Arena Solo and the Gang - the Women's Soccer Thread

I'm expecting a win, but you never know.


It's crazy to think about, but the US has scored more in their last two outings than in their previous 7 outings.

I also agree with Grant Wahl (again).

I really don't see the benefit of having these blowout matches.

 

With the superior goal advantage, a draw is enough to win the group and (more than likely) avoid Canada in the semifinals, which is the most important round anyways.

I like'd Grant Wahl's suggestion of a four-team tournament, played out as a group. You could include the smaller teams by having two of the teams already qualified for the group, and basic knockout qualifying for the other two spots.

 

I was thinking of something similar to a 4-team group set up though I don't ever really see the rest of North America catching up to Canada and the US in terms of quality. We have a lot more money and a lot deeper talent pool to draw from.

 

Big match up tonight against Mexico. The US women have a chance for some revenge from the WC qualifiers, when the somewhat controversial loss to Mexico sent the US women all over the world to get in to the tournament.

 

4-0 win over Mexico brings Costa Rica and an easier path to the Olympics for the USA. Very happy with that. As long as Solo's injury doesn't prove to be serious.

 

Her injury is worrisome. Hope that she's able to go against Costa Rica. The US should have more than enough offense, but a solid keeper is always good.

 

Hope did a nice interview with Foudy after the game and stated that she'd just pulled her quad in practice the other day. Solo said it wouldn't bother her (though as she's the player who played every minute of the WC having to get a pain injection in her shoulder before each game, I doubt she'd ever admit to any injury bothering her)and she was just pushing herself a little bit too hard trying to get back into "soccer shape" instead of "dancing shape."

Also, two members of the Cuban team have defected to the US and are requesting asylum. Apparently Cuban soccer players have a history of defecting while playing in international tournaments so this isn't really that surprising.

 

True, Solo does have a history of playing well through pain.

Rodriguez left behind her husband...that's surprising. Cuban baseball players defect on a fairly regular basis during trips, so it's not surprising to see soccer players do it, too.

 

Game time against Costa Rica for the women. A win tonight punches the ticket to London.

 

Consider it punched.

3 - 0 over Costa Rica. Solo had a clutch save to keep 1 - 0. She was up for the challenge.

 

Costa Rica really impressed tonight. Good defense for most of the first half, and some solid attacking/counters, too. Solo came up clutch - if that game goes to half 1-1, I think Costa Rica might have had a bit higher spirits in the second half and might have been able to dig deeper. Also, if Costa Rica had a bit more depth and a better striker.

 

Wow, ugly game. I'm surprised the cards didn't come out more. US did it's fair share of shoving (and I'm still not sure if Morgan tripped near the box or took a dive) but Costa Rica really seemed to go after the players and not the ball a few times--gunning for Wambach in particular.

Agree with the above assessment of Solo. While the US is obviously leaps and bounds ahead of the other teams here (except Canada), it's really in goal where I notice it the most. Solo just has a much better ability to read the ball, knows when to come off her line, and doesn't ricochet the ball back into play like the other keepers have done all tournament. I really think she deserves her #1 ranking.

Bring on London! (And work on developing outside backs in the intervening eight months, as baring a miracle, Kriegs ain't playing.)

 

And as predicted, it's gonna be the US and Canada in London this summer.

Canada vs. Mexico was a decent game with Canada controlling the first half 2-0 before Mexico put one in around the hour mark. Sinclair then proved why she's Canada's captain and one of the best players in the world when she found the back of the net a second time, making the final score 3-1 Canada.

I honestly think Sinclair is just as good as Wambach or Marta but doesn't get the attention they get because her team is not as good. If Canada were to medal in London, that could start to change.

 

Sinclair is really, really good. Not really surprising that it's USA-Canada...easily the best teams throughout the tournament. I'd like to think that Solo's the key difference, but she's going to need help from her defenders containing Sinclair.

 

Nice win by the US women.

The two-forward system was really effective...it was really fun watching Morgan and Wambach play together. I'm glad that Morgan got the start. I was also pleasantly surprised by the defense. They weren't perfect, but handled Sinclair very well. Props to Solo for that huge save shortly before half. No real surprises, but a nice way to end the tournament.

Now, bring on the Olympics!

 

Bit of a disappointing game from Canada. Not up to the level they need to be to hang with the US. Thought we looked really good with the 4-4-2 formation as it gave Wambach some much needed rest (she'd been looking a bit sluggish in previous matches.) Loved having Morgan/Wambach up top. With Morgan's speed and Wambach's dominance in the air, they are a killer combination. Here's hoping we see Baby Horse starting again real soon.

Here's what I'm taking away from this tournament:

The Good

-As has been constantly mentioned, we've got a ton of depth on our team. Leroux, Rapinoe, Morgan, all add some great energy and speed when they come off the bench and stuff starts to happen. Also really aids us in these quick turn arounds, as we can rest our players more, since aside from Solo and Rampone we didn't have a stable formation. And speaking of those two...

-Solo and Rampone. Constantly impressed with those two. Rampone is solid on the back line and shuts down 90% of the attacks before they can get a good shot off and for the 10% she misses, Solo's there to pick up the slack. Solo had a couple of particularly nice saves in tonight's game.

-Lloyd and A-Rod stepped it up. A-Rod has been in a scoring drought and Lloyd's still in the shadow of her awful WC penalty so it was nice to see those two play really well, even if it was against garbage teams for the most part. Hopefully they'll get some confidence and keep playing at this level.

The Not So Good

-Abby looked awfully slow out there at times. Especially compared to Morgan up top. I'm going to chalk it up to her Achilles' problems and playing so many games so quickly on turf, but I hope she looks better in the Feb match vs New Zealand.

-Our outside backs still need some work. I like KO and think she did a good job having been shifted back from midfield for this tournament, but neither she, Sauerbrunn, Buehler, or Mitts looks 100% comfortable in that right back spot. Which leads me to my last point...

The Ugly

-Krieger's torn ACL. I feel like this more than the 13-14 goal slaughters are what should convince CONCACAF to seriously reevaluate how the tournament is run. Krieger's injury came from an extremely late and reckless tackle that would not have happened with more experienced players on better teams. Extremely disappointing.

Aside from Ali's injury though, it was a fun tournament. I liked getting to see everyone (Except Barnhart, man it's gotta suck being back up keeper to Hope Solo) play quite a bit, and watch the different line ups get tried out. Bring on the Olympics.

 

Sad news. Looks like WPS is folding. So far they're just suspending operations in 2012 but I don't see them coming back from this. With no homegrown league and European countries starting to spend more money on their teams, I expect our dominance to start coming to an end.

 

That's too bad, especially because it'd be between the Olympic qualifiers and the Olympics.

 

Here's the official announcement from WPS.

Sad that it seems this decision was partly influenced by the legal trouble they're having with Borislow. I've always thought the guy was a jerk, but I gave him the slight benefit of the doubt since he did come in, buy a team, and save the league for a year. Now I don't see how the guy can claim to be a supporter of the sport when he seems to be doing his damn best to hamstring the league.

If the league does manage to reorganize and get it's act together by 2013 that's all well and good, but I bet we lose a lot of players who will be going abroad this year and may not come back.

 

Interesting article from Brian Straus looking at the whole mess of a situation. I'm sort of disappointed in Wombach.

 

Good article. Sums up the situation well. I'm a bit surprised Wambach is so solidly sticking by the guy. I can understand not wanting to burn any bridges and go all Tasha Kai on him, but I would've thought she'd be more like Rampone and Solo and just not comment at all. (Seriously, since when is Hope Solo the restrained one?) I'd like to give Abby the benefit of the doubt since she was in Germany when the grievances were filed and she's always been so supportive of the league and gracious to all her fans, but I dunno...

Here's a first hand "tell all" by former MagicJack Forward Ella Masar about what went down in "MagickJack Land."

 

I don't know what's going on with my link...I'll try it again.


That is an interesting read. A real mess right there.

Stuff like this is disgusting.

Taking someone to the hospital is something that's incredibly basic. There's no reason not to do it.

 

Just a reminder that ussoccer.com will be streaming the match tomorrow vs New Zealand. Kickoff is 1pm PT.


Also, ESPN 2 and 3 will be broadcasting the Brazil and Japan games in April. I think that's the first they've broadcast since the WWC.

 

I should be able to catch most of the first half then. That's probably when most of the excitement will happen.

 

Sounders Women sign Solo, Leroux

Seems like a good, logical move ... assuming they get to play anyone of note, and not just the Whitecaps FC Women.