Vanity fair article, Rodman talking about the team:

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/trinity-rodman-2024-paris-olympics-world-cup

More recently, the USWNT has confronted ideological tension within its own camp. Korbin Albert, a 20-year-old midfielder and one of the team’s promising new faces, came under fire in April after sharing anti-LGBTQ+ content on TikTok, earning a public reprimand from USWNT veterans. Lindsey Horan, the team’s captain, called it a “disappointing situation,” while Morgan said they remained committed to “a safe and respectful space, especially as allies and members of the LGBTQ+ community.”

“We’ve worked extremely hard to uphold the integrity of this national team through all of the generations, and we are extremely, extremely sad that this standard was not upheld,” Horan said at the time.

Albert publicly apologized, but many US fans have not been so forgiving. When she took the field in the first match against South Korea this month, Albert drew boos from the crowd in Colorado. She’s also drawn rebukes online.

“I like to say social media is a great place, but a dangerous place,” Rodman says. “Having strong opinions is difficult, especially when you are looked at a lot and you have a platform to do so. Obviously getting booed is horrible, but there’s people that have their opinions and have their beliefs and they’re not always going to match up with those. Even if you’re in the spotlight, it doesn’t mean you believe the same things as everybody else. But yeah, for us, she’s on the US women’s national team and we’re going to be her teammates and support her. When she comes on the field, she’s just like everybody else wearing that number and playing for our country, and she’s working her butt off to do so.”

The other problem with the older players is the game has changed a lot in the past 10 years. The younger players want to play a different way and the older players can not play that way.

In addition if a player primarily relies on speed and quickness they tend to have a shorter careers. The technical players with high IQ can change their games and still make an impact. If you lose a step and that is all you have it can be difficult.

You know when you want an experienced player like Morgan or Rapino on your team is when you are in one of those really tight and aggressive games where the newbies get a little lost in the excitement and haven’t yet found their voice to keep the team focused and settled. When things don’t go quite right somebody has to keep the faith and ensure others grind it out. It very well may be what players like that can say at opportune times that can make a big difference in a game that is otherwise an ugly result. Unfortunately those players have to be selected not simply based on their age and experience but their ability to be that person in that moment. I don’t always see Morgan being particularly vocal on the pitch (she might be otherwise at other times) and I tend to sense that while Rapino was vocal in many important ways off the pitch she sometimes slid into a leader who tried to force the game through her own play, which in her later years just couldn’t really pull off as well.

I also think it’s time to move on from Alex Morgan. They kept Rapinoe too long and it cost the USA dearly in the World Cup.

Moultrie posted pictures showing a knee injury on Instagram. Unconfirmed exactly what it is but she’s probably out for the Olympics, sadly

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Morgan will be on the team. She brings in the money and is on the bubble.

OP here. I also think she will be selected because she’s the most recognizable face in soccer to the casual fan, has tons of marketing deals and I think has already been in Olympics ads.

I wonder if Emma hayes wants her to go or not. I’m curious how much that’s a US Soccer decision vs hers (how much autonomy she has over the roster).

There is def an argument for her from veteran perspective as well; the team has a lot of young players without too much international experience.

But in terms of playing time, I don’t think she’s shown she deserves to be on the field much. If she does, it’ll be frustrating to see who stays home in her place.

-OP

Agree, I don’t think she should go, but it will be a big marketing blow if she doesn’t make it. They would need to re-phrase it as her decision to step back, and they haven’t. Plus, she can sometimes make great shots, if she’s on her game.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Morgan will be on the team. She brings in the money and is on the bubble.

OP here. I also think she will be selected because she’s the most recognizable face in soccer to the casual fan, has tons of marketing deals and I think has already been in Olympics ads.

I wonder if Emma hayes wants her to go or not. I’m curious how much that’s a US Soccer decision vs hers (how much autonomy she has over the roster).

There is def an argument for her from veteran perspective as well; the team has a lot of young players without too much international experience.

But in terms of playing time, I don’t think she’s shown she deserves to be on the field much. If she does, it’ll be frustrating to see who stays home in her place.

-OP

She is there to score and she has not scored. Her on field performance does not show she deserves the spot. They did bring Rapinoe in 2019 and made Dunn play fullback to cover for her. Dunn would have been much more effective as a forward but it did not matter because player per player the US was much better. With national teams you always have to remember you have the star players many times going against 2nd or 3rd division players. Let’s see if Emma will move on from players past their prime.

It really does not matter. Olympic soccer is kind of a joke after watching the women’s Euro. The US(+175) is favored with Spain(+200) a close second. After that it is France(+400), Japan(+750), Australia(+900), Germany(+1000), etc. So according to the odds makers it is the US or Spain tournament to lose.

Anonymous wrote:Mia Fishel injury all but assured Morgan’s inclusion and selection for the Olympic roster. This is likely her last major tournament

Do you think she should go, based on her current playing ability?

Mia Fishel injury all but assured Morgan’s inclusion and selection for the Olympic roster. This is likely her last major tournament

Anonymous wrote:I think Morgan will be on the team. She brings in the money and is on the bubble.

OP here. I also think she will be selected because she’s the most recognizable face in soccer to the casual fan, has tons of marketing deals and I think has already been in Olympics ads.

I wonder if Emma hayes wants her to go or not. I’m curious how much that’s a US Soccer decision vs hers (how much autonomy she has over the roster).

There is def an argument for her from veteran perspective as well; the team has a lot of young players without too much international experience.

But in terms of playing time, I don’t think she’s shown she deserves to be on the field much. If she does, it’ll be frustrating to see who stays home in her place.

-OP

I think Morgan will be on the team. She brings in the money and is on the bubble.

Anonymous wrote:Agree with almost all this well done.
Wrong on Macario she is 💯 in the team and likely first 11

I only started following closely in the last 6 months, tbh. Now I watch a lot of the NWSL games and read a ton. (I used to follow both the men’s and women’s teams more closely years ago, but dropped off). I am not as familiar with Macario, but it seems like she’s a strong player & Emma Hayes is definitely a fan! Excited to see more from her.

Also forgot Staab, I am hoping she goes too now, whether as part of the 18 or an alternate.

-OP

Agree with almost all this well done.
Wrong on Macario she is 💯 in the team and likely first 11

Yahonnes is very good, also very lucky. I’d be surprised if she’s on the list after playing for 15 minutes.

It should be dropping any day now. Anyone want to share hopefuls, predictions, unpopular opinions? I’ll start!

My roster

Goal: Naeher, Murphy
Defense: Nighswonger, Girma, Fox, Krueger, Davidson
Mid (/defense): Sonnett, Horan, Shaw, Lavelle, Coffey (pending injury update), Yohannes
Forwards: Smith, Rodman, Swanson, Dunn


Thoughts:
I realize this is 17, not the 18. I’m unsure of a few others. I don’t think Alex Morgan should go, unless for veteran/ locker room presence. She just hasn’t been performing at a USWNT level, and our forward and chemistry between Swanson/ smith/ Rodman clearly wins out.

I really want them to bring Yohannes. She’s a great player and the last 15 min she played against South Korea in the friendly showed me she is ready to play with the NT- I think welcoming and developing younger players is the right move here instead of players who are past their prime like Morgan.

I don’t want Korbin Albert to go. I don’t think her homophobic social media activity was appropriately handled, and I can’t imagine how her queer teammates feel comfortable playing alongside someone who liked social media videos rooting for the injury of a teammate (Rapinoe). Additionally, I wasn’t at all impressed last time she was on the field with USWNT- she didn’t make an impact at all. Did not prove she even deserves a spot, let alone the recent controversy. Christen Press also just spoke out about this situation and how poorly it was handled. (Link for more info re the Albert situation- https://sports.yahoo.com/korbin-albert-uswnt-megan-rapinoe-164310849.html )

I would love Bethune to be selected, but not sure if that’s likely after being a training player at camp.

Not sure about alternates. Macario may make the team or alternate, Moultrie, Hershfelt.