The USA girls’s nationwide staff is loaded with expertise, however Jill Ellis has to decide on 18 gamers for her Olympic roster, which creates a set of powerful battles amongst some deserving gamers.
BY
John D. Halloran
Posted
July 09, 2016
8:35 PM
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On Friday, she reiterated each the posh and problem of choosing a remaining roster from such a proficient pool of gamers.
“It’s a tough process because everybody gives everything they have,” stated the coach.
“The confidence we have as a staff, in terms of our personnel, in terms of our depth, the 18 we select and even any of the 24 players we’ve got in camp right now can help us. It’s a hard problem to have, but we’re also lucky to have such talent.”
“I had a meeting with my staff this morning,” she added after Saturday’s match. “We were up late last night. So, I feel there’s been a lot of healthy discussion. I don’t make decisions in a vacuum and I value my staff’s input.”
The coach additionally acknowledged how comparatively inexperienced this present crop of gamers is on the worldwide stage, which is particularly putting in comparison with many U.S. groups previously.
“I’m really excited to take a new group down there,” stated Ellis. “I was thinking about it the other day, potentially [the roster] could be 11-12 Olympic debutants out of a roster of 18.”
Boosted by the return of Carli Lloyd (who performed 45 minutes on Saturday) and Megan Rapinoe (who Ellis confirmed is wholesome sufficient to be into consideration for a roster spot), the coach seems to have 15 gamers who’re basically “locks.”
Lloyd, taking part in for the primary time since injuring her knee on April twenty third, stated, “It felt good. [I’m] knocking the rust off. As a player, you want to come on and think everything’s going to be perfect and you have to remember it’s been 11 weeks since you’ve played a game. For the most part, it felt pretty good. It was the perfect amount of time for me to play in my first game [back].”
Lloyd additionally stated that her knee is “100%” and that her health can be “120%” by the opening of the Olympic video games.
Ahead Christen Press added, “It’s great to have Carli back. She’s always the driving force of this team.”
Of the remaining 9 gamers making up the present roster, Ellis might want to select a back-up goalkeeper (between Alyssa Naeher and Ashlyn Harris) and two area gamers from a pool together with Samantha Mewis, Whitney Engen, Heather O’Reilly, Jaelene Hinkle, Emily Sonnett, Allie Lengthy, and Gina Lewandowski. Three gamers who don’t make the ultimate 18-player roster will even journey with the staff to Brazil as alternates.
Beginning with the goalkeeper place, Ellis didn’t give something away.
“I think I have three of the best keepers in the world and I would be confident with any of them having to step into an Olympic game. It’s incredibly competitive—it’s splitting hairs,” stated the coach.
“Unfortunately, one has to come in an alternate role, but again, there’s nothing between them in terms of Alyssa and Ashlyn competing for that second spot.”
Earlier this spring, Ellis declared that Naeher was the staff’s No. 2 within the internet. The coach additionally selected Naeher because the staff’s back-up on Saturday, whereas Harris didn’t costume.
Naeher, for her half, admitted that understanding she’s in a continuing battle for a roster spot might be mentally powerful. Nonetheless, she stated she’s specializing in doing what she will to make the staff higher and taking the method one step at a time.
“You try to stay in the moment and each day is a new day,” stated Naeher. “Take everything one day at a time and keep focusing on what I want to work on that day and keep progressing from there.”
Heather O’Reilly, a fan favourite and veteran with greater than 200 caps, is the one winger seemingly on the bubble—assuming Rapinoe is match and chosen. Nonetheless, Ellis cites depth on the wing as her strongest asset, not a superb signal for the American vet.
“I think the No. 7 and No. 11 positions, we’re much deeper than we’ve ever been,” Ellis stated. “I think the flexibility—Crystal can play wide, Press can play wide, we’ve got Pugh, we have Tobin, Rapinoe coming back on the scene, O’Reilly—we’ve got a lot of depth there. In a pinch, I can slide Kelley O’Hara up there. That’s our deepest spot right now.”
Of the opposite six area gamers, defenders Hinkle and Lewandowski appear destined to be minimize. Lewandowski has not earned a cap but in 2016 and Hinkle has not performed for the U.S. since February. That units up positional battles at heart midfield (between Lengthy and Mewis) and heart again (between Engen and Sonnett) for the ultimate two locations within the 18.
Studying the tea leaves, Lengthy and Engen look to be the good bets. Whereas Sonnett appeared to benefit from the benefit earlier within the yr, Ellis has most well-liked Engen as a late substitute in three of the U.S.’ final 5 matches.
Lengthy has surged of late for the staff, beginning 4 of the U.S.’ final 5 matches. She additionally practically scored on Saturday, however South Africa managed to clear her second-half header off the aim line.
“Every time I put the USA jersey, it’s an honor,” stated Lengthy. “I just take it game by game. It’s such a humbling experience playing for the U.S. and representing my country.”
The midfielder added that her finest qualities had been “being able to possess, and be a quarterback. Win my tackles on defense and build the attack from deep.”
Last projections
ON THE TEAM: Hope Solo, Mallory Pugh, Becky Sauerbrunn, Kelley O’Hara, Whitney Engen, Meghan Klingenberg, Julie Johnston, Carli Lloyd, Ali Krieger, Christen Press, Alex Morgan, Morgan Brian, Megan Rapinoe, Crystal Dunn, Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan, Alyssa Naeher, Allie Lengthy.
MISSES THE CUT/ALTERNATES: Samantha Mewis, Heather O’Reilly, Ashlyn Harris, Jaelene Hinkle, Emily Sonnett, Gina Lewandowski.
