UNC=WNT?

i agree especialy when we add : Abby W, Shannon B, Lilly, Scurry, Hamm, Mac Millan, Fawcett, Wagner to the team, it would be even better

 

I thought we just finished our post-WWC discussions on how having the WNT play like UNC cost us the tournament....

 

probably tigercub is right because she (or he) did not mention if we will win any tournament with that particular team.

 

At what point are you folks going to accept that the clock has run out on many of these players. particularly MacMillan, Lilly, and Fawcett. Hamm isn't too far behind.

Last time I checked, we lost the Olympics and lost the World Cup.

 

You must have listened to April's half-time interview. Shouldn't National coaches be impartial? This team needs a coach without ties to UNC, one who can maintain their independence. Many good players are disqualified from the WNT opportunities because they are not from UNC.

 

i agree 100%

 

but, what if the best players in this country happen to be the UNC players ?

 

let just them finish their career with the glory, gold medal olympic will do it...and i'm sure they will do anything possible to be on top, once again.

 

to unc or not to unc

I think you are right that they are in danger of being cut, but not because they didn't go to unc, but because the did not play well and have not for a number of games. The same is probably true for Foudy and maybe even Lily.

This could be an interesting forum to talk about these issues in a rational way, but the anti-unc prejudice that is the basis for many of these comments undermines the whole discussion.

First, assuming pro-unc bias on April's part just doesn't make sense. yes, she is an alum of unc, but she came to the Nats as coach from UVa. There, she competed hard against unc both on the field and in recruiting. In fact, feathers are still ruffled over Alyssa Ramsey's decision to go to unc after April decided to leave.

Second, it is simply not in April's or any other coach's self interest to keep an under-performing player on the squad. Some misguided pro-unc bias would just not make sense.

Third, so long as unc is getting elite players and making them better in the competitive cauldrom that exists at unc, it's only logical that a good many of them would be given a look at the Nat's training camps. I could agree that a pro-unc bias could exist here, but it would not be irrational for a coach to do this.

Finally, to advocate an anti-unc bias with regard to choosing a (potentially new) coach and/or players is misguided. it should be based on merit and nothing else. If there are strong players from unc, take a look at them; if there are strong players at otheruniversities, look at them too. Same for coaches. To say you are somehow going to try to level the field on some basis other than individual ability and skill makes no sense.

 

And the men's team needs a coach without ties to UVA -- They'll never improve otherwise.

UNC is not the problem. However, it's definitely also not the solution.

 

So far as i can see, the nats have to main problems.

First, they have to get someon who can play on the right on the back line. Putting Bivens there is a real mistake and filling that position is an immediate and high priority. Fawcett, Redick, and Sobrero look pretty solid, with the understanding that Fawcett will probably need to be replaced in a year or two. Neither of theother two would be good at running the defense, so they are going to need to find someonenew for this responsibility. But there are some good and interesting players coming up from the college ranks that could be considered for both positions. Nandi Pryce is one, and there are a couple of unc players (god forbid!) that are not well known but are worth taking a look at -- Jessica Maxwell and Carmen Watley.

Second, they got no midfield game. This, in fact, may be a sin you can lay at the feet of the unc program, but it was interesting to see unc playing a pretty solid short passing game at times against ucla. I don't know how they develop this, except for recruiting skilled players and giving them lots of time togethr. But, while we may run and gun and overpower weaker teams, we are not going to beat Germany and some others that way.

 

hahahaha, trouble is, you will be playing GERMANY in the Olympics, not a UConn team that doesn't know how to defend.

Also Germany will be able to handle UNC's boom and run game and the UNC players will get tired because they can't sub every fifteen minutes.

Then Germany will get the ball and keep possesion, unlike UNC who can't string 3 passes together. Its called the international game.

Thanks for the laugh.

 

Are the anti-UNC people actually claiming that UNC has not generated players worthy of the national team? Hamm, Lilly, Venturini, Parlow, Overbeck, Mullinix, Reddick, Heinrichs, etc., etc. are (or were) national team players for a reason - they are (or were) good.

tigercub said UNC's current team could serve as our national team. I think that is hyperbole, and what was meant was that UNC has several players who are good enough to merit consideration for the national team. Among O'Reilly, Reddick, Tarpley and Chalupny, who would the anti-Carolina people leave out of the national pool?

Maybe Dorrance isn't a good coach. If that's true, and he's still won 18 national titles, then his players must be really good. If his players are that good, it makes sense that they would show up on the national team. Alternatively, maybe Dorrance has found a system that works for him at the college level.

The worst starter for the US during the World Cup was Foudy. She went to Stanford, not UNC. Milbrett and MacMillan looked terrible, and neither of them went to UNC. The best players were probably Wambach and Boxx, neither of whom went to UNC. Of the Carolina players who got significant time (Hamm, Lilly, Parlow and Reddick) only Lilly should have been replaced.

I think Heinrichs is a bad coach and needs to be canned. That doesn't mean that UNC has inferior players, or that a bias toward UNC is leading to the demise of the national team. It just means that Heinrichs is a bad coach and she did a bad job because she put an old, slow team out on the field and expected them to win.

Love them or hate them, UNC does recruit good players. Any coach who doesn't recognize that will be in trouble.

 

THE DYNASTY

To all Haters 27-0-0 It's Alive and we remember we know who you are.

 

Re: THE DYNASTY

1-2 in championships in the last 3 years. As far as knowing who we are, who cares!

 

THE DYNASTY

9-14-03 Portland Tourney U.Conn 3 slower Portland 2 we remember The USA will have trouble from now on beating the rest of the world as long as it's best continue to play football,baseball,basketball and run track. Any US coach that can't get some Jones,Smith,Johnsons, Williams,Whites,and Browns will have a problem winning. And UNC can't be a farm team it's in the city, but we know Portland is a UNC wantabe.

 

Heinrich's bias

Hi – I’m just passing through this thread, and I can tell y’all aren’t from Carolina, but what planet is it you’re writing from?

Other than running for them, is there ANYTHING on EARTH more that April Heinrichs could POSSIBLY have done to help Shannon Macmillan and Tiffany Milbrett become contributors to the National Team this time around. Was she supposed to carry the goalposts over to where they kicked the ball? Heinrichs took a chance on some great talent, and they were unable to regain their previous form. That doesn’t necessarily make it a bad decision on her part, because they both players contribute mightily in other ways, but jeez guys, it can hardly be prejudice if they’re on the bubble for the next team. They'll have to come to camp like everyone else. Where is the bias that accounted for the remarkable selection of Shannon Boxx directly out of WUSA, having never played a minute for the National Team?

Mia Hamm past her prime in the World Cup. Maybe, by two or three months. Because everybody who has carefully followed her career agrees that from mid-summer ’92 to mid-summer ‘93 she was playing the best soccer of her LIFE. I say we should still give her a tryout.

One thing the dynasty does do is this: we aren’t ashamed of teams or players who are only the second or third best in the world. Cat Reddick failed in all her last THREE championship attempts, two in the NCAA's and last fall for the World Cup. That's one more than the WNT you seem to think are all has-beens, but this week she is NCAA Champion and Tournament Defensive MVP. Here's her picture in case your forgot what she looked like:
http://www.dailytarheel.com/vnews/display.v?TARGET=showImage&article_id=3fd47f944034b&image_num=1

Amongst our other losers off the last two year”s teams are two others you should expect to challenge for jobs: Jenni Brannam, possibly the only goalie in the world with an attitude to match Brianna Scurry when she's on, and Atlanta defender Leslie Gaston. Gaston and Bivens were the two offensive defenders who powered Atlanta to the WUSA final, and Gaston was responsible for their only goal; barely able to walk after 90 minutes of relentless attacking she was out of the game when Washington scored the game winner. Heinrichs chose Bivens for the national team last time, picking experience, but Gaston would have had the edge based on most recent play, and she is now probably the hungriest women’s soccer player in the world. Thought you might need a heads-up on them since you're already whining about who our underclassmen are going to displace.

And yeah, if the team needs some help scoring from the run of play, we might have some on the current team. Heinrich cut last year's freshman of the year and this year's NCAA leader in both assists and total points from the WNT, but you know how they complain about all that blue . . .

http://www.nc-soccer.com/carolina2003/2003-11-28/23AE2224.jpg

But what parity really means is that there are winners playing on both sides of the ball, and sometimes we’re going to lose to theirs, and the likes of Birgit Prinz and Maren Meinert are real winners. (Danielle Slaton's a real good girl too, in case y'all didn't know, and Nandi Pryce just held the highest scoring team in history to one goal from the run of play.) And that’s a good thing, guys.

 

Re: THE DYNASTY

hahaha, Portland destroyed U Conn even with 6 freshmen starting. They just got lucky...ask them. Also Portland was in a rebuilding year and no Sinclair. Remember, your young UNC team lost last year too and were given a soccer lesson at Portland, only luck was on their side that day. As far as Portland wanting to be like UNC, thats not true..they want to be and will be BETTER. They had a great recruiting year this year thanks due to winning the title, and Sinclair will be back to claim her player of the year title.

 

Re: Heinrich's bias

 

Cut Nats ties with UNC

This makes perfect sense to me!
I mean, really, why should the USWNT really have any interest in a program that just won 27 games and lost 0; had a season goal differential of, what, something like 143-11; a program that has 18 championships; a team that has recruited most of the best female soccer players in the country?

What could they possibly contribute to the National Team's success? Certainly anything beyond limited ties with such a program would prove to be detrimental.

Furthermore, if I was assembling a baseball team, I wouldn't have any Yankees on it either. What have they done? Sure, they've won lots of championships, but that was just a fluke.

I do believe that April should go, but the rest of the anti-UNC rhetoric is just ridiculous!

 

I'd love to see an exhibition game between UNC and Germany using international rules. It would be too funny if UNC won. Food for these boards for at least 2 years.

 

Yeah, I would like to see the UCLA men's team from last year play Brazil, with Ronaldo, Rivaldo etal. Wouldn't that be funny if UCLA won.

Get real, Germany would smoke them every time.