Just got back from the match Here is some numbers. Over 23k=very good. Remember this is the USWNT. Almost wonder how much would be there if it was the men. 85-90%=Pro American 10% mexico, but ti didn't show. 45%=Pro Mia. Every time she got the ball=little kids screaming. After reading some of the comments before posting, I almost want to ask if we were watching the same game. Moving right along to the game. USA controlled the ball and seemed to want to take their time. No problem. The Mexico goal, was unlucky, but hey it was a good call, but if you are going to make that call, be sure to do it both ways. Mexico tried to do something, but they just couldn't and the US defense was back to stop any attack. BTW, does anyone know why the mexican gk didn't take too many of the goal kicks? Was she that bad as she appeared? Back to the game. USA had a number of chances, but failed to convert. No worries. Two very nice goals on the set pieces. US dominated. In closing, remember that the USA was playing mexico who in compariosn were a group of 5th graders trying to play a high school varsiety team. If the USWNT wanted to run up the score, they very well could have. Before anyone replies and asks if I was there. Yes I was. I was standing in Section 28 chanting. Was a fun time.
Re: Just got back from the match From the number of outstanding saves she made, I'd say she was tremendous. Are you kidding?? I'm not certain we were. But I agree with you concerning US dominance. However, we had trouble with a good GK - just like Germany. But, were you sober?
Re: Re: Just got back from the match She was lucky on a few, but why did a defender do alot of the kicks? Nope true, but they did better on the set pieces. Not sure if that has anything to do with it.
Re: Just got back from the match I missed that. Which players were intentionally not scoring? Are you suggesting the bad shooting was designed to avoid hurting the feelings of the Mexican players?
Re: Re: Just got back from the match I guess ignorance is bliss. Try reading the context of what I was saying. Here let me do this for you. USA=controling the ball 75% of the time. Mexico=rarely crossing midfield. USA could have easly just kept charging in and pulling the trigger. Go back and watch the game to see how many times, the US could have shot from the top of the box or when the keeper was starting to come out. I would guess there were between 3-7(safe estimate) chances. Missed shots=missed shots.Never said they were intentional. So let me ask you this. IF the USWNT beat mexico 10-nil, would that make you happy or would you still be upset that it wasn't 11-nil because Mia didn't make a free kick in goal?
Again we hear the "hot Gk" excuse and the "we out played them but just could not finish" excuse. Well you can make a GK hot by shooting easy to save shots and hitting her/him with the harder ones. The Mexican GK played OK, but not better than OK. She mishandled several balls and made many bad decisions that could/should have resulted in goals. But the US did not punish her for the poor plays. The US now makes ONE run and then stops so they are not moving when the ball bounces in the area. April was correct that the crosses were too flat and easy to handle those are the result of laziness or poor planing and being late to the ball. Players on the US team are still trying to get the perfect pass or get the perfect shot instead of hustling and regaining possession when the first attempt fails. In soccer most goals, over 90%, come after 2 or fewer passes. ALL the goals today were 1 pass goals. (except for the PK which was 0 passes) While possession can put you in place to get the scoring shot, or a ffree kick or a corner, possession rarely results directly in goals. The US has stopped high-pressuring after loosing the ball and THAT is one of the main problems. April has the so afraid of the counter attack that they forget to continue their attack after loosing the ball. By failing to score against weak teams like Mexico from the run of play the US is allowing them to stay close and THAT will, and has, cost them games. Against weak teams, in the past, the US would score early and often because they wanted to win but now April has the so afraid of looking bad that they fail to look like even a top ten team, much less the winners of two World Cups and an Olympics.
Re: Just got back from the match US-Mex men: 69,582 in Houston on a Thursday night in May. Will they put Milbrett out to pasture already? Schedule a friendly against Tonga so she can get her 100th already and get her out. US should beat a team of Mexico's "quality" at home by more than 2 (and needing a 90' goal to even do that) and score more than one in the run of play. How will they fare against the likes of Mexico and Costa Rica in a place like Costa Rica, with all the chips on the line for Greece?
I'm not sure what to make of this game. I don't think it was awful, just a bit of a letdown. Random thoughts: It seemed the US players weren't very focused or intense (just like in the Italy game.) It was a "friendly", but you expect them to try and clobber Mexico--run up the score, show off, or at least have fun. CP did this before being subbed. Mac was trying but wasn't out there long enough to shine (and maybe she went to one wedding too many this week?) Mia worked hard (as usual) and I like her as a midfielder, but seemed frustrated (and grumpy.) What's with Milbrett?! Kylie and TR are tough, thought they played well, but dumb foul by Kylie--only bad mistake by the defense. There should have been more goals; Abby is great crashing the box for headers, (and crashing to the ground a lot) but I wish we had a bit more style...other ways to score. Oh, and nice game by the Mexican keeper. I think that was the last game for that group of players in the US--glad they had a good turnout, but it was sort of a sad fairwell. The upcoming residency camps should be interesting because I'm guessing the Olympic team will look a bit different.
I second that! If the US did have the chances you are saying they did, then they are even more pathetic then they were before. What kind of crap team doesn't want to score? It doesn't matter who it's against and what kind of game it is! It also doesn't matter how much possession you carry. Canada beat China, China had nearly all the possession, all anybody remembers anyway is the result. Canada also beat Mexico 8-nil. That was a real game. What you're saying is that the US is arrogant, cocky, and just doesn't really care at all.
The killer instinct just is not there and with the lack of the desire to put teams away the US has also lost a LOT of entertainment value against weak teams. Two games from the last WWC run up comes to mind I do not remember the teams involved but they were weak CONCACAF teams. (Were there any other kind before Canada's improvment?) In the first of the games late in the with the US up 6 or 7: Mia got the ball near the attacking corner and backhealed to Lilly (I think) who backhealed to Parlow wiile Mia made a looping run to the front of the goal the, after a mve, Parlow, not to be outdone, backhealed to Mia who then calmly backhealed into goal. A goal that was ALL entertainment but it showed that the US was trying to give the fans a show. I a game a bit later there had been interviews that talked about Mia setting up Parlow for headers. The US was up 4 or so and it became clear that something was UP. On the next several runs up the field Mia went to the middle while Parlow went out wide. After several trys Parlow managed to send a cross that was low enough for Mia to head into goal. After the goal Mia pointed right at the camera, then tapped her foerhead while running back up field. The "show" and "flash" is gone as well as is the killer instinct. And the "show" and "flash" was a large part of the USWNT's persona and why they were feared. The US is no longer feared because they are no longer willing/able to squash the insects.
Re: Re: Re: Just got back from the match I saw lots of weak, no hope shots from outside the box. I saw Milbrett miss at least two sitters. I saw poorly placed crosses with no one running to the back post. I saw people touching the ball twice when one touch would have been better. As far as Mia goes, she's been over rated since before the '99 World Cup. She is largely a creation of the media as was Tony Meola. Michelle Akers was the MVP of that one.
Ok, just a simple question. If you play soccer, are you there to win or entertain people? A win is a win. Take it and move. USA is not going to make everyone happy. I rather see boring boring USA with a 1-nil win than a 4-3 "entertaining" loss. A friend of mine made a great point after the Germany game. The USMNT is catching up with the rest of the world. The world is catching up with the USWNT.
<the US is arrogant, cocky, and just doesn't really care at all.> [/B][/QUOTE] Please...that's rediculous. If anything I think they care too much. The team seems worn out and sad and worried; sad about the the WUSA, sad about the World Cup--worried about their bad play and the state of the National Team. I don't think the team lacks desire, it lacks direction.
Re: Re: Re: Just got back from the match Ah, maybe, but if was 10 goals scored the same way that most of the last 10 were, then probably not. Am I missing something here? What happens most of the time when a team collectively and a whole bunch of individual players are not playing up to their potential? Old, slow, tired - been a long year, wedding yesterday, blah,blah,blah, This team is certainly not playing to their potential. Is that Mia's fault, is that Foudy's fault, is that Millie's fault? No, it's the leadership's fault. It's really a no-brainer to me. In any real market ecomomy, the leadership would be gone! The "Fed" is losing more credibility with me with every passing game. A few months off certainly can't hurt at this point!
It would be nice if the gains were b/c they got better instead of the US standing pat since 91. Were you really wearing a kilt?
Yeah, but it might be a mixture of both. Was I wearing a kilt at this game? No, but I was tempted to wear it, but weather looked a bit iffy. I usually wear it at the Burn games though. hey its red!
Re: Re: Re: Just got back from the match I guess you must be a happy man. When US players passed up a shoot, it’s NOT because they don’t want to run up the score, it’s because they wanted to create a better chance to score. It didn’t always work out, but it’s not US style to “pulling the trigger” whenever they can outside the box. It’s only 2-1 until the 90th min, not 10-0. That’s not much score not to run up. The truth is US is a much better team (hence the total domination of play), but US didn’t finish too well given the number of chances they had. It has nothing to do with not to run up the score.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Just got back from the match yeah because a win is a win plus I was at the game and know what the score was. So IF the score was 10-nil, would you be happy?. My question to you is do you think you could do any better?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Just got back from the match Did the media "create" her stat numbers? Did the media hype her club team from the bottom of the pile to the top in the 2002 WUSA season? Did the media make her the focus of the opposing teams defense for the past 8 or 9 years? Is the fact that Mia was involved in 7 of the USA's 15 goals in this past WWC a creation of the media?