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Official US Women's soccer thread: *** US to host 2031 Women's World Cup! (3 Viewers)

Terrible possesion game by USA - no options for anyone. there should be tons of them right now and they are taking too long to figure it out

 
Rapinoe exiting the far side is the new rule in play. Last year, it would have been a 2 minute walk to the US bench.  Good rule change imo.

 
Its good entertainment no doubt. Spain got a bad draw, as this team seems good enough to play in the quarters or a semi-final from what I've seen.  Now its USA v France for what really could be the final in this tournament.

 
Rapinoe exiting the far side is the new rule in play. Last year, it would have been a 2 minute walk to the US bench.  Good rule change imo.
There were a bunch of rule changes recently.  Another interesting one is you don't have to wait for the ball to leave the 18 before touching it on a goal kick.

 
soft pk for me. and if the call is kept on the field after VAR- has to be a yellow too, given the studs up.

well played game by spain... poorly played by the US- but that was still better than what Spain had.

poorly reffed throughout this one- that play that the US GK punched it out on the cross and got hammered... I guess new rules don't protect the GK- like, at all.

 
soft pk for me. and if the call is kept on the field after VAR- has to be a yellow too, given the studs up.

well played game by spain... poorly played by the US- but that was still better than what Spain had.

poorly reffed throughout this one- that play that the US GK punched it out on the cross and got hammered... I guess new rules don't protect the GK- like, at all.
Agree with all of this.

 
Has to be a way to get Ertz, Mewis, Lavelle, and Horan all out there from the start on Friday (in the midfield, you can't cheat and put Ertz at CB). 

 
Backing up a bit, I agree the second penalty was very soft.  Spain has every right to feel hard done, only giving up two penalties in the loss, but the result is undoubtedly fair.

I wonder if there was any issue between Morgan and Rapinoe on the second penalty. Morgan set up to take it, then they switched after the review.  Maybe they were just messing with the Spanish GK. (I did not have any sound during the game, streaming in my office.)

Also, I thought the ref did a good job overall throughout this game, which was not an easy one.  That said, wtf when she was messing with Rapinoe on the penalty spot??

 
soft pk for me. and if the call is kept on the field after VAR- has to be a yellow too, given the studs up.

well played game by spain... poorly played by the US- but that was still better than what Spain had.

poorly reffed throughout this one- that play that the US GK punched it out on the cross and got hammered... I guess new rules don't protect the GK- like, at all.
Spain gave France a blueprint. US can't get trapped in playing long balls like that.

 
we're already using rest days as an excuse? 

the US are clearly the better team top to bottom here... they just need to use the team, play quicker, find their touch, not pass the ball to the spanish, and put rapinoe on a short sub-leash for the 2nd half- too many poor choices by her, killing good US attacks. 

they got this.
Tired legs lead to all sorts of issues. The US team isn't an incredibly young team. Yes, they should still overcome simply because of the talent gap, but that doesn't mean it's not a real thing.
these are the best women professional soccer players on the planet. if they're already too tired to control the ball and keep their tactical heads in the game after three games, they have no business playing the tournament. that's not hyperbole.

 
Spain gave France a blueprint. US can't get trapped in playing long balls like that.
I watched the france v brazil game- really entertaining. 

france has some genuinely dominant players- maybe even better than anybody on the US- and a deep team of quality role-players to go with them. the tall winger/mf... was just crushing through the brazil team. fast, strong, great skills- will be a real handful for the US. and the french central defense won't give up anything soft or get beat by those long balls you mentioned- fantastic spine through the team, including the central MF.

US will need to do far better on both sides of the ball- get the ball wide quicker and make quicker supporting runs and passes off that. but given the US D I've seen so far- I think Dunn is in trouble out left (where the french player I mentioned above will be attacking) and will need a lot of help or it's going to get ugly. 

 
CletiusMaximus said:
Backing up a bit, I agree the second penalty was very soft.  Spain has every right to feel hard done, only giving up two penalties in the loss, but the result is undoubtedly fair.

I wonder if there was any issue between Morgan and Rapinoe on the second penalty. Morgan set up to take it, then they switched after the review.  Maybe they were just messing with the Spanish GK. (I did not have any sound during the game, streaming in my office.)

Also, I thought the ref did a good job overall throughout this game, which was not an easy one.  That said, wtf when she was messing with Rapinoe on the penalty spot??
Ellis said in the post game interview that she told Rapinoe to take it.

 
El Floppo said:
I watched the france v brazil game- really entertaining. 

france has some genuinely dominant players- maybe even better than anybody on the US- and a deep team of quality role-players to go with them. the tall winger/mf... was just crushing through the brazil team. fast, strong, great skills- will be a real handful for the US. and the french central defense won't give up anything soft or get beat by those long balls you mentioned- fantastic spine through the team, including the central MF.

US will need to do far better on both sides of the ball- get the ball wide quicker and make quicker supporting runs and passes off that. but given the US D I've seen so far- I think Dunn is in trouble out left (where the french player I mentioned above will be attacking) and will need a lot of help or it's going to get ugly. 
Yep, there's nothing we've seen from the US up till now that makes me optimistic about Friday.

 
El Floppo said:
I watched the france v brazil game- really entertaining. 

france has some genuinely dominant players- maybe even better than anybody on the US- and a deep team of quality role-players to go with them. the tall winger/mf... was just crushing through the brazil team. fast, strong, great skills- will be a real handful for the US. and the french central defense won't give up anything soft or get beat by those long balls you mentioned- fantastic spine through the team, including the central MF.

US will need to do far better on both sides of the ball- get the ball wide quicker and make quicker supporting runs and passes off that. but given the US D I've seen so far- I think Dunn is in trouble out left (where the french player I mentioned above will be attacking) and will need a lot of help or it's going to get ugly. 
Most frustrating part was watching the wingers for US have zero options for simple inside passes - not sure they really ever moved it methodically from side to side and force Spain into chasing. It was big crosses or passes and then Spain back on top of the D.  I'd imagine a full 90 from Horan can help clean that up - she passes to either side and accurately. 

That last flurry by Spain was hard to watch as well - US with all 11 back and a ball drops to the 18 with a Spain player uncovered. Like how the heck? Lots of long balls where the US D was lost on picking up the running player and the secondary option.

 
Most frustrating part was watching the wingers for US have zero options for simple inside passes - not sure they really ever moved it methodically from side to side and force Spain into chasing. It was big crosses or passes and then Spain back on top of the D.  I'd imagine a full 90 from Horan can help clean that up - she passes to either side and accurately. 
I think that's more a function of something being wrong with Morgan. They beat the hell out of her. But it was always with her back to the goal rather than her making runs to open up the Spain D.

 
Most frustrating part was watching the wingers for US have zero options for simple inside passes - not sure they really ever moved it methodically from side to side and force Spain into chasing. It was big crosses or passes and then Spain back on top of the D.  I'd imagine a full 90 from Horan can help clean that up - she passes to either side and accurately. 

That last flurry by Spain was hard to watch as well - US with all 11 back and a ball drops to the 18 with a Spain player uncovered. Like how the heck? Lots of long balls where the US D was lost on picking up the running player and the secondary option.
yeah- they got the ball wide well to rapinoe and heath, but there was no help- or rapinoe would lose the ball.

I think credit has to go to spain for playing incredibly well on d in transition- getting numbers back really quickly and well, limiting the US's opportunities when those quick balls went wide. and yeah, a lot of that was them kicking morgan, but it worked and she was mostly invisible.

 
The US was playing really frantic long ball.  Spain pressured them well.  Their right back owned Rapinoe.  Between our keeper and Dunn, France could go wild.  US will have to play a better more controlled game to advance.  

Didn't get a good view of the first PK but both looked soft and I agree the 2nd was a foul but made worse by the flop.

Would have liked to see Pugh or Press on much earlier for Rapinoe.

 
The US needs a Arjen Robben type to play the inside forward off Morgan. Cut inside, put it on your dominant foot and let fly.  Too reliant on crosses.

 
The US needs a Arjen Robben type to play the inside forward off Morgan. Cut inside, put it on your dominant foot and let fly.  Too reliant on crosses.
Tbh, I thought both rapinoe and Heath ARE that player. Not today certainly. 

Seemed like they were relying on the CMs to push through for that role.

 
Oh joy!  Another VAR review and controversial handball call.  

We've discussed handballs ad nauseum in the other soccer threads.  I just wish the rule book reflected the way handballs are currently being called.

 
Oh joy!  Another VAR review and controversial handball call.  

We've discussed handballs ad nauseum in the other soccer threads.  I just wish the rule book reflected the way handballs are currently being called.
The handball wasn't being reviewed. It was a review for offside.

 
Just finished US game. Very entertaining.

- Loved the way Spain played. Aggressive & strong. Not dirty either until the last 15 minutes or so. Then they started their cheap shots.

- Along those lines I think the ref did a really good job all things considered. 2nd PKwas weak, but I've seen way worse

-Morgan was getting hit a lot, but at some point you gotta be tougher and realize how the ref is (or isn't) calling the game.  I guess her lobbying to the ref finally paid off a bit.  Just for Lavell/Rapino, not Morgan.

- Mewis is so fun to watch. So active.

-  Dahlkemper is a beast in the back.

- Rapino is terrible. 3 beautiful setups to her all resulting in bad shots. Missed Heath on a run to goal. 8 or 9 turnovers.  And then gets rewarded with 2 PKs. Almost as bad was the announcer praising her for the 1 turnover she salvaged and saying how well she played.

-  Heath is so so good. Every attack should flow through her (and Lavell) on the right side. What a beautiful reception, then moves to earn the first PK.

- Just blast it out of there, keeper!  Spain wasn't scoring unless something like that happens.

- Not necessarily for this game only,  but i love how little the women flop compared to the men.

 
- Rapino is terrible. 3 beautiful setups to her all resulting in bad shots. Missed Heath on a run to goal. 8 or 9 turnovers.  And then gets rewarded with 2 PKs. Almost as bad was the announcer praising her for the 1 turnover she salvaged and saying how well she played.
This drives me nuts.  The announcers constantly praise her and point out when she does something good (like scoring a pk or two) and rarely point out her mistakes.  They turn a bling eye to how often she dribbles into trouble and gives away easy balls.

 
That was a definite handball IMO. Not having Sinclair take the penalty was just wrong.
Eta. Apparently they had discussed earlier and Sinclair asked Beckie to take it so can't blame the coach as much. 

Not That any of you 🇺🇸 care. :)

 
I’m going to be optimistic and say this game will be a wake up call.  They’ll get it together for France.
Their stars couldn't have been much worse- so if they needed to get woke, hopefully this did it. the quality is obviously there, and they were still the better team against a very game Spanish squad.

and certainly a ton of quality depth that can get the job done better than what we saw today. but another bad showing from people who are supposed to lead the team = don't deserve to go through to the next round.

 
I'm on board with sitting Rapinoe. Too slow for the cutting counter diagonal runs that open up the opposition.  Not good enough in putting the ball in dangerous situations from outside the box. 

 
I think Horan has to see the field.  Our midfield shape is stronger with her in there.  If I were the coach and not an out of shape, clearly expert armchair ummm..... QB?(What's the footy equivalent of this?) that's commenting while sitting in front of his computer, I'd do something like this....

                            :unsure:

O'Hara     Dahlkemper    Ertz   Dunn

Lavelle           Mewis          Horan

Heath            Press              Rapinoe

I feel like Dahlkemper/Ertz gives us two CBs who can play out of the back.  I like Sauerbrunn's defending, but she doesn't have the same passing skill of these two and she's been a bit slow to the ball a few times.

If you move Ertz to CB, then Mewis becomes our best option at 6, with Horan playing the 8 and Lavelle being a hybrid 8/10.  

Press starts over an injured Morgan who was clearly a step or two slow.  I'd also consider Press over Rapinoe and starting Lloyd, but I think that'd be better as a halftime/50 minute change if needed as Lloyd doesn't have the legs for 90 anymore IMO.  Press gives us speed in the attack and those through balls that Morgan and Rapinoe watched go beyond the end line have a much higher chance of finding home if she's the one chasing them.

 

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