As for as Little, she and Bivens are playing for the Freedom reserve... I just saw them play the wildcats. just not enough there imho Hucles... well the announcer usually says the players name when they touch the ball.... strangely, we never hear her name (Or very rarely) Usually it is Hucles is subbed in......
I've got to agree on the Hucles thing. I want to like her. I go into every match thinking maybe she'll show us something but come away disappointed. I'm no sure he has ever regained fitness since her injury.
Yes, but by that standard Bob Gainey was a lousy hockey player, Moose Johnston couldn't play football, and TR Dunn was bad at basketball... I'm not in the business of defending Hucles particularly-- I just think its silly to get all wound up about her presence on the roster... She's not reckless or careless and she brings some continuity in a time of change, and if someone is better than she is they'll win the job...
my take on hucles is that she certainly has the speed, size and skill to play at this level. but she has not been used consistently as a starter, or in the same position for quite a while or ever. so it's hard to get a hold on her. however, whenever i see a coaching change and a player i'm not sure of gets kept on the roster, i conclude that there's good reason to keep her - probably because both coaches having seen her in the daily drills and practices which i (we) do not see, know she is valuable enough to keep a spot open for her. about wagner. i like the comparison to valderrama. but colombia (and mls when he played here) had to sacrifice a player just to carry the bucket for him on defense. i'm not sure that's a good thing or something the uswnt to do - especially against topclass competition. rumour is our recent opponents don't belong to that level. so she gets to play.
The part of Wagner's game that reminds you of Valderrama is her defense. Unfortunately her passing reminds me more of Chad Deering - a typical US youth #10. Great at playing 6v6 keep away, but without the imagination, pace, or touch to threaten a professional level defense. Of course Aly will be fine against the international juggernaut that is Iceland, but keeping her on the squad seems pointless if we're in such a hurry to develop players who will help us in '07.
I course you are correct...The fact that she led the team in assists prior to the World Cup means nothing. Not sure what your agenda is against her, but maybe she is not the one lacking imagination.
2003 WWC was in September. The results of the five friendlies prior to that were: 6-0 over England 5-0 over Ireland 1-0 over Brazil 5-0 over Costa Rica 5-0 over Mexico Ireland and England were dire. The average age of the Costa Rican team looked like it was about 20. These teams (like Ukraine) gave her lots of time and space and paid dearly for it. The teams in the WWC closed her down quickly and knocked her off the ball repeatedly. At the highest level, she was not a factor. For me, she was a big disappointment. That said, she did have three assists at Algarve ...
Latest from training camp 19 July Update on Camp It also mentions that this game will be the debut of the new red team uni...
Re: Latest from training camp i don't mind Wagner as Much as Hucles, Wagner can make some nice plays And about seeing her in practice where we don't... That was said about Fair, She was a hard worker in practice, but had some issues in games, and to keep a roster spot for training camp dynamo is just silly. Fair has corrected the issues that kept her from the WWC team, crosses, passing, 50/50's, turnovers in the Def. 3rd. and She worked hard to get her game back in form. I may not see the training where Hucles is impressive, but I don't see her in the games either. wagner is excelling with the previous light friendly and Hucles is still disappearing Defend her all you want, but not being called up a few times may make her work harder in the Games when it counts
Re: Latest from training camp Agreed. If you are not showing well against Ukraine, there could be a problem.
Re: Latest from training camp she did fine against ukraine in the limited minutes she got. bryan's apparently using her as boxx's backup. boxx is probably the best in the world, so hucles will get few minutes in the spot where she belongs. but believe me, if she were no good, both april and bryan would not have her on the team.
Ok since Ryan is giving some real X factors like Little and James a look.... Can some one rationalize Siri's absence? Does any one know what she's up to? Is she hurt?
Re: Latest from training camp Hucles was a striker her whole pre-nat life. She may have gone in for Boxx, but I don't think she actually played in that holding role - someone else rotated back and she played more of an attacking midfield position behind the forwards. If she DID play in the more defensive spot, you have to assume it was because the Ukranian attack really didn't require the use of a midfielder's defensive capabilities (we'd know, because w/ Hucles on d, they'd have scored if they got that far). While it's true I haven't seen Ryan run a practice with the WNT, we've seen a LOT of games. I think it's difficult to envision Wagner and Hucles impacting the USWNT in a positive way in '07 (or next week against legitimate competition). They're not part of the best XI now, and they're no longer "potential" players. They were and are players who came through the ranks and are wired in politically (both played for multiple coaches with WNT connections in college as well as played for age group nats). I respect Ryan's reluctance to dump them since they've put in a lot of time (almost 10 years, I would think, in the nat program including youth nats); but since he gave Chastain the boot it seems kind of weird to fool around with these two. On the other hand, maybe they are in the running for spots 18-20 and won't complain on the bench . . .
I don't know what Siri is doing as far as playing - she's coaching for UNC-G this fall evidently. With Ryan bringing in Branam, etc. he's looking at a lot of 'keepers. Hope he gets around to Siri if she wants a shot - she certainly deserves a look!
Re: Latest from training camp Why? Its been a common coaching tactic throughout the history of sports, and by very great coaches... Vince Lombardi kept Red Mack around for exactly that reason, and Fred Shero had Terry Crisp and Bobby Clarke made the roster that way though he grew into much much more... I don't remember the name, but John McGraw had a pitcher he kept just because the bullpen functioned better with him sitting there. And in soccer you know in advance that a considerable portion of your roster isn't going to play-- it costs you less flexibility than it would in basketball or hockey or football... So if your practices or flights or parties are significantly better with somebody than without, why is it silly to make that investment? Part of your responsibility as coach is to bring them to the circle ready to play... In fact isn't this part of why TR was such a difficult cut? Because she was doing even more for the team off the field than on?
I think y'all are overlooking something with regards to Jacqui Little. Jacqui's husband: Nick Rimando Nicks job: goalkeeper for DC United DC United's location this weekend: In Los Angeles playing the Galaxy on Saturday. It might be part "look-see", part "matter of convenience". Sort of "She's going to be in town that week/weekend, why not give her a run in training."
Re: Latest from training camp Chastain's 37. Hucles is 27. Wagner is 25. I'd sure be a lot more willing to "fool around" with a player who should be in her best year and a player with an outstanding skill who's just coming into her prime years than I would a player on her last legs or in this case "feet..." (Unless you mean that other kind of "fool around"... Thought not...)
Re: Latest from training camp Hucles in particular was a player with "potential" - Wagner was going to be the next big thing. All three players you list are veterans who you wouldn't think would improve tremendously during this cycle. Chastain because she's getting older (but she started so far ahead, and had served long and well, getting rid of her made less sense than dumping Wags and Hucles would), Wagner because she's unlikely to become faster and improve her speed of play or defending at this point, Hucles is a 27 year old project player who couldn't make the team at her natural position. Once again, no need to take my word for it - two WUSA teams saw them as equally disappointing.
Re: Latest from training camp Yes, but Chastain did make an impact when she was on the field and you knew she was there, for better or for worse.... hucles brings nothing to the team other than water for Ape and I guess she is Ryan's pet now
Re: Latest from training camp You've obviously never actually watched Angela Hucles play. Maybe you've seen games she's been in while watching with a closed mind and prejudged opinion. No, she's not a world beater. But she's definitely functional at the international level. Was she better than Brandi Chastain two years ago? Certainly not. Is she better than Brandi Chastain now? I'd have to say probably - especially based on what I saw from Chastain last fall. Will she be better than Chastain two years from now? Almost 100% certainty - in my opinion. That does not make her a world beater, it doesn't even mean that she should be on the USWNT, but the whole "labeling" of players and coaches "Ape" and "pet" and "Pucles" and so forth isn't exactly deep analysis. This is womens soccer, it's played on the field, and the judging is done by the scoreboard. This isn't gymnastics or ice skating where the made up minds of the judges is only marginally affected by the performance on the apparatuses or the ice. Let's drop the pejoratives. It really hurts any argument one is trying to make. If you can't make a reasonable argument without resorting to name calling or guilt by association "April's pet", then you probably don't have an argument to make. I see plenty of flaws in Hucles' game. But I also see exactly why she keeps getting called in. It is not her fault that Tony DiCicco and April Heinrichs abdicated responsibility over the last 10 years when it came to identifying and cultivating a large talent pool of national team calibre players.
Re: Latest from training camp Depends on your definition of play. If you mean wear a uniform, get subbed in and stand on the field during play, sure. If you mean have a meaningful impact on a meaningful game in a positive way, well, nobody's seen Hucles play for the WNT then. What exactly is her function? She's a forward who's been converted into a midfielder without the speed, defensive savvy or technique to compete at this level (or the WUSA pro level) effectively. I loved her as a high school player, and thought she'd have a bigger impact on UVA's program - but as a pro . . . at least Wagner was able to dominate college games (even though she's been at best ineffective internationally). Blaming DiCicco for not building the '07 squad is pretty funny. His job was to bring the team back from the loss in '95 - which he did before he was canned (or resigned, or whatever you want to believe). (I'm trying to imagine a meeting with Dr. Boob or Rothenberg or some other soccer idiot in Chicago telling Tony - "forget the '99 WWC - let's get ready to play in 2003!" - whoops I imagined it. The only rational response would involve firearms.) As for Ape (sorry, that's what a lot of people she knows call her), her job was to win the Olympics and the WWC in '03. She split a pair of Olys and failed to win the WWC. That's her legacy (beyond destroying the team's chemistry and running players like Milbrett off). It's Ryan's job to put together a player pool that can support a successful campaign in '07 and again in '08 (NOT 2011 or 12 - if he talks about that EVER he should be fired on the spot). Once again, I find it difficult to believe that Hucles and Wagner will be a useful part of the US squad in those competitions and don't see the point in keeping them around. Chastain wouldn't have been a help in '07/'08 either - but when you've won 2 WWC's and 2 Olys you probably should be able to retire on your own terms rather than getting shown the door by a new coach who's never actually won ANYTHING (big accomplishment - getting UW-Madison to the NCAA final). I mean he had YEARS to get her to gracefully walk away. But as coaches often say, don't look at the media (or media people) to learn anything about sports . . .
Re: Latest from training camp Again with the cheap shots. Nice analysis. This is better. Well argued. Would be so much better without the first response. Not really germaine to the argument, but feel free to build up all the straw men. Perhaps I should've overexplained my reference to Tony DiCicco. DiCicco was WNT coach for 4 years. Four years in which the distribution of minutes and caps to players was even more stratified into the "haves" and "have nots" than during the Heinrichs era. Neither coach did any appreciable identification or development of new national team players. That's all I was pointing out. I never suggested that DiCicco is responsible for today's situation. Well argued. Well argued. We disagree, but I'm not looking for agreement, just discussion. And of course, you end with another cheap shot. Take out your opening and closing replies and you've got a great post. Too bad you feel the need to debase the rest of your post.