USWNT player ratings (including future players and prospects)

It just seems to me that it's too far from New York area fans to appeal to them and likewise for Philly.

 

For the US WNT, I can watch whatever games that were on ESPN, on replay on ESPN3 online, because I have an existing TimeWarner Cable subscription and password.

The NWSL is streaming most games on youtube.

If I miss the FoxSoccer NWSL games on cable tv, do I have to pay the "on-demand" charge on foxsoccertogo.com?

 

Wonder what becomes of the FOX online pay service. With the FOX Sports One push maybe theyll follow the ESPN example and offer free online service.

 

Yay! 90 mins of potsmokers banging on drums and singing OOOOOOOOO, OOOOOOOOO, OOOOOOOOOO, AAAAAYYYYY!

5PM ET.

 

Question.

Fox Soccer (cable) has the July 28th and Aug 4th Portland home games.

If I miss the games (on cable), can I watch them "on-demand" for the $20?

I "have to" see those games.

 

Let's see how many folks pay to watch Portland at Boston streaming.

 

USA beware...Lena Lotzen.

http://www.fcbayern-frauenfussball.de/steckbriefe/steckbrief.php?s=lena_lotzen&t=1&y=2012

 

Here's a fuzzy video of Lena.
(If you have an ESPN3 password, you can catch full match replays.)

Mewis at 5'8" might be the best option to put up against her.

Germany's No. 10 and 13 are also going to be problems.

 

Mewis' defense would have to improve a lot before Id let her cover anyone with an accent. She has the offensive skills for the position, but much like O'Hara, isnt used to defending Forwards and Wings with international speed. No 10 is Marozsan, a real talent.

I believe u can find an instructional video on how to play the young Germans like Lotzen and Marozsan on Espn3. It was the U20 WWC final on Sept 8 2012. It's a great game to watch if u havent seen it and ull get to all the young Germans, many of whom r now on the senior team, as well some of the brightest lights in America's future.

 

American:
Dunn is 5'1", 21 yo.
Klingenberg is 5'2", 24 yo.
O'Hara is 5'5", 24 yo.
Krieger is 5'6", 28 yo.
Rampone is 5'6", 38 yo.
Sauerbrunn is 5'7", 28 yo.
Engen is 5'8", 25 yo.

USWNT Bubble:
Johnston is 5'7", 21 yo.
Mewis is 5'8", 22 yo.
Robinson is 5'9", 26 yo.

German:
Lotzen is 5'7", 19 yo.
Marozan is 5'7.5", 21 yo.
Mbabi is 5'8", 25 yo.
Leupolz is 5'8.5", 19 yo.
Laudher is 5'9", 27 yo.

See any height, age, speed, skill problems?

And to top it off, if the US plays a 4-1-2-1-2, the formation is inferior to the 4-2-3-1 defensively.

Who has upside development potential to match up against Germany defensively?

 

The Germans would prolly win a volleyball game. U forgot Popp who is 5'8 and great in the air tho injured a lot. The truth is they have two players who can score...M'Babi and Popp who r both world class. It doesnt matter how tall Marozsan is because she has shown me nothing in the air in the run of play and usually strikes the ball on all set pieces. Now if I were to take that same list and rate them by speed instead of height, what ud find is that Lena Lotzen, likely the paciest of the Germans falls in the middle of the list. Rampone, Engen, Dunn, Krieger and Mewis r faster than anyone in the German offense and since defense is played with the feet Ill take my chances. If Euros r any indication u should be measuring the Swedish players.

 

Ahh, ESPN3, 2:20 Est. http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/seas...atch=2011600/prematch/player-lists/index.html

Then Boston at FCKC, youtube, 7:30ish Est.
http://www.nwslsoccer.com/

 

Who do u think...Sweden or Germany?

 

Looking forward to Sunday...
Germany over Norway over brunch.
Sunday chores, then PTFC over CRS.

 

http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/...day-erika-tymrak-fc-kansas-city-surging-nwsl/

 

Throwing Holiday in as a possession player with Rapinoe and Heath is a bit of a reach. Im sure Holiday certainly wouldnt agree. She is a good one touch passer, moves well without the ball and is as good with her back to the goal as anyone on the US team. Possession player? Not so much regardless of what name she is going by.

 

I haven't watched the Euros, but why am I not surprise France found away not to make it to the finals?

Time for Bruno to answer to this nonsense.

 

disagree.

i see holiday as a good possession player too. she in fact holds and distributes the ball as well as anyone in the league right now.

 

Part of the problem with Holiday last season for WNT was she had trouble possessing the ball in midfield against pressure. She also has never struck me as the best dribbler. She is an excellent passer both on one touches and finding thru balls. Perhaps her possession is improving with league play.

 

she just needs to adjust the quickness with which she gets rid of the ball when she plays internationally.

she tends to hold it just a tad too long.

 

Stare at the 4-1-2-1-2 diamond formation. Now imagine Wambach and Morgan as the two forwards, Holiday as the attacking mid at the top of the diamond. Then Rapinoe on the left diamond and O'Reilly on the right diamond. Then Lloyd as the defensive mid at the bottom diamond. Now on offense, imagine Wambach and Morgan waiting for service up top. Then Rapinoe working the left front third and O'Reilly working the right front third. Then, completing the attacking 5, is Holiday in the center of the field, say 10 meters in front of the center of the box.

Now say the opponent is playing a 4-2-3-1. The RB takes on Rapinoe. The two CBs take on Morgan and Wambach. The LB takes on O'Reilly. Then, the TWO DEFENSIVE MIDS ATTACK HOLIDAY, and if she turns her back to goal or takes too long to get the pass off, possession is lost, leaving Lloyd at the bottom of the diamond trying to get the ball back.

Now, flip it around, and imagine the US as a 4-2-3-1. The attack would not be 5 players as in the front 5 of the 4-1-2-1-2. The attack in the 4-2-3-1 is 6 players: the Forward, the 3 attacking mids, AND the LB and RB.

So lets say the LB is Robinson, the CBs are Saurbrunn and Engen, the RB is Krieger. The two defensive mids are Holiday and Lloyd. The left attacking mid is Rapinoe, the right attacking mid is Press, and the center attacking mid is Morgan. The center attacking mid will be more supported because, Rapinoe and Press will be closer to the center of the field because Robinson and Krieger will be pushing way up the flanks to the top left and right.

So this accomplishes the following: (1) The LB and RB support the attack and there are good options to choose from, (2) the center attacking mid won't be outnumbered as in the Holiday diamond scenario and the supporting mids will be closer, (3) the best passer and creater Rapinoe is on the field, (4) Wambach is in the best position for her, headers, (5) Press is on the field, and you'd be the biggest idiot in the whole world not to START her, and (6) defensively, the 4-2-3-1 is superior to the 4-1-2-1-2, because the 4-2-3-1 shell converts to a 4-5-1 on defense.

Then, Leroux, Tymrak, Heath, O'Reilly, Johnston, Brian, O'Hara, Dunn, et. al. would be available off the bench.

Oddly, the hardest transition would be for Morgan, who in a perfect world would think of herself as an elite scorer as well as an elite assist machine.

 

The weakness in a 4-2 is when u try and get width and crosses by sending ur wings toward the corners, u isolate ur two central midfielders. They find themselves playing against four or five defenders and the no linking is possible. What Sermanni wants to accomplish is essentially a 2-1-4-3. This is very similar to the 2-5-3 DiCicco played the last time the US won the cup. That evens him up in the midfield and makes his attackers almost even up against much slower defenders. To do this u need really good speed in ur CBs and FBs or the other team will beat u in the counter.

 

Forget about the yellow card and the substitution.

Why are Morgan's shots going over the crossbar?

A) Her back is to goal and when she turns to shoot, the defender is right there, and that naturally makes it more likely that her body is not leaning forward and that the foot strikes the ball too low;
B) She's rushing the shot, and she actually has an extra split second to take a quick look at goal then back to the ball, and lean forward and angle the foot pointing to the ground;
C) There is a flaw in her shot that is becoming a bad habit; or
D) Fill in the blank _____.

(Note: I do recall two good left-footed arching shots for goals not too long ago, but she was in full stride, had a step on the defender, and drove the shots from the inside part of the left foot.)

 

She is pressing. My biggest concern about Morgan is the pressure she puts on herself not her technique. She has very high expectations for her own play. Example. I might expect her to show her frustration and get that yellow card if the team were trailing. Being up two goals she has to focus more on the team aspect and not her own personal struggles.