What this USA team needs to learn is composure on the ball. When you clear a ball, having won it in your defensive third, you just can't keep clearing it hopelessly UP FIELD! WTF? You'll only give it back to their defense! And giving away dangerous restarts close to your goal, even if it is a throw in, gives the other team posession. It was a disappointing game for Boxx. We rely on her to stabilize the midfield, but she set the tone with those hopeless clearances. Relatively good performance from the forwards, holding it well, but they were unlucky to get more chances because the midfield just didn't hold the ball well enough.
Yup...Midfield play was lacking no doubt. They had little to no possession there at all. And then to bring in Kai with a minute or two left? Another player with little experience. I dont get it. USA seemed to be in a panic mode most of the game. I guess we will see now if Ryan can actually coach.
I agree. Boxx did not have a strong game. As I said toward the end of the other thread, I think not going to 4 in the middle at the half (at least) did not help our cause. The midfield was getting run through.
I agree with the midfield point, but... I liked bringing Kai in. Why not mix it up a bit? A few minutes left, why not bring on someone who might bring a different energy to the game? I thought that was the reason Kai was on this roster: she's a bit different than the other players out there, she plays a little different...and she can give the US a different look.
I guess if he was going to bring in a forward, I would much rather he bring in Tarpley...Kai's only real weapon is her speed, and Korea seemed to have us covered in that regard. And I guess I would wonder why he would wait so long to do anything...when Korea really dictated the pace of play.
I'm upset Tarpley wasn't subbed in for Lloyd. After the 70th minute, Lloyd couldn't hold the ball effectively. Someone like Tarpley has better ball control, and fresh into the game, she can really run at the N. Korean defense. The coach must be saving some of the girls for the Sweden game or something. Not using the other two subs is just bizarre.
Wow. We escaped with a point. No subs until the 92nd minute? That could come back to haunt us. Historically teams have often struggled in the match after playing Korean teams due to the effort expended. We spent the last 15 minutes lunging at balls. The legs, especially on defense, were dead. Granted, the North Koreans weren't in much better shape - but we've got 20 World Class players, I can't believe we didn't exploit the depth of our bench. O'Reilly building a reputation as the anti-Mia. Only scores when it counts. Absolutely huge goal. A stunning lack of possession. I'm really shocked we didn't bring in a center-mid to control the ball and link forward. If Wagner isn't ready to play, why is she on the team? Didn't we get burned in 2003 by carrying players who weren't healthy? Same thing about Hucles. The good news is that we didn't lose, and we showed the ability to come from behind. The bad news is that ten minutes without Abby Wambach almost derailed our World Cup. I wonder if they make steel toed soccer boots?
I thought that Lilly's touch was pretty poor today. Boxx, of course, didn't have a strong showing. Those two should've been subbed out, maybe. Foudy commented a couple days ago about our lack of connectedness(from d to mf, mf to fw), and she was right. I doubt we got more than 6 passes together at one time, and that's a generous estimate. Wambach is a warrior, but we already knew that. Is there any reason why we're not seeing Scurry in goal? I think that this should be her farewell WC, and then Solo can take over for us in the next 3 WC's. Korea was a surprise. They were smaller, but were able to match us in speed, aggressiveness, and body-to-body. This really is the group of death.
I haven't seen anyone comment on this, but wasn't there a legitimate case for offsides on North Korea's second goal? The shot prior to the goal is heading straight for a North Korean player clearly offsides and forces the US defender to play what was ultimately a poor clearance resulting in the goal. If the North Korean attacker in an offsides position affects the play, as it appears she did, why no flag?
Solo has been the starter as of late and I do not think you can make a change like that without a really good reason. A "farewell" tour is not good enough to my mind.
There are a lot of questions for Ryan after that match. Subs should have been used earlier. I don't get why Kai was brought in with just over 2:30 left in stoppage for Heather O'Reilly. We all knew the connectivity with the midfield would be a problem, but I'm not sure we've seen the disconnect seem like such a huge void before. There was a disconnect between the defense and the midfield as well as the midfield and the forwards. Boxx didn't have a good game, but she wasn't alone. The team looked slow and weren't going to the balls. I thought the US played better down the right side, but few attacks came from that side. I'm also not a fan of the lofty corner kicks for every corner. I'm sure somebody can dig up something where I say I'm not the biggest Hope Solo fan and prefer Scurry, but there were some serious issues back there. I'm not sure I've ever seen the defense so unorganized around and in the box like today. The positives: we got a point and scored two goals. The US showed the ability to comeback. I hope the team doesn't come out looking that sluggish against Sweden.
I think if the US would have maintained the mid, the game would ahve turned out to be a predeictable 5-0 US win. Of course that didnt happen and even the defense looked a bit shabby. You just cant do that as a top team. A good team beating the top team is nothing extraordinary but a top team playing like shit and losing (or coming out a draw in the US' case) unfathomable. They played like the mids and D were in panic mode much of the game. Credit to NK but the US just didnt deliver a #1 team performance win, lose, or draw. If the US would have won 3-0 under the same circumstances, id still be pissed off at the performance.
Sure, but I don't think it's too much to say that Solo needs a bit more experience before going into a WC. She's good, but right now I feel a tad more comfortable with Scurry.
Is it just me, or did the USA defense/ Midfield give their markers too much room to move with the ball? Too often, the Koreans were allowed 3 or 4 touches without her marker closing her down. When you give a player 4 or 5 feet of room, it's easy for her to give an accurate pass. Press up to her, maker her play sloppy. Also, too many players in the box, and not enough players on top of the box marking the Koreans. I miss Tiffany Roberts's play. She really knew how to press well for the ball. More of the USA players should learn from her.
That may well be the case...but my point is that if you were going to make the change..It needed to be done before the Cup
Ryan likes Solo's athleticism. She's excellent when she dives for the ball. Not even scurry could match her there. Also, she's much more comfortable with the ball at her feet. Scurry has always struggled with clearances and innacurate goal kicks.