There is no need to tinker with something that isn't broken. The USWNT is still the best in the world despite several European squads rapidly improving. When everyone is healthy, you could argue that each of our three lines are still the best in the game.

This Olympics will be the last major tournament for Rapinoe and Lloyd. Possibly Sauerbrunn, though she still looks top level at center back. I could also see Heath hanging it up due to a string of injuries. Hoping she'll be fit enough to make the Tokyo roster.

S. Mewis, Lavelle, and Horan are all rising stars who already dominate playing time in the midfield.

Macario, K. Mewis, Williams, and Davidson are ready for more minutes when needed.

Smith, Purce, Sullivan, and Cook still need a little more experience. None of these players currently come close to cracking the first 11.

1-0 vs Portugal- super exciting -all the veterans talked about here played.

Your point?

BigJim49 AustinNowDallas said:

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1-0 vs Portugal- super exciting -all the veterans talked about here played.

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Pretty much that was the point of the thread without naming names. I'm still worried about the future of our team if our best option is a 35 year old Rapinoe.

For those who don't follow closely, the US women are undefeated in 40 straight matches. That includes wins against top squads like France, England, Sweden, Australia, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Brazil, Canada...

Are y'all really suggesting that a 1-0 victory against a Portugal team who had just 35% of the possession and 1 shot on goal is reason to be concerned?

Also, our best option in that slot is not Rapinoe. It's actually Tobin Heath who is recovering from injury.

Heath's 30s have not been good to her health-wise. I'm not sure she has made but 4 or 5 appearances since the WC.

Touch....I should not have used the word "unquestionably".

Crystal Dunn brings up a good point, and since I don't follow at the club level I don't know the answer....but are some of the younger players playing out of position in order to get a roster spot? I know Dunn played forward when she broke into the national team but changed positions to gain minutes. Are there others like that?

You could make the argument that anyone playing outside back for the US team plays out of their original position.

Margaret Purce is making the team listed as a defender. She was a star forward in her college days. Kelley O'Hara is a converted forward as well. Emily Sonnet was a CB in college but has moved outside (though she may have played both in college), same with Tierna Davidson.

Yeah good examples. Midge was the only one I could think of offhand that Vlatko is experimenting out of position right now.

Based on his club coaching days, Vlatko does like to have versatility. He's going to want to be able to change his formations based on opponent more than Ellis did. (In fairness, I think Ellis wanted to but couldn't execute it.). So I think after the Olympics you'll start seeing some of these young players getting looks in different positions, particularly on the back line.

Dunn was an absolute lock down defender last WC. I'd say she's no longer "out of position"

TRM said:

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ThunderCougarFalconBird said:

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Cynical take: the USMNT has to play its best 11 to have a chance to win.

The USWNT has to make money to self sustain. They're selling players and a brand. Bringing in new players changes the team that people take their kids to go see. USMNT is competitive soccer. USWNT is Disney on ice and changing the characters isn't as easy.

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My cynical take:

The older women want to freeze out the younger women, who probably should be pushing for a starting spot, because they want to keep their benefits.

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This is correct. I know multiple young players that were frozen out by the old guard (including the old head coach). There are definitely cliques on the USWNT group that don't bring newer players into the fold for fear of losing their own jobs. That's why the whole equal pay thing is so ironic since those same players "fighting" for equal pay are limiting opportunities for younger players to get paid also.

USWNT Olympic roster out today. All the old guard there for the most part but Macario got left out.

The real surprise for me is that Ertz and Heath are in when they've been battling injury. I know they've both been training with & without the team so knew they were close, but was still unexpected to me.

I'm sure everyone else here will just pile on that the old guard has too much influence, but I actually think it speaks to how tough an 18-person roster is. When you only have 6 available off the bench, experience & versatility probably matters better than potential.

But ultimately my day is completely made because: KRISTIE MEWIS!!! Two Mewii on the roster! Seriously, what a comeback story and absolutely well deserved to Kristie. #DashOn

After the Olympics, the USWNT will go through a rough patch as they will have to integrate new generation of players, especially up top.

Forwards: Will definitely need new blood integrated as Morgan is the youngest of the group at 31. Can see her and possibly Press sticking through the next WC but Heath (33 and injuries), Rapinoe (35) and Lloyd (38) will need to be transitioned out.

Midfield: Should be fine through the next WC.

Defense: Will need new blood as well as Sauerbraunn is 36 and O'Hara is 32. I personally am not a fan of Emily Sonnett but she's made the Olympic team.

Reminder: getting left off of a roster doesn't mean your ship has sunk. Crystal Dunn didn't make the 2015 WC roster and she's now a guaranteed pick on the backline. Macario's time will come.

Which players that were "frozen out" are you referring to?

She's an alternate currently, so she's only one injury away from being on the team. I just thought she was pretty electric every time I've seen her play.

littlebitofhifi said:

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The real surprise for me is that Ertz and Heath are in when they've been battling injury. I know they've both been training with & without the team so knew they were close, but was still unexpected to me.

I'm sure everyone else here will just pile on that the old guard has too much influence, but I actually think it speaks to how tough an 18-person roster is. When you only have 6 available off the bench, experience & versatility probably matters better than potential.

But ultimately my day is completely made because: KRISTIE MEWIS!!! Two Mewii on the roster! Seriously, what a comeback story and absolutely well deserved to Kristie. #DashOn

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Were you really surprised by Ertz and Heath?

Ertz is a no-brainer. Her injury was not severe and really they have just been cautious with her. I think it was good for the team to see what they could do if Ertz wasn't out there, but she was a no doubter for the roster.

Heath was a bit more of a doubt, just because she has had a longer injury bug. But this team needs a player like her on the squad, a creative force.

I don't think this tournament was the time to change out the old guard. There are a few that I think we could have done without (Lloyd and Rapinoe) but given the nature of the Olympic tournament and the issue with getting the team together due to Covid then this team was always going to be a carryover of the WC squad. A veteran club will suit them well given the oddities of this Olympics, they will be able to see it more as a business trip given they have seen the world already numerous times.

After this Olympics, win or lose, I think you will begin to see significant turnover of the roster. I imagine this will be the last major tournament for 4-5 of the players, with some holding on for another WC as a smooth transition to a younger squad.

And I am very happy that Kristie Mewis made the squad. She definitely earned it.

I was just surprised because we haven't heard much in terms of injury updates and they obviously haven't had competitive minutes in quite some time so it's difficult to gauge fitness. If they're truly healthy, I obviously agree it's a no-brainer.

Hand Of God said:

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Which players that were "frozen out" are you referring to?

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I know that Chioma Ubogagu and Jaelene Hinkle would be considered frozen out.

Chioma won a U20 World Cup with the US team and won national championships in college at Stanford. I think she played with Christian Press back then. She's told me directly that she felt unwelcome and named specific players on the USWNT in the 2 camps she participated in that made her feel that way. I've forgotten those players now since this was several years ago. She's played for Arsenal and Real Madrid and been capped for England.

Jaelene Hinkle played for Texas Tech and earned a few caps for the USWNT, but then she made some comments about her faith and that not matching up with the Pride jersey with the rainbow flag numbers on them and never got called up again. Jill Ellis had a lot to do with this but the more prominent players on the team did just as much to keep her from more call-ups. I heard she retired already, which sounds pretty early for her.

I'm surprised Adrianna Franch got called for the Olympics. She's been one of the better GKs in the US since college but she's just now getting recognized. I won't say she was "frozen out" but having the vice-captain defender married to the 3rd-string GK did as much to keep Franch out as anything.

I understand both these situations and I absolutely agree that there have been a lot of players make comments about not being welcome or not being comfortable with existing players. Those comments have happened pretty consistently since the 99ers rolled out and are not new. Not excusing it, but also I think it's a bigger WoSo problem than a USWNT senior problem.

To the Ubogagu piece, I again absolutely believe her comments to you. But she's also bounced around to 5 different clubs in 5 years and only been capped 3 times by England. They've obviously had to deal with their own Neville disaster in that time, but it's hard to imagine Ubogagu every really being a piece of the USWNT puzzle.

Hinkle is a tough case. Technically SHE made a choice and she knew the consequences when she decided not to wear that jersey. I have immense respect for her decision but she knew full well that making that stand would limit her opportunities. Absolute kudos to her for sticking with her convictions but if you choose to only accept invites to camps under certain circumstances then it seems reasonable that you'll stop getting an invite.

Again, I get the culture needs work. Yes there are cliques...they're people who spend a heck of a lot of time together. But at the end of the day, US Soccer can't afford to put a team together just to favor egos over winning. They have to win first and keep winning to maintain any semblance of investment in women's soccer.

Very disappointed in the roster announced. Way too old in my opinion and definitely feel pressure was on to keep older well known players.

ColoradoMooseHerd said:

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Very disappointed in the roster announced. Way too old in my opinion and definitely feel pressure was on to keep older well known players.

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Who would you have replaced and with whom?

littlebitofhifi said:

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ColoradoMooseHerd said:

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Very disappointed in the roster announced. Way too old in my opinion and definitely feel pressure was on to keep older well known players.

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Who would you have replaced and with whom?

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I have been disappointed for several years at the lack of time they have been giving the young Colorado girls and other players. Look at the ages of the players and look at the lack of caps for young players even in friendlies and tell me that is not on purpose. The average age is over 30 for the national team. That is ridiculous that younger players are getting zero caps.

The current team is so well known because they were given more opportunities at a young age
Sauerbrunn 23
Lloyd 22
O'Hara 21
Heath 20
Rapinoe 20
Morgan 20

And now they keep only giving the opportunities to the same players over and over. They have locked out almost a generation of females

Thanks Jill Ellis

I understand the average age is high. I'm asking who would you put on the 18-person roster instead? Who's better right now to win a major cup than the announced roster?

I won't be that surprised if we don't win Gold or Silver this year.

akm91 said:

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Thanks Jill Ellis

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I have lots of issues with Jill Ellis but she was the head of player development and ran the youth teams prior to being the senior team HC so aren't all those players mentioned above who were brought in in their 20s brought in by Ellis?

Yes, but she also had 7 years (2014-2020) in charge of the senior team where she only minimally integrate younger players into the squad. Look where that's gotten us.

Got us 2 World Cups.

(I'm playing devil's advocate a bit this week for some reason. Believe me, I'm not blind to the gaps for the future and the many, many flaws of USSF, our development, and our senior teams. I just really want to win gold and not repeat the disaster that was 2016 first and THEN flip the script to brining in the young'ins.)

littlebitofhifi said:

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I understand the average age is high. I'm asking who would you put on the 18-person roster instead? Who's better right now to win a major cup than the announced roster?

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How would we know who to put in if she hardly ever brought in new faces?

Yep, her accomplishments in the tournaments were outstanding. However, she didn't take the opportunity to evaluate younger players in the matches/friendlies that didn't matter. You pretty much could've written the same lineup for all the matches regardless of whether it was the WC or a friendly against Mexico.