These games are more about fitting the new parts into a working machine than the actual results. The camp itself is most important. It’s shame the competition couldn’t be a bit stronger, but the team itself has always been crazy competitive. I recall Grant’s pod before the WC. Vlatko was shocked at how competitive a training session had been, and the players looked at him like he was nuts, told him that was mild, and that every day would get more intense.
We expect too much from these women. Let them gel into a unit before they beat the rest of the world 8-0.
This will be a difficult transition therefore one should not feel overconfident by the 5-0 defeat of NZ. There is a long way to go; my takeaways from the two matches to date are as follows:
(1) Should Huerta carry on with the form she has displayed through the NWSL last season and the match today, she should easily be the back up for O'Hara, if not compete outright for the Right Wing-back position
(2) Hate to throw cold water on the notion that Macario will be the next great centre forward on the team; but she has proven not to be the "striker" of the future. She is much like Marozsán and should be a false 9 or attacking mid
(3) Two position issues still facing the USWNT: As of now we only have two legitimate strikers in Hatch & Morgan; we also have two experienced holding mids in Sullivan & Ertz. Howell has played the def mid role in college; but she is not Ertz .
I thought we started off poorly but ended with a flourish. Lots of bright lights to follow: Sanchez for one. And Ashley Hatch, midge Purce, Sophia. And Mallory looks like a star again. And there was more. (#8 - Huerta?) played with passion and effectiveness. I think Emily Fox will improve a lot with minutes. Cat is great , and Rodman and Howell are exciting. I always like Lynn Williams. She is on the edge ( age wise) , but still has great speed and power. Some sloppy passing and dangerous lapses in our defensive end. I feel better, however. Here is the thing: the Alex Morgan’s of the world are also going to come back and fight for their spots. So, when all is said and done, we should have a great team. A Mixture of experience, skill, speed and athleticism.
as much as i love watching this team transition, i loathed that match start to finish. scheduling is difficult during covid times especially with most high level european teams trying to prep for the euros against euro opponents... but inviting a weakened NZ squad to this tournament is truly pointless stuff. i learned nothing about those players in this match. hopefully it was good for the young players to get minutes in the squad but you cannot analyze that match against that opponent. heading into qualifying, they need to do a lot more to prepare against sides who will be played in and ready to compete.
Um...besides never seeing any team give up three own goals, they were by the SAME PLAYER! What should we call this--a "negative hat trick"?
These games are more about fitting the new parts into a working machine than the actual results. The camp itself is most important. It’s shame the competition couldn’t be a bit stronger, but the team itself has always been crazy competitive. I recall Grant’s pod before the WC. Vlatko was shocked at how competitive a training session had been, and the players looked at him like he was nuts, told him that was mild, and that every day would get more intense.
We expect too much from these women. Let them gel into a unit before they beat the rest of the world 8-0.
This will be a difficult transition therefore one should not feel overconfident by the 5-0 defeat of NZ. There is a long way to go; my takeaways from the two matches to date are as follows:
(1) Should Huerta carry on with the form she has displayed through the NWSL last season and the match today, she should easily be the back up for O'Hara, if not compete outright for the Right Wing-back position
(2) Hate to throw cold water on the notion that Macario will be the next great centre forward on the team; but she has proven not to be the "striker" of the future. She is much like Marozsán and should be a false 9 or attacking mid
(3) Two position issues still facing the USWNT: As of now we only have two legitimate strikers in Hatch & Morgan; we also have two experienced holding mids in Sullivan & Ertz. Howell has played the def mid role in college; but she is not Ertz .
I thought we started off poorly but ended with a flourish. Lots of bright lights to follow: Sanchez for one. And Ashley Hatch, midge Purce, Sophia. And Mallory looks like a star again. And there was more. (#8 - Huerta?) played with passion and effectiveness. I think Emily Fox will improve a lot with minutes. Cat is great , and Rodman and Howell are exciting. I always like Lynn Williams. She is on the edge ( age wise) , but still has great speed and power. Some sloppy passing and dangerous lapses in our defensive end. I feel better, however. Here is the thing: the Alex Morgan’s of the world are also going to come back and fight for their spots. So, when all is said and done, we should have a great team. A Mixture of experience, skill, speed and athleticism.
as much as i love watching this team transition, i loathed that match start to finish. scheduling is difficult during covid times especially with most high level european teams trying to prep for the euros against euro opponents... but inviting a weakened NZ squad to this tournament is truly pointless stuff. i learned nothing about those players in this match. hopefully it was good for the young players to get minutes in the squad but you cannot analyze that match against that opponent. heading into qualifying, they need to do a lot more to prepare against sides who will be played in and ready to compete.