Women’s World Cup ‘23 Game Thread (spoilers)
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Well. Lots of talent and so many opportunities to win this game. I’d pry Laura Harvey from Reign, let Rapinoe retire, make Morgan a sub, rehab Mewis Sauerbrunn Macario and Swanson hard, maybe mix in Coffey and otherwise basically run it back for the Olympics
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I don’t understand the US acting like they’re happy with their play and they’re proud of themselves. They massively underperformed.
The US is qualified for the Olympics. (Jamaica & Canada have a 2 legged playoff for the second spot coming up next month.)
Historically, the Olympics has been a run-it-back tournamentf for the US, but that needs to change now. They need a new manager who is empowered to experiment in that tournament to find what works. @Eastchop’s Harvey suggestion is a good one. I think Sarah Wiegman one of the best managers in the world (men and women) and would pay whatever it takes to pry her from England. She’s really reshape the entire program.
Historically, the Olympics has been a run-it-back tournamentf for the US, but that needs to change now. They need a new manager who is empowered to experiment in that tournament to find what works. @Eastchop’s Harvey suggestion is a good one. I think Sarah Wiegman one of the best managers in the world (men and women) and would pay whatever it takes to pry her from England. She’s really reshape the entire program.
Turns out putting in Rapinoe was pretty much a disaster. She had bad touches in her short time on the pitch (one where she was all alone ahead of the defense and it just went out of bounds), and then had a horrific attempt in PKs that totally changed the game.
Agree Wiegman would be excellent.
And fwiw I was kind of joking with my ‘run it back’ comment. Like- outside of these several major changes starting with a complete change in coaching/leadership, yeah they’ve got a lot of talent…
Which, they do. Jill Ellis had her issues but she takes this team another round at least. I am certainly not suggesting they revisit that. Just saying coaching was a major issue and should be the first upgrade.
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I know many are watching on delay this morning. First off, what a game. The US was so much better in this game than the first 3 matches. Sonnett was just great and took the pressure off Sullivan to play. I thought they switched the ball in midfield really well to work the right side with Rodman. Rodman was equally great and you wonder if she wasn’t sick, if they might have gotten a winner. Germa and Allysa Naeher (who I’ve been critical of) were both great at the back.
Now for the bad, Vlatko must go. He sticks with disappointing performers and is reluctant to play his best 11. It took him three games to switch the shape which was 2 games too long. Morgan wasn’t great in this tournament and Rapinoe shouldn’t have seen the field. If you play Smith/Williams/Rodman up front, this team is probably still playing. Every time that Rapinoe entered a game, the team’s whole balance shifted to account for her lack of effort and reliance on long set pieces. Love her as a person, loved her as a player years ago but she was toast all tournament and he kept playing her. Maybe no one’s fault but Horan was clearly gassed and they had nowhere to go to replace her. Probably Lavelle’s suspension cost them here.
I can’t be too upset with the effort today but the result certainly hurts.
p.s. Musovic was amazing for Sweden. She won the, the game with her saves in regulation.
Now for the bad, Vlatko must go. He sticks with disappointing performers and is reluctant to play his best 11. It took him three games to switch the shape which was 2 games too long. Morgan wasn’t great in this tournament and Rapinoe shouldn’t have seen the field. If you play Smith/Williams/Rodman up front, this team is probably still playing. Every time that Rapinoe entered a game, the team’s whole balance shifted to account for her lack of effort and reliance on long set pieces. Love her as a person, loved her as a player years ago but she was toast all tournament and he kept playing her. Maybe no one’s fault but Horan was clearly gassed and they had nowhere to go to replace her. Probably Lavelle’s suspension cost them here.
I can’t be too upset with the effort today but the result certainly hurts.
p.s. Musovic was amazing for Sweden. She won the, the game with her saves in regulation.
I've never felt that the US Women would play for a tie or for PKs... until this manager. Felt like regressive tactics all tournament.. and the lack of subs and adjustments to offensive strategy were equally uninspired. Even with that the US had a chance to progress twice on PKs and failed which is incredibly unlikely/unlucky.. so they could have won even with the coaching they got.
My perception was that Rapinoe’s inclusion was for her leadership and experience, as well as a somewhat honorary sendoff. Maybe I’m way off base. I’m disappointed that somebody with Rapinoe’s experience and winning mentality couldn’t put the team first and admit that she wasn’t up for it (since her manager was incapable of making blindingly obvious decisions). She was an absolute boat anchor with the ball in play. There’s an argument that her set piece delivery could make up for that, but she was below replacement in that department as well. Just an awful way for her to end her sparkling national career, with an inexcusable penalty as the cherry on the shit sundae.
I’m trying to think of a worse penalty display by a good team. Maybe Spain on the men’s side? They weren’t as talented relative to the field, however. Very disappointing stuff.
I’m trying to think of a worse penalty display by a good team. Maybe Spain on the men’s side? They weren’t as talented relative to the field, however. Very disappointing stuff.
Players get to the level they’re at with psychotic confidence, that’s why it’s up to the manager to make those calls.
It was very strange for Vlatko to lose confidence in a huge chunk of his bench seemingly as soon as the plane landed (Thompson, Sanchez, Cook), given that they were all in the mix as late as the sendoff.
He really should have either lost confidence in them months ago when he could adjust the roster, or never so we could substitute effectively. He picked the absolute worst time to do it.
He joins several USMNT coaches in making really dumb decisions at the World Cup.. both teams need better managers..
At least on the men’s side these decisions have often come with a healthy dose of talent deficit (until Qatar although there were still serious depth issues).
Gregg genuinely could not bring players off without sacrificing quality, so you can somewhat forgive his reticence to make changes. With Vlatko it just feels more like a paralysis.
Ertz retired from the USWNT after the game, so they once again have to figure out how to make the midfield work without her before the Olympics.
F you Vlatko. F you. Resign if you're not fired
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Took 8 1/2 hours to watch this hell
I would say choke job by Sophia for all 135 minutes but she's young. Vlatko failed her
Can;t believe they took off Morgan for that bum Megan.
2 chances to win it on penalties, basically, and they choked.
I was 90% thinking they were gonna lose when regulation ended and then 50/50 after Andi right away.
God damn it. Alyssa, Lindsey, Julie and Lynn deserved better.
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Took 8 1/2 hours to watch this hell
I would say choke job by Sophia for all 135 minutes but she's young. Vlatko failed her
Can;t believe they took off Morgan for that bum Megan.
2 chances to win it on penalties, basically, and they choked.
I was 90% thinking they were gonna lose when regulation ended and then 50/50 after Andi right away.
God damn it. Alyssa, Lindsey, Julie and Lynn deserved better.
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When a keeper has a great game with a lot of saves, it tends to make the penalty takers think they have to be super precise to beat her. Generally in the women's game you don't need to go for the upper 90, if you put it within 3 feet of the post and about 5 feet high or higher with decent pace, no keeper is saving it.
Of course, that's easy for me to say from my spot on the couch having not run around for 120 minutes.
Credit to Kristie Mewis, her first and only action in her World Cup career was burying her penalty.
Of course, that's easy for me to say from my spot on the couch having not run around for 120 minutes.
Credit to Kristie Mewis, her first and only action in her World Cup career was burying her penalty.
Fly (BC) Eagles fly
Sonnett wasn’t awful, one of their best 5 (top half) position player starters, I thought, but Mewis should have played more, definitely more than Noe
Am surprised Swaby’s team is stillplaying while Mewis’ isn’t . .
F Vlatko
Sonnett wasn’t awful, one of their best 5 (top half) position player starters, I thought, but Mewis should have played more, definitely more than Noe
Am surprised Swaby’s team is stillplaying while Mewis’ isn’t . .
F Vlatko
Big shout out to Alyssa Naeher. I thought her international career was one after the knee injury and even said that it was time for Vlatko to move on from her in order to groom her replacement.
But she battled. She came back rusty and slow and looking old as hell in 2022. It was a rough half season for her with the Red Stars as she worked back into form. She’s not as explosive as before, but she’s smarter.
And even up until the shoot out today, I would have told you Murphy was the better choice. But Naeher was awesome between the sticks and she buried her PK. Even the decisive goal reflected Naeher as she is today - she got to the shot and didn’t for a second let up, batted that thing out.
Hats off to a real one who worked for it every step of the way.
But she battled. She came back rusty and slow and looking old as hell in 2022. It was a rough half season for her with the Red Stars as she worked back into form. She’s not as explosive as before, but she’s smarter.
And even up until the shoot out today, I would have told you Murphy was the better choice. But Naeher was awesome between the sticks and she buried her PK. Even the decisive goal reflected Naeher as she is today - she got to the shot and didn’t for a second let up, batted that thing out.
Hats off to a real one who worked for it every step of the way.
Harsh, but totally fair for a Canadian.
Now that we're out I'm going to enjoy rooting for the remaining underdogs, and for Japan. Or failing that, "anyone but England". Would be totally cool with France.
Being half Swedish and half Norwegian..born in the US.. I'm hoping the Swedes are able to win.
VAR just overturned a penalty and denied England a PK. It did look more like the English player took a tumble rather than she was pushed down.
It was a soft penalty, there was contact but not a lot. Given that it was given on the field I don't think it was a clear and obvious error and shouldn't have been overturned. Likewise, if it wasn't given on the field it shouldn't have been given by VAR either.
In the moment, I thought the player did a somersault more than she went down due to the contact, but there was enough contact for the foul to be called initially. I'm just glad the ref reversed her call after the video review.
James may be going off for stepping on her opponent while getting up. VAR checking to see if her yellow will turn to red. And she's OUT! England will play with ten for the rest of the match.
If England go out the tabloids are gonna have a field day. They love a hero to villain narrative.
Good thing Lauren James has a really good support network. I'm not excusing the play, it is what it is, but we've seen it before.
Good thing Lauren James has a really good support network. I'm not excusing the play, it is what it is, but we've seen it before.
Sadly there are going to racist comments too, remember what happened after Saka, Sancho, Rashford missed penalties in the Euro 2020 finals.
The net looks enormous until you're standing in front of it in those situations. One moment of hesitation or doubt and its over.
Seems like modern coaching theory for penalties is to tell the player to take a deep breath, pick a spot, overthink it, change the decision during the run up, flop between precision and pace, and blow it spectacularly.
If so, they are succeeding spectacularly.
Speaking of spectacular, Australia up 1-0 at the half on an actual GOAL by Caitlin Foord. It's been a while since we've seen one.
I'd be interested in seeing success rates for penalties in major tournaments (club and country) year by year. See if they've gone up or down. My impression of the statistics is that the success rate has gone up, but my subjective impression watching is that they've gone down.