we couldn’t even get our CB’s to cover in a normal defence. Dahlkemper was a disaster and Davidson wasn’t much better. Three goals wasn’t a fluke,. You can’t play through the midfield if the midfield isn’t connecting passes and getting dispossessed by superior numbers.
hmmm what? Did I miss something? Sweden played with 3 midfielders: Asllani/Seger/Angeldahl. Foudy even commented (and for once she didn't sound totally wrong) that Asllani was playing so far forward, it seemed Sweden was playing with 4 forwards, which is where I think some others are getting the idea of a virtual 4-forward line.
if you asked Sweden it probably go that they double teamed Dunn over & over again and nobody bothered on our side to help out Dunn/ Looking at the replays of goals 1+3 fwd Jakobsson(#10) & FB Glas(#4) their taking on Dunn 2v1
with an extra mid. I guess it matters why she was forward. She couldn’t have been there in the press they ran without mods filling in behind. aslani was playing far forward not as an attacke, but as a mid pressing the 6 to eliminate the outlet passes from the center backs. Atpwas somethg te USA hadn’t experienced and had no idea what to do with. as Matias Graz put it in an article on the game for CNN the issue was compounded when the USA players seemed to have abandoned any knowledge of a first touch in trying to short pass out of the press instead of going over it.
Rethinking my former comments, maybe it is time to give Dunn a shot at left side forward or midfielder. And it is time to think about a replacement for O'Hara at right back. I can identify five fullbacks in the NWSL this season with potential to make the National team. Pickett -- NC - Left Peterson -- Orl -- Left Fox -- Louisville -- Left Huerta -- OL -- Right Dydasco -- Got -- Right Fox strikes me as most likely to be next left back for the NT. Huerta has been one of the two or three best players for Reign this year, outshining international stars like Maroszan and Le Sommer.
Balcer becomes temp the league’s leading scorer with an goal last nite. But Reign is the most Euro squad in the league as well, so it’s the mids & winger setting up that header for Balcer as compared to the old school/American style of playing very direct(wheee she flubbed her chance on an late first half breakaway) So it’s very depending which way Vlatko wants to take the team(direct or Euro/total futebol concept). I think I’d it’s the latter, than Balcer would no doubt have a chance
Macario has started all three games for Lyon and in 3 different positions. They have been using a 4-3-3 formation and she has been used in the midfield on the right side, right wing, and at center forward. In today’s game she played the fulll 90 minutes, most of it at center forward where she scored her first goal of the season. And what a great goal it was. She did it all on pure individual effort. One of the the best ball handlers on the team. She and Majri are fun to watch. Both are integral parts of the team. She also has been taking on a bigger role for them in the taking of corner kicks as well as free kicks in the attacking 3rd. She fits perfectly in the Lyon style of play, and has been effective for them in the midfield and at forward, but as to what her role should be with the NT will depend on what Vlatko plans to do with the team. If he plans to stay with the more direct style of play the US players seem to be more comfortable with, then they need to have her operating as a false 9.
Watched both Lyon vs Levante/Champions League games, Macario as a #9 in the 2nd match looked better than as AM in the 1st one, where as would be playmaker, never was able to set anybody up, plus in one attempt tried to dribble through a crowded defense, but embarrassingly had the ball stripped away) So at least in the 2nd game she was able to score for her average one goal per game as designated central striker(but not sure if that’s good enough for an uber-stacked squad like Lyon vs the usual lower quality opponent). If Vlatko was fully watching the Champions League, he should of been paying attention to US born Gia Corley, the playmaker for Hoffenheim, which had the stunning upset over veteran Swedish champs, Rosengard. and yeah, stop sending Americans over to that pompous Man City(who got shockingly eliminated from CL)
I have been watching Macario in all her matches, and that incident where she got stripped of the ball is not a frequent occurrence. Reason is she normally knows when to get rid of the ball before allowing someone to strip it from her. Does an excellent job of placing through balls to other players. She is great at “ give and go “ combinations, a foreign concept to the USWNT.. In a 4-1-4-1 formation, where she was the lone striker, in their 2nd league match, she took a pass 5 yards in from the centerline and moved through and around 4 players before taking an angled shot inside the 18 to score the first goal of the match. Made all of the OL media highlights. She was also involved in a well placed pass that lead to a score, and a free kick that the goalie failed to handle that lead to a goal. Some of the little things that she does like this has locked her into a starting role for Lyon. I do agree though, that she is most effective as a center forward, though operating more as a false 9. That does present a problem for them when Hegerberg does return. Don’t know where they will have Macario play when that happens, but I am sure she will still be starting.
What about What about mid fielder position? How well is she in that? Maybe she can be work with Ada as well as false 9.
They did have her last season in a 4-2-3-1 against PSG where she was CAM. They ran that same formation in the last match against Levante and had Magri play the CAM so it would be easy to just move Macario into the CAM and put Magri on her left where she plays most of the time.
You're right, Lavelle could have definitely made a great impact as well. I remember her stellar performance against Barca (second leg) last season. Grossly underutilized by ManCity for sure.
For some of these players, change may be a difficult task, and I am not sure Vlatko and US Soccer would have the patience to do anything drastic at this point.
I am assuming you are meaning the Lyon vs Levante match, if so, convince me that these two players, and you can throw in Lavelle, would have been able to help them in this particular game. They were playing a very high pressure physical game.( 7 yellow cards for Levante) All with the intent on trying to disrupt Lyon before they could get their passes off, also applied pressure to get some take-aways, while filling the passing lanes at the same time intercepting balls. In spite of all of what they were able to do, Levante still managed to give up 14 shots with 8 on goal, to their 4 shots 2 on goal. We saw what Sweden did to our midfield in the 3-0 loss. Mewis and Lavelle and even Dahkemper would have been under the same kind of relentless pressure from this game that they saw in the Sweden match that basically made the US midfield non existent. Sure give them time and they can look pretty good, but put them under a lot of pressure, then they don't do so well. What made the difference for Lyon is they have players that have the skill set and experience to deal with those situations. By the way, Levante had just played a league game against Real Madrid, beating them 4-0. Will the USWNT with minimal changes to the roster, and playing the same basic 4-3-3 formation, have an answer for Spanish National Team, cause I expect they will bring the same kind of pressure and intensity to their games at the WC. Did you know that Lyon in their first 4 games has used three different formations 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, and 4-1-4-1. Does the US currently have the type of players on their roster that are versatile enough to adapt to the changes for each game and even during the game?
Disapproving Hippo was replying after I mentioned the stunning elimination of Man City in the Champions League just a few days ago. It was a good thing that Mewis, Lavelle & Dahlkemper left as it might of actually hurt their career playing an different style for an whole season(all 3 didn’t play up to par in the Olympics). I agree with your assessment of Spain. Their definitely getting stronger, it used to be nearly 8-9 starters out Barca, but now their finding top grade players from other clubs as well. Real Madrid beating Man City is astonishing since that club got half of England’s NT’s on it. And Levante gave Lyon all they can handle. Spain previously was missing world class front liners, but after watching Esther(RM) & Alba(LEV) plus the emerging adulthood of their world championships youth team(fwd/Pina & winger/Navarro) and it’s problem solved! Hopefully we’ll see many friendlies scheduled against them till the next WC instead all these tomato cans like Paraguay, otherwise we might not able to keep up pace
Spain is the new France. Im not worried about them. The only European team I always worry about is Sweden. Those damn vikings are always kicking our butts and handing it to us in major tournaments. Its a good thing their team is nice and their fans are not arrogant (even when they have a right to be) like the french and now spanish fans.
Good point. Worry foremost about Sweden but the Netherlands is up there as well. That goat Vivianne Miedema is becoming unstoppable lately. Not to mention their new manager definitely knows a lot about American football... With Spain they are like Japan to me, looks threatening but not really.
I would think Spain’s the real deal & particular tough, friendlies opponent since they come with that build in chemistry thanks to the usual 7-8 Barca starters as compared to the let’s say US squad who might get a few days of practice in before a friendly. We beat them 1-0 in an tough fought 2020 She Believes Cup match. But they’ve might of gotten stronger since especially Barca winning the CL on grand style along with their league showing more parity recently & their award winning youth team turning into adults. On the other hand, they’ve been underachievers in all the previous major senior woso tournaments. But eerily reminder so was their men’s side before 2008. I thought Japan would do better at the Olympics(with home court advantage). Their problem might be their building their NT around their 2018 u20 world championship squad. But what might work at u20 soccer style, doesn’t often work at the senior level(where players still keep growing into more physical & athletic). Veterans like Kawasumi & Nagasato(who still liking good in the NWSL) got estranged from the NT(so not having that kinda vet & newbie combination might be hurting them)
Sweden is currently in the same relationship to the US, mostly, as Norway was in the early days. For some reason they play their best against the US (maybe their team is designed exactly to excel against the US) and they win a disproportionately large number of matches against the US. Also they feel no awe or fear about the US and that allows them to enter matches expecting to win. Not just play well but win and control the match. Even when they bunker they seem to be controlling the match at nearly all times. Teams like Spain and Brazil and even Canada, up until just recently, and many others seem, when playing the US, to always be wondering what will go wrong while Sweden and Norway in the 1990s and early 2000s wonders only when the US will make a fatal mistake. Sweden always seems poised to take rapid advantage of mistakes and in matches like the first match of the Olympics they know that US is also waiting for things to go wrong. Germany, with Birgit Prinz, also seemed to be a team that waited and jumped on any chances that presented itself. In virtually all sports there is often one or two teams/players that just seem to be able to perform well against teams that "should" be or traditionally are much better. In many cases those people/teams do not easily become aware that they are "better" even when they are or are nearly so. This can be overcome by teams over time and the "best" fluctuates sometimes rather dramatically. The leadership to overcome the adversity of teams playing with confidence against them comes from leadership at the coaching level and, even more so, from the leaders on the team. On this team the coach does not seem able to remove the "fear" from the team and most of the team "leaders" seem too self centered to really instill the needed confidence. It is too bad but I think we need to change most all of the team's personnel and coaching staff so the US does not enter the games against teams like Sweden "expecting" to lose. If changing nearly the whole team is not possible/practical then we at least need to change the leaders. While the "leaders" on the team are still pretty good they bring a defeatism attitude that infects the entire team. To name a few, and this has nothing to do with soccer ability, that should be replaced due to their self centered attitude not all are "old" but many are: Press Harris Lloyd Rapinoe Williams Heath several others including much of the team that was around for the recent God awful matches against Sweden and Canada. The players that played when the US failed in both Olympics should be replaced even though they might be playing OK. Yes I am advocating a near complete revamp of the USWNT but a cancer has invaded the team and it needs to be cut out as "conventional" treatments are not working. Sometimes it is needed that extreme measures must be taken to insure the heath of the organism. The USWNT is a sick organism and the cure might be extreme. One more thing: The US has fallen into this state because players are not really required to excel to make the team. The big problem is that the players are so hard to fire and Vlatko Andonovski is too much of a coward to buck the "system" and "bucking the system" is exactly what is needed and needed soon. Yes, what I suggest is extreme and probably nearly impossible but maintaining the "status quo" is not working and the USWNT will fail much worse if extreme actions by just a few people are not taken very soon. It is a lot like the status of "The Empire" in Asimov's foundation series where the fall cannot be prevented but it can be dramatically shortened by actions taken by just a few people that are well motivated. Now is the time for action and waiting will just make the fall deeper and the period of poor play longer. A new USMNT will rise after some time but it will be a long time if action is not taken now.