Whereas the lads’s group prepares to face Ghana, the U.S. girls have been in motion on Saturday evening, pulling out a 1-0 win over France. American Soccer Now’s John D. Halloran has 4 ideas on the competition.
BY
John D. Halloran
Posted
June 15, 2014
8:54 AM
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IN THE FIRST OF TWO SCHEDULED FRIENDLIES, the US girls’s nationwide group escaped with a 1-0 win over France on Saturday evening in Tampa, Florida.
The U.S.’s lone purpose got here from Sydney Leroux by way of Christen Press, and whereas it was sufficient for the win, the French missed a number of extensive open probabilities to equalize and laid siege to the U.S. purpose for the ultimate 10 minutes of the sport.
Listed below are 4 issues we realized from the competition.
1. THE FORMATION CONUNDRUM REMAINS
Within the final 4 video games, the US girls’s nationwide group has come out in a 4-3-3 formation. The swap from the U.S.’s conventional 4-4-2 appeared to make sense for a variety of causes, together with the group’s plethora of expertise at ahead and the will to get each Carli Lloyd and Lauren Vacation into attacking midfield positions.
Nonetheless, the U.S. setup on Saturday evening disqualified a kind of benefits instantly because the midfield triangle in opposition to France was reversed from its earlier incarnations in opposition to Canada and China. In these video games, Morgan Brian was deployed in a holding position whereas Lloyd and Vacation attacked. Towards France, the U.S. deployed two holding midfielders (Lloyd and newcomer Allie Lengthy) and performed Vacation beneath the middle ahead, Leroux.
USA is in a 4-3-3 with Heath and Press as wingers and Vacation beneath striker Leroux. France seems to be in a 4-4-2.
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) June 15, 2014
When she did get ahead, Lloyd was efficient, creating some nice mixtures within the attacking third and choosing up the “hockey assist” on Leroux’s purpose. However Lloyd’s effectiveness within the assault solely emphasised the folly of beginning her in a deeper place within the first place.
This was the identical downside former coach Pia Sundhage confronted within the 2012 Olympics when she deployed the Vacation/Lloyd heart midfield mixture. Lloyd was requested to carry again for the majority of that match, however her greatest efficiency got here within the ultimate when she was unleashed and allowed to go ahead as a result of Shannon Boxx, a real holding midfielder, was began behind her.
Whereas Vacation is a world-class attacking midfielder, so is Lloyd. And beginning Lloyd deeper within the formation hinders the U.S. assault.
It was additionally attention-grabbing to notice that on Saturday, when Vacation dropped deep to obtain the ball, she had a variety of “can-opener” passes to drag aside the French protection. That truth alone may make it value experimenting with Vacation because the holding midfielder and permitting Lloyd to play larger up the sphere.
2. DOES THE U.S. NEED TO CHANGE?
Early within the match, the 4-3-3 formation did give the U.S. a decisive benefit in possession, however that light as the sport wore on. The U.S.’s dominance in possession additionally triggered a number of unintended issues. For one, it made it simpler for France to remain compact which restricted house for Sydney Leroux—and second-half substitute Alex Morgan—to run into, thereby negating these two gamers’ best benefit—their pace.
The decisive benefit in possession additionally created points for the U.S. protection. When possession was misplaced, the French have been capable of launch lightning fast counters as each U.S. participant besides the 2 center-backs had pushed ahead. With out not less than one improbable save from Hope Solo and several other flat-out wasted probabilities by the French attackers, the U.S. simply may have misplaced the sport 3-1.
U.S. coaches needs to be applauded for making an attempt to make the U.S. a extra possession-based group, however one should surprise if a tiki-taka system is one of the best ways to go. The U.S. girls have been Olympic gold medalists in 2012 and have been a penalty shootout away from profitable the World Cup in 2011.
The U.S. has additionally been the No. 1 ranked group on this planet for the previous seven years. Whether or not or not the U.S. really must evolve, or whether or not its coaches are attempting to resolve an issue that does not really exist, is a query value asking.
3. THE GOOD AND BAD OF THE DEFENSE
The excellent news, defensively, from Saturday evening’s win over France, was the play of 38-year-old Christie Rampone. Many have questioned whether or not Rampone can nonetheless play at a excessive stage heading right into a World Cup yr, however her efficiency on Saturday evening ought to put these fears to relaxation in the meanwhile.
Towards France, Rampone repeatedly broke up French counterattacks, lined for overwhelmed teammates, and cleaned up the messes.
The unhealthy information, defensively, was the play of left again Stephanie Cox. Early within the sport Cox’s lack of pace was uncovered and, particularly within the second half, she repeatedly gave the ball away. Head coach Jill Ellis has additionally made some attention-grabbing selections this camp concerning left again, electing to coach Kelley O’Hara as a ahead, although O’Hara excelled as a left again within the 2012 Olympics.
The choice makes even much less sense when one considers that if taking part in up prime, O’Hara is competing with Morgan, Abby Wambach, Leroux, Press, and Amy Rodriguez for taking part in time. On Saturday, Ellis elected to not solely begin Cox, but in addition did not roster O’Hara, Meghan Klingenberg, or Kristie Mewis—the three different gamers on the U.S. roster able to taking part in on the left.
4. CHRISTEN PRESS DESERVES TO START
Along with helping on the game-winning purpose, Press was wonderful in a variety of different often-overlooked areas. Press helped begin the U.S. assault all evening lengthy along with her improbable hold-up play, checking again for the ball and laying it off to overlapping midfielders. She additionally tracked again defensively on a number of events from her extensive ahead position.
Many have checked out Press because the “fourth forward” for the U.S., behind Morgan, Wambach, and Leroux. However Press’s technical stage and tactical understanding is excellent and she or he needs to be within the working for a spot within the beginning XI because the U.S. heads into World Cup qualifying this fall.
John D. Halloran is an American Soccer Now columnist. Comply with him on Twitter.
