Women’s World Cup ‘23 Game Thread (spoilers)
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I care less about juggling the frontline and more about a gameplan that doesn’t leave them going 1v2 on islands all match.
We don’t have one of those though.
The game plan seems to be hope someone does something. Is this the worst coached USWMT ever?
Absolutely, and good on Carly lloyd for calling them out.
Also shockingly Lalas made a great point, that all the fame and money only comes because you are winners.
The worst a USWNT has ever done in the World Cup is 3rd place. At this point getting to the quarterfinals seems like a long shot.
Do they take a chance and shift around the defense and move Ertz back into midfield? That seems like one of the only moves available to try and wake up the attack, and even that may not be enough.
Do they take a chance and shift around the defense and move Ertz back into midfield? That seems like one of the only moves available to try and wake up the attack, and even that may not be enough.
Oh my God. Yes, that sucked and perhaps they will fall in the round of 16. But the “get off my lawn” bullshit from Lloyd and the Fox Sports asshats is almost as annoying as the misery in this thread (where all of the men spend 90+ minutes doing nothing but complain about everything that the US women do on the field). “This isn’t Mia Hamm’s USWNT” from whoever the talking man on the left is…STFU. Mia Hamm is older than I am - of course the culture has changed. She’d be the first one to say it, and then find a way to make it a positive and not a negative.
And how dare they smile and dance with friends and family after going through to the round of 16. How dare they show joy in any way. Carly Lloyd can shove it up right up Alexi Lalas’s ass. They deserve each other. She’s fucking miserable and holier-than-thou and always has been. And he’s the most over rated American soccer player ever has been making my ears bleed for 15 years now on Fox.
I despise the constant bitching and moaning unless the USWNT march perfectly through. You’d think they just lost 4-0. I, myself, would rather look forward to watching my country’s team again in the round of 16, than tear them down non-stop following a difficult match that did not show them at their best. Yes, yes, tearing them down will definitely help. Let’s do that.
And how dare they smile and dance with friends and family after going through to the round of 16. How dare they show joy in any way. Carly Lloyd can shove it up right up Alexi Lalas’s ass. They deserve each other. She’s fucking miserable and holier-than-thou and always has been. And he’s the most over rated American soccer player ever has been making my ears bleed for 15 years now on Fox.
I despise the constant bitching and moaning unless the USWNT march perfectly through. You’d think they just lost 4-0. I, myself, would rather look forward to watching my country’s team again in the round of 16, than tear them down non-stop following a difficult match that did not show them at their best. Yes, yes, tearing them down will definitely help. Let’s do that.
Let’s see the difference between Carly and Heather O’Reilly here…my guess is it’s HUGE in attitude.
There are positives to take (another match with no shots on target against, Girma is majestic), but the offense is so incompetently organized that it makes these matches pretty brutal to watch. That’s why everyone gets so grumpy watching them (and some people like to punish themselves by actually watching Fox talking heads, to which I simply say “don’t”).
They are the #1st ranked team in the world who came very close to being knocked out of the World Cup by the #47th ranked team.
Watching this game, it wasn't a situation where the better team controlled the game but could not break through. It was two sides who seemed evenly matched and that is a massive warning side.
They need to figure their shit out quickly or you won't have anything to look forward to after Sunday.
I think that was my issue. In all the interviews they talked about how unlucky they were with their finishing, like they had tonnes of chances and couldn’t convert them.
I’d argue the opposite is true, they are lucky that Portugal shot wasn’t 1 inch to the left.
I hope I’m wrong but Sweden is going to take this team apart. They need to move Ertz up to midfield for that game but I don’t trust Vlat to make any right move. I can’t remember watching a US team look this bad three games in a row ever. They just don’t seem to have any plan at all. It’s basically play for set pieces and try to play Morgan in behind.
They had tons of chances against Vietnam and had awful finishing. I’m not convinced that they’d have scored even if they generated the opportunities.
There’s no fix for this team that will allow them to advance significantly. The defense is sort of okay, though Dunn scares the shit out of me. I don't profess to be an expert in their goalkeeping staff, but I've read enough rumblings to know that Naeher is starting for leadership and has been passed by on the skill front. To my eye she looks like toast. Reflexes are there but she looks like a tree falling. No explosiveness or quickness at all.
Without Lavelle they've had basically no midfield to speak of. The wings are dribbling into corners, closing their eyes, and crossing to nobody. It's like watching a pickup game with talented strangers.
Vlat looks like he could manage ManCity to relegation. That's essentially what he's doing with this USWMNT. They might not have the talent to take the tournament, but they sure as shit aren't this bad.
There’s no fix for this team that will allow them to advance significantly. The defense is sort of okay, though Dunn scares the shit out of me. I don't profess to be an expert in their goalkeeping staff, but I've read enough rumblings to know that Naeher is starting for leadership and has been passed by on the skill front. To my eye she looks like toast. Reflexes are there but she looks like a tree falling. No explosiveness or quickness at all.
Without Lavelle they've had basically no midfield to speak of. The wings are dribbling into corners, closing their eyes, and crossing to nobody. It's like watching a pickup game with talented strangers.
Vlat looks like he could manage ManCity to relegation. That's essentially what he's doing with this USWMNT. They might not have the talent to take the tournament, but they sure as shit aren't this bad.
If the coaching is that bad then the players need to take over and just do what they know how to do. They can’t make substitutions but they sure can make on field adjustments as they see fit. It’s not like the coach is out there calling plays like in basketball. And even then in the NBA players make on court adjustments.
I’m not arguing that they’re great or even worthy of moving on - but I’m also not burying them and being whiny about everything for them not playing like a number 1 in the world. If they aren’t number 1, so what? If they lose, it will suck. But I’m still going to fucking cheer for them and try to be positive until they do lose. I’ll get frustrated, sure, but also not so negative that every thought I have is out of the mouth of Debbie Downer. The misery fandom just isn’t my thing, I guess. I should know better than to expect different on this board, really in any game thread.
glad I didn’t wake up at 2am to watch that. But grumpy that i woke up at 5:30 to watch it.
If anyone wants to see what great managing looks like, see what Wiegman is doing with England right now. No idea if she’ll stay with England after this tournament, but US Soccer should make her a massive offer as soon as this tournament ends.
Sweden is a brutal match up for the US. They’re tough & physical & organized. The US will have the smallest advantage in athleticism it’s had yet. The premium will be on technique and tactical execution. The US has not shown enough of either yet.
If anyone wants to see what great managing looks like, see what Wiegman is doing with England right now. No idea if she’ll stay with England after this tournament, but US Soccer should make her a massive offer as soon as this tournament ends.
Sweden is a brutal match up for the US. They’re tough & physical & organized. The US will have the smallest advantage in athleticism it’s had yet. The premium will be on technique and tactical execution. The US has not shown enough of either yet.
Lucy Bronze is furious at being subbed off while winning 4-1. Lalas & Lloyd must be so proud.
It’s mind numbing how Fox keeps feed Lala’s ego. Like these poorly informed power rankings that they manage to bring up every segment? That’s garbage. A normal person would be embarrassed.
It’s mind numbing how Fox keeps feed Lala’s ego. Like these poorly informed power rankings that they manage to bring up every segment? That’s garbage. A normal person would be embarrassed.
Was Morgan ineffective? I only watched highlights but she had some chances in those highlights.
In a vacuum I'd prefer a front line of Rodman - Smith - Williams but I have no problem with how Morgan has played the 9 so far this tournament. Our problems are mainly behind that line.
Feels like a bit of an ascendancy for Europe teams in the women’s game, as has been the case in the men’s game at world cups. Just more tactical.
Japan and Colombia would like a word, with Nigeria and Brazil clapping hard behind them. Australia probably beats Denmark, and might be even odds vs France/Germany in the QFs.
(no I don't think Nigeria beats England, but I do think Japan is 50-50 to end our run if we make the QFs)
I'm not sure what other than the USWNT's performance would make one more impressed with the UEFA contingent this time over last time. Remember, they went from 24 teams to 32, and the new bids went: AFC +1, CAF +1, CONCACAF +3 (!!), CONMEBOL 0 (!), UEFA +3 (n.b. this came about because in the ICPO, Haiti beat Chile, Panama beat Paraguay, and Portugal beat Cameroon; I'm sure FIFA was betting that CONMEBOL would win one of those ICPO brackets). There's no doubt that UEFA's 10th, 11th and 12th teams are better than CONCACAF's 4th, 5th and 6th teams, but I'm not sure it speaks to the relative quality at the top.
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In my little brain, this makes sense. Europe had the systems in place to churn out high level players on the men's side. Assuming they flipped that switch to mirror it on the women's side in the late 90's and early 00's, you'd expect the effort to be bearing fruit.
The US development model doesn't need to be rehashed here, but going through it now for a second time (first as a player, second as a father) it doesn't seem to be getting any better. It's a profit center first, training pool second.
The women play Sweden next, right? I'll be somewhat surprised if they win that match. They look middle of the road in this tourney, at best.
That won't be determined until this time tomorrow, but it's very likely Sweden, yeah.
We can absolutely beat Sweden. Sweden's recent results have not been scintillating, and their 5-0 thumping of Italy sounds more impressive until you remember that Italy's league is semi-pro. Sweden has lost to Denmark this year, drew Norway, and honestly Argentina may give them a tough test tomorrow as ARG can still advance with a win and only a total farce would prevent Sweden from winning the group anyway. This is not Sundhage-era Sweden that always had our number (although in fairness, they did beat us in the 2020 Olympics group stage under their current coach). Sweden's lineup is also old. Asllani is 33, the vast majority of their starters are 29 or older, in fact the only one younger than 29 is 26yo CM Angeldahl.
The USA has beaten Japan in a competitive match this year (along with beating Brazil and Canada). We did so with the services of Mal Swanson at left wing, but also without Julie Ertz (Cook was paired with Girma at the back) and with limited minutes for Rose Lavelle; other than that, that team largely looked the same as our team for this tournament. So it's entirely within their power to once again be the team that bossed that tournament back in February.
Sure, we could go out in the R16. But this squad also has what it takes to make the Final, too.
If you can pause a bit .. I think most of the criticism is with how the team is set up and how it is managed. The talent is there but isn’t being used… what’s the point of having one of the deepest benches in the world if you’re not going to sub? And when you do you bring on Rapinoe who wasn’t particularly effective 4 years ago let alone now…. The manager has them playing scared… basically bunkering to play for a tie. Instead of putting in fresh legs and running at Portugal. Morgan doesn’t have the speed she used to ..so isolating her up front doesn’t make sense.. neither does playing her 90+ minutes in all three games.
The major positive is that this team barely allows shots.. let alone shots on goal and only let up one goal.
For me it’s also a carry over from the USMNT.. talented teams being managed by really poor managers that seem to constantly make decisions that keep their teams from winning.
Yes, I 100% blame the manager here. There seems to be no plan and no way to fix things that aren’t working. Posters above who know much more suggest that this is who he is.
I don’t think any of the players are dogging it. I can’t remember this team playing 3 bad games in a row before. If you want to throw out the Netherlands game like that ref threw out her cards, you could. But neither the game against Vietnam or the one this morning have me brimming with confidence.
I don’t think any of the players are dogging it. I can’t remember this team playing 3 bad games in a row before. If you want to throw out the Netherlands game like that ref threw out her cards, you could. But neither the game against Vietnam or the one this morning have me brimming with confidence.
Not sure if the highlights showed it, doubt it, but Morgan had a wide open Sullivan, like no one within 5 yards of her, at the top of the 18 and took a weak bad angle shot
that said, Morgan is one of my 3 favorite players in the history of the sport, male or female, and I’m probably unfairly spoiled. I have no emotional connection to any of the other strikers so it’s mainly disappointment talking.
And getting old sucks in any context