Roster by Position GOALKEEPERS (3): Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Ashlyn Harris (North Carolina), Hope Solo (St. Louis Athletica) DEFENDERS (8): Brittany Bock (Los Angeles Sol), Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis Athletica), Stephanie Cox (Los Angeles Sol), Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers), Heather Mitts (Boston Breakers), Megan Schnur (Sky Blue FC), Cat Whitehill (Washington Freedom) MIDFIELDERS (12): Yael Averbuch (Sky Blue FC), Shannon Boxx (Los Angeles Sol), Tina DiMartino (FC Gold Pride), Tobin Heath (UNC), Angela Hucles (Boston Breakers), Brittany Klein (Chicago Red Stars), Lori Lindsey (Washington Freedom), Carli Lloyd (Chicago Red Stars), Heather O’Reilly (Sky Blue FC), Leslie Osborne (FC Gold Pride), Megan Rapinoe (Chicago Red Stars), Kacey White (Sky Blue FC) FORWARDS (3): Lauren Cheney (UCLA), Amy Rodriguez (Boston Breakers), Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom) ==== Abby Heath Rapinoe--------------HAO Boxx--Osbourne Chalupa-LePeilbet-Buehler-Whitehill Solo I think we should go with 2 holding midfielders for this one. Germany would be very dangerous offensively, especially considering they're playing at home. The Boxx-Ozzie pairing would be perfect because Boxx has become even more of an offensive threat with her club; she can dribble with the ball, or fade in as we build up from the wings, which would leave Ozzie with most of the defensive work. Hence, we're not caught without a defensive presence when Boxx is in one of her offensive forays.
I'm not anti-Whitehill on the WNT but if you put her on the outside of a 4 back you are setting her up to fail. She will get TOASTED. The woman is not fast. I take it you are not a Mitts fan? I read on the WNT blog that only 18 are actually traveling to Germany for the match. Will be interesting to see who makes the 18.
Code: Kacey White(ARod/ Cheney) Wambach Heath Rapinoe(Klein) HAO (DiMartino) Averbuch(Boxx) Chalupny Le Peilbet(Bock) Buehler(Whitehill) Cox(Schnur) Solo Does Klein play left mid? Does Cox play on the right?
Cheney Abby Rapinoe Heath HAO Boxx Chupa LePeilbet Bhuehler Mitts subs: Klien for Heath. Arod for Cheney. Bock for Bhuehler. Mitts, while didn't impress me during WPS, she did impress me with NT play this summer. Something strange happened in Boster where everyone under-achieved during the WPS season. Heath at UNC is playing attacking/distributor in the mid and is doing a great job. I think Klien could also do the same job and both would be better than Lloyd at it. Arod in for last 15 minutes, see if her speed can create something against tiring legs. With that said, Cheney is has also been playing some attacking mid this season and it could be interesting to see her play below Arod and Abby. She holds the ball so well in traffic, she can end up creating opportunities. Klien played d-mid often.
White had a much better WPS season than ARod. She has technical skills ARod lacks. At times I think she plays too delicately (not delicate as in physically soft). I guess we'll see what Pia thinks in a few weeks. I don't know why Mitts had such a hard time adjusting to the left. Also, there really isn't anyone else on the roster that I think would really beat Mitts out as a right back. Schnur & Cox played on the left and I don't remember how fast (or not) Schnur is. Cox isn't speedy (but she's really solid and serves a nice long ball). Buehler of Bock could shift right if Whitehill was deemed to be top XI quality. The d starts to get really slow, though.
I think the Boxx-Osbourne pairing is too slow against the Germans. I see Boxx Starting along with Klein (great season in WPS and Pia seems to reward that). Whitehill is too slow for me, I'd go with Mitts in this game. I like the idea of Heath up top with Abby. Cheney is too similar to Abby to be paired with her in my opinion. Heath could hold the ball, make people miss, take them on 1v1.
Heath has very little experience at Forward, i'm not sure she'd be making efficient runs or if we'd be utalizing her assests. She's really not much faster (if at all) than Cheney anyway. I do not want to see Boxx-Osbourne in the middle. Osbourne hasn't really found her footing yet. I'd rather give Klien a chance, her passing is much better and she is very tough on D as well.
Indeed. Do we have enough other options at right mid that HAO can move up top? To my eyes, Cheney looked better than ARod in the Canadian series. She isn't simply a target player as she does have mobility & some ball skills.
I think the answer might still be in college. Not sure if the current pool of players has anybody that will make much of a difference at the international level. We might have to wait a bit.
-------------------------Solo----------------------- --Mitts--------LePeilbet----Bock-------Chalupny-- -----------------------Boxx------------------------- -------O'Reilly-------Klein------------Rapinoe----- ---------------Cheney----Wambach-------------- Barnhardt/Harris for Solo Beuhler for Mitts Averbuch for Boxx Heath for Rapinoe White for Wambach DiMartino for Klein I suppose Lloyd needs at least a little time to prove to us her poor WPS season was a fluke. I would love to find a way to move Lori Chalupny up into the midfield, but I'm not very confident in any of the other left back options. Cox is slow, Whitehill is slower, and I'm surprised Schnur even got called up to camp. Dowling would have been a great fit there. Oh well.
I'm a Mitts fan, but I didn't see much from her play with her club to merit a start with the nats. As for Whitehill and the speed factor, I think her experience and positioning would make up for it. Besides, I envision more of a semi three back system with LePelbeit, Buehler, and Whitehill staying back while Chalupa gets free reign to join the attack more often. Watching the Germany-Norway game, I think it is essential to shut down Germany's play in the center of the field. Norway did a great job in the first half of reading Germany's passes and shutting down their closing lanes. That's why it's essential to have two experienced defensive mids (Boxx and Osbourne) to shut down the German attack. We dominated possession with having both Boxx and Osbourne vs Sweden in wwc 07, let's see if they can do it again.
Behringer is out for a month w/ an injury. Neid could do a couple of different things but I'd think Bajramaj very well might be starting in her place. Speed, speed, and more speed. That is not at all a favorable matchup for a 3 back or Whitehill on the outside (or Buehler, for that matter) regardless of their positioning. Anyway, did we learn so little from the April years? Shifting a centerback outside (even a speedy one) does no one any favors (except perhaps the opposition). I wasn't impressed w/ Mitts during the WPS season, either. But given the outside backs in camp, there simply aren't other options that match up better, imo. (I do hope Dowling's absence was in fact injury related rather than Pia not thinking highly of her) I do hope that ARod does not make the travel 18. But that's my own bias. She had a bad rookie season (which followed a subpar senior college season) and did not look at all good in the Canadian series. Do we know the substitution rules for this friendly? Sometimes teams agree to allow more than 3. ------------Solo---------- Mitts----Bock----LePeilbet----Chalu ------------Boxx--------------- HAO--------????-------------Rapinoe ---------Abby--------Cheney I can't bring myself to put Lloyd's name in the lineup but I truly do not see Pia leaving her out. I liked Klein's WPS play but I don't think Pia is going to throw her to the wolves right away. Same w/ Averbach (I also can't decide if she's too slow for the international game or not). Osborne (according to the not always informative WNTblog) is rehabbing a calf injury. And the combo w/ Boxx is more defensive than I'd like. I'd be tempted to put Bock in the midfield but since she was picked as a defender, Pia won't do that. Hell, I'd love to see Chalu pushed into that inside mid role were we to have a better left back option.
I'm also very interested to see if Boxx can play well against the Germans. I think we might be in need to two new central midfielders so I would love to see Klein in there. This is the time to find out.
I don't see Boxx and Osborne (thanks for correct my spelling!) as being too conservative or too defensive at all, especially with how Boxx's offensive game has developed. She seems more comfortable with holding the ball and distributing as well as moving up with the ball in offensive positions. In the All-Star game, I liked how she lingered in the offense. Her presence there really allowed the all stars to dictate the game in Umea's defensive third. I'd like to see more of that from her on the national team...sorta like a Lloyd hybrid. And I think with Osborne as the more defensive minded of the two, we can allow for Boxx to play a freer role. As for Barjmaraj, I agree with you there. She's so quick and unpredictable with the ball that Whitehill's positioning won't overcome her other shortcomings. Perhaps Mitts would be the better option; hopefully she'll do better with the national team.
If Osborne is healthy then she is a great asset and has proved herself before. I am not sure how quickly Averbuch can step up to this level of play but I do know she won't be pushed around. Yael being 5' 10" is not a bad thing.
i love how the last couple posts have ignored Tobin completely. Hello. There's your a-mid. she's been doing incredible with the 'Heels at that spot-- or have you guys totally turned a blind eye to the college game?
I do not think anyone has left Tobin off their radar screen. She has played great in college. In the past when she has stepped up to the WNT, she didn't show allot and all her fancy moves that went no place were questioned. It was more the adjustment to that level of play and more maturity needed. I think we all have high hopes for Tobin. I will admit she photographs well in an ice bucket and was quite the topic on the Female Hall of Hotness thread.
A couple of points. Before I talk about Heath specifically, I do want to point out that everything about the international game is three steps above and beyond the college game. A player may be great in the college game and simply not able to make the leap in the exact same position. I like Heath as a player. Like her a lot. As a more central mid in the Canada series she did some positive things. But she is young. I'm not ready to hand her the keys to the car. And I think at this point, she's better for the WNT on the wing. Part of that is her youth and the demands of the international game. I don't want to see Clint Dempsey like tricks in the middle of the field that result in turnovers & breakaways for the other team. It is much safer to make those moves on the outside. It provides energy and fun and so forth for the team & crowd w/o being quite as risky for the team. Heath better recognizes now (much more so than in 08) when to make the fancy move and when not to. She has a dynamic offensive ability. I think she's a better defender on the wing than Rapinoe. (Rapinoe fouled far, far too much in WPS play). She has a high work rate and I think she should get some time in the middle but not start there. She's also picked up some knocks this season and may not be completely healed to play 90 verses Germany.
I originally had Heath as the offensive mid player in my Germany line-up....But after re-watching some Olympics games this week, I think Chupa would be most effient at that position for us right now. She needs the ball more. She can dribble, pass and plays great defense (which would be a great change from Lloyd.) I dont think Heath is experienced enough yet. Heath has experience at Left back she could spend some time back there. I'd like to see us find someone who's fast and good at that position to free up Chupa.
There is a whole thread (in which I somewhat myopically said she needed to be played outside) dedicated to what to do with Heath– its in this forum. Having watched her with the Heels this season, I wanna take it back, and agree with Kool-Aide. She may be the future of the USA attacking midfield, but not YET, not at this level of play. She is working really hard on her playmaking and finishing, and she’s growing by leaps and bounds. Give her a year or two in WPS and some time on the outside to continue to build her 1 v. 1 chops at the international level, THEN switch her inside. That’s the best way to develop her talent, long-run. This is a friendly, so we can take some risks, but its an Uber-friendly against a great team, so we don’t want to waste the opportunity. Accordingly, I say the following players take the trip (with editorial in ( ): GK: Solo, Barnhart (Harris will be around next year– why antagonize the Heels coaching?) D: Mitts (Can you say beep test?); Whitehill (Can you say specialist?); Chalupny, LePeilbet, Bock, and Beuler. M: Boxx, Heath, O’Reilly, White (Because if not after this WPS season, what the hell do you have to do?), Osborne, Rapinoe, Dimartino (As opposed to Lloyd, because it’s a friendly, and Dimartino is really fit and fast. This is a great, low risk chance to give her some minutes against a quick, world-class team and see how she goes. Costs us nothing, really. Also not Averbuch, because although my biggest concern is att-mid and this is her natural position, she is, IMO, not at this level of play– though I’m happy she is getting the experience at camp and wish her the best in the future.) If I had to pick a line up, I’d go with: Solo Mitts Bock/Whitehill LePielbet Chalupny Boxx O'Reilly Heath Osborne Cheney Wambach There is no rocket science in these predictions, and really not much even of interest. I think Mitts because she has the speed and can get forward, so balances the back line with Chalupny who is a given. Whitehill will go and play because she is one of the true specialists in the women's game, and in addition to her ability on set plays, no one is better at feeding Wambach (I don't know why so many fans think the women's game has no room for specialists? It sure works for the men...) I'm not wild about Boxx-Osborne in the middle but have nothing better to offer. Arod will go because Kai can't. Horrible chemistry with the Breakers, so, Really bad rookie season, OR worst rookie season EVER? Still, I love this gal, and I think Pia sees something in her. She will go and get some minutes and (Hey, no pressure) if ever there was a moment when a player needed to step up and show a coach their faith was not misplaced...
scratch Osborne off the line-up. She left camp due to a calf injury not responding to treatment. That makes 25 still standing...
Ahh shucks. Maybe Bock for Osborne then... Abby Heath Rapinoe--------------HAO Boxx--Bock Chalupa-LePeilbet-Buehler-Mitts Solo