Ehn, we can go back and forth on this all day and since this is not the place for that, I'll stop now.
I agree Leroux is a lock while Hagen isn't definite but in terms of the quality and asset they do bring, I think in more beneficial to the team term, they are eachothers competition
Well that why I asked if this was all in your mind because you and the coaching staff are definitely not on the same page because if that was the case, their caps on the national team would have reflected that. As for the quality they bring to this team, you could not have picked the two most opposite players if you tried. I'm not familiar with Hagen's game that much but even I can tell you that she is not fast, which is the number one asset that Leroux bring to this team. In terms of playing style, Hagen is a much more mobile and dynamic version of Wambach
Since we are talking about potential World Cup line ups for the Forward corps, here is another potentially flammable material. Not this World Cup, but the next, who do you think the forwards will be? Alex Morgan plays left, that will always be her spot, which means Sydney Leroux who also plays left can't play there. No matter what people say, Leroux sucks as a central forward. Its not her role. Sarah Hagen probably will take the central holding forward role and right wing? My bet will be Christen Press. So Leroux will become the 4th forward.
Believe it or not but 4 years is a long time especially in soccer terms. Who's to say all of the above mentioned strikers will still be playing at the same level or even higher? Any one of them could easily drop off and not roster just like quite a number of former NT players or, pick up a serious injury which would decrease their level of play (hopefully that won't be the case). I would not be prepared to make any judgement calls for World Cup 2019 until we're at most a year out from it.
Could you please expand on this? I don't think Hagen and Leroux play a similar way at all so how would they be each other's direct competition?
"You" think Press is in the top two..... Saying it over and over, on different sites, doesn't make it true. For all we know it could be Horan and Morgan running the show next year. Or Leroux and Hagen. Or Press and Rodriguez....... Be a fan but don't attempt to make things sound as if they are fact, and not an opinion....
Only with the USWNT is it a luxury for us to argue over 5-10 different forwards that any country would take as their starters. It's an embarrassment of riches. I wish more Americans produced more natural defenders and we could stop making our forwards defenders.
Again, Morgan and Press are much better players then Leroux and IMO are just as fast, but with much better ball skill and control.
The numbers and actual NT performance tell a different story. At least when you compare Leroux and Press. And even with me saying that, I'm not attempting to claim X is better than X. But I'm just not a fan of people trying to make opinion fact. We have multiple world class forwards! Each does something a little better than the other, and the all have a place. Morgan thus far, has shown to be in a class of her own, so to put Leroux or Press, or Hagen, or Horan, or Rodriguez on the same level, isn't respecting her accomplishments. But the same goes for Leroux, to claim someone is a "much better" player and just discounting the performances of Leroux in my opinion is an glaring slight. I'll say it again, if you are a fan of a certain player, BE A FAN!!!! But don't try to manufacture a different reality than what has already been shown to us. Why is it really only fans of a certain player seem to want to force feed her to all-world status?!? Let her play speak for itself.
While I agree that we have a large group of outstanding forwards the results this year have been disappointing: 17 goals in 10 matches -- if I count correctly and omitting the two matches with Russia which were blow-outs against a poor team. Seems to me that effort is needed to find combinations of forwards who can work together better than what we've seen so far this year.
To those who asked me how I say Leroux and Hagen are competition to each other, I am not saying that because I think they have similar styles. Of course I realize they are completely different, though Leroux has shown physical abilities on set pieces on multiple occasions. Anyways, what I'm saying is that if there are 3 forwards and the pool is between Press, Morgan, Hagen and Leroux.. Who takes that 3rd spot? Hagen or Leroux? Or if it's a matter of who subs in for Press if she has trouble finding the net? Both have many pros. Hagen is a completely new dynamic but Leroux has the chemistry with Morgan at least and experience. Yes I realize that especially with Ellis, press isn't guaranteed to start at center forward, but I think we are all aware that is where the team needs her.
And in how many of those matches did either Press or Morgan play more than 20 minutes at center forward?
Huh?? This year, if we were to point to player consisting playing the forward role and producing, it will be Leroux. She, when Morgan is on the bench is the focus of the forward core in the 4-3-3 formation with Press playing deeper in the mid field. How that translate to her being a third string behind Morgan and Press is all in you head. Mind you I'm not arguing on if the coaches choice to focus on Leroux is correct or not, I'm just stating the fact as we know them. No time during this year have the forward formation being presented in such a way as to indicate Leroux is third string. Their performances this year support this fact as well.
Well, they say Sarah, we're trying to decide who we r allocating...can u commit to returning to the league or r u going to re-sign with BM? Im sure they had similar talks with Press, Engen, etc before they allocated them.
Which should indicate to you that if push comes to shove, Press will be the one riding the bench. I personally will like all three of them to start as they all bring something unique to the team, but this notion that the pecking order is somehow Morgan > Press > Leroux is routed in fantasy
My point exactly. So how can you in her limited minutes gleen that the pecking order is Morgan > Press > Leroux when she haven't even been given the chance to play CF.
I doubt Hagen will return to BM due to US Soccer basically threatening the european based players to come back if they want to be on the team; and also, BM just signed Miedema for 3 years who is everything Hagen is plus with speed.
love abby. but all you guys are crazy if you think she's a lock for the world cup when she can't even play for her club team right now because of a bum knee. you are ignoring what time and age do to all athletes. she's injured. at her age even a simple injury could end your career. she'll be one year older next year. not saying she won't be on the team. would love for her to be there if she's good enough. but a lock? no way!
The fact of the matter is Press, Morgan and Leroux will are the future of the team and all bring some thing unique. Let's appreciate each and every one of them for what they bring and stop trying to elevate one in favor of the other.
Because I am sure Ellis will give her time at center forward in this calender year. She's scores goals no matter who she plays with when she is center forward. Led Stanford in scoring, led Gothenberg in scoring, led Tyreso in scoring, and now already has the best scoring ratio with CRS.
I don't deal in hypothetical and don't argue that way. Let's argue about what we know now. I'm sure Press will do whatever it takes to help this team win and if that means playing in the midfield because she have better passing and vision than the others so be it.