Women's Soccer (Football) Thread Soccer • Page 54

Great Sweden performance combined with extremely poor USA performance and honestly we’re lucky it was only 3-0. Of the three group stage games, this was definitely the biggest challenge so if we had to lose one I’m glad it’s early and this one. Should be able to perform well against New Zealand and Australia’s been a bit of a mess lately but you can never really count out Sam Kerr. I have a lot of questions about the personnel and timing choices of Vlatko’s subs. No clue why Horan was left in all game. The Pinoe/Kristie Mewis subs should’ve happened sooner. Obviously I’m an armchair coach here but I’m pretty baffled by the choices made. And then on top of it all, they looked like they were secretly filming a scene for a third Space Jam where aliens steal all their talent. Real weird game and especially a bummer for Naeher who was busting her ass

 

All that being said, consider this an unofficial round up of other dope things that happened in Day 1:
-Vivienne Miedema scored 4 goals in NED’s 10-3 victory against Zambia
-That game was the first Olympic appearance for Zambia and their captain, Barbra Banda scored a hat trick
-Marta became the first player to score in five straight Olympic games with a brace against China, the second goal including a dedication celebration to her fiancée Toni Presley
-Formiga became the first player for both the men’s and women’s game to take part in seven Olympic games, meaning she’s played in every Olympic tournament since the inclusion of WoSo

Forgot to add:
Christine Sinclair and Marta are probably going to bounce back and forth between all time Olympic scorer. Should be fun to watch

 

disappointing. but United are an absolute mess right now. this transfer was widely expected pretty much all season long. she's a great player but still has some serious deficiencies in her game, will probably sort that out at Chelsea though. what a monstrously good player she will be if she does that.

 

Marc Skinner is leaving the Orlando Pride mid season and during the Olympics to take the ManU coaching job. Dude is finally winning games in the NWSL and dipping. I certainly get the desire to be back with family after the past year and a half but even Mark Parsons is finishing out the season with the Thorns before moving on to the Netherlands job

 

The ladies responded quite nicely.

But wish I could be watching Brazil-Netherlands.

 

Nice bounce back. We needed that goal differential

 

Abby Dahlkemper has been a mess. No clue what’s going on there, but I think you gotta start Broon and Tierna as the CBs against Australia.

also Barbra Banda scored a second hat trick for Zambia, making her the first woman to score two in an Olympic tournament

 

Yup. In what I saw from her on Saturday she looked lost? Out there.

mans the clips from the Sweden game it looked like she got caught out of position a lot. As a Man City fan I’m hoping it’s not a trend for her. Agree on maybe sitting her out for the next game. Or maybe bring her on off the bench.

 

personally the idea of facing the Netherlands makes me sick haha

 

if Miedema could simply stop scoring that would be much appreciated

what a tournament she's having

 

NINE (correctly) DISALLOWED GOALS COME ON

 

the rest of the team doesn't deserve Alyssa Naeher, but man, what a performance.

Lynn has to play the full 90. baffling sub.

 

Excuse me sir Rose Lavelle and her ghost complexion would like to talk!

 

Today was better but still not the usual caliber. Abby Dahlkemper and Kelley O’Hara have been huge liabilities these games. No clue why Kristie Mewis wasn’t subbed in. Vlatko’s choices have been completely puzzling. Whoever stole him and put in this clone should return the real Vlatko ASAP

 

Phew. Close one

 

!!

 

This is probably more of a question for @Meerkat to answer, but... at what point do we move the veterans (and verified legends) out of the team before the next World Cup? (Current age)

I think it's obvious that Carli Lloyd (39) won't be at the next World Cup. But where do Megan Rapinoe (36) and Becky Sauerbrunn (36) fall? What about Tobin Heath (33), Alex Morgan (32), Christen Press (32), and Kelley O'Hara (32)?

I don't know *what* the answer is... but it feels like maybe on Tobin, Alex, and Christen should be in the mix going forward, but everyone else given a proper sendoff. Which, may be harsh on Sauerbrunn as she's still phenomenal, but a 38yo CB isn't exactly a good thing on paper come 2023.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Rapinoe and Sauerbrunn both retire before the world cup in 2023. Lloyd I see retiring this year tbh.

 

I definitely think Pinoe and Lloyd will be done and I think O’Hara SHOULD be phased out but we’ll see if that happens. Alex, Tobin, and Press should stick around imo, especially if they still have legs in 2 years time. Press in particular is in her prime form so if she can keep it up she’ll definitely be there. Sauerbrunn I’m not sure about, I think it’ll be dependent on if they can develop any younger defenders or not. The depth is not as good there.

 

@Garrett I pretty much agree with what @morgantayler said. I think obviously Pinoe and Carli should wrap it up. I have no clue what the future has for Becky but I think aside from the two mentioned, Kelley O’Hara was one of the biggest veteran concerns. I think the big focus needs to be developing actual OBs instead of converting other players for those roles and let Crystal move up the pitch. One of the biggest concerns for me in general these games playing wise has been Abby Dahlkemper. Played very similarly to when she first started getting called up. I thought Tierna was great (a real shame with the penalty) and she’s definitely the future.
One thing Vlatko’s done that I’ve appreciated is having younger players come to camp knowing they won’t get minutes but just to get them accustomed to the environment. I think Emily Fox, one of those players, has really been holding her own in the NWSL and I think it’s time to give her some actual minutes at the international level. I think Casey Kruger absolutely needs to be involved and I think Sarah Gorden should be given another look. Both the Spirit and the Pride have some young defenders I’m really excited about. Phoebe McClernon and Courtney Petersen both for Orlando have had very promising starts to their pro careers and it’s hard for me to imagine them not having international careers if they keep it up. Very curious to see how Addison Merrick does coming back from ACL injury and Alanna Cook is also incredibly exciting.
Midfield wise, we’ve obviously still got some years with the current group, especially including Catarina Macario and Jaelin Howell.
In terms of forwards, it’s an absolute embarrassment of riches coming up. Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith, Ally Watt, Taylor Kornieck, Ashley Sanchez, Simone Charley, and probably more that I’ll kick myself for not including are all *very* exciting prospects for the future. Plus Lynn Williams isn’t done yet AND Midge Purce still has her foot in the door.
I think at this point, I’m most curious to see what Vlatko does after the tournament. This definitely falls on the players, but Vlatko made several choices that didn’t help the cause. Why in the world did he wait so long to sub in Sam Mewis? Why take Tobin out as soon as she starts finding rhythm in the box? Why not even bring Kristie Mewis or Macario to the bench? I’m sure we’ll see a few retirements after the 2021 NWSL wraps up and all eyes are definitely on who Vlatko shifts around and/or brings up to fill those spots. My faith in him has basically been sliced in half since this tournament though. But we certainly have the personnel coming up the ranks to maintain our identity and standards.

 

Two more thoughts:
Lots of goalkeepers to be excited about. 0 concerns there. I can name three other GKs that could’ve been put on this roster with nothing to be concerned about.

Something I’m still trying to wrap my head around is that this is technically a better tournament in that we still have a chance at a medal, but this feels so much worse than what happened in Rio. And there is something to be said about this team critically underperforming and still potentially getting to the podium. But it definitely felt like there might’ve been an issue in the locker room and while this is a great group of individual players, they combined to a be a pretty underwhelming excuse of a soccer megazord. I know in the past there’s seemed to be much more team bonding that takes place right before these tournaments and between being in season and the pandemic I’m sure that put a wrench in things, but finding the mix of players with the best chemistry has to be a priority going forward.

 

And another thing! (cc @Garrett)
In regards to OBs, Carson Pickett is having a hell of a season for the Courage BUT! players tend to go to North Carolina having been totally competent, be stars, then go elsewhere and lose their entire spark. So I have no clue how she’d do at the international level but she’s certainly worth investigating based on her contributions this season. Great play making up the flank, I believe a few assists, and some really excellent corners which we are clearly in need of given Pinoe’s underwhelming services this time around

 

There’s certainly something to be said for Carli Lloyd in a final. If this is the last time we see her in a tournament, she got her send off on her terms.

Repeat that paragraph for Megan Rapinoe.

 

I chose sleep so haven’t seen the game but the future is bright for Australia and I will throw the biggest party when Carli Lloyd retires

 

Go Canada