how do we only have one goal to this point towards the end of the first half against this team? my co-ed soccer team would have this t&t team down at least 3 or 4 goals at this point, they are horrible...we are talking the worst looking defense i have seen in a long time yet we cannot finish of string together a few passes... time for the youngster to show her wares in the second half...
I agree T&T is absolutely pathetic. The quality of the US's final passes are just as bad however. The ONLY good chances the US has had have come as the result of T&T's U10 level play. It looks like the US has decided to play just good enough to win without putting any real mental effort into it. I think a lot of this problem is the result of the Ape's desire to have the US wait for a mistake rather than pressuring all the time as we used to against weak teams so as to put them away early. Give the poor Mexican performance and the rec level play in the Panama vs T&T just think how EXTREAMLY bad the teams they beat to get her had to be. Other than the US and Canada CONCACAF is just a collection of rec or low club level teams. ...sigh...
i was thinking that...and had to look it up... Trinidad & Tobago 3 - Suriname 1 Trinidad & Tobago 13 - Dominica 0 Trinidad & Tobago 9 - Dominica 0 imagine how bad dominica must be... wow...
Any word on Mia's injury? I figure they just didn't want to take a chance with her in the second half. Might want to think about getting Parlow out of there, too. She's in the books.
This has been the most boring 3-0 US victory I have ever seen! I wish there was something good to say about the play but there is not. It was just a sleep walk to the victory by a US team over a T&T team that is not even close to being at the international level. Except for Chastain's goal every goal. and most of the chances, for the US was a horrible defensive play rather than anything good by the US. The best passes of the game were from T&T to the US.
very poor display by the us women... against a half-way decent, non rec-league squad this score might have been 0-0 or 1-0 at the most...
Well I don't understand why USA bothers playing a 4-4-2 against teams like these. Part of our problem with scoring is that we're not getting numbers up around the box and when we do, at least one of them is a midfielder instead of a forward. We shouldn't be playing "either Mia or Millie" we should have BOTH of them in there with Parlow. I've never like this formation, I guess I'm biased. A good strong 4-3-3 makes for more pressure up top.
Mia left the locker room on crutches in the 75th minute per LoTheLurker who was at Titan this evening. Limping very badly. SOB!!
Here is the Associated Press write up: http://sports.yahoo.com/m/sow/news/ap/20021030/ap-womensgoldcup.html
very opinionated on the lineup Foudy had a good one, Wagner stunk it up (passes to invisible players again). April should've started Benson on the left defensive pos. Reddick belongs in the middle if you're gonna play her. I don't like Roberts on the flank. Scurry needs a lawn chair. Millie needs a chance to work off the rust. Damn! Hope Mia's not done for the tournament.
Thoughts after two games: 1. The rest of the world is catching up. 2. Trinidad's goalkeeper is better than you think; she had something like 39 saves in a GC match three years ago vs. Brazil (game played in Hershey, Pa.) 3. Where the heck is our midfield passing? 4. Lilly up front? 5. Why expose Mia to possible hacking injuries? 5a. Why play her at all, except for match fitness purposes? 6. Don't you wish Abby was on the team now? 7. Did it really take more than a game and a half to see Tiffeny Milbrett?
Match report from the USSF site: http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=23676&itype= Hmmm....I wonder if she will be good to go for Saturday or if she will just take it easy for the rest of the tourney? ---------------------- From Soccer America (thanks Alana): http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=562132522 ------------------ From the LA Times: Dominating Win for U.S. Women From the Pasadena Star News: U.S. women out-kick Trinidad & Tobago By Fred J. Robledo , Staff Writer
Sounds like the USA could use Wambach for offense. But that's just me. I assume that Canada is going to win the other group and that each of Haiti, Jamaica and Costa Rica is a cake-walk for the anticipated USA semifinal game. Any dissent?
It seems that the US women are just playing for points, taking no risks defensively, as well as taking a couple of goal leads and riding it out with little or no flair...boring shite especially against a team that most if not all college womens teams D1-3 could defeat. Heck Panama scored 4 times against them, all we could muster is 3...really poor tactics, poor finishing etc...
Re: very opinionated on the lineup WARNING! This could be construed as a possible favorable Charge message! Post pro-Philly stuff at yer own risk on here Paul (just kidding, folks...)
I agree that this was not the best display for the US women as far as finishing goes, however they did create quite a few opportunites. But to say "Wagner stunk it up " is amazing. Did you see the game? The idea in most cases is to pass to space and let the teamate run onto it. Just because you cannot see the player on the TV screen, does not mean there is not one starting offscreen and running through. She actually played some great balls and connected on most, but since she came in so late, many of the players making the runs stopped short probably due to fatigue. Also, her defense was much improved from the Mexico game, and she had several great steals. I tend to be pretty defensive of Aly and while she is not perfect, she is the best true attacking midfielder on the team at this time.
yeh saying wagner stunk it up was pretty harsh. come on...waggles is awesome. i love that girl...the next great american soccer player!!!!!!
To some extent...or are we just mostly sinking to their level? No, I actually thought she was pretty damn good! We needed some more zip on our shots, but I give Ramkissoon her props as well. A friend and I watched the game together and by the end we were cheering for her as much as for our team. With extreme sarcasm I say: What? We're supposed to have midfield passing? What? We're supposed to have midfield passing? Beyond the obvious "Mia's always exposed to hacking injuries every time she steps on the field, so how is this any different?", I have no clue. That's mean. You're making me cry now. Don't get me started. I don't wish for Milbrett to be injured, but I would like to know there's an "excuse" for her not playing...
I concur with sspeed. Wagner is slowly but surely developing into an exceptional playmaker, at probably the hardest position on the field to master. Coming into the game in the 62 minute and being asked to solve such a massive bunker is an awfully big challenge. If there are any questionmarks about her performance I'd wonder about her overall fitness. We haven't seen her go the full 90 too often, and she seemed pretty gassed in the second half of the Mexico match. Fitness is the easiest problem to fix, though. I'm fully expecting Aly to be a permanent part of the starting lineup by the time we go to China.
Where's the "USA Mentality"? I think this is what has dissappointed me most overall about April as a coach, moreseo than player selection or formation or anything else. Here's the woman who is credited with creating the "USA mentality" (fearless, agressive, tough-as-nails), yet as a coach she plays conservative and almost scared. I can't imagine she would have put up with this kind of passiveness as a player, so why is she advocating it as a coach?