Okay, I see in separate places this is on USA Network and on NBC. Which is it? edit: I posted this before reading the thread, and the question has already been answered…
Against Germany, the US had a very good win. After playing their second overtime game in only three days, the US was able to be sound defensively against a good German team and get a huge goal when they needed it. Alyssa Naeher was outstanding in goal, including her amazing save with her foot near the end of the game. Naomi Girma was spectacular. It was one of the best defensive performances I’ve ever seen. According to Fotmob, she had 125 accurate passes in 132 attempts, for a pass-accuracy percentage of 95%. Here: https://www.fotmob.com/matches/germany-vs-usa/14wjc2#4451375:tab=facts Those are Xavi-like numbers. And Mallory Swanson had an excellent assist to Sophia Smith, who did an outstanding job of getting on the end of the pass and finishing it beautifully. Here are Soccer America’s Theodore Lloyd-Hughes’ player ratings for the match (they might be behind a paywall): https://www.socceramerica.com/usa-germany-womens-olympic-player-ratings-2/ 1. US line-up for the Final For tomorrow's gold medal match against Brazil, here is the line-up I’d like to see Emma Hayes start: -----------------------------------------------Naeher----------------------------------------------- Fox-----------------------------Girma-------------------------Davidson-------------------Dunn ---------------------------------Horan-----------------------Coffey------------------------------ Rodman-------------------------------------Lavelle-------------------------------------Swanson ---------------------------------------------------Smith--------------------------------------------------- In the US’s match against Germany on Tuesday, Hayes seemed to start the team in a 4-4-2, with the two central midfielders (Lindsey Horan and Sam Coffey) playing at a fairly comparable depth. The formation looked like this: -----------------------------------------------Naeher----------------------------------------------- Fox-----------------------------Girma-------------------------Davidson-------------------Dunn ---------------------------------Horan-----------------------Coffey------------------------------ Rodman------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lavelle -------------------------------------Smith------------------Swanson-------------------------------- When the US attacked against Germany, Crystal Dunn would often push up on the left and Ross Lavelle would move a bit to the middle. Here is what the US shape often was when the team attacked: -----------------------------------------------Naeher----------------------------------------------- -----------Fox-----------------------------Girma-------------------------Davidson------------------ ---------------------------------Horan-----------------------Coffey------------------------------Dunn Rodman-----------------------------------------------------------------------Lavelle------------------ ----------------------------Smith------------------Swanson-------------------------------- The US played well in the match and out-possessed Germany 57% to 43%. Moreover, according to Fotmob, the US also created 5 big chances compared to Germany’s 1. However, against Brazil, I’d like to see Hayes start the team in a 4-2-3-1. In group play against Germany, the US seemed to start in a 4-2-3-1 and won the match 4-1. Moreover, the US-Brazil match will start at 5:00 pm Paris time. The temperature is supposed to be 84 degrees at kickoff (28 degrees Celsius) and sunny. So, it would be good to have plenty of numbers in midfield in order to try to win the midfield in hot weather. In addition, Brazil is likely to start 5 players in midfield (and maybe even 6). Also, the US is likely to be a little tired against Brazil. For one thing, they just played two overtime games over the course of the last week. So, it would be good for the US to have the numbers in midfield to help them win that part of the pitch. Finally, Brazil’s coach Artur Elias has been rotating his players a lot this tournament and subbing a lot. So, Brazil might be fresher than the US tomorrow. So, the US’s having one additional player in midfield might help them compete in midfield against a lively team. Although the US actually out-possessed Germany by a wider margin in the semifinals than in the group stage game (the US out-possessed Germany in the Group Stage game by a 54%-46% margin), goals are key, and the US scored 4 of them in the first game and only 1 in the second, and that goal came in overtime. If the US were to play in a 4-2-3-1 against Brazil, one sub that Hayes could make—and, perhaps, should make—is to put in Korbin Albert next to Coffey at defensive-midfield, move Lindsey Horan up to attacking center-mid and take out Rose Lavelle. Horan has often played well at attacking center-mid. And she is good at scoring on headers, and if she is playing attacking center-mid, she often is closer to the opponent’s goal. For example, Twila Kilgore started her there against Brazil in the final of the 2024 Gold Cup. Here is a link to the line-ups for that match: https://us.soccerway.com/matches/20...acaf-w-gold-cup/united-states/brazil/4278244/ The US won the match 1-0, and Horan had the game-winning goal. Here are the highlights of that match: The sequence including Horan’s goal starts at minute 4:00. However, if Hayes does start the team in a 4-4-2, I think she should start the same line-up against Brazil that she did against Germany. The team played well against Germany. If Tierna Davidson is unable to start, I would start Emily Sonnett in her place. Sonnett was solid against Germany and has been good in this tournament. However, it’s important for her not to take chances with the ball. She is best when she plays simply. 2. How Brazil could line up In this Olympics, Brazil coach Artur Elias has started the team in four different formations—a 4-4-2 (against Nigeria), a 3-4-2-1 (against Japan in group play and against France in the quarterfinals), a 5-4-1 against Spain in group play, and a 3-5-2 against Spain in the semifinals. Partly because Brazil played so well against Spain (the number one ranked team in the world) and won the match 4-2, I wouldn’t be surprised if Elias starts the team in a 3-5-2 against the US. Here is what Brazil’s line-up and formation were against Spain in the semifinals: https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/08/06/world/olympics-women/brazil/spain/4331788/ Jheniffer started at attacking center-mid. She played deeper than the two forwards, and she came into midfield when the ball was in Brazil’s own third of the field and in the middle third. She is skillful and young, only 22. Against Spain, the two starting forwards were Gabi Portilho (the number 18) and Priscilla (the number 19). Portillo is a good finisher. She scored Brazil’s second goal against Spain. Here is a link to the highlights of the match: The sequence ending with Gabi Portillo’s goal starts at minute 2:09. Against Spain, Brazil’s outside midfielders were good. Ludmila started at right midfield. She has very good speed and has just signed with the Chicago Red Stars of the NWSL. Here is a replay of a play that shows Ludmila’s speed: The play starts at minute 1:35. Against Spain, Brazil’s two central defensive-midfielders were Yaya and Angelina. They are both tough and good ball-winners. They are also fairly skillful. If the US players get in 50/50 battles with them, it’s important for the US players to prepare their bodies to get hit. If the US players won’t get the referee’s calls, they should try to stay on their feet. If the US players will get the calls, perhaps the players should go down. Yaya, Angelina and Brazil's defense frustrated Spain’s skillful midfielders, who like to play a tiki-taka style. In particular, Spain's Jenni Hermoso and Aitana Bonmati objected to Brazil’s physical and defensive style of play. Here is a link to an article in which they criticized Brazil’s style: https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/40760770/olympics-2024-spain-brazil-war-words-semifinal However, although Brazil did play physically and defensively against Spain (for instance, Spain had 76% of possession in the match), Brazil did score 4 goals and won the match. So, they were doing something right. And although Brazil was physical against Spain, I wouldn’t say they were dirty. They were just physically strong and eager to have physical confrontations that were not dangerous to the Spanish players. In addition, Brazil’s three backs against Spain were very good positionally. They kept the Spanish players in front of them. Brazil’s center-back Tarciane was especially good. She has a good positional sense. She is 6 feet tall and plays for the Houston Dash. In fact, each of Brazil’s defenders were tall and strong. For instance, Lauren is 5’ 8”, and Thaís Ferreira is 5’ 9”. Brazil’s team was, overall, more athletic than Spain’s. Kerolin, who scored 10 goals last season for the North Carolina Courage and was voted the NWSL player of the year in 2023, came on in the second half for Brazil against Spain. She recently returned from a torn ACL that she sustained in October of 2023. This Olympics, she has started 1 game (against Spain in group play) and otherwise has come off the bench. She has played both as a forward and as an attacking midfielder. In the semifinal, she scored Brazil’s fourth goal. She got on the end of a through-ball and then deliberately nutmegged the Spanish goalkeeper. Kerolin is a very good player. 3. Final thought It’s important for the US to be more precise in the final third and around the goal. For instance, Rose Lavelle should try to be more accurate with her final passes and shots. Too often her final passes are going over the endline. She’s got to give her teammates a chance to score.
I have done so; and if they do not change file designations it may work-- if the events' telecasts start at the same time. However, several times already, telecasts of games started early when something else ended early, and in those cases, games got recorded from the second half on, because they were joined in progress as far as the file was concerned. Consequently I have equipped files with a 60 minute leadin to get first halves in such a case (Dish will do 30 or 60 but not 45.) But for knockout rounds games have been going to shootouts a lot, and haven't always started on time, so a 90 minute tail has had to be added to make sure of getting the end of the game as well. So soccer recordings have not been 2 hours but 4 and a half as set. Which means if there are two games within that 4 and a half hours, only one can be set to record. And wait wait, that's not all-- everything you set to record is labeled "Olympics" at the top of the file, so that extra two and a half hours gets added to EVERY file, not just the soccer. So almost nothing else can be recorded because the files conflict if they are within an hour of each other-- I can only record two things at a time. Clarifying-- when you have an event you wish to record, you find it on the DishGuide and select it before it is on-- this tells the machine to record it, and it asks you event or series, and for something like this you tell it "series" and it will now attempt to record anything in that series on that channel. The identification is by the file name on the guide, and the record request is called a timer. You also have the option to adjust the times to fit your needs, to start early or end late. "Jeopardy" or "Survivor" always start a little bit early, so you want the timer to kick in 3 minutes early each time. But now, for the Olympics, a mega-multi-channel event, you need to set a timer for every channel woso or parcour or trampoline or whatever you fancy might occur on. Still fairly simple if a little time consuming-- until the conflicts set in. When two timers are already recording and a third one comes up, a timer conflict arises and the new one will not record unless you tell one or both of the other two not to record; and when you have an absolute priority like woso you wind up telling almost everything else not to record because it is always in conflict with most everything. But we're not done yet. Throughout this Olympics NBC has found it convenient to change network locations for events on quite short notice, as little as 4 hours, maybe less. The bronze game today was in two places,105 and 148-3 as of 1:30 am when I went to bed last night. By 7 am it was in neither, was Telemundo only-- so we found it barely in time to watch the second half. Wait, not done yet. Throughout this Olympics, DISH has found it convenient when it doesn't know what will be showing several days from now in a specific time slot, to insert an actual file name as a place holder, rather than creating a place holder card; and they have used woso file names constantly for this-- so you think you have set the third group game to record three days from now, only to arrive there and find the whole timer has disappeared and team handball is in its place-- and the game was never scheduled for this time anyway, but for an hour earlier... Took a while to figure out that this was happening, and then another while to figure out why. Grant never had to figure out this kind of stuff grumble grumble...
Didn't have time to read all of this, especially the Brazil part, but I do agree that midfield may be the key. And Horan & Lavelle haven't exactly been at their best. I find your double-pivot idea of Coffee & Albert to be intriguing (at the expense of Rose), BUT I figure Hayes will not deviate much from what's got her here, so I think Albert might be left on the bench. And if I was betting, I'd say we'd see the same XI and shape as we saw last game... fitness permitting. Which could be OK if we can hold our own in regulation and either win the game then or be tied and go to ET, where it would be great to have Albert's fresh legs. And yes of course we need to be more creative & clinical in the final third. I don't know if Swanson has it in her to be the energizer bunny in back-to-back games but if she is, she could be a huge factor once more, and that might just get us to that level of creativity & finishing we need. And for me Rodman has had an almost breakout tournament so I'd love to see her show some of her magical confidence and score the game winner!
Just watched highlights from USA 1-0 BRA at Gold Cup Final in March. 9 players from that Kilgore XI are in Hayes recent XI's. Albert & Morgan started, while Smith & Swanson did not (injuries). There's been plenty of legit debate about benching Horan but I think she'll start. And what she can do in the air, might be one of the reasons to do that. She won the Gold Cup with a forceful, well-placed header.
Instead of being bought off by the filthy rich capitalist clubs of the world, quite a number of Brazilian still play for their own, domestic league. Both fwds, Portilho & Jheniffer, play for Corinthians, surprisingly only 3 goals to her credit in league play even though she’s been one of the sharpest fwds in this tournament. Adriana is another fast winger though outshined at club level by her teammate Banda. Orlando Pride currently on top of NWSL has 5 Brazilians on their club, though not sure how many of then are on their Olympic squad(other than Marta & Adriana). Missing is Bia(injured)the darn attacking mid in the NWSL & KC Current team mate, Debhina(who might not been good enough to make the current squad?). They got experience in their CB’s/FB’s, but might be aging in Tasmine(age 36)Souza(33) but go young & tall Ticiane(only 21) one of her defense moves was called “the scissors kick”(apparently legal in the NWSL but hopefully today’s ref might take exception too it) With their homegrown, samba like feel about them, they probably be the underdog, Cinderella team of the tourney, but the US has an strong record against them, the only time I remember them winning was about 10 years ago(late fall 2014) 3-2 when Marta had an hat trick.
Morning all…. Today dawned bright and the birds were singing in the garden. I had my coffee there listening to the sounds of children laughing and playing in the distance. Quite the pleasant and peaceful atmosphere. Then I thought…. Last time we were in a world final I did exactly the same thing on the morning of… July 7th 2019.
The US Soccer match preview ... https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...notes-bracket-paris-olympics-gold-medal-match "The USA is aiming for a record fifth gold medal in women’s soccer and the program’s first since 2012, playing in its sixth Olympic final in eight appearances and 11th final in 17 world championship appearances. Standing in the Americans’ way is Brazil, one of the USA’s most-frequent knockout round opponents on the global stage. It’s the third time that the North and South American powers will clash in the Gold Medal match at the Olympics after the U.S. emerged triumphant over Brazil at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008."
It appears the lineups may have posted a few minutes early, awaiting confirmation. Lavelle on the bench, if accurate. {Marta on the bench for Brazil, as we expected.}
Brazil's starting XI: 📋 A #SeleçãoFeminina está escalada para a final das Olimpíadas, contra os Estados Unidos, às 12h (horário de Brasília)! Você assiste ao vivo na @tvglobo, @sportv e @CazeTVOficial! VAAAI, BRASIL! 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/UeGMEi77XY— Seleção Feminina de Futebol (@SelecaoFeminina) August 10, 2024
Very Interesting….. hope she’s ok… if so… Benching Rose may be so they don’t injure her early. When the DO put her in she’s gonna open up that defense with her runs.
Interesting call, and a bit conservative, but reasonable. Lavelle can be a great sub to have in the most likely circumstances: as an offensive spark (if we need a goal) and as a calming presence (if we're ahead but need to possess the ball better).
Just thought I would point out that not starting one of your best players in a final just to save them from hypothetical injury is about as silly a strategy as there could possibly be. There's nothing to save them for. It is no longer survive and advance, it is now win and go home happy. So presumably either the coaching staff are stupid, or this is the lineup they think gives us the best chance of winning.