USWNT to Europe 2021

I've got huge expectations for Sophia Smith, but it's wild to me that she jumped so many NWSL forwards. I hope she can get some real minutes in these matches. Ando has got to know everything he needs to know about the Greatest Generation forwards.

Also, Sam and Kristi may well be fighting for a roster spot. Sam needs to get a goal on this trip.

 

@RalleeMonkey, I have to think that Sam is a lock. I think that Kristie is fighting Macario, Lloyd, Smith, & Williams for the last two MW/FW spots. And of course if Tobin can't go there is a 3rd spot.

 

Also, I think this means it is pretty likely that Krieger and Harris are not going. Probably the right call from my perspective.

 

I hope so. Sam is currently my favorite player.

 

Wow, SI has Sam as the current #1 player in the world. Congrats to Sam! ESPN FC Women's Rank: The 50 best players in the game right now

 

SPOILER ALERT: Stop reading if you want to be surprised looking at the list yourself. The USWNT has 11 of these 50 top players. Sam Mewis (#1), Crystal Dunn (#6), Julie Ertz (#8), Tobin Heath (#13), Rose Lavelle (#15), Lindsey Horan (#23), Cristen Press (#26), Abby Dahlkemper (#29), Alex Morgan (#38), Megan Rapinoe (#40), and Becky Sauerbrunn (#45).

 

Sam, who is currently the best player in the world, is fighting for a roster spot?

 

Look for CBS to attempt to postpone or cancel this silly Master’s Golf Tournament when they realize they’re up against The Only Team That Matters.

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Semb has Officially Decreed Tuesday April 13th 2021 as a National Holiday, soooooooo sleep in, kick back, move your sofa 3 feet closer to your television, make the proper preparations for your favorite adult beverages because……. NO WORK!!

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I’d expect temperatures for both Matches to be in the 40’sF, but with Le Havre being on the English Channel – all bets are off. However, unless they moved the Matches to the surface of Mars, the Weather WILL NOT MATTER.

The current scuttlebutt in coffee shops around Oslo is that the United States Soccer Federation is the early frontrunner to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Leaks from the Norwegian Nobel Institute have cited “glorious” humanitarian efforts to spread Complete and Total Awesomeness to other Countries and to humanity at large.

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The good news is the USSF can designate the Nobel cash prize to offset the Lawsuit Settlement. $1 Million down - - - - only $65 Million to go!!!!

Obviously not counting the Fans that will be there “in Spirit”. lil – I think you may be underestimating my powers of persuasion, boyish charm, ability to B.S. and my current membership status in the French Foreign Legion.

Oh, and Sam has a spot even if she is in a full body cast.

 

Man, I can guarantee that I was the first one on this board that had Sam written in as a lock starter in the 11. Y'all can stop giving me shit for being concerned that she'd lose out in a numbers crunch. She's been in my best 11 for years. I posted this in 2017: Other than, that. Mewis continues to impress. I liked her before the cup. Like her better now. To me, she and Brian are the starting CM's.

 

The picture are from Sweden, where the other Noble prizes are rewarded.
Can be seen by the fact that there are Swedish not Norwegian colours above it and for the ones with good eyes and knowlegde of European Royals that it is the Swedish King and Queen in the middle of the picture not their Norwegian counterparts.

 

ESPN might be scratching their heads now; they got Man City with 7 players on the list, including the only club with 2 in the top 5 But just yesterday MC got clobbered 0-3 by Barca, with Mewis an obvious non factor & most likely eliminated in just the quarterfinals of the Champions League

 

I think the fault is completely on their not so very tactical/no other strategy coach. They are so used to winning in their league that he obviously didn't bother to study Barca at all. Big mistake.

 

What was Barca record prior to this match?

 

Given that Barca was in the CL final in 18-19 and the semis in 19-20 that would be extraordinarily unprofessional. Instead I think Barca has the quality to be better on the day. I mean in 2019 they bought in Caro Hansen, Asisat Oshoala, and Jenni Hermoso to go with an already strong team.

 

There’s no doubt Barca’s a powerful team, I was just quipping about the hypocrisy of the ESPN list since their version pretty much gives MC as the top club team in the world. Lyon got 8 players listed(To MC seven) but MC got 2 in the top 5, compared to Lyon’s highest at #7. And then for instance Bayern Munich got zero players on the whole list.So perhaps the list is a bit too patronizing for England’s FAWSL)21 of the 50 listed players)
This game wasn’t too even close; Hemp took an dive, but karma as MC failed to connect on the PK. So if true that English tactics failed so miserably, why does the NWSL keep hiring almost entirely English coaches?

 

My guess is that they evaluated based mainly on English language media, which tend to favor England and if you aren't aware of that you will when you make a ranking you will end upp with egg on your face like ESPN just did.

That said England do have an institutionalized habit of overestimating the quality of their soccer teams, most blatantly on the men’s side in WC 1934 – 1950, probably because they base their self-image on aforementioned media or even worse just on English media.

 

Get what your saying, but it goes even further as it seems like every NWSL coach is from England. So being stuck with basically the same type of style make the NWSL games kinda of dry after a while

 

It's the accent of course.

 

Exactly. It's an Anglophile world. I've spent a lot of time in the U.K. and have many wonderful friends there. I also did an undergraduate thesis decades ago on racism in the British police and have had a good look at the bitter realities there. As a lifelong resident of the U.S., I've always found it hilarious that so many people here inevitably decide that anyone with an English accent is brilliant. (And, of course, what many of them take to be an English accent might be a Scottish accent, an Irish accent, an Australian accent, etc.)

 

And yet the number 1 national team in the world claims 11 of the top 50, and 2 cant crack a starting lineup if the team is at 100%. So is there more to it or no...

 

Do people actually think Mewis is the best player in the world? lol. Scoring against bottom table teams in the WSL does not a best player make. She's not even the best midfielder on the USWNT (I think Horan is better). The Barcelona midfielders made her look amateur last week.

 

they deserve the most but still feels a bit slanted; I feel Barca could beat the USWNT in an exposition match, They pretty much are an stand alone squad for the Spanish NT which lost by narrow 1-0 scores the last three times they played the US. Now add their foreigners with two of the top wingers in the world in Martens & Hansen, plus an lighting fast striker in Oshoala, plus the brutally physical Hamroui(who played in both games when France beat the US, but not in their WC loss)and yet Barca only had 5 of their players on their list with the highest toping at #3 Americans above them) just 2 from Spain

but we'll see this Wednesday, maybe Barca will flop in their 2nd leg match with Man City, who without their 3 Americans could easily be a stand in for England's NT

 

I’ll leave that to someone of Fran Lebowitz’ stature.