We'll see what happens. Personally, I stick with my feeling that the best approach is a 2 front with Press and Morgan. All 3 can score goals so it could turn out to be anything.
My prediction is not for any love I have for Abby but just looking at how things will play out. Between now and the world cup, I think Abby has as much chance as the other three forwards of making the squad if they are all healthy.
Nothing wrong with that and we might see that at some point if the current flirtation with the 4-3-3 does not go anywhere.
I guess, I'll just have to get used to it.... But now you are slighting Hagen..... So now a 17 year old has more to offer than Hagen did, and makes her easily replaceable?!? She scored 38 goals in 51 matches!
Hagen isn't easily replaceable. She's i'm sure a great player, and likely has more to offer than Wambach. I'm just saying that now since BM have Miedema, they don't need Hagen anyways. In fact, I'm sure that's why they signed her, who was in talks with American universities before BM approached her, which all happened in the last three months.
i guess people say it often enough. it must be true. the believers need to shout a lot louder tho. 'cause there's no evidence. in fact there is evidence to the contrary. listen from minute 2:25. specifically the question at 2:57.
The current goal tally for the year stands at Leroux 3 Morgan 2 Lloyd 2 Holiday 1 Rapinoe 1 but five games is a really small sample
And Press also has two! BTW, Press and Morgan's goals per minute ratio is much better than everyone else; though I realize it isn't Lloyd or Cheney's job to score a ton of goals and that Rapinoe has been out.
I don't. I think Horan will get some consideration but she won't be a starter by then. And to regarding what Fawcett said, sure in 4 years who knows, maybe Horan will become that superstar some people are projecting, but that will be hard to project, but what we do know is that for the next cycle, we won't be seeing Abby in, no matter how much she wants a 5th cycle, she won't get that. So its pretty much projecting the forward depth and Alex Morgan will be a lock on the left side. Sarah Hagen, unless another holding forward is better then she is, will more then likely take the center role and the right is open to debate. But I think Press has the edge here. All 3 of these forwards have technical skill, ability to play with the ball on the ground and hopefully when the old guard retires we can see the USWNT play a more ball possession style of game.
Oh sorry I thought you were speaking of the NWSL given Morgan has two goals and Leroux has three. But also, Press hasn't played center forward yet!
A better question to be answered is how much the WCQ roster is married to a 4-3-3? Do they want a roster that can switch between 4-4-2 and 4-3-3? If ur carrying six forwards u have to include (Wambach. Morgan. Leroux, Press, Rodriguez, Rapinoe, O'Reilly, Hagen) which is eight.
Id actually start Press on the right figuring she will get central and get scoring chances regardless. I think she is the easiest one to figure. Who starts in the middle and who starts on the left is the bigger problem.
Actually, while I respect your opinion because I know you have the team's best interest in mind; I disagree. Christen has simply not been able to shine to her full capability when paying on the right as we've seen with both the USWNT and Chicago. It seems that once she is positioned more centrally, that world class start that we all are so excited to have really comes out. Nothing deadlier than that (except Morgan along with her)
OK...throw Press out of the equation...the other player who has been starting on the right is HAO. Do u want HAO instead of Press? Maybe A-Rod can start but I only remember her on the left...Leroux when she is wide plays left. Rapinoe I guess could play right but again they seem to play her mostly on the left. Never seem Morgan in a wide position but in a two front she has a lot of experience on the left side of the box. From what Ive seen of Hagen she plays centrally. Heath can play on the right but if last game is any indication she will be a CM.
You are right! That's why it should be a 2 front with Press and Morgan so that way, they can both play centrally And we don't have to worry about an average attacking winger.
Well changing it to a two front completely changes the argument. Leroux is also much more dangerous in a two front. She has maybe 8 goals this year out of the 4-4-2
The discussion illustrates one of the ambiguities inherent in soccer (which makes it a "socialist" game, I'm sure). How do you evaluate a forward? Goals scored? Shots? Shots on goal? But, who fed her the ball from which she scored? What other players were around her when she scored? You can't evaluate a forward based strictly on how many goals she's scored because the scoring of goals is dependent on having someone get her the ball in a good goal scoring position and on who the other goal scoring threats are that are on the field and how many players the opponent has committed to defense, etc., etc., etc. There is not a perfect, and not even a really good, objective measure for comparing forwards -- except, perhaps, that if a forward scores high numbers of goals year after year with a variety of teammates against a variety of opponents, then she's probably good. As in 5 to 10 to 15 years.
If everyone has been paying attention the last two years, our most dangerous forward combination has been Morgan and Wambach duel up front. They scored like 50 goals or something in 2012 and had the second or tied the scoring record with two players from 1991. I think the second most deadly combination has been Wambach/Leroux. I've seen them connect very well and get some good goals out of those connections. The third best combination I thought was Morgan and Press interestingly enough but maybe that just happened to be a good game for the two of them. Just because these pairs worked in 2012 doesn't mean they would work in 2015 because I'm not sure if you want to play the same hand out to the opposition unless the opposition still haven't figured out how to shut them down yet. I haven't been entirely impressed with the other following combinations: Morgan/Leroux, Leroux/Press, and Press/Leroux. I haven't seen enough of Sarah Hagen to get a good idea of what she can bring internationally but if what she can do in the club translates well to the international game, she will be the next Wambach. Wambach isn't out of the picture yet. I think some people on here just don't like her because she "takes the space" of their favorite player. I can't imagine anybody that followed USWNT for years say she's a terrible player when she frequently ranked one of the most dangerous forwards in the women's game. At her healthiest and most fit, she is still a great forward to have in the tool box. She is retiring after 2015. If she makes the roster next year and earns it, let it be. My big concern is why we are doing 4-3-3 when it's clearly not working against great teams and the chemistry hasn't meshed. I'm even concerned about 4-4-2 because I'm not even sure if any of these talented forwards have any chemistry with one another. You could have the most talented athletes on your team but if you don't know how to place them, they won't get your team anywhere. So whether Wambach is on or off the roster is the least of my concerns, right now all I know is her(when healthy) and Morgan play their best up on top. So Wambach should be the last person you get rid of during this worrying time when we don't even have forwards that work well together.
I agree with a majority of what you said. But to be fair, you haven't recently seen Morgan and Leroux start together,or play along side one another for long stretches. You'd really have to go back to 2008 to see them starting together. And they "had" good chemistry "then".
Well the current Ellis preference is clear but of course not set in stone and was displayed in the French games. When Heath was injured in game 1 it went from Heath-Leroux-Press to Leroux-Morgan Press. In game two it went from Press-Leroux-HAO to Leroux-Morgan-Press. So if Leroux isnt central they seem to like her on the left. I wonder if Ellis prefers to have them remain on one side? Sermanni seemed to favor his wings swapping sides and changing the match ups.
Press had all the goals in 2013 and Morgan in 2012. It looks like they are hot and cool forwards or super hyped by the fans. I forgot the name of the thread someone started about that. http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/uswnt-forwards-overrated.2005072/ i should have known it was WPS.