There's no back up LB. Tierna Davidson is the backup (or Kelly O'Hara shifting over) and she's really a center back. Roster construction is one area Ellis should receive significant amount of criticism.

Not able to watch the match but we are playing on sort rest compared to Spain. Wonder if that factored into the performance.

Sometimes you play like crap and get rewarded. Play like this again and you won't be.

Hand Of God said:

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Press coming in for the final minute. Unbelievable talent left sitting.

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Lloyd didnt even get in until the ~85th minute of a 1-1 game where the offense had no clue how to break done the defense.

Why doesn't Dunn play forward more? She's an average defender but appears to be a really good attacker.

France and the US both had to work very hard just to reach the QF but now we get the long anticipated matchup.

tysker said:

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Funny how this game's commentary is so complimentary toward the US, almost righteously so, even though they're playing poorly, whereas the recent men's matches seems so biased agsint the play even when its pretty decent.

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Well one of them is winning World Cup games against top competition , and the other is doing whatever the hell the gold cup is.

Out coached. France will tough because of bad coaching decisions.

Finished it in regulation
Sloppy all around
Need to play much better against france

Sloppy play but kudos for toughing it out and getting the win.

amercer said:

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tysker said:

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Funny how this game's commentary is so complimentary toward the US, almost righteously so, even though they're playing poorly, whereas the recent men's matches seems so biased agsint the play even when its pretty decent.

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Well one of them is winning World Cup games against top competition , and the other is doing whatever the hell the gold cup is.

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Ya I get it. Winners go home and **** the prom queen. I'm just a little surprised by how much JP reminded me of Gary Danielson during a Bama game...

ColoradoMooseHerd said:

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Not a fan of Ellis. And have stated that in previous games. Think this whole tournament has been poorly coached.

Press should have started.

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Agree, not a fan at all. Rappinoe, despite her PKs, should not have started. Rappinoe blew several chances in the beginning, should have already been up 1 or 2 - 0 without the PKs.

Leaving her in the game as long as she did. Ellis prob thinks, look how smart i am, Rappino got the PKs. Any competent player could take those.

Morgan trending downward is most worrisome.
5 goals vs Thailand
Sat out vs Chile
Subbed out at half vs Sweden
Horrible performance vs Spain

Very, very lucky. Play like that again and we have a good chance of an early flight home. I missed the penalty thanks to a patient (freaking sick people), but we played very poorly.

I won't be surprised to see Lloyd possibly starting instead of Morgan and Horan definitely has to start.

Rapinoe is gonna get lauded by the press for penalties, but she was absolute garbage for the entire match. She'll unfortunately start against France.

The defense has to be better. Our outside backs have to be much more diligent against France. The QF's are gonna be nuts and we need to get our **** together.

Hand Of God said:

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Morgan trending downward is most worrisome.
5 goals vs Thailand
Sat out vs Chile
Subbed out at half vs Sweden
Horrible performance vs Spain

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Makes me almost think that sitting against Chile threw her off her rhythm. Great idea Ellis

wangus12 said:

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Very, very lucky. Play like that again and we have a good chance of an early flight home. I missed the penalty thanks to a patient (freaking sick people), but we played very poorly.

I won't be surprised to see Lloyd possibly starting instead of Morgan and Horan definitely has to start.

Rapinoe is gonna get lauded by the press for penalties, but she was absolute garbage for the entire match. She'll unfortunately start against France.

The defense has to be better. Our outside backs have to be much more diligent against France. The QF's are gonna be nuts and we need to get our **** together.

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Can't agree more.

wangus12 said:

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The defense has to be better. Our outside backs have to be much more diligent against France. The QF's are gonna be nuts and we need to get our **** together.

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I bet that the US win lose its 'home field' fan advantage in Paris

And what defender can handle Renard on set pieces?

Hand Of God said:

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Morgan trending downward is most worrisome.
5 goals vs Thailand
Sat out vs Chile
Subbed out at half vs Sweden
Horrible performance vs Spain

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I feel pretty confident her injury is lingering more than they let on. I expect to see Lloyd or Press for Morgan to start. She might be able to come in late if we're down, but I'd be shocked if she's 90-minute capable bun friday.

OlSarge92 said:

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ColoradoMooseHerd said:

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Not a fan of Ellis. And have stated that in previous games. Think this whole tournament has been poorly coached.

Press should have started.

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Agree, not a fan at all. Rappinoe, despite her PKs, should not have started. Rappinoe blew several chances in the beginning, should have already been up 1 or 2 - 0 without the PKs.

Leaving her in the game as long as she did. Ellis prob thinks, look how smart i am, Rappino got the PKs. Any competent player could take those.

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The fact that there is not a true left back on the roster still baffles me. You do not bring your best 20 field players you bring your best at each position and then fill in the rest with the best available. Unlike the Mens team there is quality in the US player pool at all positions.

tysker said:

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wangus12 said:

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The defense has to be better. Our outside backs have to be much more diligent against France. The QF's are gonna be nuts and we need to get our **** together.

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I bet that the US win lose its 'home field' fan advantage in Paris

And what defender can handle Renard on set pieces?

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I'd put Ertz on Renard. She was a beast as a CB before moving to midfield.

Dunn is the left back for one reason. Her name is Diani.

She is the best winger in women's soccer and annihilated USA in a recent friendly. USA had to find someone to play left back with enough pace to keep up with Diani. Dunn is that person. I think it has been a great move by Ellis, along with O'hara at right back. We'll see if it pays off now that Dunn vs. Diani has arrived.

As for Ellis' other moves, I'm not a fan.

I may (will) get roasted for this, but I thought Rapinoe played very well today. PK conversions aside, she is a tireless grinder who is extremely physical and can retain possession. Not to mention that fact that her service on free kicks from the left side is spot on 9/10 times.

I also very much liked the play from Rose Lavelle in the 2nd half, especially that screamer that she hit just over the crossbar.

O'Hara played well, and Ertz put forth a good effort. Mewis was my favorite player this game.

This was a poor showing by Heath, who just didn't seem to have her stuff today and *****ed about every damn time she got touched.

Flame away.

Does Spain always play that physical? Seems like the fouls that resulted in the penalty kicks had a lot less contact than most of the other fouls they committed.
One TV commentator was wondering if the US is so deep then why doesn't the coach use it.

wangus12 said:

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tysker said:

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wangus12 said:

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The defense has to be better. Our outside backs have to be much more diligent against France. The QF's are gonna be nuts and we need to get our **** together.

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I bet that the US win lose its 'home field' fan advantage in Paris

And what defender can handle Renard on set pieces?

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I'd put Ertz on Renard. She was a beast as a CB before moving to midfield.

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Of course! Upon reading that it's the obvious answer.

I only watched the 2nd half, but I tend to agree with you on all counts. Rapinoe seemed to have the best work rate on the pitch for either team.

The best defense against Renard will be not giving up silly corners and free kicks in the final third.

snowdog90 said:

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Dunn is the left back for one reason. Her name is Diani.

She is the best winger in women's soccer and annihilated USA in a recent friendly. USA had to find someone to play left back with enough pace to keep up with Diani. Dunn is that person. I think it has been a great move by Ellis, along with O'hara at right back. We'll see if it pays off now that Dunn vs. Diani has arrived.

As for Ellis' other moves, I'm not a fan.

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Are you suggesting Ellis has been playing the long game under the assumption that both teams would make it to the QFs? Brilliant or crazy?

Quote:

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I may (will) get roasted for this, but I thought Rapinoe played very well today. PK conversions aside, she is a tireless grinder who is extremely physical and can retain possession. Not to mention that fact that her service on free kicks from the left side is spot on 9/10 times.

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She can retain possession, but she turned it over 95% of the time today. She's lost a step and seems slow all around the pitch. She doesn't have the speed to punish players out wide at this point especially in such a demanding tournament. Her passing it typically brilliant but if she can't create enough space to get the ball off it doesn't matter.

She did start to play better at the very end and was drawing fouls. She is a great person to sub on when we have the lead.

snowdog90 said:

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Dunn is the left back for one reason. Her name is Diani.

She is the best winger in women's soccer and annihilated USA in a recent friendly. USA had to find someone to play left back with enough pace to keep up with Diani. Dunn is that person. I think it has been a great move by Ellis, along with O'hara at right back. We'll see if it pays off now that Dunn vs. Diani has arrived.

As for Ellis' other moves, I'm not a fan.

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Sorry you don't player out of position a whole tournament without a quality replacement in expectation of a single match up. Especially when she does not look sound defensively.

deadbq03 said:

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I only watched the 2nd half, but I tend to agree with you on all counts. Rapinoe seemed to have the best work rate on the pitch for either team.

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Rapinoe didnt have her typical game where she bombs up the wing and hits crosses mostly because there was no one in the box. She was able to gut out a performance but, imo, the fact she looked decent was only relative to how poor the other players looked.

tysker said:

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snowdog90 said:

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Dunn is the left back for one reason. Her name is Diani.

She is the best winger in women's soccer and annihilated USA in a recent friendly. USA had to find someone to play left back with enough pace to keep up with Diani. Dunn is that person. I think it has been a great move by Ellis, along with O'hara at right back. We'll see if it pays off now that Dunn vs. Diani has arrived.

As for Ellis' other moves, I'm not a fan.

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Are you suggesting Ellis has been playing the long game under the assumption that both teams would make it to the QFs? Brilliant or crazy?

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That is exactly what I'm saying. Dunn has always been a striker. She is very fast but imo not a good striker. Especially compared to other USA options.

Then Diani totally destroys USA in a friendly. If you didn't see that game, look it up on YouTube. Diani looked unstoppable. I can't remember who our left back was that game, but it might as well have been an orange cone.

Now out of the blue, a really fast striker is playing left back for USA. Pretty obvious why that is. It's a great move and it had to be made. Imo Dunn has been good. We'll see how she does against Diani.

wangus12 said:

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Quote:

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I may (will) get roasted for this, but I thought Rapinoe played very well today. PK conversions aside, she is a tireless grinder who is extremely physical and can retain possession. Not to mention that fact that her service on free kicks from the left side is spot on 9/10 times.

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She can retain possession, but she turned it over 95% of the time today. She's lost a step and seems slow all around the pitch. She doesn't have the speed to punish players out wide at this point especially in such a demanding tournament. Her passing it typically brilliant but if she can't create enough space to get the ball off it doesn't matter.

She did start to play better at the very end and was drawing fouls. She is a great person to sub on when we have the lead.

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good point... I probably should have said, 'grinder ... and can win back possession' because that's what I saw from her today (and in other recent games).

MR is a fiercely competitive player who, despite her age, is still very fast... she makes smart decisions with the ball, makes timely runs, and her teammates trust her. imho, she belongs out there with the starting 11.

tysker said:

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deadbq03 said:

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I only watched the 2nd half, but I tend to agree with you on all counts. Rapinoe seemed to have the best work rate on the pitch for either team.

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Rapinoe didnt have her typical game where she bombs up the wing and hits crosses mostly because there was no one in the box. She was able to gut out a performance but, imo, the fact she looked decent was only relative to how poor the other players looked.

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Some of the folks in thread need to post a bunch about how other particular players played like crap...

The focus on Rapinoe today has been borderline ridiculous.

AustinScubaAg said:

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snowdog90 said:

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Dunn is the left back for one reason. Her name is Diani.

She is the best winger in women's soccer and annihilated USA in a recent friendly. USA had to find someone to play left back with enough pace to keep up with Diani. Dunn is that person. I think it has been a great move by Ellis, along with O'hara at right back. We'll see if it pays off now that Dunn vs. Diani has arrived.

As for Ellis' other moves, I'm not a fan.

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Sorry you don't player out of position a whole tournament without a quality replacement in expectation of a single match up. Especially when she does not look sound defensively.

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There should definitely be a sub. But Dunn is the option that USA has decided is best vs. Diani. Dunn has always been a striker. She needs all the playing time she can get at left back. Diani is a killer, and USA is hedging all bets hoping that Dunn's pace can marginalize Diani's dominance.

I don't know if it will work, but USA had to do something. If Dunn is not the answer, then USA will have to figure something else out. Maybe a well-placed sniper.

The salt from the Europeans on r/soccer is quite amusing.

TXAggie2011 said:

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tysker said:

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deadbq03 said:

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I only watched the 2nd half, but I tend to agree with you on all counts. Rapinoe seemed to have the best work rate on the pitch for either team.

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Rapinoe didnt have her typical game where she bombs up the wing and hits crosses mostly because there was no one in the box. She was able to gut out a performance but, imo, the fact she looked decent was only relative to how poor the other players looked.

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Some of the folks in thread need to post a bunch about how other particular players played like crap...

The focus on Rapinoe today has been borderline ridiculous.

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Eh its par for the course as captain and for players that have been on the team for so long. Rapinoe/Morgan are getting the Bradley/Altidore treatment.


edit to add: I dont think its fair or appropriate to criticize certain players but that wont stop some people from pointing fingers...