Thoughts on the WWC?

[upstater]

How do u feel about Vlatko? I say keep him.

I'm not a fan of their style of play. Airballs and hope. But if we had Swanson or Macario up top, he might not play that way.

 

[upstater]

She was a disaster overall. Never should have been on the pitch. That was then, this is now. She was a political appointee.

??

Coaches stay with the players who won them championships. It's wrong. But that's very different than a political appointee.

Not sure why people don't see this happening a lot in multiple world cups.

Zidane stayed too long as well. 2004 was a disaster.

 

[upstater]

Agree about the technical gifts. But technical gifts do not always put the ball in the net.

Also, someone needs to teach them how to play one touch soccer. Too many touches for this level of soccer.

Assume with Swanson, Macario and Thompson, they'd have more success finding the net.

 

[RSTuthill]

??

Coaches stay with the players who won them championships. It's wrong. But that's very different than a political appointee.

Not sure why people don't see this happening a lot in multiple world cups.

Zidane stayed too long as well. 2004 was a disaster.

I don't think you followed my meaning.

She was out there to protect the coaches from the uproar if they lost and she had not played. I don't care if she was on the team. Bringing her on at that juncture was crazy and could only mean one thing.

 

[upstater]

I don't think you followed my meaning.

She was out there to protect the coaches from the uproar if they lost and she had not played. I don't care if she was on the team. Bringing her on at that juncture was crazy and could only mean one thing.

I don't see it that way. Vlatko seems like a guy that is totally unsympathetic to fan favorites. Some of these players didn't even make the team. I think he is just like many coaches who stick with players who brought him there.

 

[gtcam]

England played their worst match in memory and still beat a spunky and talented Nigerian side. Happy for them.

 

[RSTuthill]

England played their worst match in memory and still beat a spunky and talented Nigerian side. Happy for them.

My buddy and I split up the top ten favorites prior to the start for a beer bet.

He has Sweden and Australia remaining.

I have Spain, France, England and Netherlands remaining.

Neither of us had Japan (slightly embarrassing).

Kinda liking my chances at the moment although by definition I will lose at least one in the next round.

 

[HCCForever]

My buddy and I split up the top ten favorites prior to the start for a beer bet.

He has Sweden and Australia remaining.

I have Spain, France, England and Netherlands remaining.

Neither of us had Japan (slightly embarrassing).

Kinda liking my chances at the moment although by definition I will lose at least one in the next round.

Easy to understand why neither of you picked Columbia. Hoping for a good match tonight between The Netherlands and Spain.

 

[Plebe]

I don't know how people expect the senior team to remain elite when our youth national teams, for quite some time now, have fallen way behind.

"Anyone who has followed the youth national teams knew this day would come. The USWNT's under-20 team did not get out of the group stage at both the 2022 and 2018 U-20 Women's World Cups. The U-17 USWNT did get out of the group in 2022, only to be eliminated in its first knockout game, and previously crashed out of its groups in 2018 and 2014."

USWNT World Cup post-mortem: Examining the reasons the defending champs fell short

The end of the U.S. team's World Cup dominance came as a shock, but in other ways this early exit has been a long time coming. Here are the many factors that contributed to their demise in 2023.

www.espn.com

 

[RSTuthill]

I don't know how people expect the senior team to remain elite when our youth national teams, for quite some time now, have fallen way behind.

"Anyone who has followed the youth national teams knew this day would come. The USWNT's under-20 team did not get out of the group stage at both the 2022 and 2018 U-20 Women's World Cups. The U-17 USWNT did get out of the group in 2022, only to be eliminated in its first knockout game, and previously crashed out of its groups in 2018 and 2014."

USWNT World Cup post-mortem: Examining the reasons the defending champs fell short

The end of the U.S. team's World Cup dominance came as a shock, but in other ways this early exit has been a long time coming. Here are the many factors that contributed to their demise in 2023.

www.espn.com

Yup, I do not follow women's soccer so cannot comment on personnel choices. But in the Group stages, not to use subs is crazy. Fresh legs and you need to acclimate players if only to make them more effective if you need them later.

What I noticed on the field was the lack of a one touch possession capability and a marked preference for taking defenders on rather than quick passing and changing fields rapidly to stretch the defenses laterally. Time and time again that pass was wide open and available and they did something else. I concluded they were under orders not to do that.

 

[meyers7]

Vlatko Andonovski steps down. Too bad Greg didn't have guts to do the right thing.

Sources: Andonovski resigns as USWNT coach

Vlatko Andonovski has stepped down as manager of the U.S. women's national team following its World Cup exit, sources have confirmed to ESPN.

www.espn.com

 

[huskypantz]

Spain is a fun team to watch. If I wasn’t on vacation I might wake up for the final. England is big and very physical, this will be an interesting final.

 

[upstater]

I don't know how people expect the senior team to remain elite when our youth national teams, for quite some time now, have fallen way behind.

"Anyone who has followed the youth national teams knew this day would come. The USWNT's under-20 team did not get out of the group stage at both the 2022 and 2018 U-20 Women's World Cups. The U-17 USWNT did get out of the group in 2022, only to be eliminated in its first knockout game, and previously crashed out of its groups in 2018 and 2014."

USWNT World Cup post-mortem: Examining the reasons the defending champs fell short

The end of the U.S. team's World Cup dominance came as a shock, but in other ways this early exit has been a long time coming. Here are the many factors that contributed to their demise in 2023.

www.espn.com

All you need though is 15 girls who are at that world class level.

The strength of the team is now the young women.

Girma, Macario, Swanson, Demelo, Smith, Rodman, Sanchez and Huerta, backed by Horan and Lavelle, etc.

I truly believe the young players are a lot more skilled than those they are replacing.

You see the falloff of the older players and it's astounding. I thought Dunn would play as well as she always has. She was a huge weakness. Obviously Rapinoe shouldn't have been there. This is a mistake coaches make on the men's side as well; sticking with the tried and proven players. O'Hara was not herself--so many players had lost their skills.

We do have very talented young players and you don't need a slate of top performing youth national teams. In fact, if you look at the men's side, you often find mixed results for youth national teams, with unlikely countries winning. Somehow it doesn't translate to eventual world championships.

For instance, in the U20s, the US won all 3 Group stage games, Uruguay won the whole thing, France didn't get out of the group because it lost 2 games.

 

[upstater]

Spain is a fun team to watch. If I wasn’t on vacation I might wake up for the final. England is big and very physical, this will be an interesting final.

I picked Spain since the start of the tournament. Excellent team, even without some if its best players. Like the Spanish men though, they sometimes struggle to score as they favor possession over actual scoring.

 

[huskypantz]

All you need though is 15 girls who are at that world class level.

The strength of the team is now the young women.

Girma, Macario, Swanson, Demelo, Smith, Rodman, Sanchez and Huerta, backed by Horan and Lavelle, etc.

I truly believe the young players are a lot more skilled than those they are replacing.

You see the falloff of the older players and it's astounding. I thought Dunn would play as well as she always has. She was a huge weakness. Obviously Rapinoe shouldn't have been there. This is a mistake coaches make on the men's side as well; sticking with the tried and proven players. O'Hara was not herself--so many players had lost their skills.

We do have very talented young players and you don't need a slate of top performing youth national teams. In fact, if you look at the men's side, you often find mixed results for youth national teams, with unlikely countries winning. Somehow it doesn't translate to eventual world championships.

For instance, in the U20s, the US won all 3 Group stage games, Uruguay won the whole thing, France didn't get out of the group because it lost 2 games.

It’s kind of a double whammy- lost in first round knockout and wasted a roster spot and valuable WWC experience on Rapinoe. Several spots open up on the A team, hopefully we have some talent to step in.

 

[Plebe]

All you need though is 15 girls who are at that world class level.

The strength of the team is now the young women.

Girma, Macario, Swanson, Demelo, Smith, Rodman, Sanchez and Huerta, backed by Horan and Lavelle, etc.

I truly believe the young players are a lot more skilled than those they are replacing.

You see the falloff of the older players and it's astounding. I thought Dunn would play as well as she always has. She was a huge weakness. Obviously Rapinoe shouldn't have been there. This is a mistake coaches make on the men's side as well; sticking with the tried and proven players. O'Hara was not herself--so many players had lost their skills.

We do have very talented young players and you don't need a slate of top performing youth national teams. In fact, if you look at the men's side, you often find mixed results for youth national teams, with unlikely countries winning. Somehow it doesn't translate to eventual world championships.

For instance, in the U20s, the US won all 3 Group stage games, Uruguay won the whole thing, France didn't get out of the group because it lost 2 games.

Even if the young players exceed the skill level of their replacements (a debatable assertion, but let's run with it), I don't think the upgrade is enough to keep pace with the rapidly rising quality of the competition, particularly on the European teams. Skilled? Maybe. Skilled enough? Doubtful.

I think Macario and Sauerbrunn were the two injuries that really hurt. Lavelle's minutes were limited as she was returning from injury; she was great in the time she played, but missing the R16 game on 2 yellows was a massive hit.

Looking at a single youth tournament can be highly misleading, yes. But when the youth national teams are consistently failing to advance from group in both U20 and U17 in consecutive quadrennials, you have to wonder if the smoke emanates from fire.

Smith and Rodman got a ton of minutes and had little to show for it. Charging straight at the goal line isn't going to work a lot against world-class defenses. I honestly don't see Sanchez and Huerta as massive game-changers.

The biggest bright spot by far was Girma. She was a revelation to me.

 

[upstater]

Even if the young players exceed the skill level of their replacements (a debatable assertion, but let's run with it), I don't think the upgrade is enough to keep pace with the rapidly rising quality of the competition, particularly on the European teams. Skilled? Maybe. Skilled enough? Doubtful.

I think Macario and Sauerbrunn were the two injuries that really hurt. Lavelle's minutes were limited as she was returning from injury; she was great in the time she played, but missing the R16 game on 2 yellows was a massive hit.

Looking at a single youth tournament can be highly misleading, yes. But when the youth national teams are consistently failing to advance from group in both U20 and U17 in consecutive quadrennials, you have to wonder if the smoke emanates from fire.

Smith and Rodman got a ton of minutes and had little to show for it. Charging straight at the goal line isn't going to work a lot against world-class defenses. I honestly don't see Sanchez and Huerta as massive game-changers.

The biggest bright spot by far was Girma. She was a revelation to me.

I'm a huge fan of Girma's as well. I just think Swanson and Macario are huge talents. I'm not sure what Thompson is going to do because she's so teeny. But we had a player that can keep the ball at her feet, and is difficult to tackle, in Demelo, and clearly Vlatko had no idea how to use her. We wasted years of Tobin Heath on the flanks, which was dumb. She should have been in the middle. I hope we're not making the same mistake with Demelo. Agreed on Smith and Rodman, but at least they are better than Williams, they can develop, and provide us with solid attacking options like Morgan. We don't have a Wambach anywhere right now. As for Sanchez, it's true, I am a fan. I like her attacking style, and though I appreciate that Fox is feisty, I just don't think she can add as much in the attack.

 

[gtcam]

Spain's defensive backfield is suspect.
Both teams are missing critical players
But I feel the Lady Lionesses have too much fire power
We shall see

 

[RSTuthill]

Spain's defensive backfield is suspect.
Both teams are missing critical players
But I feel the Lady Lionesses have too much fire power
We shall see

Well, I am hoping so or I will be buying lunch for my buddy. But I think it is dead even.

 

[meyers7]

Spain's defensive backfield is suspect.
Both teams are missing critical players
But I feel the Lady Lionesses have too much fire power
We shall see

I believe England gets James back for the final. That should help them.

 

[RSTuthill]

Thoughts on third place?

 

[meyers7]

Thoughts on third place?

Gotta go with the home team?

 

[RSTuthill]

Extra day to rest and prepare at the end of a long hard tournament is unfair. That should be changed. The Aussies were simply out of gas.

But the fact that the Yanks dominated the Swedes and did everything but put the ball in the net is encouraging. Aside from that last part.

 

[huskypantz]

I'm a huge fan of Girma's as well. I just think Swanson and Macario are huge talents. I'm not sure what Thompson is going to do because she's so teeny. But we had a player that can keep the ball at her feet, and is difficult to tackle, in Demelo, and clearly Vlatko had no idea how to use her. We wasted years of Tobin Heath on the flanks, which was dumb. She should have been in the middle. I hope we're not making the same mistake with Demelo. Agreed on Smith and Rodman, but at least they are better than Williams, they can develop, and provide us with solid attacking options like Morgan. We don't have a Wambach anywhere right now. As for Sanchez, it's true, I am a fan. I like her attacking style, and though I appreciate that Fox is feisty, I just don't think she can add as much in the attack.

Girma was great. She can stop any sideline attack, great 1 on 1, steady in the build up and she had at least one incredible pass for an offensive opportunity (I think we scored on it). She also wrote a beautiful article on her deceased Stanford teammate.

 

[huskypantz]

I watched from 80:00 when I arrived at the gym this morning (13m stoppage time). Spain was so good. It was like a rugby side vs soccer technicians. They have a thoroughly enjoyable brand of soccer. Cheers to Espana.