second, or vice versa. They are pretty much competing for the same position so it'll be interesting to see who shows better. I'm hoping Wozzy can crack the starting 11 before China rolls around, because although Aly Wagner has tremendous talent, but has consistantly underachieved on the international level. Welsh, Wambach, Wagner, Woznuk, oh my!
I'm glad to see Jen Branam getting a look. luvdagame - is there any reason in particular that you think the team will come out in a 4-4-2?
Good point-- a 3-3 with Wagner Boxx Hucles/ Millie Wambach Welsh would make more sense... Or several other possibilities...
well he's been trying different formations. julie said last week that that's one of his goals - to play the team in many different formations, so that they can switch smoothly during a difficult game. so maybe he'll use the 4-4-2 against iceland. but even if he uses, for example, the 3-4-3 that he used last week, my question is who will be the left wing? does somebody who knows the new players well enough have an answer?
except he might keep hucles as boxx's backup like he did last week. i see it more as fair -- boxx -- ??? in the middle and (i like your) millie -- wambach -- welsh in front if he goes back to the 4-3-3 he used against canada.
Hucles and Wagner make the quad again what has this guy seen in them... Wagner should have a a tougher time and get more pressure this game... it is a glaring weakness Lohman is a great Choice, I have just seen her play and She is impressive... Not fond of the Little callup... I never cared for her play in the WUSA and last time I saw her she was the same... She is yellow card waiting to happen, seems to play just on the edge No Idea on the left wing, but Lorrie Fair has some experience there.
Think of Wagner like Randy Johnson-- the Expos stuck with him for years because he threw the ball hard and low. Then one day he figured out how to throw strikes, and turned into a Hall of Famer. Wagner has an outstanding talent, hampered by a deficiency; thats the kind of player its worth giving extra chances to because if they do sort it out, you'll have something extaordinarily valuable. Her defense seems to be a bit improved this year, and she doesn't seem to be running out of gas at the 50 minute mark like she used to... that gives me some hope that she may yet become a star if not a superstar...Even if she can only find room to make her pass 6 or 8 times a game, she'll be worth it because she can make trouble with every single one... As for Hucles, she's a mule not a racehorse. Which is perfectly okay, somebody has to pull the plow... The complaint against her seems to be that she disappears; but that seems to me to be a way of saying "I forget to watch for her and I can't remember what she did." Which could just as well mean "She didn't do anything bad." Since a large percentage of her time with the WNT has been A. garbage minutes or B. injured and two coaches in a row have seen enough in her to keep her around; the correct question might be "What am I not looking at?" rather than "Why can't they see she sucks?"
What is it with Fair and Hucles being automatics on this team. Simply don't get it. You have to hand it to Ryan, when he is done, no one should say they didn't have an opportunity.
Well the talking point is that Fair played well enough in Eurpoe to earn an extended second look... And really the only thing wrong with her in her previous WNT time was that she turned the ball over so relentlessly; if she's gotten over that, she has speed and strength, plays good defense, crowds the attack into the sideline real well and is always open on throw-ins... at 27 she should be in her best year with 5 years of prime left... They don't all have to be stars, they just have to keep up with the ones who are...
Ahh, you just didn't care for her creating the winner in the playoff match I am surprised by this though. For DC, she was best as a 'super-sub' - she had average skills but when she didn't have to pace herself for 70-90 minutes her high-energy play could really screw opponents up. Yeah there was the karate-kick on Raveia, but Bivens is a red card waiting to happen so Jacqui is a step up Not sure what worked for her in WUSA would really translate well to the international game though. I figured Jacqui (and Skylar) would play for Holland someday since they could have decent international careers with them. Has Jacqui been playing for anyone, or does she just scrimmage with DC United? Nice to see some new players actually getting looks though. Has Jen Grubb been playing and is she next?
maybe he'll do something interesting like use slaton as a left wing instead of left back. she used to be unstoppable as a left back when she was healthy. i have no idea, however, how much speed that bum knee (leg?) has stolen from her.
Explain the Bivens comment. I don't understand what that meant and what she has to do with Little????
Wagner reminds me of former Colombian star Carlos Valderrama, hardly played any defense, but awesome ball handler and passer. That's why he was on the team. He could make that one beautiful pass that made the difference in a game. IMO Wagner is something like that.
do you guys remember the twin sisters (forgot their names i think the last names are Tjetjen or something i might be wrong but something like that) who guarded philly charge defense ? i think one or both should get some trial as well...
Chargefan said Jacqui was a yellow card waiting to happen, I always thought Bivens was a red waiting to happen so I just threw that in.