No Natasha Kai. I'm not a follower of Sky Blue, how has she been doing lately? No Tobin Heath either again.
This list may help answer some of the questions from the "next Boxx" thread. It seems that both Bock, Dalmy, and LePeilbet have helped themselves w/ their WPS play. It appears that ARod's early struggles have not hurt her in terms of making an initial roster. I wonder if last year's U20 keeper (name escapes me, playes for PSU) would have gotten a call if she hadn't just gotten hurt in a spring scrimmage. eta: kcguru, Kai has not scored and has not started every game (I believe she had a concussion?) but I have heard precious little about the team otherwise.
Christine Nairn is a Freedom W-Leaguer (as of 2009) who lives in the next town over from me. She also seems to be the youngest player on the list. Also seems to be a serious youth movement, at least up front: Abby has 99 goals while all the other players combined only have 122. A-Rod is the only other forward not still in college.
me too, but as I posted on another thread, I think Pia was to plug Abby back on the attack and might now want to have an extra forward on the team (even though she can play mid too) It is going to be like last year where the question was who is going up top with Abby? On a 4-4-2, or maybe Pia would want 3 up top? I doubt she will not start Wambach on the games, but I would like to see some rotation on the attacking. I wonder where is she going to put Hucles, she was basically on Abby's spot, now that she is back, Angela is listed as a midfield....
Interesting observation. I think many of us thought Weimer was at the top of the list in terms of using the WPS to play her way into the pool.
I'm not a strong follower of the "whoever works best with Abby gets the job" strategy. Pia mentioned this plan at the start of last year, flip flopping between A-Rod and Kai, and the problem was, what happens when Abby isn't in there, as we found out during the Olympics? There is no denying that Abby is a great player. But what if there is a better combination available than Abby and someone else? Maybe Cheney and A-Rod get it done? Or Nogueira and A-Rod? Or down the line maybe Weimer and someone. I don't just want the game plan to be, oh, well, who should we put with Abby because I think we're limiting ourselves. Does that make sense?
No Weimer?! Our offense has lacked any kind of imagination. This is one of the reasons why no one gives a crap about the us women's team any more. Their games aren't fun to watch. It's too direct and the times we do buildup through the midfield, it's too slow and unimaginative. I do like Nogueira and Cheney though. I hope either one of them starts over ARod. Her touch, passing, and decision making leaves a lot to be desired. Edit: I was so flabbergasted that Weimer wasn't included that I didn't notice Osborne or Whitehill aren't on the list either! Why is Boxx called in and Osborne is not? Boxx is 31 and Osborne is 25. It's time we look to the future, Pia! Osborne has been playing really good soccer. She's orchestrated a dynamic midfield with FCGP, and always seems to be in the right spots to defend in the defensive 3rd. The women's game has improved dramatically the past 8 years; we're gonna need someone like Osborne in the engine room if we're to compete with the likes of Germany, Brazil, and Japan. We've come away with 3rd place the last 2 World Cup cycles. Let's not make it a 3-peat!
Disappointed to see DiMartino, Weimer, and Wagner left out in favor of Hucles. Thrilled to see Dalmy, Bock, and LePeilbet as backline additions; they have all been great in the young league. Also, Rodriguez and Mitts have really been struggling for the Breakers, so their inclusions were a bit surprising too. I guess the upside is that A-Rod is the real deal, and she is just taking some time to find her feet in the professional league. Mitts is capable too, and she is playing out of position at left back, so I'll cut her a little slack...a little. Whitehill, Osborne, Kai, and Cox are notable omissions, and probably justified. Cat has a great leg but is still slow, Osborne has looked shaky, Kai has done nothing, and the defenders called up are better than Cox. Pia must be really high on Nairn, seeing as she is only a freshman. And Casey Noguiera, if properly motivated (which Pia has a knack for), will be a force for years to come. Great decision to get her started sooner rather than later.
There is a lot of youth on this squad. You can't just field a U23 team vs Japan and expect any sort of result. Pia is going with the mix youth and some vets. There are 12 players who are 25 or younger--Tarpley is an '83 but hasn't turned 26 yet. eta: Until I just went back to the "which U20 will make the next step?" thread, I'd forgotten that Narin got a call to camp when Oakes went out w/ injury. Seems she impressed while there.
Um-- not to me. Paul Brown was once asked why he let Jimmy Brown carry the ball 35 times in a game, His response was "When you have a cannon, you should shoot it." If you've got Lou Gehrig you don't spend time looking for someone who is better at handling Tony Lazzeri's throws-- you find someone who throws better...
It's very early in the cycle. I wouldn't get too bent out of shape about who is or isn't on the roster ... yet.
Last year's u20 keeper (Alysha Naeher) would have not have been a good choice. She is talented but too slight of build for full international play. Abby might break her in half. She needs a lot of maturing before taking the leap from u-20 to the full team, providing she makes a full recovery from the PCL injury. No surgery means she might have a trick knee at best. Scurry needs to go and I think they are looking for a back up or replacement for Solo and Barnhart, neither of which were too impressive in the last couple of weeks in the WPS. Solo gave up three goals in one game and looked seriously rattled. Pia has many choices for new keepers floating around out there that are ready to go maybe now maybe in a a year.
noguiera is one of the best players in the country. she is a game changer all by herself. but i'm not sure if she's national team material. coaches have tried before - dicicco was the last one who tried (to get her on to the u20 world cup team), and it looked like he gave up and cut her towards the end. i don't know what the problem is, but every time i see her play she both wows me and infuriates me. i don't think she has the mental makeup, and i don't see how you can change players who are just the easy going laid back type, but i have no objections to pia trying again. cheney does not impress me. weimer might get the call up next time if she continues showing that inimitable skill. i was surprised that she didn't get the call this time around. but as we all expected, the wps has opened a new pot of players that pia will take her time trying out. no rush. nairn (if i remember correctly) is a sweet left peg in whom pia is putting an investment. she's one of a slew of good ones from the u20 world champions. i happen to like washington because she just runs at defenders and gives them fits. but they're all still young.
There are some choices on the list that I don't really understand (A-rod and Mitts) based on WPS play, but at the same time there are choices that really excite me such as Casey Noguiera. I hope she gets a chance to earn her second cap. I would have to agree that she infuriates and wows me at the same time, but I have seen a lot of growth in her over the last few years. She is also younger than most college seniors because she graduated a year early from high school. I would expect the squad called up for the second set of games against Canada to be different from this one - that could be the ones where Weimer gets a call. Now if they are the exact same people as this squad then I might start asking questions. Overall I think it is a pretty good mix of experience and youth.
Glad she's bringing in new blood. Ditch the long ball style and start attacking on the ground with speed and skill dribbling. although we'll still do long balls for abby.
My guess is that Pia will bring in younger players in waves so as not to upset the apple cart too much in one big swoop. That said, I'm surprised by Boxx and Hucles the most. Too old to really be a thought for the next Cup/Olympics and many midfielders seem to be performing well in WPS. The Osbourne snub might be because she isn't back to form from the knee injury. An ACL tear takes longer to recover from than a broken leg. I won't expect her to be 100% until the end of the Summer.
We win the gold medal? I'm willing to give Pia the benefit of the doubt in these friendlies. And I assume that Pia wants to take a hard look at how much Abby has come back after last year's injury.
Very true, but right after it happened, there weren't many people who weren't thinking "Oh crap, we are so screwed." Should something like that happen again, God forbid, then it'd be nice to be like "Oh, well, that sucks but player A and player B can still get it done. No worries." I'm just looking forward to seeing how other combinations work, that's all. I would imagine that we will see another different set of players possibly for the July games.
She's been playing center back for LA, and apparently, very well. Pia's got to find a replacement for Markgraf, so it looks like Bock and LePellibet have earned a look for that spot. Also Bock's versatility makes her an interesting look -- she could also challenge for the d-mid spot. Osborne and Weimer both were pretty invisible in the game at Sky Blue, which Pia attended, which might explain their omission. Weimer showed a few flashes, but wasn't as dangerous as I had been expecting. I've seen her play before, she's a nice player, but would have helped herself if she'd stood out a bit more in that game. She didn't get a lot of service, and didn't maximize the chances she got. Sky Blue had the better of the midfield play in that one, and Osborne looked like she was still working her way back into the flow. Boxx is in better form right now, and I have to believe they're battling for the same roster spot.