USWNT 2023: Journey to a 5th Star

[Hagbard Celine 10848]

32 minutes ago, Napoleon said:

QUESTION:

Is Alex Morgan really just the Jesus Ferreira of the USWNT?

only if you're Bisexual

[ztejas 43411]

1 hour ago, Napoleon said:

QUESTION:

Is Alex Morgan really just the Jesus Ferreira of the USWNT?

I think that's a pretty unfair comp. Alex Morgan is 8th all time in international goals scored in the women's game with 0.57 per app.

No doubt a great figure but Ferreira has her pretty easily at 0.65 per app - with a lot of those coming against giants like Barbados and French Polynesia. 

[Napoleon 8658]

5 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I think that's a pretty unfair comp. Alex Morgan is 8th all time in international goals scored in the women's game with 0.57 per app.

No doubt a great figure but Ferreira has her pretty easily at 0.65 per app - with a lot of those coming against giants like Barbados and French Polynesia. 

1) It’s not unfair.

2) Someone pointed out above that Morgan was doing a nice job of setting up teammates.

3) I think that Barbados 🇧🇧 and French Polynesia 🇵🇫 are the level of teams that Morgan could actually score against these days.

The finishing in the women’s game sucks ass compared to the men’s game. That much is obvious. 

After seeing Brazil 🇧🇷 score a team goal against Panama 🇵🇦 that was worthy of the Harlem Globetrotters vs the Washington Generals in their opening match, they could score against Jamaica 🇯🇲 when it looked like Jamaica was playing a girl down the full 90 minutes. 

Morgan isn’t the only attacking player who can’t finish for shit, but her best comp on the USMNT is probably Ferreira.

[BrickHorn 18215]

I just rewatched the first 15:00 of the Portugal game. It was like watching a U14 ECNL team (Portugal) play against a U17 rec team (US). Portugal was clearly smarter and more skilled, but our size, speed, and aggression kept us in the game. (It surely wasn’t our dribbling, passing, or team chemistry.)

[tokamak 6391]

On 8/1/2023 at 5:15 PM, Ted Lange said:

 

Opponent - Total Shots USA-Opponent / Shots on Goal USA - Opponent

Vietnam - 28-0 / 7-0

Netherlands - 18-5 / 4-1

Portugal - 17-6 / 6-0

3 matches 63 shots, opponents 11.   Shots on goal 17 to 1.   

1 Shot on goal in 292 minutes!   How the F did we end up with only 5 points and a GD of 3?  That is almost impossible.

 

If one of Portugal’s shots not on goal had been about 3 inches to the left, it would have been on goal, and in the back of the net, and our team would be watching the rest of this tournament from their couches. 

[Captain Ron 12862]

3 hours ago, Napoleon said:

1) It’s not unfair.

2) Someone pointed out above that Morgan was doing a nice job of setting up teammates.

3) I think that Barbados 🇧🇧 and French Polynesia 🇵🇫 are the level of teams that Morgan could actually score against these days.

The finishing in the women’s game sucks ass compared to the men’s game. That much is obvious. 

After seeing Brazil 🇧🇷 score a team goal against Panama 🇵🇦 that was worthy of the Harlem Globetrotters vs the Washington Generals in their opening match, they could score against Jamaica 🇯🇲 when it looked like Jamaica was playing a girl down the full 90 minutes. 

Morgan isn’t the only attacking player who can’t finish for shit, but her best comp on the USMNT is probably Ferreira.

Ok its not unfair.

It's stupid.

Morgan has skins on the wall. She has performed on the highest stage. She has won World Cups and Olympic medals where she has been a key member of the squad. She scores against the top teams in the world.

Yes, she is having an off tournament. But let's not act like she's only shown up against the scrubs like Ferreira.

[tokamak 6391]

I think this is exactly like ‘98 for the men. In my mind, at least, Morgan is fucking one of the other players’ wives and it’s dividing the team. 

[Hagbard Celine 10848]

11 hours ago, Captain Ron said:

yes, she is having an off tournament. But let's not act like she's only shown up against the scrubs like Ferreira.

morgan = ferreira is a bad comp and napoleon knows it

she is however part of the overall industrial disease infesting this entire program

they are delusional right now

spoilered!

Spoiler

USWNT's continued bullishness appears misplaced

• by Andy Scott , Yesterday

The USA came into the Women's World Cup as the favorite to win a third title in a row but it heads into the last 16 looking anything but champion material after limping through the group stage.

There were already doubts about Vlatko Andonovski's team after an unimpressive 3-0 win over Vietnam in their opening game was followed by a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands.

Andonovski and his players put a positive spin on those displays but there were very few redeeming features about their performance on Tuesday, when they held on for a 0-0 draw with World Cup debutant Portugal to scrape through to the knockout phase.

Ana Capeta's shot that hit the post in injury time very nearly won the game for Portugal, which would have condemned the holders to an unthinkable group-stage exit.

But aside from surviving that scare, the underlying numbers are concerning for the Americans.
They had less of the possession at Eden Park and failed to score for the first time in 15 World Cup games, since a 0-0 draw with Sweden in the 2015 group phase.

They also had less of the possession in their draw with the Dutch, while their finishing has been poor since the tournament started.

"I don't think that was a good performance all together, starting from the back," admitted Andonovski. "I don't think we were able to solve the problems that the opponents presented. There were moments where we did and it looked good, but those moments were very few and not enough to be able to walk out of here with several goals."

Has the world caught up? The 46-year-old Andonovski is in the firing line.

It was always going to be a huge task for him to succeed Jill Ellis, who led the team to back-to-back World Cup triumphs in 2015 and 2019 before stepping down.

Andonovski brought a 23-player squad to New Zealand that featured 14 World Cup debutants, with injuries and retirement ruling out several veterans of recent successful campaigns.

There were high hopes placed in many of the novices, and the likes of Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman have impressed in moments. But it is hard to escape the feeling that the rest of the world is catching up with the USA fast.

The best women's club soccer these days is surely being played in Europe, where Barcelona has taken over from Lyon as the dominant force in the Champions League.

Yet captain Lindsey Horan, at Lyon, is the only member of the U.S. team currently playing in Europe. Could it be that the standard of play in the domestic NWSL is not at the level needed to prepare Andonovski's squad for the World Cup stage?

Failing to fire. Alex Morgan, who has played for the USA in four World Cups, repeated an oft-used phrase in this tournament to explain her team's travails against Portugal.

"Every team in this World Cup is going to be difficult to play. The game is growing and the quality is continuing to rise," she said.

The USA was the only team among the eight quarterfinalists at the last World Cup to hail from outside Europe, where standards have been rapidly rising.

Their difficulties against the Netherlands and Portugal so far this year suggest they will struggle against top European opposition in the knockout phase.

They now leave New Zealand to head to Australia for a last-16 match on Sunday in Melbourne against Olympic silver medalist Sweden.

Andonovski will go into that game without Rose Lavelle due to suspension, which is a big blow.

He has decisions to make in attack too, with none of his front line firing against Portugal.

If they do make the quarterfinals, they will return to Auckland for a meeting with Norway or an ominous-looking Japan.

Asked by local media if they would be back in New Zealand at this World Cup, Morgan replied: 

"That is the plan. We want to make it back to the final and that includes coming back to New Zealand."

Right now, such bullishness seems misplaced.

 

[Hagbard Celine 10848]

woitalla

Spoiler

The 1,000-seat Municipal Stadium Artur Vasques sits high in Régua, a city of 17,000. The stands provide such a spectacular view of the Douro Valley, my wife and I figured this would be a worthwhile way to spend a couple of hours of vacation time regardless of the soccer we'd see from the Portuguese men's fifth division teams in the fall of 2022.

SC Régua and Atei FC players included some in their late teens and early 20s, no doubt hopeful to reach higher levels, and a couple central defenders in their 30s with small beer bellies.

Framed by the scenery, they provided a remarkable soccer-viewing experience — because of their overall impeccable skill on the ball.

My first up-close view of Portuguese soccer came in 1989 while covering the U-20 World Cup in Saudi Arabia won by the Carlos Queiroz-coached Portugal. Luis Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo and the country’s many stars in the world's top leagues — and it being smallest the nation (population: 10.3 million) to win a European Championship — have ensured that all soccer fans are familiar with the quality of Portuguese soccer.
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Still, I hadn’t expected such high-quality soccer from a regional league in the wine country, so many tiers below the elite. Even tightly marked players received passes because they were delivered so accurately and could control them under pressure. While the competition heated up at times, players remained composed while on the ball.

Two years earlier, I met Diogo Gama, then a Sporting CP youth program director, and asked him for theories on Portuguese soccer success.

“Physically we will not be stronger than the others,” he said, “so we must be technically very, very good. And our game understanding must be higher than others because we cannot win duels physically, we need to win duels with anticipation, always thinking one step ahead.”

Portugal's Kika Nazareth fends off the USA's Andi Sullivan.

I thought of all this watching 2023 Women’s World Cup debutant Portugal play the USA to a scoreless tie and nearly knock the two-time defending champion out of the tournament.

(I'm now also thinking about the time a youth coach told me a number of college coaches had inquired about the biggest player on the team before the showcase games had even kicked off for them to see her play.)

It’s been less than a decade since the Portuguese federation (FPF) began seriously supporting the girls and women’s game. From New Zealand, we saw their women display the best of their nation’s traditional playing attributes.

The USA succeeded to advance to the knockout stage, but that the Portuguese played with superior skill — that they played more comfortably and creatively with the ball — was obvious for all to see.

It’s been long known in the years following the USA’s inaugural Women's World Cup win in 1991 that American dominance in women’s world soccer was thanks much to its head start — from youth leagues to the national team program and the expansive college game in between. Well known too was that U.S. dominance would wane if it continued to rely too heavily on athleticism and superb goalkeeping (eg: Hope Solo).

In 2011, U.S. Soccer named April Heinrichs, the 1991 World Cup-winning captain and 2004 gold-medal winning coach, as Technical Director, and Jill Ellis as Development Director.

Upon their appointment, Heinrichs said, “You’re going to hear us shout from the top of every tall building: technique, technique, technique.”

Ellis chimed in with, “We've all come to the agreement that technical development is the greatest need."

Of course, the overall skill level of American female players has improved somewhat and Ellis went on to coach the USA to the 2015 and 2019 Women's World Cup titles.

But as this World Cup has demonstrated, more and more nations are supporting their women’s soccer and many of them have a skill-based soccer culture the U.S. does not.

Alarm bells have been ringing for years, such as after the 2010 U-17 World Cup when South Korea, North Korea, Japan and Spain outshone the USA and 1999 Women’s World Cup-winning coach Tony DiCicco said: “On the girls’ side, our players are not smart players, they lack sophistication, they're not technical enough."

He blamed the youth soccer structure, which he referred to as a big business.

Pioneering Southern California girls coach Tad Bobak (So Cal Blues), who coached U.S. U-15 national teams, told me more than a decade ago that the U.S. women do benefit from a hyper-competitive American youth soccer environment because it instills in them a drive to succeed that serves them well at the higher levels. But he also warned that an overemphasis on winning at the young ages comes at a cost:

“The key thing is the skill base. But if the base is not there, it’s never going to be there later on. …

"Our arena doesn’t allow the ball-handling to be refined because they relied so much on the mental and the physical, and our arena kept rewarding them. ‘Oh don’t worry about your skills out there because you’re getting the results we want you to get.’

“I’ve seen players who are 11, 12, 13 and are very helter-skelter in their base of skills. I haven’t come across a player who’s found those skills later on in my 40 years of coaching.”

The disappointing manner in which the USA has been playing at the 2023 Women’s World Cup — from mis-playing simple passes or failing to control the ball smoothly — isn’t a new problem.

In the past, managing another way to win has made it easier to ignore those deficiencies. And even when it’s recognized at the top, it’s at the grassroots where skills are developed.

Being so thoroughly humbled by Portugal may have made U.S. players' skill deficiencies obvious to the fans who tuned in. But the American game will have to forge on without the kind of soccer culture that has so given many of its opponents an advantage when their girls and women are given opportunities to embrace the game.

tl/dr: turbo soccer ain't cuttin' it

[ztejas 43411]

19 hours ago, Captain Ron said:

Ok its not unfair.

It's stupid.

Morgan has skins on the wall. She has performed on the highest stage. She has won World Cups and Olympic medals where she has been a key member of the squad. She scores against the top teams in the world.

Yes, she is having an off tournament. But let's not act like she's only shown up against the scrubs like Ferreira.

Ferreira is also fairly fucking clinical. Just not sure I get the comp at all.

[Chips O'Toole 1322]

Morgan looks more like a late stage Fernando Torres to me.  

[tokamak 6391]

I loved Abby because she always seemed like she was 100% ready to go out and fucking die for this shit every single time. Morgan doesn’t have that. I thought Rapinoe had it, but maybe she’s finally checked out. Just seems like there’s a big vacuum of veteran leadership. Is Morgan screaming at this group in the locker room? I can’t picture it. 

[BrickHorn 18215]

Lack of effort and heart aren’t our problems. The ladies run their asses off and contest every ball. The issue is lack of skill, tactical smarts, and chemistry.

[Hagbard Celine 10848]

43 minutes ago, Chips O'Toole said:

Morgan looks more like a late stage Fernando Torres to me.  

that's harsh

[Hagbard Celine 10848]

Spoiler

USA: Not having an okay time

For the first time since a 0-0 draw against Sweden in the 2015 Group Stage, the USA failed to score, and thus failed to win a World Cup match. Have you heard? The sky is falling.

As much as we all love to get the popcorn out and listen to people get in their feelings about the state of the USWNT, the style of soccer isn’t the biggest shock here.

The USA’s 0-0 draw with Portugal, and the first half of the 1-1 against the Netherlands, brought home some truths about Vlatko Andonovski-ball that we have seen pretty consistently since the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. There has simply never been enough dynamic movement or midfielders making themselves available to receive the ball.

And then there’s the personnel issues.

Their best midfielder plays left back. Their right back is a left back. Their starting center back was last seen before this tournament as an undroppable holding midfielder. Their star attacking midfielder was injured for three months and is now suspended.

If Ana Capeta’s shot in the 92nd minute had not hit the post and instead went in, and Portugal had advanced, then it really would’ve been time to go nuts. But for now, as crazy as it sounds, it feels like we don’t know what the future holds for this team. Knockouts are knockouts.

To Carli Lloyd’s chagrin, Lynn Williams told the media on Thursday that the USWNT is finding joy in making the Round of 16, and it is something to celebrate. “Not diminishing the accomplishment, that was the name of the game…tournaments are about getting results and we’re getting results,” she said.

Still, the knives are out for Andonovski. And the old Scandinavian foe awaits.

CONCAFed

[A-Tex Devil 2446]

Well I guess we could be Germany.  Colombia got ‘em twice. 

[WBT 20559]

9 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

The best women's club soccer these days is surely being played in Europe, where Barcelona has taken over from Lyon as the dominant force in the Champions League.

Yet captain Lindsey Horan, at Lyon, is the only member of the U.S. team currently playing in Europe. Could it be that the standard of play in the domestic NWSL is not at the level needed to prepare Andonovski's squad for the World Cup stage?

Yeah, European fans and money care about the women now.  Title IX isn't enough to dominate any more.  That's my simplistic hot take anyway.

Edited August 3, 2023 by WBT

[A-Tex Devil 2446]

1 hour ago, WBT said:

Yeah, European fans and money care about the women now.  Title IX isn't enough to dominate any more.  That's my simplistic hot take anyway.

 

And they aren’t saddled by the ridiculousness of our youth and college system. We had first mover advantage on women’s soccer generally but development was no different than why our Men’s team is lucky to be too 20 in the world.  It sucked.  I guess we have to start sending our girls to Europe at 13 with their own Brian Mills to protect them with his particular set of skills. 

[Hagbard Celine 10848]

bbc

Spoiler

USA captain Lindsey Horan has told critics "you have no idea" after the defending champions came under fire at the Women's World Cup.

The top-ranked nation in the world have had an underwhelming tournament and only scraped through to the last 16 with a draw against debutants Portugal.

That prompted criticism from fans and former players, including two-time USA World Cup winner Carli Lloyd, who said the tactics were "too predictable".

"It is noise," Horan said on Friday.

Lloyd, also a two-time Olympic champion, accused Vlatko Andonovski's team of "playing as individuals" after the four-time world champions narrowly avoided being knocked out by a Portugal side who hit the woodwork in stoppage time.

She said the player of the match was "that post" before telling Fox Sports:

"They're lucky not to be going home."

Lloyd has since justified her comments and said: "It is no longer we want to win because we want to win. No, we want everything that comes with winning, and we think we can just roll out and win games.

"And that's not the case, and teams see that. They see the arrogance in the US and see that they're not this unstoppable team. They see that they're able to be broken down and beaten.

"There's too many distractions. There's too much emphasis on how many followers do I have or doing photoshoots and doing this and doing that.

"I'm not to say you can't have all that comes with that, but you have to stay humble throughout the process, because they nearly just crashed out of the World Cup."

    'Predictable' and 'lacklustre' - where now for USA?
    All the latest news from the Women's World Cup

Horan said it was "kind of frustrating to hear" Lloyd's comments. She was speaking in Auckland, New Zealand, on Thursday before the USA fly to Melbourne, Australia, to prepare for Sunday's game with Sweden at 10:00 BST.

"We're going to try and keep the noise out as much as possible - but use it to our advantage too because we are going to go out and fight and do everything that we have done in past World Cups to win this game," added the midfielder.

"I always want to defend my team and say you have no idea what is going on behind the scenes. You have no idea every single training what we are doing individually, collectively etc, so for anyone to question our mentality hurts a little bit.

"But at the end of the day it doesn't really matter. I don't really care. It's about what is going on inside the team and getting ready for the next game.

"It's a new tournament starting now."
USA players react after a 0-0 draw with Portugal at the Women's World Cup
Carli Lloyd was critical of the post-match scenes of USA players dancing and smiling after narrowly avoiding being knocked out of the World Cup
'We have to find joy'

After labouring to back-to-back draws against the Netherlands and Portugal, Horan said the United State needed to "find the joy" that has been missing from their World Cup campaign.

"Once we get a little bit of that joy back things are going to move a little bit better on the field," she added.

"The one thing I have said to this team a lot is that pressure is a privilege.

"We still made it through and obviously we want to perform better and entertain our fans more.

"The expectations are always going to high ad we're always going to be in the pressure cooker and we love that."

Forward Lynn Williams, who is appearing at her first World Cup at the age of 30, said there was no panic despite the criticism.

"Sometimes you want to go out there and perform so badly that sometimes you forget all the joy," added Williams.

"We need to get back to what makes us great. There's a lot of pressure it feels like sometimes, but there's a human side to that as well."

horan gets pissy

Edited August 4, 2023 by Hagbard Celine
horan

[Hagbard Celine 10848]

2nd bbc

Spoiler

Two-time Women's World Cup winner Carli Lloyd called it "uninspiring", "lacklustre" and "too predictable".

USA boss Vlatko Andonovski went on the defensive and said it was "insane" for anyone to question the mentality of his team.

It did not take long for the fallout to begin after the United States' latest underwhelming performance at the World Cup.

A 0-0 draw against Portugal saw the defending champions scrape into the last 16 as they survived an almighty scare in Auckland.

In the 91st minute a ball was played over the top of the USA defence.

Portugal substitute Ana Capeta hit a first-time shot past Alyssa Naeher but, to the relief of the thousands of American fans inside New Zealand's national stadium, the ball hit the post - instead of the back of the net.

The USA, the world's number one team for so long, were inches away from going out at the group stage.

"The player of the match was that post," said Lloyd, who helped the USA win the World Cup in 2015 and 2019. "They're lucky not to be going home."

Instead they advance to the last 16 as runners-up in Group E with five points, their fewest total in what is their ninth appearance at the World Cup.

Following a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in Wellington last week, this was another disjointed performance which raised more questions than answers.

The Stars and Stripes are nowhere near hitting the form that saw them win back-to-back World Cups.

"We just have to get better," Andonovski admitted afterwards.

    Go here for all the latest from the Women's World Cup
    USA scrape through to last 16 with Portugal draw

'Insane to question this team'

The USA have five days to regroup and find a solution following two disappointing performances by their high standards.

Even the 3-0 win over World Cup debutants Vietnam in the opening group game was peppered with missed opportunities before they were forced to come from behind to secure a point against the Netherlands.

On Tuesday against World Cup debutants Portugal they carved out 17 chances, of which six were on target.

Yet they failed to find the net at the World Cup for the first time since a 0-0 draw with Sweden in 2015 in Canada.

Andonovski had named the same starting XI for the first two games but opted to made two changes against Portugal.

Rose Lavelle, who has recovered from a recent knee injury, started after coming off the bench to provide the assist for Lindsey Horan to equalise in the previous game.

Forward Lynn Williams also got her first taste of this World Cup as Savannah DeMelo and Trinity Rodman dropped out.

But the USA could not find a way through a determined Portugal defence.

Speaking on Fox Sports, Lloyd did not hold back about the performance.

"Today was uninspiring. Disappointing. They don't look fit," she said.

"They're playing as individuals and the tactics are too predictable.

"There's a difference between confident and arrogance. Where is the direction going?"

When told about Lloyd's comments at his post-match news conference in Auckland, Andonovski said: "One thing I want to say is this team wanted to win this game more than anything.

"To question the mentality of this team and willingness to win and compete is insane.

"We know it's not good enough and we're not happy with the performance, but we have qualified for the next round and we move on.

"Going forward, we have to find those moments and get on the same page."
USA players during the Women's World Cup group game with Portugal
Fourteen players are making their World Cup tournament debuts for the US
'Sweden will be tough'

The USA will find out on Wednesday who they face at the weekend. A showdown with Sweden, who put five past Italy in their most recent match, in Melbourne looks likely.

Having drawn with the Netherlands in the previous match, the USA have gone consecutive games without winning at the World Cup for only the second time.

"If it is Sweden, we know Sweden - they're a tough squad," said defender Crystal Dunn. "We will be as prepared as possible to take them on."

Lavelle, who scored in the 2019 final, is suspended for the next match after picking up a second yellow card.

"Rose missing the next game is obviously a loss," added Dunn.

Forward Alex Morgan said a much-improved performance was required if the USA are to advance to the quarter-finals.

"We should have solved problems on the field a little bit better and taken advantage of opportunities that were given to us," she added after the Portugal game.

As the USA get ready to fly to Australia to prepare for the next match, Morgan was asked if they will return to New Zealand.

The winners of Sunday's game will play a quarter-final tie back at Eden Park on 11 August.

"That's the plan," said Morgan. "We want to make it all the way to the final and that means coming back to New Zealand."

andonovski: 'Insane to question this team'

[PittsburghTiger 6174]

8 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

2nd bbc

  Hide contents

Two-time Women's World Cup winner Carli Lloyd called it "uninspiring", "lacklustre" and "too predictable".

USA boss Vlatko Andonovski went on the defensive and said it was "insane" for anyone to question the mentality of his team.

It did not take long for the fallout to begin after the United States' latest underwhelming performance at the World Cup.

A 0-0 draw against Portugal saw the defending champions scrape into the last 16 as they survived an almighty scare in Auckland.

In the 91st minute a ball was played over the top of the USA defence.

Portugal substitute Ana Capeta hit a first-time shot past Alyssa Naeher but, to the relief of the thousands of American fans inside New Zealand's national stadium, the ball hit the post - instead of the back of the net.

The USA, the world's number one team for so long, were inches away from going out at the group stage.

"The player of the match was that post," said Lloyd, who helped the USA win the World Cup in 2015 and 2019. "They're lucky not to be going home."

Instead they advance to the last 16 as runners-up in Group E with five points, their fewest total in what is their ninth appearance at the World Cup.

Following a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in Wellington last week, this was another disjointed performance which raised more questions than answers.

The Stars and Stripes are nowhere near hitting the form that saw them win back-to-back World Cups.

"We just have to get better," Andonovski admitted afterwards.

    Go here for all the latest from the Women's World Cup
    USA scrape through to last 16 with Portugal draw

'Insane to question this team'

The USA have five days to regroup and find a solution following two disappointing performances by their high standards.

Even the 3-0 win over World Cup debutants Vietnam in the opening group game was peppered with missed opportunities before they were forced to come from behind to secure a point against the Netherlands.

On Tuesday against World Cup debutants Portugal they carved out 17 chances, of which six were on target.

Yet they failed to find the net at the World Cup for the first time since a 0-0 draw with Sweden in 2015 in Canada.

Andonovski had named the same starting XI for the first two games but opted to made two changes against Portugal.

Rose Lavelle, who has recovered from a recent knee injury, started after coming off the bench to provide the assist for Lindsey Horan to equalise in the previous game.

Forward Lynn Williams also got her first taste of this World Cup as Savannah DeMelo and Trinity Rodman dropped out.

But the USA could not find a way through a determined Portugal defence.

Speaking on Fox Sports, Lloyd did not hold back about the performance.

"Today was uninspiring. Disappointing. They don't look fit," she said.

"They're playing as individuals and the tactics are too predictable.

"There's a difference between confident and arrogance. Where is the direction going?"

When told about Lloyd's comments at his post-match news conference in Auckland, Andonovski said: "One thing I want to say is this team wanted to win this game more than anything.

"To question the mentality of this team and willingness to win and compete is insane.

"We know it's not good enough and we're not happy with the performance, but we have qualified for the next round and we move on.

"Going forward, we have to find those moments and get on the same page."
USA players during the Women's World Cup group game with Portugal
Fourteen players are making their World Cup tournament debuts for the US
'Sweden will be tough'

The USA will find out on Wednesday who they face at the weekend. A showdown with Sweden, who put five past Italy in their most recent match, in Melbourne looks likely.

Having drawn with the Netherlands in the previous match, the USA have gone consecutive games without winning at the World Cup for only the second time.

"If it is Sweden, we know Sweden - they're a tough squad," said defender Crystal Dunn. "We will be as prepared as possible to take them on."

Lavelle, who scored in the 2019 final, is suspended for the next match after picking up a second yellow card.

"Rose missing the next game is obviously a loss," added Dunn.

Forward Alex Morgan said a much-improved performance was required if the USA are to advance to the quarter-finals.

"We should have solved problems on the field a little bit better and taken advantage of opportunities that were given to us," she added after the Portugal game.

As the USA get ready to fly to Australia to prepare for the next match, Morgan was asked if they will return to New Zealand.

The winners of Sunday's game will play a quarter-final tie back at Eden Park on 11 August.

"That's the plan," said Morgan. "We want to make it all the way to the final and that means coming back to New Zealand."

andonovski: 'Insane to question this team'

My next question would have been:

Why?

[Hagbard Celine 10848]

15 hours ago, BrickHorn said:

Lack of effort and heart aren’t our problems. The ladies run their asses off and contest every ball. The issue is lack of skill, tactical smarts, and chemistry.

in other words, travel-tournament-turbo-soccer

the women have yet to have their juergen-the-pyramid-is-upside-down moment

[ztejas 43411]

15 hours ago, BrickHorn said:

Lack of effort and heart aren’t our problems. The ladies run their asses off and contest every ball. The issue is lack of skill, tactical smarts, and chemistry.

Lack of physical effort isn't our problem. I don't think anyone is questioning that. 

Lack of mental effort and fortitude is another matter - although they did display a lot against NED in the 2H.

Also - there's a difference between playing hard for yourself or your coach and playing hard for the shirt. 

But I also suspect that we just have a lot of - for lack of a better word - dumb players on the team. And as we all know you can't fix that.

[Hagbard Celine 10848]

gfop

https://mib-raven-newsletter.beehiiv.com/p/20230804-raven-newsletter?utm_source=mib-raven-newsletter.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=20230804-raven-newsletter

[Hagbard Celine 10848]

tobin heath & christen press: what went wrong

https://theathletic.com/4745317/2023/08/03/uswnt-portugal-tobin-heath-and-christen-press/

[Hagbard Celine 10848]

us identity (sux)

https://www.textise.net/showText.aspx?strURL=https%3A//theathletic.com/4745117/2023/08/04/usa-identity-world-cup/%3Fsource%3Ddailyemail%26campaign%3D601983

5 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

tobin heath & christen press: what went wrong

https://theathletic.com/4745317/2023/08/03/uswnt-portugal-tobin-heath-and-christen-press/

https://www.textise.net/showText.aspx?strURL=https%3A//theathletic.com/4745317/2023/08/03/uswnt-portugal-tobin-heath-and-christen-press/

[BrickHorn 18215]

2 hours ago, ztejas said:

Lack of physical effort isn't our problem. I don't think anyone is questioning that. 

Lack of mental effort and fortitude is another matter - although they did display a lot against NED in the 2H.

Also - there's a difference between playing hard for yourself or your coach and playing hard for the shirt. 

This is the kind of Hollywood trope BS that had Longhorn fans convinced Charlie Strong’s locker room purge would win us a national championship.

The USWNT isn’t lacking mental fortitude or grit or heart or team spirit. It has all that shit in spades. What it lacks is tactical intelligence, chemistry, and skill. 

The identity article Hagbard posted above completely nails it. Tl;dr: the USWNT used to dominate with massive advantages in fitness and athleticism, which allowed us to routinely win one-on-one battles and score with direct play. But the rest of the world has caught up and those advantages have shrunk. We’re playing against smarter more skilled competition, and they’re exposing how primitive is our approach to the game.

[ztejas 43411]

I watch a lot of international soccer. I'm allowed to disagree with you. 

The fact that O'Hara had to fucking yell at everyone the way she did was comical. 

Punting the ball out of bounds, misplaying passes, getting burned on D or making shitty clearances all has very little to do with either tactics or physical effort. 

This team is not locked in mentally. Saying they don't lack mental fortitude is ridiculous. They blow chances left and right and give the ball away whenever they can. They are plenty skilled enough to not be doing those things regardless of how they are lined up. Like I said - they went out and completely turned the game around against NED in the 2H. They are more than capable of matching the other best teams in the world. They just aren't doing it for 90 minutes at a time right now. 

That doesn't ALSO mean the tactics aren't shit and the skill level gap isn't there anymore. That is also true. 

Edited August 4, 2023 by ztejas

[BrickHorn 18215]

2 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I watch a lot of international soccer. I'm allowed to disagree with you. 

New Surly motto?

[ztejas 43411]

8 minutes ago, BrickHorn said:

New Surly motto?

My point is that you aren't explaining anything to me that I'm not also seeing. I just think they're a bit more skilled than you do and I think they're playing with a bit less fire. 

We can obviously both agree that for whatever reason the play is uninspiring. We're just assigning the blame a bit differently. 

[BrickHorn 18215]

2 hours ago, ztejas said:

My point is that you aren't explaining anything to me that I'm not also seeing. I just think they're a bit more skilled than you do and I think they're playing with a bit less fire. 

We can obviously both agree that for whatever reason the play is uninspiring. We're just assigning the blame a bit differently. 

You’re mixing up tactical intelligence and chemistry with effort and mental toughness. Consistently failing to connect with teammates because of errant passes isn’t an effort thing and isn’t about failing to “play for the shirt.” It certainly doesn’t indicate a lack of “mental fortitude.” It’s a symptom of low mental aptitude.

But maybe you’re saying the same thing, just with the wrong words?

[NorthLoop 14180]

You guys are arguing over what shade of brown the turd is. 

[ztejas 43411]

3 minutes ago, BrickHorn said:

You’re mixing up tactical intelligence and chemistry with effort and mental toughness. Consistently failing to connect with teammates because of errant passes isn’t an effort thing and isn’t about failing to “play for the shirt.” It certainly doesn’t indicate a lack of “mental fortitude.” It’s a symptom of low mental aptitude.

But maybe you’re saying the same thing, just with the wrong words?

There are players that succeed when expectations are lower but falter when the lights are brighter or the shirt is heavier. That may sound dumb or cliche but it's absolutely true. 

The USWNT has massive expectations every time they take the pitch. Just like Brazil or Germany's men's teams. The tactics and chemistry and gulf between the young and older players isn't helping - neither is the apparent lack of leadership from the manager spot - but I also don't think that attitude wise we are on the same page and I 100% believe the pressure is getting to them and/or not helping. 

I do think they're trying to win. I do think they're playing hard. They just have this weird air to them that's maybe difficult to put into words. 

[ztejas 43411]

6 minutes ago, NorthLoop said:

You guys are arguing over what shade of brown the turd is. 

Nonsense. This is Surly. This is a place of learned scholars and doctors. 

[ABSR 5308]

36 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Nonsense. This is Surly. This is a place of learned scholars and doctors. 

You spelled assholes wrong.  Twice.

[The Dog 44017]

42 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Nonsense. This is Surly. This is a place of lawyers.

FIFY

[hayden_horn 11362]

worried about this attack without lavelle. but i'll be up early nevertheless.

[Ted Lange 16082]

What?   Seems like very easy money. 

[Grade of D as in David 13253]

On 8/4/2023 at 3:14 PM, NorthLoop said:

You guys are arguing over what shade of brown the turd is. 

At least we can agree on it's Bristol rating 

[Deej 76750]

On 8/4/2023 at 3:14 PM, NorthLoop said:

You guys are arguing over what shade of brown the turd is. 

 

[The Dog 44017]

The consensus seems to be if Vlat doesn’t change tactics then Sweden will win.

[Napoleon 8658]

1 hour ago, The Dog said:

The consensus seems to be if Vlat doesn’t change tactics then Sweden will win.

This explains why the USWNT sucks so much prison-level abused ass.

The USWNT’s problems, explained

Henry Bushnell

Senior soccer reporter

Wed, Aug 2, 2023, 11:19 AM CDT

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — The U.S. national team’s descent from atop women’s soccer alarmed the American public Tuesday. It shellshocked players here at the 2023 World Cup, during and after a 0-0 draw with Portugal that took them to the brink of ignominy.

But it did not begin Down Under. It has not been surprising or sudden.

Worry amassed beneath the USWNT surface over the past 24 months, and especially the last 10. Fears have come to fruition here in New Zealand, but they’ve long existed within and beyond U.S. Soccer. The storm that nearly crashed ashore this week has been building for years, and its elements are plentiful. The following is an attempt to explain them.

Who’s at fault for this USWNT decline?

The USWNT’s problems are plentiful. They’re tactical and technical, systemic and fluky. But the 2023 team’s struggles largely owe to three high-level factors:

1. A defective youth pipeline isn’t producing the right type or quality of player.
2. Several of the top players it did produce are injured.
3. Their coach, Vlatko Andonovski, isn’t getting the best out of the healthy ones.

So American players are getting worse?

No — it’s just that players around the world are getting much better, and dozens of women’s national teams are improving at a much quicker rate than the USWNT.

Why is that?

The planet’s traditional soccer powers — like, say, the Netherlands and Portugal — are leveraging infrastructure that built and sustained men’s soccer success. They’re now investing in their women’s programs.

In the U.S., meanwhile, an effort to replicate some aspects of those productive European pipelines sparked a youth soccer turf war, and ultimately failed. (I explored that effort, and the American pipeline’s flaws, in a recent piece. Dan Wetzel also explained the impact in his Tuesday column.)

USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski had led the team since 2019. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/USSF/Getty Images )

But the U.S. was still the 2023 World Cup favorite. What did everybody miss?

The USWNT still has some wonderfully talented players. But we all probably overlooked a few things:

1. All but one of the 23 Americans at this World Cup play in the NWSL, the U.S. pro league, which no longer boasts the sport’s top non-American talent. We probably overrated domestic stars such as Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman, not to mention Emily Foxand Andi Sullivan, or at least overestimated their readiness for the global stage. (Most European stars, on the other hand, battle-test themselves regularly in the UEFA Women's Champions League, at the pinnacle of the club game. The only USWNT star currently playing in it is Lindsey Horan.)

2. The Americans are gifted but not developed properly. Many are one-dimensional or incomplete. They can run, and dribble, and shoot, and win aerial duels. But they struggle to pass and move, or to read the game. In the sport’s more primitive days, their athleticism shrouded shortcomings; we incorrectly assumed that would happen again.

3. It hasn’t happened because Andonovski seemingly wants his players to play modern, technical, positional soccer — a game for which they’re ill-equipped, and a scheme they’re clearly doubting.

"Every single player, in every single line, is not being set up to succeed," former USWNT forward Christen Press said this week.

Both Press and fellow former U.S. forward Tobin Heath said they've felt that since the 2021 Olympics. "You [Press] were one of the best players going into the Olympics," Heath said. "Sam Mewis was one of the best players in the world going into the Olympics. How [does a player like that] become nothing? And that’s what I’m seeing [at the World Cup]."

So what’s been the USWNT’s main problem at this World Cup?

The USWNT can’t control games because they can’t keep the ball. They can’t keep the ball for a variety of reasons. When they try, they think one pass at a time, rather than seeing a game’s broader picture and building attacks with a coherent, multi-step plan. They play as individuals, as 11 rather than one.

Their off-ball movement against Portugal was particularly dreadful. Sequences like this one were a regular occurrence:

Dreadful off-ball movement then has cascading consequences. Without it, nobody on the ball has belief that they’ll be able to find an open teammate. So, rather than keep it and wait for teammates, they chuck it upfield in a panic. And once it starts getting chucked, there’s no point in off-ball movement. So the entire team becomes stagnant. Confidence — in one another, and oneself — wanes. And staleness becomes cyclical.

“We need a little bit more belief when we're playing,” Horan said Tuesday. “We need to be more calm, we need to be more poised.”

Then again, it’s tough to be poised when there’s nobody to pass to. That’s why players seem to be spooked.

Are there defensive problems too?

They’re also admittedly not “in sync” defensively. The same second-guessing and lack of trust apply to pressing, which I explained in detail after the Netherlands game.

So is all of that a player problem? Or a coaching problem?

It’s both.

Andonovski’s apparent attempt to implement a modern system was worthwhile, but faulty. It became increasingly obvious over the past year, at least to outside observers, that his system wasn’t working and doesn’t suit his current players — to the extent that, three games into a World Cup, it’s genuinely unclear what the plan even is, or whether one exists.

Wingers receive the ball on the touchline; center backs step with it into midfield; and time and time again, it’s entirely unclear whom they’re supposed to pass to or what they’re supposed to do.

And yet, Andonovski has never bothered to find an alternate plan. “We have to stick to our principles, we have to stick to our game model, and we have to stick to our philosophy,” he said Tuesday. To which fans responded: What principles? What game model? What philosophy?

 

What should the U.S. be doing instead?

They should play direct and in transition, pressing like madwomen and maximizing their athleticism, which remains best-in-class.

Long balls are often derided — and rightfully so when they’re a last resort, which is often what they seem to be for the USWNT. They’re the panicked chucks, which are one reason the U.S. ranks 21st at this World Cup in passes per sequence — a measure of sustained possession that typically elevates good teams.

Long balls, though, can be effective when they’re coordinated. Forwards can stretch an opposing back line; midfielders can position themselves to win second balls; and boom, matches can be dominated without possession. The U.S. should try it someday.

Has Andonovski ever made adjustments?

Not really. He made various questionable decisions long ago — that Crystal Dunn, a superstar midfielder, was going to play left back; that Smith, the NWSL's most prolific striker, was going to play on the wing; that the team was going to play a certain style — and he's never wavered from them.

"In every soccer match, you need to make tactical adjustments to exploit spaces, get numerical advantages, yada yada," Press said. "And we haven’t seen, in a [World Cup] game, any of those tactical adjustments. But it points to the larger point: Have we seen any tactical adjustments in the last year? Have we seen any different formations tried? Have we seen any adjustments to the way that we’re pressing? We’ve seen the team come out for the past year in the same general shape, in the same general pressing structure."

Why hasn’t Andonovski tried something different?

Shrug.

Perhaps he was fooled by Mallory Swanson’s brilliance. Swanson almost single-handedly stole a few wins for the U.S. earlier this year despite troubling team performances. Then she tore her patellar tendon in April.

USWNT players pose for the team photo prior to their match against Portugal at Eden Park in Auckland on Aug. 1, 2023. (Photo by SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)

How much have injuries hurt the U.S.?

They’ve certainly hurt, and would be a viable excuse for not winning a third consecutive World Cup — but not for looking this impotent.

In addition to Swanson, Catarina Macario — who likely would’ve started at striker — has been out for over a year recovering from a torn ACL. Midfielder Sam Mewis has been out since 2021. And Becky Sauerbrunn, theteam’s veteran defensive leader, aggravated a foot injury in early June, forcing her to miss the tournament.

In Sauerbrunn’s absence, Andonovski moved Julie Ertzfrom defensive midfield back to center back; and in Ertz’s resultant midfield absence, Andi Sullivan has been a liability.

So are all of these struggles the new norm for the USWNT?

Not to this degree. Many inside women’s soccer have been expecting American dominance to disappear eventually, for reasons mentioned at the top of this article. But the U.S. should remain among the contenders. It will likely have a new coach come 2024 and beyond. It will have fewer injuries, and better luck.

And remember: For all the hysteria of the past 36 hours, the USWNT could very well still advance deep into the 2023 World Cup. Its defense has been solid. Its Expected Goal numbers — a complicated stat that measures chance creation — have been strong. It still hasn’t lost this calendar year; it could continue to survive and advance while playing putrid soccer.

https://sports.yahoo.com/the-uswnts-problems-explained-161944708.html

[Captain Ron 12862]

28 minutes ago, Napoleon said:

This explains why the USWNT sucks so much prison-level abused ass.

The USWNT’s problems, explained

Henry Bushnell

Senior soccer reporter

Wed, Aug 2, 2023, 11:19 AM CDT

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — The U.S. national team’s descent from atop women’s soccer alarmed the American public Tuesday. It shellshocked players here at the 2023 World Cup, during and after a 0-0 draw with Portugal that took them to the brink of ignominy.

But it did not begin Down Under. It has not been surprising or sudden.

Worry amassed beneath the USWNT surface over the past 24 months, and especially the last 10. Fears have come to fruition here in New Zealand, but they’ve long existed within and beyond U.S. Soccer. The storm that nearly crashed ashore this week has been building for years, and its elements are plentiful. The following is an attempt to explain them.

Who’s at fault for this USWNT decline?

The USWNT’s problems are plentiful. They’re tactical and technical, systemic and fluky. But the 2023 team’s struggles largely owe to three high-level factors:

1. A defective youth pipeline isn’t producing the right type or quality of player.
2. Several of the top players it did produce are injured.
3. Their coach, Vlatko Andonovski, isn’t getting the best out of the healthy ones.

So American players are getting worse?

No — it’s just that players around the world are getting much better, and dozens of women’s national teams are improving at a much quicker rate than the USWNT.

Why is that?

The planet’s traditional soccer powers — like, say, the Netherlands and Portugal — are leveraging infrastructure that built and sustained men’s soccer success. They’re now investing in their women’s programs.

In the U.S., meanwhile, an effort to replicate some aspects of those productive European pipelines sparked a youth soccer turf war, and ultimately failed. (I explored that effort, and the American pipeline’s flaws, in a recent piece. Dan Wetzel also explained the impact in his Tuesday column.)

USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski had led the team since 2019. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/USSF/Getty Images )

But the U.S. was still the 2023 World Cup favorite. What did everybody miss?

The USWNT still has some wonderfully talented players. But we all probably overlooked a few things:

1. All but one of the 23 Americans at this World Cup play in the NWSL, the U.S. pro league, which no longer boasts the sport’s top non-American talent. We probably overrated domestic stars such as Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman, not to mention Emily Foxand Andi Sullivan, or at least overestimated their readiness for the global stage. (Most European stars, on the other hand, battle-test themselves regularly in the UEFA Women's Champions League, at the pinnacle of the club game. The only USWNT star currently playing in it is Lindsey Horan.)

2. The Americans are gifted but not developed properly. Many are one-dimensional or incomplete. They can run, and dribble, and shoot, and win aerial duels. But they struggle to pass and move, or to read the game. In the sport’s more primitive days, their athleticism shrouded shortcomings; we incorrectly assumed that would happen again.

3. It hasn’t happened because Andonovski seemingly wants his players to play modern, technical, positional soccer — a game for which they’re ill-equipped, and a scheme they’re clearly doubting.

"Every single player, in every single line, is not being set up to succeed," former USWNT forward Christen Press said this week.

Both Press and fellow former U.S. forward Tobin Heath said they've felt that since the 2021 Olympics. "You [Press] were one of the best players going into the Olympics," Heath said. "Sam Mewis was one of the best players in the world going into the Olympics. How [does a player like that] become nothing? And that’s what I’m seeing [at the World Cup]."

So what’s been the USWNT’s main problem at this World Cup?

The USWNT can’t control games because they can’t keep the ball. They can’t keep the ball for a variety of reasons. When they try, they think one pass at a time, rather than seeing a game’s broader picture and building attacks with a coherent, multi-step plan. They play as individuals, as 11 rather than one.

Their off-ball movement against Portugal was particularly dreadful. Sequences like this one were a regular occurrence:

Dreadful off-ball movement then has cascading consequences. Without it, nobody on the ball has belief that they’ll be able to find an open teammate. So, rather than keep it and wait for teammates, they chuck it upfield in a panic. And once it starts getting chucked, there’s no point in off-ball movement. So the entire team becomes stagnant. Confidence — in one another, and oneself — wanes. And staleness becomes cyclical.

“We need a little bit more belief when we're playing,” Horan said Tuesday. “We need to be more calm, we need to be more poised.”

Then again, it’s tough to be poised when there’s nobody to pass to. That’s why players seem to be spooked.

Are there defensive problems too?

They’re also admittedly not “in sync” defensively. The same second-guessing and lack of trust apply to pressing, which I explained in detail after the Netherlands game.

So is all of that a player problem? Or a coaching problem?

It’s both.

Andonovski’s apparent attempt to implement a modern system was worthwhile, but faulty. It became increasingly obvious over the past year, at least to outside observers, that his system wasn’t working and doesn’t suit his current players — to the extent that, three games into a World Cup, it’s genuinely unclear what the plan even is, or whether one exists.

Wingers receive the ball on the touchline; center backs step with it into midfield; and time and time again, it’s entirely unclear whom they’re supposed to pass to or what they’re supposed to do.

And yet, Andonovski has never bothered to find an alternate plan. “We have to stick to our principles, we have to stick to our game model, and we have to stick to our philosophy,” he said Tuesday. To which fans responded: What principles? What game model? What philosophy?

 

What should the U.S. be doing instead?

They should play direct and in transition, pressing like madwomen and maximizing their athleticism, which remains best-in-class.

Long balls are often derided — and rightfully so when they’re a last resort, which is often what they seem to be for the USWNT. They’re the panicked chucks, which are one reason the U.S. ranks 21st at this World Cup in passes per sequence — a measure of sustained possession that typically elevates good teams.

Long balls, though, can be effective when they’re coordinated. Forwards can stretch an opposing back line; midfielders can position themselves to win second balls; and boom, matches can be dominated without possession. The U.S. should try it someday.

Has Andonovski ever made adjustments?

Not really. He made various questionable decisions long ago — that Crystal Dunn, a superstar midfielder, was going to play left back; that Smith, the NWSL's most prolific striker, was going to play on the wing; that the team was going to play a certain style — and he's never wavered from them.

"In every soccer match, you need to make tactical adjustments to exploit spaces, get numerical advantages, yada yada," Press said. "And we haven’t seen, in a [World Cup] game, any of those tactical adjustments. But it points to the larger point: Have we seen any tactical adjustments in the last year? Have we seen any different formations tried? Have we seen any adjustments to the way that we’re pressing? We’ve seen the team come out for the past year in the same general shape, in the same general pressing structure."

Why hasn’t Andonovski tried something different?

Shrug.

Perhaps he was fooled by Mallory Swanson’s brilliance. Swanson almost single-handedly stole a few wins for the U.S. earlier this year despite troubling team performances. Then she tore her patellar tendon in April.

USWNT players pose for the team photo prior to their match against Portugal at Eden Park in Auckland on Aug. 1, 2023. (Photo by SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)

How much have injuries hurt the U.S.?

They’ve certainly hurt, and would be a viable excuse for not winning a third consecutive World Cup — but not for looking this impotent.

In addition to Swanson, Catarina Macario — who likely would’ve started at striker — has been out for over a year recovering from a torn ACL. Midfielder Sam Mewis has been out since 2021. And Becky Sauerbrunn, theteam’s veteran defensive leader, aggravated a foot injury in early June, forcing her to miss the tournament.

In Sauerbrunn’s absence, Andonovski moved Julie Ertzfrom defensive midfield back to center back; and in Ertz’s resultant midfield absence, Andi Sullivan has been a liability.

So are all of these struggles the new norm for the USWNT?

Not to this degree. Many inside women’s soccer have been expecting American dominance to disappear eventually, for reasons mentioned at the top of this article. But the U.S. should remain among the contenders. It will likely have a new coach come 2024 and beyond. It will have fewer injuries, and better luck.

And remember: For all the hysteria of the past 36 hours, the USWNT could very well still advance deep into the 2023 World Cup. Its defense has been solid. Its Expected Goal numbers — a complicated stat that measures chance creation — have been strong. It still hasn’t lost this calendar year; it could continue to survive and advance while playing putrid soccer.

https://sports.yahoo.com/the-uswnts-problems-explained-161944708.html

Here's the TL;DR version of that

• The rest of the world is catching up because the big clubs are starting to invest in their women's teams and producing talent. At the same time the NWSL kind of sucks and it's starting to catch up to the US*
• Vlatko is asking this team to play a game they aren't able to because the new talent isn't as developed. Think 90s USMNT play.
• Vlatko hasn't adjusted to what this team can do and we've seen the results
• Injuries are also catching up with the US 

Despite all of this, the US has the talent to put it together and make a run, even win this all. But it will take the team doing what they haven't done thus far.

 

* Our lack of a quality domestic league is really starting to bite us in the ass. The biggest thing is that because the women's game in soccer, unlike most other sports, looks just like the men's game, there is an audience. Many clubs across Europe have recognized this and see a small investment having the potential for huge returns. The results is that European leagues are starting to get really good. The NWSL isn't keeping up.

[Ted Lange 16082]

Vlatko makes Gregggggg look like Pep 

[Napoleon 8658]

1 hour ago, Ted Lange said:

Vlatko makes Gregggggg look like Pep 

He has to be a company guy who promised to pay ... (I always forget her name)... [one second] Alex Morgan (all I can think of is "Makeup" when I try to remember her name) at the World Cup.

There is no excuse for how shitty he is. Winning is obviously NOT the #1 priority of U.S. Soccer. (Men's or Women's)

Still, I want the bitches to be out skilled and lose. With each passing year, US women are going to fall further and further behind, because the youth coaches focus on size and speed at the youngest ages and skill doesn't mean shit to them, because they have to win now.

Kind of funny that the women are going to where the men used to be and the men are trying to become more and more European.

[shadow_operative2.0 15941]

Not sure I’ll make it to 6, 2-0 good girls at half would be fucking ideal. 

[InkaUtexas 25852]

Just stood up for the Anthem. Damn these time zones are a beating. Got a dog, a beer, and no sleep. Glad I work fucked up timezones. 

 

[tokamak 6391]

Reporting for duty. Tired as fuck. Let’s do this. 

[InkaUtexas 25852]

Good attack. Shot was off, but they are pressing. 

[tokamak 6391]

We’re not skilled enough to consistently beat their press. We eventually panic and pass it to nobody.