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

Horan is best suited playing in a 4-2-3-1. She has been very successful with Lyon playing in that formation.

 

I respect your opinion.

 

Respect. We all have different opinions, what makes this board enjoyable.

 

Sitting at the Fox desk broadcasting from the freaking World Cup seems pretty in the limelight to me.

 

Does anyone know the xg for the past two games?

 

I don’t care about the politics. To imply that we can’t criticize their play is ridiculous. And if you want to bring politics into it, it contradicts everything they say they stand for. The dance: that is not how you build a team and grow young players - by pretending everything is rosy. The young players are pros. They don’t need to be coddled with a silly Prozac smile dance, they need to be pissed. And maybe they need to chew Pino’s ass out for multiple whiffs and horrible game management. Maybe that’s what O’Hara was doing.

The women’s 4-3-3 has nothing to do w Berhalter. Of course. What a silly red herring. It sure looks like it has something to do w the Fed though. Both squads playing an ineffective formation, even when it has been sussed out and few others are playing that way?

I’m in no way defending Vlat, he’s the one that picked Pino and played her in a game phase with n which she would be at her worst.

 

Hello, fellow Vet here.

I'm struck by how folks who never served are in a hurry to fall all over themselves about stupid sh!t like this. Or who think that by losing their sh!t over stupid sh!t like the flag/the national anthem somehow papers over their failure to serve, and magically makes them "patriots." Or something. Or who start a conversation by telling us how "my [grandpa/father/other family member] served [but THEY didn't], so somehow that makes them a "patriot."

I don't know that its "stolen valor," per se, so much as it is "borrowed valor."


TL/DR: I agree with you. Losing your sh!t over the flag is fvkcing stoopid. Playing the national anthem, at least before club games, is fvkcing stoopid; I can make an exception for international matches.

Oh, and we NEED a fvkcing draft, to weed out the freedom freeloaders in our society.

 

Prozac doesn't make people smile. It is an anti-depressant that is somewhat effective at blunting symptoms of depression. I'd agree with most of what you said, but I think they were celebrating because they survived and got lucky; they knew their butts should have been out; they played poorly and they knew it. They were happy they didn't get sent packing. I think by now most people who know anything know this team will need a lot of luck to go any further, and the players know it too.

 

Hey man, Long time no hear.

Immediately after the USA-POR match, I heard Heather O'Reilly say that if she were coach, she'd move Ertz back to MF. Even if it weakens our central defense a bit, it might be a net plus. I wonder if Vlatko is hearing this from others. And even if he doesn't start Ertz this way, depending on how the game is going, maybe he could make a mid-game swtich to this effect?

In any case, it's gonna be a sizable uphill climb to overcome Sweden.

 

Ding ding ding. Said this before. She shouldn't even be on the roster but here we are. They need to pull their collective heads out of their butts and play some soccer. Stop the dancing. Stop the tv interviews. Stop the commercials you are making. Stop trying to be the hero by dribbling 1v2 or 1v3. Stop watching your teammate trying to win those dribbles.

START PLAYING FREAKING SOCCER LIKE A TEAM.

Ok sorry rant over.

 

Maybe some hot takes here:

- The 4:3:3…they’ve used it for years. Is it right, is it wrong, don’t know. But you’re the #1 ranked team in the world…act like it. You know teams are scheming for the 4:3:3, so if you can’t dominate with it, you’ve lost players due to injury and can’t play it, teams figure it out within the game, THEN CHANGE. I’d like to believe a U.S. coach has planned for this, but I’m not sure that he has…or maybe he has and the players aren’t executing, or maybe he doesn’t have the players to execute something different…I don’t know.

- I was looking at the starting lineups going back to 2/2022. From a quick glance, Mal logged the most caps (and unfortunately for us, also was playing at an insane level). I believe her and Horan were forming a good partnership….

• I don’t watch every game, but I assume that Mal and Horan and Smith and Lavelle have gotten on the same page. So why then in this WC, have you flipped Smith to the left to play with Horan and have Lavelle play with Lynn or TR. I get it, maybe Lynn or TR just have to be on the right, but what’s more important…a comfortable Smith playing with Lavelle or Lynn or TR playing on the left. Again, don’t know the answer, but consistently is so important…..
• And with regards to consistency, why is Demelo starting two games in a WC when she’s never capped before? Look I get it, she’s in good form, but are you telling me that A. Sanchez who has started a TON of matches over the last 16 games (and I would assume the team has formed some chemistry with) is a worse play? Bring Demelo to the WC for her form, but automatically start her seems one of the most bone headed things someone could do.
• Time for Vlatko to go balls to the wall. Not only is the US tournament on the line, he basically is now going game to game for his job. TR and LW have shown me exactly what they always do…they hustle. Which is great. Bring them on as subs in thr dying minutes. It’s time to see what Thompson can do. At least if you lose, you can lose trying something different.
• Unless O’Hara can’t play, you need to play her. She has major fight in her and will get up and down the field and give every drop she has. Someone has to set the example.
• Lavelle is out, so now what’s the plan. This is pretty major in my book. On a team that is lacking creativity, Lavelle is one of the few that will bring it.
• Dunn hasn’t looked good at all…. But do you do something drastic to get her up and down the field to use her speed ….like putting her in for Lavelle to play O’Hara. Probably won’t happen, and maybe shouldn’t…but a drastic change needs to happen, because I think Sweeden are just licking their chops, ready to pounce….

 

Call me crazy but I still believe that this USWNT is capable of beating Sweden, or at least maybe getting like a 1-1 draw against them and possibly advancing on penalties. We were literally the width of a post away from being sent home in the group stage for the first time ever. If that doesn't serve as the ultimate wake up call for our players, then I don't know what does. But the fact we survived that moment gives us new life. This might be a bit of a stretch, but recall that the Portland Timbers were the width of not one, but TWO posts away from being knocked out early in the 2015 MLS Cup playoffs and ended up going on to win MLS Cup.

Even looking at the more recent history of the USWNT under Vlatko for a more relevant comparison, we played very poorly in the group stages of the 2021 Olympics and still ended up scoring two goals against the Netherlands (with Miedema) and winning on penalties in the first knockout round. I don't see why we can't potentially get a similar result against Sweden. Yes, we were then eliminated by Canada in the semis but only due to a highly controversial penalty given by VAR which the on field official didn't even consider giving when she saw the play in real time.

I mean, it's Sweden. It's a huge rivalry. How could you not be motivated for a matchup with them as a player, regardless of what happened in the group stage? You have to put everything that happened in the group stage behind you and now focus on the task at hand. At the end of the day, the 0-0 draw put us in the exact same position for the knockout stages as a 1-0 or 2-0 win would have, since it became evident early on that we weren't going to catch the Dutch on goal difference regardless. And as other posters have already said, the fact that Vlatko's gameplan (or lack thereof) against Portugal failed so badly will force him to come up with a Plan B for the Sweden match. Who knows, maybe that Plan B just might work. It's unlikely, sure, but in a one off knockout stage game anything can happen.

 

I’m sure the players are giving what they can give individually. They may look disinterested in phases, but I think that’s a feature of getting overrun, not lack of desire.

Unfortunately that means there is nothing to squeeze out of this turnip just from “getting a wake up call.”

The players overall lack the skill and soccer sense necessary to play the 4-3-3 if the other team brings 4 into midfield. Morgan needs some service, but none of the players with her can do that. Whose shortcoming is that? Vlatko’s. Sullivan can’t cover the ground asked of a 6, and Horan can’t make up the difference. Whose fault is that? Vlatko’s.

The defense has been largely solid, so it’ll be hard to accept and believe that a change is needed, but I think Vlatko better switch it up, or Sweden will win.

 

The one play last night where Pinoe had the ball at her feet, time to settle it and tons of space and she launched it into the sky in a shanked manner about 20 yards to her right told me all I need to know about her. She sux and needs to be on a plane home or relegated to cheer leader.

 

I won't call you crazy, but will disagree. Even with Lavelle, they would have trouble with Sweden. Without Lavelle, a win seems very unlikely. The figurative wake up call should have occurred when they looked average against a very bad Viet Nam, a team previous USWNTs would have destroyed.

 

That pretty much sums up how I feel about her. But we do need her available, as i have said before, just in case we need a fight started. I do not think I would want her getting angry at me. She just exudes "meanness" at times and would win, I believe, most 1v1 battles with most people in the world short of say "Tyson Fury."

 

Well, I have had an interesting experience. Where I live, a bunch of us set our TVs to record the game, but it did not work (for some still unknown reason). Against my better judgment, I read all the game comments without having seen the game. Yesterday afternoon, I finally was able to watch the entire game. But the interesting part of the experience is, it apparently was not the same game that most of you posters saw, based on your descriptions. So I am wondering, did the US play Portugal twice?

 

I don't think this will solve the main problem for the us. Will it help. Possibly, but it won't solve the midfield problem were they aren't playing together and acting as a conduit between the defense in forwards.

 

I don't think so. The two things we seem to have all seen in common were: Smith had a bad game, and Portugal bounced one of their few shots off the outside of the post. If you saw those things it probably was the same game...

 

The problem with the 4-3-3 is that it often relies on wing backs for your penetration forward and keeping your 3 midfielders central. Our 3 center midfields are fine staying central and not having to cover a lot of space, but the problem is our wingbacks (Dunn and Fox) have been poor pushing forward and has impacted Dunn defensively (Fox has been fine defensively). This has put pressure on our midfield to cover and do more than their capable.

Alternatively, you see 4-3-3 where the outside forward drop back like the US did against the Netherlands. This is often easy to defend (left Morgan on an island), especially with Smith and Rodman not being good passing or dropping back to defend.

So, since this isn't working, what to do? You could either change formation to improve numbers in the midfield or replace Dunn and possible Fox to get more offense. Someone mention going to a 4-4-2 (may be moving up Ertz). Not sure that we give us enough offense, but may be the best option.

 

Here's a smidgen of optimism as to the Sweden game.

Been a ton of bitching (and rightly so) about the formation and tactics used thus far. One good half out of 3 full matches if putrid.

So the good news? The coach and team really have nothing to lose at this point. They can't go out and do the same thing against Sweden or they will lose and maybe not closely. So they might as well make some serious tactical changes and see what happens!

For you poker players its like this. We made the final table but we are just about out of chips. So when you get any kind of a hand you shove all in. That's what Vlatko needs to do on Sunday. Shove all in. If it flops (see what I did there poker fans) then no real harm cause we are on borrowed time anyway. BUT if something clicks then maybe just maybe we could go on a bit of a run.

 

What was your take after watching the match?

 

Picking up the slack for @lil_one.
Apologies if this was posted already, but I didn't see it after a brief look:

 

If we're going to overthrow democracy based on women's soccer, maybe we should check to see what the forms of government are in the countries that we're losing to

Once we do lose, since we haven't actually lost a World Cup game in run of play since the group stage of 2011

If there had been a draft when I was eligible, Kuwait would be a province of Iraq. And so would Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California....