PBP: USA vs Netherlands - Tues. 12/03 - 2:45 pm ET

The grumbling part of me though Sonnett, yet again, did a credible job on the back line. I have always wanted to discredit her, but she has surprised me with solid consistent play back there. She keeps doing and then it makes me reconsider her value.

 

I've always been a big Sonnett fan. My take is that she does the simple things incredibly well, so that it makes her game look very pedestrian. She doesn't lose ball. She makes all of the passes that she should make. So, you never notice her, but she is keeping the machine running smoothly. And, she defends well. Makes up for her mediocre speed with positioning and tenacity. JMO.

 

Same here, but I do applaud her performances on the last few games. She just looks so unsure at times, but I guess that doesn’t matter. Would still like to to see a Sams/Girma combo, with Malonson on wing, on a high competition game.

 

Is Malonson decent in the attack?

 

She’s good at Bay but not stats-wise as Krueger/Nighswonger on club numbers (she WAS out for a few games). Those two however have not been translating them to NT performance as of late and honestly as a Gotham fan, I find Nighswonger a bit lacking this season. Malonson does have speed for tackles and interceptions, along with solid defending—-which should lessen MF/F compensation in our third.
NED smelled blood in the water early with Nighswonger and kept sending things her way, so even poor slow Horan had to track back too many times.

 

Ya, Jenna is in no way a fb. I imagine this match put that to rest. And the NL winger looked damn good. I like Jenna in role that I perceive to be a left mid. What she was playing after Emma moved her up, in the first half.

As I said, I'd like to see Malonson as a LCB. Maybe even w/ Jenna in front of her.

 

Regarding Sonnett, I watched her play when she was with the Thorns and she drove me crazy, pretty regularly making costly bonehead errors. But as I have watched her over the years, she has gotten better and better. I do not worry about dumb mistakes anymore. Now, she seems really solid, nothing fancy, but clean, excellent play.

 

fair enough. you've watched more of her matches than I have.

 

Oh, I basically was agreeing with you for how you see her now. As an aside, I have the impression she is a really good member of the team from a behind the scenes perspective.

And I will confess, my wife always has liked her as a player regardless of what I thought and has proved right over the long term. For once ....

 

The player from whom I expected the least but who impressed me was Yasmine Ryan. Maybe she has a future on the national team. Lynn Williams, despite the abuse thrown her way, makes enough good plays to keep herself on the national team as a sub, especially for her defensive work. Sonnett was good. I agree with what somebody said that she used to be a disaster in the making, but she's a solid player now.

Nighswonger was clearly outmatched on the flank. For the moment it looks like Casey Kruger is the better choice at fullback -- but Kruger is 34. Is she still going to be good for the 2027 World Cup? I wasn't overwhelmed by any of the youngsters: Yohannes, Shaw, Thompson, Albert, or Hirshfield.

 

Agree, but ... not to be a broken record .... it was a total mishmash lineup of players that had hardly, or never, played together by the time Yohannes, Thompson, and Hirshfeld came in. And, Shaw is not a 9. I'm not saying you were writing them off. Just stating the obvious ... give them time.

 

A nice look at the winning goal from different angles ...

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AAAAAaaaaaaarghhhhhhhh​

I hate, Hate, HATE this time of year……the last Match of the Calendar Year played, won and in the record books and now - - - - the barren, soulless, lifeless period of human existence with no USWNT Matches on the immediate horizon to look forward to. The World is stricken with overwhelming feelings of emptiness, desolation and nothingness.

​

Ah, but fear not my little soccer buddies - -

• It’s always darkest before the dawn, and
• Every night brings a morning of new joys

​

73 days till our American Women create Heaven on Earth on the soccer pitch in Houston. Counting on my fingers and toes that is 6,329,700 seconds

 

It would seem better to say it is just 2 months and about 12 days away. it seems a bit less. Of course we could call it just 1/5 of a year or 20% of a year.

 

"April, come she will
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain"
(Paul Simon)

"Winter gray and falling rain, we'll see summer come again,
Darkness falls and seasons change (gonna happen every time).
Same old friends the wind and rain, Summers fade and roses die,
You'll see summer come again, Like a song that's born to soar the sky."

(Eric Andersen, Bob Weir)

 

Yes, although I would like to see her be more aggressive in the final third, but I think that may be more coaching. She steadily improved her defense during the season by reading the game better and just in terms of the team finding their lineup and playing together.

 

Finally got to watching the game yesterday. Soccer gods shown on the US...

Some random thoughts:

• Yes, the US has talent, but I became an Emma fan with the changes that she made a half-time.
• I have never been a big fan of Williams, but she showed why should continue to be in the mix with a great goal (seen many players try to shoot that type of cross with their right foot and miss).
• First really shaky game from Girma at the USWNT level. At first I thought that she was fouled on the Dutch goal, but on replay, it looked like she dropped on purpose.
• Agree with the hate towards the fake injury "timeouts". I hated seeing those in the NWSL. Need to fix it.
  
• After a slow start, Ryan improved throughout the game and had a nice assist. Should get more looks.
• Thompson looked improved for a year or so ago. Before, she was just a speed merchant. She showed some soccer smarts.
• Horan had no impact on the game.
• Naeher is great shot stopper, but is not the best GK the US has had. Her decision making has always been suspect. Yes, top three, but I would still put Hope above her and possibly Briana.