USWNT v Japan in April 2026, pre/pbp/post

I also agree. It's painful to watch at times.

 

The third match struck a good balance between possession and directness in attack. The U.S. moved the ball well while also playing diagonal passes behind Japan’s back line, allowing Sophie and Rose to attack the channels. Sophie showed her strategic value even in the first match, despite not playing especially well, but this game demonstrated how much pressure she can put on an opponent’s back line when she is at her best.

Another takeaway is that attacking set pieces, corners, free kicks, and even throw-ins, are especially valuable against Japan. Set pieces allow the U.S. to make better use of its advantage in size and physicality. The U.S. scored two goals and created two additional scoring chances from corners tonight. The first goal in the opening match also came from a corner. Even in the loss in Seattle, two corners delivered by Moultrie were dangerous.

Since attacking set pieces are so important against Japan, a natural question is how to win more of them. To do that, repeated high-speed attacks or elite size and ball-receiving ability are essential. Sophie was outstanding again tonight. In addition to making several dangerous runs, she also produced a few very impressive receptions.

The tempo slowed somewhat after the third goal was scored, and the substitutes seemed less well integrated than the starters. Still, the match was largely well managed and the victory was well deserved.

 

Slow start cuz ever the control freak, Emma Hayes, wanted it that way—-she felt like a little more passing at the start of the game will give them the confidence later on to become more team coordinated….and it worked! Of course kinda helped that Japanese played like they were frozen statues! Got to be their worst performance in quite a long time(maybe all the way back to the 2015 WC final)

question for everyone; surely everybody’s got to know the Thompson Twins are not twins? So is this their new moniker name ala Triple Espresso?

Odd thing both are somehow musical deprived. Obviously Thompson Twins came from that awful sounding 80’s techno pop group/TP from Sabrina Carpenter’s mediocre but big #1 hit(Espresso)

 

Sure, we know that. We just like to show our age (sob!)

 

I saw 2 players get concussed when they hit the ground.
Also, in the post-match interview, someone was talking about how hard the ground was.

Rose is one of the more dependable strikers on the team.

 

That midfield was good. I think that should be the midfield going forward.

 

We a surely in a +1 situation at some positions already, IMHO. Kinda like in 2019 in CM imwith Ertz, Mewis, Lavelle, and Heaps in CM. We could just rotate them throughout the tourney, keep them fresh, and still have 3 world class players out there at all times.

IDK if it is quite at that level yet, but Coffey, Hutton, Heaps, and Lavelle all all seriously cooking in CM right now. Add to the fact that Shaw, Moultrie, snd Cat could play CAM and Sonnett DM, and Shrader isn't even called in, and our CM/CAM depth is just off the charts. Plus Jackson is coming and Sentnor can CAM some. And Yohannes.

Swanson & Cat back will give us 4 world class forwards/wide attackers. Plus A. Thompson and all the other youngsters: Sears, Cooper, etc. Alyssa did not shine as much with Japan sitting back so much, but she has taken real steps forward this year at Chelsea. Wilson + Cat in the middle & Swanson, Rodman, and Thompson wide. Again, that is a +1 at both forward spots and we have not even gotten to Shaw, Sears, Cooper, Moultrie, & Sentnor who are all still developing as well.

The front six is loaded both with established players & developing youngsters. Vets like Lavelle & Heaps still playing at a high level. Prime age players who a either returning to form and/or still growing as players: Swanson, Wilson, Rodman, Coffey, and Macario. And younger players who improving right in front of our eyes: Hutton, A. Thompson, Shaw, Moultrie, Yohannes, Sears, Cooper, Sentnor.

There is still a ways to go for some. Both in terms of recovery, reintegration, and development, but wow, do things look bright at the moment for the front six.

And I gotta say, things are looking brighter at the back as well.

Davidson's return gives us a +1 at CB with Girma & Sonnett. 3 established, proven players. Girma can play either CB side, Davidson CB/LB, and Sonnett all over the place. CB's don't typically rotate much in tourney's, but we certainly can if we want. Wesley's fine showing, along with Bugg, seem like the top contenders for the 4th/5th spots. Sams, and the still new to the CB spot Rudd can also contribute, and Reale can play some LB/CB too.

FB beyond Fox has been an issue with Dunn retiring, Nighswonger fading, and Krueger aging out. But Gisele Thompson is making big leaps right before our eyes and can play both sides. Patterson as well, on both counts. Reale had a tough window but still shows a lot of promise and has LB/CB versatility. I am not as bullish on FB as I am at CM, F, and CB, but I am feeling a whole lot better about it than I was 2 weeks ago.

Ditto GK. PTJ was shaky, but Dickey has been excellent. And I feel pretty good about McGlynn and Campbell's resurgence. I know Emma wants to develop 2 GKs, as any coach should. But I think there is less question every day about whom the #1 is. For the first time since Naeher retired, I feel like we have our #1.

And, of course, Hayes is obviously one of the top coaches in the world.

I feel REALLY good about the trajectory this team is on. Best since 2019.

 

Yes, I am aware they are sisters but not twins.

I rise in defense of the Thompson Twins:

 

80’s was all about style over substance(basically how good you looked in video). Sure killed Billy Squier’s career

 

To this former handegg player, that seemed clear right through the tv. the ball was deader than we like, particularly in the first half. The sun coming out seemed to warm it up a bit in the second, but still only from pine to balsa...

Plus there seemed to be one really slick spot on the field; people from both teams kept falling in it even when not engaged at all.

 

I believe that the pitch was not frozen on the surface but I also think it was an inch or two down and, because of the way it was laid, it was very unlikely to thaw in time for the match. It was not natural grass laid like a lawn but it was natural grass, mostly, laid like artificial turf.

The only time, as far as I know, that i was badly concussed was on a landing much like we saw in the match BUT the protocols were much different than today and I played, according to my teammates and coach, an additional 30 minutes when I was subbed but I remember nothing about the match after my injury and I remember just a few flashes from the match or the post game. I woke up the next morning with a horrible headache and nausea and I really did not feel right until about three days later.

Concussions are actually very dangerous and I think I was lucky that no other serious symptoms appeared.

Hard pitches for any reason are very dangerous and cold hard pitches even more so.

I like the new concussion protocols but I would like to see one change and that is if a player is injured on the field they should be stretchered off ASAP and treated on the sideline and the match should continue. The injury delays are totally out of hand and the refs never add enough time.
I am not saying that injured players should be dragged off the field as soon as the injury happens but the first person to an injured player should be tasked with evaluating the safety of removal. About 95% of soccer injuries are not even near serious enough to prevent stretchering off the filed.

Does anyone know if the temporary sub rule that was discussed when the concussion protocols were implemented were actually tried anywhere? That seems to be a solution for some of the excessive delays.

The one thing I know is that heads do not really bounce safely and a hard pitch makes that fact worse.

 

Not commented on yet, it was great that Emma put in all the subs at the end of the game, and they kept Japan scoreless. I'm sure some of them were bummed after the second game loss, and being put in at the end and holding Japan scoreless gives then a confidence boost and lets them put the loss behind them. Very smart coaching.

 

USA made an impressive statement with it’s dominance over the much lauded Japanese, making them defensively one of the favorites for next year’s WC

Quick check on how the other contenders doing ; Brazil won a mini tournament at home where they beat Canada 1-0 in the final. Brazil was the better team from highlights I’ve seen but still remains unrefined as they gave up a red & several dangerous positioned free kicks late in the game. What gets me is so many of Brazil’s bigger names were missing from this squad, so don’t know if they’ve been permanently retired or their coach just trying out newbies

Spain maybe feeling down after loosing at Wembley, I think though they got to stop taking a siesta at the beginning of an match as well try a bit more players that aren’t part of the Barca mindset(on occasion Spain’s been known to start an entire lineup of current & former Barca players)

England riding high on their two wins giving them a three point lead in WC group qualifiers. They arguably got the best starting eleven in the business (considering the US still trying figure out who’s our main #9 is). Question is just how deep England is, but that might have been answered that they just won the Euro U23 championship….And get this; their fans were hyping up an 17 year named Chloe Sawie as the 2nd coming of Harry Kane(yeah English fans are funny like that, you got to measure up to men players, lol)

These four squads(US, EN, SP, BR) would be right now the front runners for next year’s WC

 

I' not gonna hold anything against Japan's results after these 3 matches. They are still a top 5 team in my book.

As Lechus pointed out earlier in this thread...

 

Playing home games is a massive advantage. I read very little into friendlies. Who is fit come tourney time will be a much bigger factor than these games