PBP: WWC Final USA vs. Japan July 5 - Pre/PBP/Post

WOW great to stumble on a forum that is all Women's soccer Looking forward to reading your thoughts. Congrats to the USWNT. Totally deserved win. Let them celebrate, but while at it they also need to regroup and see where they want the team to go. They don't have much time between now and the Olympics and honestly they did not play that well for most games leading up to the WC and the early games in the tournament. The last 3 games have been solid though. I am curious to see if Ellis will stick to the 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation she has going on at the moment. I love Abby Wambach, but I am totally okay with her saying goodbye. I am interested to see how the team will fair without her around. They certainly have a talented group of forwards to wreck havoc (ONLY if their talents are utilized). I am not a fan of Ellis placing players in positions that aren't their strengths. I.e Press, and Holiday. Unlike most I am not quick to scream "bring on new/young players". Personally I feel like the team is loaded enough with enough personnel for the Olympics roster. How about we develop the players that are already on the roster and if they don't cut it then you can bring the other players from the leagues etc. Yes it's easy to say players like Leroux, Press, O'hara, A-rod and club aren't strong enough to start, but how much time is actually given to these players on the field? For them to get better, they need to be used consistently on the field with their team-mates. Sometimes it's good to shake up the line ups. People were nervous (myself included) on how the team would fair with Rapinoe out, but boy didn't the team play so well with her out. Same with Abby on the bench. For a team with so much depth, they sure weren't playing like they have played with each other before. Going forward they need to develop a legit game plan. I am tired of hearing "set pieces" are America's strength. Good that you have that area covered, but what about other areas?

 

I gotta give it to Lloyd. She certainly wanted to be remembered and boy didn't she do a good job

 

Welcome to Big Soccer. I agree we are transitioning to the future now, and that isnt a bad thing.

 

On a police radio they would call it "An active shooter event in progress."

 

Least games is fine with me, but least minutes is a bit over the top to me. Imagine that Lloyd could have won if they had subbed her out at half. Dumb.

 

FIFA rules are always stupid.
Drawing of lots as the final tiebreaker, if the teams are tied in points, goal difference, and total goals scored.
It should never come down to to a lottery draw. Dumb.

And who's to say that FIFA doesn't rig the lottery draw?

 

Just got back to Chicago from the Pacific NW and the Final in Vancouver. Had a blast!

First of all I had a great time at the Portland Thorns vs. Sky Blue game on Friday 3rd watching the game with my buddy Cliveworshipper. Another great crowd and atmosphere in Portland!

Also was finally able to get my FIFA CANADA 2015 shirt that I had waited in line a combined 3 hours between Winnipeg and Vancouver. And I got the last XL. I grabbed it just as some guy reached for it. I said "sorry man, I stood in line for 3 hours for this". He looked at me like I was crazy.

The crowd was electric. The stadium is semi-closed so the acoustics were amazing. It was loud.

I was totally shocked at the score in the first few minutes. Once the US lead 4-0, people started doing the wave in the stadium.

I was NOT a Carli Lloyd fan for years. Didn't like her at all. But a year ago I turned around after watching how she turned her playing style over, becoming the leader, and instead of playing like a thug and making stupid fouls, she turned that into intelligent tenacity. Totally deserves to be named the best player in the tournament.

Kadeisha Buchanan was named best young player. I like her a lot, and I've said that over the last couple of years, but IMO, Julie Johnston deserves this award more.

Anyway, I had a blast going to the two WWC games this summer and following on TV and media.

However, I am still NOT a fan of Jill Ellis and unfortunately we will have to put up with her as coach for a few more years and the slow development of many of our young players, IMO.

USA!

 

The future is extremely bright.
The 2023 USWNT team will become the best ever, and will beat Japan in the WWC Final that year 6-2.

 

As much as I criticize Abby, I was really pulling for her and hoping she would score one more goal yesterday.

 

Shooooot, after the first 6 minutes when the USWNT was barely up 4-0 at that point, the first thing I thought of was let's get Lloyd her 4th goal to win the Golden Ball, let's get Morgan a goal, let's get Rapinoe two goals on her birthday, let's get Wambach in to get her a hat trick on her last tournament game, let's get Boxx in the game to score a goal on a set piece, and Rampone is the final sub and has her daughter's first name on the back of her jersey.

I was thinking Final Score of 12-0 at that point.

 

I realized something neat about the scoreline earlier today:

5 - 2 = 3 stars for the U.S.

 

Our starting back line at the 2012 Olympics was: O'Hara, LePeilbet, Buehler, and Rampone
The US had a completely different back line at the 2015 WWC (Krieger, Klingenberg, Johnston, Sauerbrunn).

So it got me thinking, what if there is a completley different back line in 2019?
No one is guaranteed to stay on top for 4 years.
Most likely at least 2 or 3 of our 2015 starters will be starting in 2019. But nothing is guaranteed.

And no back line in US history may be better than this group below, when it's all said and done.

Arin Gilliland, Andi Sullivan, Maddie Bauer, Cari Roccaro, Stephanie Amack, and Katie Naughton

 

So, upon reflection, in the history of professional soccer, has any other player finished off a hat trick with a goal from half field?

 

And such a good name it would be....

 

question for the long time soccer superfans and rulebook experts:
say a player is dribbling a ball up field, encounters a defender and kicks the ball past him/her then makes a run for it. is it legal for the defender step in the way, not using a shoulder or hands or anything, simply just stepping over and getting run over? or is that a foul? and i dont want your opinion, i want the rule, what it should be called. i cant find it. seems i've seen this play several times recently, and it's not called consistently a particular way. just saw it in a ronaldo highlight video vs brazil in the 2010 world cup.

 

I was thinking 5 on the 5th....

 

If the ball is not within playing distance, it is a foul, called "impeding", traditionally and still often called "obstruction".

If the contact is initiated by the defender, it can also be called as "charging", I believe, also a foul.

If the ball is within playing distance, the defender can legally shield the other player with his/her body while playing the ball.

 

Morgan Brian showed me the most. She was absolutely great. Her passing and decisions was just so on point. She pretty much is the main reason the whole entire midfield played better because it allowed Carli to be free and even Holiday to have some more freedom.

Rapinoe had a great tournament. Yeah she is little selfish sometimes but we can deal. You always want her to take on when she is one vs. one. Her corners were on point.

Heath surprised me. I was more in favor of HAO getting the nod over Press at first. But Heath obviously has great footwork, but her decision making, and help with possession helped our central midfield. Free kicks and corners were on point in the China game where she played her best game imo. She pretty much kept improving as the tourney went on. And she looks for Alex and connects with her more than anyone else.

 

thanks, clears it up for me.

 

I had at least 5 Scotches during the game.

 

I don't think there is any doubt that Julie Johnston had a better overall tournament than Buchanan -- heck, JJ was a Gold Ball finalist! -- but very simply, Johnston was not eligible for the Best Young Player award. You have to be under 20 (born after Jan 1, 1995, to be exact). JJ turned 23 in April (born in 1992).

 

While within playing distance of the ball. And the opponent may fairly charge.

From the Laws:

 

What I dont like about the minutes thing is ur basically punishing Lloyd for playing every minute of WC which was a remarkable feat for an offensive player. Sasic's team actually played 30 more minutes than the US.