Not likely one bad outing does it. Maybe a bad WWC, but short of that it would take several bad outings. Remember that WWC and Olympic competitions are worth four times what a friendly is , so it would take more than one friendly game for England to close 53 points or Spain to close 55 ratings points even though a friendly between top10 teams counts double. the rest of the field would take more games.
I watched that just a little while ago. There’s a lot of Hayes, a lot to like. We’re in good hands. I haven’t re-watched, but there’s a clip of the prep for the gold medal match that shows Lavelle grimacing, with her leg in one of those modern magic sleeves. Explains her absence in the Final.
Thanks for posting. I knew Emma had a bit of a thing for America, but I didn’t quite realize until this tournament how deep that was. ps. Kinda kooky that USSoccer can’t get rights to put game footage in this story and had to rely on still photos.
On Instagram, Michelle Akers posted a defense of Horan. She said: "A little late in this but wanted to recognize one of my faves who got less love than others for this Olympics. Congrats Lindsey Horan USWNT Olympic Gold. She is one of my fave players bc she does the BTS hard work and does it bc she loves her team. You can feel that from her. She supports. Works hard. Motivates. She leads. CMF is a critical role. You connect back to front side to side, change point, dictate pace, attack, defend, organize. You are the hub and engine to all. You interact with every position. Every player. Your energy and performance makes an impact. I felt for her this Olympics. Our new style did not support her typical style of play but @emmahayes1 kept her out on the field bc in other ways, no one could replace what she brought to the team. Still despite the positive feedback she probably had from coaches, fans brutally called for her to be benched and criticism abundant. It made me want to hug her and jump onto the field in her defense. The USWNT had so many changes in a short time and had the pressure of the Olympics to contend with as well. It’s a lot to ask. And sometimes in the CMF position when the style of play changes, it’s difficult to sync up and re-establish the rhythm and connections needed. You get bypassed. You end up running and chasing. It’s exhausting and exacerbates the difficulty to do your job as playmaker. I saw that for her. But the thing I loved she never gave up. She kept working. And trying. And supporting her teammates. And leading. And Emma Hayes kept her in and praised her at the end especially at that last press conference. So much respect." I'm still one of those who called for Horan to be subbed out in the final and the semifinal, so don't take this post as a full agreement with Akers. I do think it's a good pushback though on some who seem to think (at least from their posts) that she no longer has any place on the team.