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2023 Summer International Thread ... Women's World Cup, Nations League, Gold Cup, Etc.

jeffbear

jeffbear

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After the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the men recede into more regional minded competitions this summer, but the women head to Australia and New Zealand in a few short weeks for the 2023 World Cup. Rosters are starting to be released, with the final announcements due for July 11. Matches start on 7/20 with lots of late night/early morning start times.

Meanwhile, the USMNT is using their first team for the remainder of Nations Cup action, and has basically named a B Team for Gold Cup. So, pretty much the usual approach for Gold Cup. There's a chance we'll see a permanent manager appointed by the start of Gold Cup in late June, but probably not. The guy would be in watch and evaluate mode anyway, so no big deal either way.
 
There is some odd overlap between the Nations League and Gold Cup rosters. Keepers Sean Johnson and Matt Turner are on both, as are defender Miles Robinson, midfielder Alan Soñora and forward Alex Zendejas.
 
Yeah, there usually is overlap with veterans like Turner and Johnson but I guess those other guys are needing to either establish themselves with the national team or re-establish them selves in the case of Robinson. Zendejas will get a chance to build a case to be a part of the mix out wide going forward. Not sure what they're looking at for Sonora. There's a bunch of attack minded midfielders ahead of him in the pecking order.
 
I didn’t see the Nations League match last night but it must have been very CONCACFy. Pulisic had a brace and Ricardo Pepi score a few minutes after coming on as a sub for a 3-0 win. Both the US and Mexico ended with 9 players. And the Mexican fans broke out their homophobic chants.
 
I watched the recording this morning and that was ugly even by US/Mexico standards. Dest and McKennie got reds mostly for sticking up for themselves, which is typical CONCACAF crap, but Mexico lost their wig as that game went on. The US took it to them right from the opening minutes and Ochoa may have been the only Mexican player who maintained his composure. Taking "that chant" out of it, it was still the kind of embarrassment that gets people sacked. On the plus side, holy crap but the front three of Weah, Pulisic and Balogun was hot fire man. Having a legit threat in the middle ... what a concept.

And now the US get to play Canada without Adams (injured), Dest and McKennie (reds). Meh. I care a heck of a lot more about hammering Mexico in the Semis than whether or not they win the dopey Nations League.
 
jeffbear said:
I watched the recording this morning and that was ugly even by US/Mexico standards. Dest and McKennie got reds mostly for sticking up for themselves, which is typical CONCACAF crap, but Mexico lost their wig as that game went on. The US took it to them right from the opening minutes and Ochoa may have been the only Mexican player who maintained his composure. Taking "that chant" out of it, it was still the kind of embarrassment that gets people sacked. On the plus side, holy crap but the front three of Weah, Pulisic and Balogun was hot fire man. Having a legit threat in the middle ... what a concept.

And now the US get to play Canada without Adams (injured), Dest and McKennie (reds). Meh. I care a heck of a lot more about hammering Mexico in the Semis than whether or not they win the dopey Nations League.
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Unless CONCACAF overturns the reds. McKennie has a pretty good case from what I’ve seen.
 
The USWNT took a hit today when it was revealed that captain Becky Saurbrunn will miss the World Cup due to injury. While she hasn’t been the Becky of old, she’s still the best center back on the squad.
 
Well, she's still the best at some stuff ... but her mobility had started to become a real problem at international level. The big change here is that the US are unlikely to be as comfortable playing two attack minded fullbacks with their younger CBs. At least one of them is likely to be a little more defense-first. That might open the door for O'Hara on the right side now that she's healthy again, since Huerta is such an adventure on D.
 
The US wrapped up another trophy by running away with the Nations League Final. 2-0 over Canada and it wasn't really that close. The US were absolutely razor sharp in the first half, with Callaghan going full speed ahead with a midfield of Musa at the 6, flanked by Reyna and Aaronson playing as advanced 8s. Canada never found a defensive shape that would work and were ragged when they did get past midfield. Rough outing for David and Larin in particular, but Davies made a ton of sloppy errors with the ball as well. Meanwhile the US front 3 was on the front foot right from the start. Balogun scored his first US goal on a perfect little angular pass from Reyna and Chris Richards donked in a nice header on a corner served up by Reyna. Reyna left at half time with a calf/ankle issue but the US battled even from there. Richards and Balogun both could have easily had a 2nd goal, while Matt Turner only had to make a couple of what you'd call challenging saves. Done, dusted ... 2-0 and well deserved.

Lingering question ... how long does Canada stick with Herdman? When his pre-game scheme works, he's great ... but when it doesn't, I've never seen that guy come up with a Plan B. I think they're wasting an opportunity with this group on a guy who is little more than a motivational speaker.
 
Herdman just called out the federation, saying they needed to get more serious and provide more resources. They were only in camp for 4 days prior to their match against Panama, which had 10 days prep. The USMNT was in camp for 11 days prior to the match against Mexico.
 
andyt said:
Herdman just called out the federation, saying they needed to get more serious and provide more resources. They were only in camp for 4 days prior to their match against Panama, which had 10 days prep. The USMNT was in camp for 11 days prior to the match against Mexico.
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I get that, but does he need to yell at them longer for them to play better? He got technically out-thought in both of those games, and that's nothing new.
 
Diego Cocca is out as coach of El Tri after 4 months in the job. Jimmy Lozano will take over on an interim basis. Director of the National Team Ares de Parga is also out.
 
Parga 100% had to go, and I guess Cocca did too ... although I really don't feel like any of their problems belong as his feet. That job is radioactive, BTW. The next guy either needs to be the kind of unassailable giant giant of the game who's integrity and effectiveness cannot be challenged, or another patsy who can handle this summer as a placeholder until they get the rest of their mess figured out. Maybe just let Lozano fall on his sword since he's already in place.
 
Just FWIW ... there IS an argument for patience with national team managers. It's just such a specific, weird job compared to managing a club side that some guys take a cycle to figure it out. Example ... Steve Clarke literally only kept the Scotland job last year because the Federation couldn't find a better replacement who was willing to take the job. They were actively interviewing candidates after Scotland played well enough but just couldn't score any goals in their unsuccessful World Cup qualifying campaign. A year later, they are absolutely sailing out of their group in Euros qualifying and have tapped into a steady goal scoring rate. Obviously thinking more about Berhalter here than Cocca, but Mexico have done themselves no favors with a quick trigger in the past.
 
Here is the roster in text form. That back line is yikes. Girma, Cook and Sonnett as the only CBs? I’ve only ever seen Sonnett play full back and she’s been bad.

Good on Lynn Williams and Kristie Mewis for forcing their way onto the roster after all this time.

GK: Aubrey Kingsbury, Casey Murphy, Alyssa Naeher

DEF: Alana Cook, Emily Fox, Crystal Dunn, Naomi Girma, Sofia Huerta, Kelley O'Hara, Emily Sonnett

MID: Savannah Demelo, Julie Ertz, Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle, Kristie Mewis, Ashley Sanchez, Andi Sullivan

FWD: Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith, Alyssa Thompson, Lynn Williams
 
Yeah, I certainly expected to see another CB ... although Girma and Cook are likely to get almost all the minutes anyway. Worth noting that Ertz could absolutely be included in the mix at CB if needed. It's been a while since she's been in that role but she was one of the best in the world at the position when she was. And I've never been a fan of Sonnett in any role. She's better at CB, but on that roster there's no way she's getting time at fullback barring multiple injuries. Shame Tierna Davison is still out.

Otherwise, no real surprises other than DeMelo really. She's a Swiss army knife midfielder though, and Andonovski does love versatility ... maybe a bit too much. It'll be interesting to see who actually plays in goal. Naeher has been absolutely awful for Chicago while both Kingsbury and Murphy have been stellar for their clubs. Also, Fox is good enough at LB to potentially free up Dunn to play a more natural MF role. That will come in handy if Rose Levelle isn't fully healthy.

Up front this is just an arsenal of talent, even without Mal Swanson. Morgan, Smith and then basically any of the others on the left ... woof.
 
Williams and Rodman create all kinds of speed problems.

Vlatko said that Davidson missed by a little bit and then alluded to Ertz. IIRC she played CB in the 2015 World Cup and has played it often at the club level. But maybe she’s going to play a really deep 6 and make the formation more of a 4-1-2-3?
 
andyt said:
Williams and Rodman create all kinds of speed problems.

Vlatko said that Davidson missed by a little bit and then alluded to Ertz. IIRC she played CB in the 2015 World Cup and has played it often at the club level. But maybe she’s going to play a really deep 6 and make the formation more of a 4-1-2-3?
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Thompson makes Williams and Rodman look slow. Seriously. She's a grease fire out there.

Vlatko is saying all sorts of weird things, including that Ertz will definitely get a look at CB in camp ... but he obviously prefers her to Sullivan at the 6 ... and he didn't bring another 6. Makes me think that either he's keeping his strategic powder dry or that he's just not sure what he's going to do in midfield. Honestly, I don't think Lavelle is anywhere near healthy and that's futzing a lot of things up. The most natural replacement for her is his starting left back, but he's obviously been trying to get Fox on the right and Dunn on the left settled in for the entire buildup period. I also think he was hoping to get Macario back so he could play a 4-4-2 diamond with her at the 10 and Smith and Morgan up front. He had a lot invested in getting her back and clearly doesn't trust the other natural 10s (Dunn and Sanchez) like he does Macario. That formation would have taken the heat off of his 6s and let his attacking fullbacks really do their thing.

I'm not sure he knows where he's going at this point, and I'm not sure we're gonna know until they line up against the Dutch in the second match.
 
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