hi press is killing England

Lavalle winning balls in middle - best player in the world today

lavalle makes the play without touching it, unselfish
Heath delivers the speed on the right
Press sprints to finish

This is the stuff thats been missing. Poor England hoping to just sedately loose mark Pinoe and now they have to run and cover .... and can't

Kudos to Ellis for having the guts to make the calls and get them right

US Mids are free to attack now, without covering for cherrypickpinoe. This is exciting play.

Looking a lot better without her. Frees up players who were covering for Rapinio.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dunn was the game changer here. Shut down the flank, conceded a few corners but I think the US was ok with that approach.

I see a lot of different perceptions out there. I watched the game on the tactical camera (overhead). I think Rapinoe was behind the ball maybe 30 seconds of the game in play.
I have to assume that she has been given that freedom and is not just dogging it or taking it. Given that, Dunn's speed is essential to cover all that space, knowing that help is not coming from the winger.

A win is a win, so I dont want to get too picky. That said, I feel like Rapinoe and Morgan can't keep up with Lavalle's speed right now. A lot of harshness on Lavelle on boards, but as I see it Heath and Lavelle are the ones creating, threatening, and creating the huge space Rapinoe and Morgan have. Lavelle's run and play off to Mewis yesterday was beautiful and had both Morgan and Rapinoe open at the posts at the box, but Mewis inexcplicably fired that one off frame. I thought that was the best scoring chance of the day wasted.

Right now, the US is too reliant on set piece play. Working so far because of a superior defense. If the US is gonna play this false 4-3-3 leaving Rapinoe and Morgan up as the 2, then I think they should start Horan over Lavalle and just play 4-4-2. My preference is they go 4-3-3 for real and for that I'd put McDonald in for Morgan(as she is right now) and Press in for Rapinoe. And I'd sit Mewis for Horan and leave Lavalle in. I'd roll the dice and attack England with speed. England will be grateful if we leave Morgan and Rapinoe out there just drifitng around.

As I said: sit Rapinoe for Press.

Good call. Need the speed of Press to come back and deal with Bronze on wing.
Anyone can take PKs and free kicks. Pinoe can come in if needed with fresh legs to go hard for 45 or less.
Ellis is doing the right thing. It's about winning and advancing. A much needed decision. Expect McDonald/Lloyd on for Morgan at the half if Morgan can't get it going.
Win or go home time.

Yes Press is a goal scorer. She should really open the game up for the US. Something that has been missing. Rapinoe at this point of her career is not the threat that Press is(if she ever was) and really does not fit in in terms of style of play. Hopefully they will spread the play around without Rapinoe in the game. It is crazy that people think Rapinoe is the best player. The US has dominated in the midfield. This is why they have won not because of Rapinoe.

injury to pride otherwise no

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No Rapinoe in starting XI.

WHAT??

Just came here to post the same! WTH?

Some are saying that Press does more defensively and is faster and more fit.

Bold decision for sure. I guess we will see how it goes. I'm happy to see Press get a start, but . . . .I have a sick feeling about this.

Nah, she's not even warming up...just standing around.
Obviously an injury of some sort.

Anonymous wrote:Dunn was the game changer here. Shut down the flank, conceded a few corners but I think the US was ok with that approach.

I see a lot of different perceptions out there. I watched the game on the tactical camera (overhead). I think Rapinoe was behind the ball maybe 30 seconds of the game in play.
I have to assume that she has been given that freedom and is not just dogging it or taking it. Given that, Dunn's speed is essential to cover all that space, knowing that help is not coming from the winger.

A win is a win, so I dont want to get too picky. That said, I feel like Rapinoe and Morgan can't keep up with Lavalle's speed right now. A lot of harshness on Lavelle on boards, but as I see it Heath and Lavelle are the ones creating, threatening, and creating the huge space Rapinoe and Morgan have. Lavelle's run and play off to Mewis yesterday was beautiful and had both Morgan and Rapinoe open at the posts at the box, but Mewis inexcplicably fired that one off frame. I thought that was the best scoring chance of the day wasted.

Right now, the US is too reliant on set piece play. Working so far because of a superior defense. If the US is gonna play this false 4-3-3 leaving Rapinoe and Morgan up as the 2, then I think they should start Horan over Lavalle and just play 4-4-2. My preference is they go 4-3-3 for real and for that I'd put McDonald in for Morgan(as she is right now) and Press in for Rapinoe. And I'd sit Mewis for Horan and leave Lavalle in. I'd roll the dice and attack England with speed. England will be grateful if we leave Morgan and Rapinoe out there just drifitng around.

As I said: sit Rapinoe for Press.

Good call. Need the speed of Press to come back and deal with Bronze on wing.
Anyone can take PKs and free kicks. Pinoe can come in if needed with fresh legs to go hard for 45 or less.
Ellis is doing the right thing. It's about winning and advancing. A much needed decision. Expect McDonald/Lloyd on for Morgan at the half if Morgan can't get it going.
Win or go home time.

Very strange choice. Maybe Ellis is that afraid of Bronze and for good reason. Rapinoe will surely come off the bench to make a difference, though Press coming on against tired legs is a much more deadly substitution

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No Rapinoe in starting XI.

WHAT??

Just came here to post the same! WTH?

Some are saying that Press does more defensively and is faster and more fit.

Bold decision for sure. I guess we will see how it goes. I'm happy to see Press get a start, but . . . .I have a sick feeling about this.

Anonymous wrote:No Rapinoe in starting XI.

WHAT??

Just came here to post the same! WTH?

No Rapinoe in starting XI.

WHAT??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2-2 at the end of regulation and England wins on penalties.

No, Rapinoe taps in another game winning goal and then strikes a celebration pose in front of England's coach.

I will die if this game goes to penalties.

Quick question - is something seriously wrong with Alex Morgan? I understand she’s dinged up but maybe it’s worse than that? She has been almost invisible in this tournament.

She’s clearly playing hurt, had moments early on against both Spain and France in which I thought “oh no she’s gonna need to come off” but she soldiered on and grafted her way through the games. She’s tough as nails.

For all her anonymity in large stretches vs France, she did have 2 moments which made the difference in the game:

1. She held up the ball and drew the foul from which Rapinoe scored for our first.
2. Her through ball to Heath who then assisted Rapinoe for the second was just a thing of beauty. Perfect weight and anticipation to the timing. Morgan made that goal.

Imo Lavelle looked like our weakest link, and Naeher a bit as usual but she’s the best we got, gotta roll with her.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:England beat Cameroon.
Cameroon is a terrible, undisciplined team that should not have even been in the tournament.

Norway? Eh, average on a good day. US by 3 should be a no brainer; it could be more like 7-2.

I forgot the brutal group stage the USWNT was in with Thailand and Chile. Forgive me.

England played Cameroon and Norway in knock out, not group.

France is a legit team and at home.

US beat them knock out quarters.

Check out the brackets on www.fifa.com

Vegas has the line set at 2.5.

3 is pretty bold in a semi-final.

That's crazy.
In the last five games against England, the US is 3-1-1, all four wins/loses by one goal.
This is not a mismatch.

After watching back both teams’ games, there are 3 ways England can seriously hurt us which we must watch out for and stay disciplined against:

1. GK distribution. Naeher needs to make better decisions and have more awareness of her options when she is in possession. That’s how Spain scored against us. We have to watch out for England taking away options when that ball is reset to Naeher. They will look to force her into a bad pass trying to play out the back or to go long, which will play into England’s hands and give possession back to them.

2. Set pieces. Mewis’ indiscipline played Renard onsides and was the reason why France scored. We have to watch out for moments like this as England are very good at set pieces; whether that’s playing runners onside in our box (especially considering Naeher doesn’t control her box well) or leaving the edge of the box unattended for Bronze to smash in medium distance shots. We can’t get fooled by their movement and misdirection.

3. Penetration on the wings. We’ve got to watch out for moments when England get the ball wide. As the ball is moving to the line, our press/cover needs to be very disciplined because they are very good at finding players in between the lines (primarily gaps between FBs and CBs) to create penetration into the opponent’s box from wide, which just creates a domino effect in which the crashing run through the center and cutback to the mids open up as defenders shift in desperation, losing track of their marks.

I still think we should be able to win this, provided we watch out for those 3 specific ways in which England can hurt us. Jill Ellis also has to bring Press and Horan into the game much much sooner than she has been or we risk fading as the game goes on. Either way it should be a great semifinal pitting arguably the best 2 teams against each other. Hopefully Phil Neville can keep his whining to a minimum.