WWC23 group stage: USWNT vs Portugal, August 1 3 am ET

I went on a business trip overseas and the company had the US flag on one of their masts for our visit. That was special. Seeing the flag every time I go into work or drive by the post office, not special.

I dislike it that people keep coming up with new rules for what people are supposed to do.

 

HAO is entitled to her opinion as is Lloyd. I would like more objective analysis from some of the ex players and less fall back on mentality. Positivity is good as well. Too many of them are goaded into the old " back when you were playing" narrative when its clear, times have changed. Maybe the team rallies around proving Lloyd wrong. Lets hope that is the case.

 

I can answer that with one word "Bull."

She is NOT even good any longer. But as I have said elsewhere, if we need someone to go out and start a fight she could be the best choice.

 

I "think" you responded to one post but quoted another. And, since I never make mistakes, that is unforgivable.

However i would say that a USA flag on a business overseas serves as an identification mark but a USA flag flying in the USA only serves to give some people something to to at sunrise and sunset. Of course now the rules have been changed and I think the requirement that flags be raised in the morning and lowered at night has been dropped, at least mostly.

 

Finally seeing some of the individual player stats now and it is pretty depressing. Some key stats:

1. Smith was bad. 7/14 passing. 16 turnovers and 5/15 ground duels. That lines up with the eye test.
2. Rapinoe was worse somehow. I see 8/24 or 7/23 passing. That is beyond unplayable. I am on record in this forum that the coach gets 1 unquestioned player choice. I have no issue with her being on the roster, but she can’t be on the field beyond a few minutes at the end of a game.
3. Sullivan was mostly invisible in the offensive stats. 41 touches, 17 passes. She had some defensive bite with 5 interceptions and 4 tackles. This isn’t enough in a 4-3-3.
4. Ertz really struggled passing. 19/32. For a defender that is very bad. I had thought she had a better game than that.
5 Dunn had relatively better numbers then I expected 19/72 turnovers though that isn’t good.

Girma and Fox are the only highlights. Williams, Horan, Morgan and Rose were kinda OK.

 

You sure? Sweden has one selected (Jakobsson), one frequent player who is injured (Glas). Japan has two selected (Sugita and Endo), and it is very possible some domestic players in the team will be signed by NWSL after the world cup.

 

The team doesn't show for passes. I honestly don't know where the 10 outfield players stand, because they don't seem to be anywhere that they'd be of use. The other teams block the passing lanes and we don't react.
Plus the ball just bounces off US players, and that's just our problem, not the ball's.

 

Are you Rapinoe in disguise or her sister or something? Rapinoe isn't even close to the best ball striker on the team or perhaps you didn't watch the last couple of matches.

 

I hear the players have been taking first touch lessons from Gyasi Zardes. I guess they figure that his first touch is so good that they would do him even one better.

Of course the lack of control of the touch is quite common in soccer but it really has two parts. Great players can make other look great by handling bad passes well, and they also can deliver passes with such precision that even the previously mentioned Gyasi Zardes can handle them well.

What we lack is any/many "great" players of either sex.

That is a problem for many nations that do not have a lot of "just kick it around" soccer. And that spot should have been filled but Swanson had the bad taste to get injured and she was the only player on the women's side that can produce the kind of quality at this time. That was one of the strengths that Megan Rapinoe used to have but has now lost.
That basic thought is even better expressed by:Johan Cruyff - “Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then you can work in the circus. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your team mate.”

 

Spain has one coming to NWSL (Esther Gonzalez - team to be announced after the World Cup).

Also, that tweet is selective. What about the Brazlians who are killing it in the NWSL and will likely advance in the World Cup?

 

If he’s married to this formation, you have to move ertz to midfield for Sullivan and bench Morgan. Morgan and Sullivan were awful. Is there a defender out there that is actually scared of Morgan? She has no 1v1 ability. She needs someone like a washed Pinoe to serve her crosses, which they tried to embarrassing result while trinity twiddled her thumbs uninvolved. Morgan was shooting every ball yards off target. It’s so disjointed.

move smith to the 9 and flank her with Rodman and Williams. Sweden has Morgan scouted, at least that front 3’willl be a bit more unpredictable and dynamic. Sweden doesn’t have a ton of pace which they can possibly exploit.

 

From the reactions, I was expecting dreadful, and I didn't think it was dreadful. I certainly didn't think they lacked heart.

They did lack recognition of space and combination play. Smith seems to be an offensive black hole, and her overdribbling results in other players not moving.

They don't look hopeless. But it will be a challenge.

 

Pinoe looked bad and slow of thought. But when she did good things, it often ended in something valuable.

 

amen

 

BS. We can’t pretend everything is rosy. The celebration afterwards was a joke. We did not just beat Thailand 13-0.

 

What was valuable?

Her whiff on the volley when she was all alone in the box?

Her long square ball across the field in the defensive end of the pitch that was picked off and almost led to a Portugal goal late in the game?

The first touch 20 yards straight up in the air?

Or her 7/22 (32%) accurate passes?

 

I agree with all this and my father fought in WW 2 to defend your right to ignore the anthem and flag. When I was a teacher back in the day, I'd always have some idiot principal scream at me because some kid wouldn't stand for the pledge. Kid was usually a Jehovah's Witness and i'd have to explain to the idiot that it is against the kid's religion to salute the flag. That said, we do have to ask what is even the point of national teams and sports competitions, if not patriotic cheerleading. I mean, if our team wins does this make it a better country? Of course not....so since the whole exercise is an excuse for nationalistic impulses to come out, one should probably go along for the ride and just sing the damn anthem ( if you can remember the words; and yes, I know the anthem is kinda awkward and we have better songs which we used to use back in the day, and the anthem's other verses celebrate slavery and indentured servitude, so it is kinda offensive to a lot of people ) but if an athlete doesn't want to, why should anyone care? They have their reasons, and maybe people should look into their reasons before criticising. Put it this way, when I'm in a church for a funeral and we sing and pray, I go along. But I am not a believer. it's decorum. Call me a hypocrite. We all are at some point. Cheers.

 

The Swiss went 2 losses 1 draw thus eliminated in group play at last year’s Euros. Why would think that’s “very good”.

since then, the Zurich club coach(Inka Grings) took over their NT & infused the starting lineup with her club players & won the WC group(they we’re predicted to finish 3rd

That same Zurich club though lost 9-1 to Arsenal. That’s how tough the Champions League’s become in recent years

 

She clearly can't stand losing the limelight -- and has NO humility or feeling of gratitude for what got her the limelight to begin with. Kinda surprised Fox doesn't have Hope there at the desk, too. Her commentary is useless -- and like her play was, it's just all about her in the end.

 

Nah, sorry but she seems unhappy that she's no longer in the limelight. Just comes across as a critical, washed up ex-jock who's graceless and bitter about life.

 

And why be bitter? I mean, she had years of not having to get up and slog off to a minimum wage job for years, hoping for a break from a better employer, like most of us.....

 

Sullivan is the issue here. Horan should be in the field because she could contribute to the offense. Sullivan barely moves, passes, or even touches the ball and covers very little area of the pitch defensively both in the club and national team, I see no sense starting her as the holding midfielder.
Horan could not cover much area defensively either, but when she is high up the pitch, she is dangerous. USWNT needs a mobile holding midfielder who could make more than 20 passes a match so that Horan and another midfielder could stick high up the pitch and pressure the opponent constantly.

 

I did. Who is better?

 

We saw a contextless 5 seconds of celebration. Some even said it was just vets trying to keep the young players positive after a disappointing game with more to play for. We all know it's not worth listening to anything the fox broadcast say. As some have recalled the '94 men's teams and what was going on with those teams, actual US women's soccer fans know who Carli Lloyd is and what she is. We're talking about hinting that people were talking about equal pay, ending racism and getting sexual predators out of sports too much like it wasn't something they were living and still are experiencing. It's not their fault that some only pay attention to them when they are speaking up and not when they're playing. We know there have been several chosen players who barely played in the NWSL matches while still starting for the US. Many of the leaders of those movements not related to pay aren't even on this team and Lloyd is getting some backpay thanks to them.

Vlatko is the problem. This isn't a federation thing. This isn't about the CBA. We actually saw him bring in a lot of new players to camps and for games. He started Demelo for two games. This is not about the federation or CBA. This has absolutely nothing to do with Berhalter. This is Vlatko. He has refused to adapt for a few years now. There was no mandate for the 4-3-3 like when Klinsmann took over and mandated everything in Reyna's advice as his own for both teams. He was slow to integrate Cat. He finally did and unfortunately she went down to injury. He made no changes since then. Mal bailed him out most of the past year and he made no changes. The midfield is taken out of every game. He has been outcoached nearly every game for a couple of years now. I would try to give him the benefit of perhaps he was just having the team work on in game scenarios, but now it's clear it was just incompetence. The players shouldn't be expected to create magic for another tournament. They should be put in good positions to win.

 

The men were guilty of this year after year, and I think only now that more players have played overseas and are more confident, has this improved.

Look, I don’t care what anyone says, win the possession game. You are the number 1 ranked team in the world for a reason.

Players not showing is a HUGE issue. It means they are playing scared, not confident with themselves, with other players, or with the scheme.

First touch and showing for the ball are the most important things in a match. We all know it. You can have the greatest game plan in the world and the best athletes, but if you’re failing at either of these things (and even worse BOTH), it’s a recipe for disaster.