#t: uswnt

[that-soccer-guru]

look, I know this loss is still raw and all but...

... the relief I get bc of people like Foudy who kept saying everyone losing multiple goal games against the USA was subpar competition anyways is..... immense.

Like Y'all I'm sunburnt to shit right now and not even the relief of a cold shower and aloe gel compares to the feeling I'm feeling right now.

(I'm sorry for the players but from what I heard they didn't even sort of look 100% for this game, and that's sucky, obviously the situation in Tokyo is rough as hell but this wasn't due to lack of prep, they've been playing multiple games and prepping against "good competition" so, it's about time Vlatko eats some sense pie and figures out the stuff we've been saying isn't working for this team. They're gonna make a good comeback I'm sure, but for now, eat shit Foudy and Co)

[womenssoccerconfessions]

[that-soccer-guru]

May I just say that I need the uswnt to up their fuckinh level bc these past months have been painful, there playing like shit w a few exceptions but like do y’all wanna win olys or ???

You know, I wonder what it is about the uswnt that's making them average at best nowadays.

They've definitely been better before. It's not player cohesion bc these guys have been playing together for the longest. I don't know that it's coaching either bc, no offense to Vlatko, he's not creative enough to have caused disruption in their playing style. Their opponents have stepped it up but it shouldn't affect the way the #1 team in the world plays.

I guess we'll see about a shake-up after the Olympics. But now that the roster is out we have nothing but good vibes and godspeed sendoffs for them.

[that-soccer-guru]

sonnett also plays as 6

I mean.... you could argue that? She's usually played that wing back position, but she has taken the ocasional crack at the CB spot. She doesn't really do CDM work per say, which is why I would be hard pressed to say she IS a 6. But she is Def capable of doing the job when the 6 is otherwise preoccupied.

It's a Time.

[that-soccer-guru]

Carli 300th cap. Even if I don’t like her and def on team “Carli retire now”, that is one heck of an accomplishment, to be one of the three players(who are all WOMEN btw) to reach 300 caps for country

Oh yeah absolutely. Staying fit enough to play 300 INTERNATIONAL games is huge! She is nearing 500 professional games if I'm not wrong, and that just makes her more impressive.

HERE'S THE TRUTH OF IT, if Lloyd wasn't such a dick of a human being she'd be even more admirable. She likes to tout herself as humble and if she actually WAS humble she'd be amazing, alas you can't always expect humble out of athletes AND THAT WOULD BE OKAY if she didn't consistently talk about how humble she is. But that's a different story.

The TLDR is, staying FIT and spry for 300 games in the highest stage of soccer is massive, there's a reason the 300 club is so small, and I don't think there are too many athletes left who will make it there. So, congratulations miss Lloyd but for the love of all that is good please retire already, I know we will have to hear about how humble you are in your retirement party and beyond, so why not get started now.

[that-soccer-guru]

Like yes telling someone to kill themselves isn’t it but sonnett has managed to get out of apologizing for literally everything that she has said. I have zero respect for her

and its still not a reason to trash her game OR tell her to kill herself.

I am not going to rehash what I said about her tweets, and I won't explain again that I'm not excusing any part of her bad choices. Those are inexcusable and that's why I have stopped posting about her/bringing her up as much as I can. Today it's just about how disgusted I am with people saying vile things to her. It hasn't changed my opinion on her poor choices or how annoyed I am with her inability to atone for her bs.

You can have zero respect for someone as a person without wishing bad things on them (this isn't about you anon, I read what you said, I'm just making a point).

[that-soccer-guru]

uswnt and brazil's roster just got released buddy

I had a freak out. go check it out haha

[that-soccer-guru]

Am I the only one just praying Sonnett gets on her knees? After Lindsey I can't take another disappointment like that

bud I can tell you that my inbox is FLOODING with people praying that Sonnett will do the right thing. You're very much not alone in this one.

[that-soccer-guru]

Alex hasn’t really proven why she should be on the roster, even though I agree she’s most likely gonna be on the Olympic roster.

Hasn't she though?

I mean, don't get me wrong. I understand why so many people think she's way overrated. Particularly for Orlando Pride/long time NWSL/now Tottenham fans.

However, you can't deny she's focused most of her energy and efforts on the national team. Say what you will but there's no denying how big a presence she is in the national team, and the fact that she keeps producing and puts out fairly good stats there.

Now, do I think she'll end up in the roster because she's a big name and not necessarily because she is THE BEST choice? Yes. Absolutely. As is the case for players that are inconsistent with the team, are very injury prone, haven't seen any minutes, or can't seem to find their footing in the structure of the team. BUT if I had to pick one player to take in the group of players that I don't think have earned it quite yet, I think Alex would be my choice.

Send me some opinions on this though, I could be (and probably am) wrong! And thanks for the ask!

[that-soccer-guru]

Do you think we’ll see any major shocks on tomorrow’s USWNT roster? I don’t, but am curious what you think. If they call in as many players as the men did today there’s no one else I could think of to bring in haha.

Nah. Like you said, if the usmnt is anything to go by, they're going to be throwing the house out the window to get everyone to this camp. The obvious expectation is to narrow down the Olympics roster but if the camp roster is as big as we expect it to be, I think they're going to struggle.

Of course, a lot of players have had more minutes than others in 2020 but when all the chips are down I think it'll be a close race for everyone here. I did say way back when that some players were shoe-ins for me, and I think most still are BUT idk, we'll see!

I think we are probably going to see lots of prospects, the core players, and maybe the return of a few players who haven't been around just to see what the team is working with. Looking forward to the roster drop!

EDIT: Alex Morgan we know won't be there for this camp due to positive COVID tests during the holidays. Wishing her a safe and speedy recovery!

[that-soccer-guru]

What are your legit reasons for disliking Lynn Williams?

I don't dislike her. I dislike her in the national team, very different things.

I don't think she fits very well in the structure of the team. She's great in NC but the national team doesn't play like the courage. Her speed is of course an asset but she gets lost in the game a lot, it also sucks that she literally sends the ball to the fucking moon everytime it's her turn to put one in goal.

It helps that she's always, somehow, involved in assisting for the goals. The other plays that don't involve her somehow don't end in goal, and it's baffling. Her individual lack of goals is one thing too, and an irritating one at that, and I imagine it sucks for her to not be able to get goals. However it's not due to lack of trying, but I almost always expect her shots at goal to end up orbiting earth. From the games I've tried to pay attention to her I don't think she's also great at tracking back here either. Again this comes from the way North Carolina is arranged vs the national team. Mids and forwards are expected to fall back and make recoveries for the national team, which she doesn't do very efficiently when she does do it. That's just what I have off the top of my head right now

I'll never slam her commitment to the game, her skill as an individual, or the fact that she clearly puts her heart and soul into everything she does. I think she's a great player for the league, but I don't believe her way of playing fits very well into the NT. I ALSO DON'T THINK THIS IS A BAD THING. I'm always pushing back against people who think that if players don't make it or don't perform well in the national team they're bad players. Not everyone fits in their national team, that doesn't make them bad players, it just means that their hard work may just pay off for their league team, and that's okay. A spot in the NT does not a great player make.

Thanks for the question!

[that-soccer-guru]

I mostly agree with your Olympic roster predictions, although some of them confused me a bit. I think Julie Ertz is basically a lock, she could be argued as the best player on the team so I don’t think Sullivan is close. I wouldn’t say Pinoe and Carli are shoe ins since they haven’t played on so long. Also, what really confused me was having press listed as a midfielder? She has been a forward for as long as I can remember, Tobin is more of a midfielder then her

Hey there!

My Julie Ertz thing really was an afterthought, unless she gets an injury or there’s an accidental pregnancy she’s definitely a shoe-in. That was more I forgot I didn’t include her until I was rewriting and I didn’t wanna fix what I wrote about Sullivan. Oops?

I would agree on Pinoe and Carli except that, even without playing, Vlatko seemed to be pretty sure he’d be bringing them in a few interviews and soundbites. They’re still the leaders of the team all things considered, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re included by default on the roster (even if it limits the potential to bring in one more player). One of them is my sacrificial lamb though, to keep the roster down.

Tbh the Press thing I did for roster constraints, and because both her and Tobin are forwards but in my mind Tobin is the #7 so I always list her as a Forward. That being said they’re p interchangeable. So like, pick and choose they’re both shoe-ins for me. 

[that-soccer-guru]

Probably a little too early to ask but what are your predictions about who Vlatko has in mind for an Olympic roster & the 2023 WC roster vs. your own personal ideal olympic & WC roster?

Okay I'm going to lump this in with this ask because I'll be addressing some wild predictions here

Vlatko has been trying a lot of things with his camps in a hell of a weird year, and it's worked out so far! Good prospects are getting senior call ups, the experienced players are also getting to guide the newbies, and he's developing some interesting strategies that separate him from the Jill Ellis era.

I'm not going to speculate too much on the WC roster because we don't know what players will be retiring from international duty/from the sport in general. I can think of a few whose replacements are reaching their peak so, it depends on how that ends up working out.

The Olympics though are around the corner and do leave me with a bit more speculation room so let's see. Don’t forget the problem with the Olympic roster is that teams are only allowed 18 players instead of the WC and other tournament’s 23. So, here we go (look for the bold if you want to skip my reasoning):

Goalkeepers (2): Naeher is definitely the undisputed number 1 but it does come down to who's going to be the alternate. AD's injury couldn't have come at a better time because well, nothing of note happened in 2020. I do think, and don't yell at me for it, that Ashlyn Harris is done in the NT. She's just too unpredictable and with the team being used to Naeher's more classic goalkeeping, she wouldn't make a good alternate. Plus Naeher doesn't need a security blanket anymore so, yeaaaah. I definitely think, if AD gets healthy in time for Jan camp, that it'll come down to her and Bledsoe. Campbell is great for PKs but I don't know that with roster limitations she'd be my pick, she reminds me too much of Ashlyn and I don’t love that shit. So I would end with: Alyssa Naeher and Adrianna Franch. With Audrey Bledsoe competing for that number 2 and Jane Campbell on standby in case of crazy injury happenstance. 

Defenders (6): as sad as it is for me to say it, Ali Krieger also seems to be on her way out of the NT too. Experience is important but the CB position has been pretty covered by Dahlkemper and Broon. If the roster had more room I would definitely pick her, but with only 18 spots it's hard to make that choice for a player that isn't International 90min fit. IF Kelley can stay healthy I'm sure she's a shoe-in. Sonnett, despite what other people might say, is a solid choice for me. She can play up the bounds like Dunn and KO do, can switch sides if needed, and would in my opinion be a better choice for RB than Midge (again with the midfielders becoming defenders bs from this fucking team). Tierna would also be a good choice if she can stay fit, which is the problem with more than one NT player. If you had to ask for my 6 it would be: Becky Sauerbrunn, Abby Dahlhemper, Kelley O’Hara, Emily Sonnett and Crystal Dunn. If O’Hara is injured I would have Midge Purce, Tierna Davidson and Casey Short as backups in that order (with Ali Krieger being the very last choice of backup I would bring)

Midfielders (6): There are some obvious shoe-ins here, Lindsey Horan and Sam Mewis. Assuming Rose can stay healthy she would also be a surefire midfielder for me, and if she does get injured and it’s not too serious she’d be a good late miunute sub (and we can all say that’s a toss-up with how often the poor kid is out with injuries). That leaves at least 3 spots where there’s a lot of what-ifs. Andi Sullivan has been out with an injury, again luckily in a year where not much happened, but I would still pick Julie Ertz over her. Christen Press would obviously be an easy choice, again assuming that the weird injury she picked up gets managed. Finally, I think that despite being a little older than some of the prospects, Kristie Mewis will earn herself that last spot IF she can keep the momentum she has going into Jan camp. I don’t see her slowing down so that might just pan out. Catarina Macario is a big IF, assuming that FIFA waives her waiting period, so she would be the person who would take Kmew’s spot, but I still think it would be a risky thing to bring in such a young player without any caps straight to an Olympics run. That would mean my midfield picks would end up with: Lindsey Horan, Sam Mewis, Rose Lavelle, Julie Ertz, Christen Press, Kristie Mewis. Backups: Andi Sullivan (my pick to go over Kristie if she’s healthy AND can match her momentum), Catarina Macario and Jaelin Howell would stay on standby in case of injury. 

Forwards (6): Alright we all know that, unless there’s a major catastrophe, an intervention from your Deity of choice, a career ending injury or a unplanned pregnancy (an impossibility for one of these 3), Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe will be on this roster. Tobin is also a pretty solid shoe-in for this roster, again barring something outside of everyone’s control. That leaves 2 spots. One of those is likely going to Lynn Williams, because as long as she can provide assists the way she’s been doing (If I’m not wrong she had the highest rate of assists this year), she’ll have a spot on this roster because speed and pass ability is high even if her individual opportunity success is NOT. The final spot is a bit up in the air for me, so bear with my reasoning for a second: Mal Pugh’s injury record sours her for me here. Unless she can come back super healthy and keep up with the team, I don’t see her in this roster. Assuming a spot is left open, and Vlatko can quit it with the defender shit, Midge Purce would fit really well here. She’s a great winger, she can play in the midfield, and kid has great stamina. That would also leave Sophia Smith as my final choice, with the same reasoning I had with Macario except for the waiting period thing. She’s really young, didn’t start on the right foot due to an injury, but would definitely benefit from international experience, and seems to be on the right path to healthy. My forward picks would end up in: Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath, Lynn Williams, Midge Purce (assuming Mal is still injured AND she’s not picked for the defense). That would leave: Mal Pugh and Sophia Smith on standby for injuries (with maybe someone like Ashley Hatch or Bethany Balcer in case Mal AND Sophia get injured, or Midge is picked for defense and more backups are needed). 

Now, don’t anyone get angry at me. That’s just the way I see things panning out and the way I think it might work out. Again this is barring injuries, things outside everyone’s control, retirements (which I don’t think will be announced unless there’s a career ending injury), how players are recovering from their injuries, and FIFA rulings on Macario’s waiting period. 

I HOPE THAT WAS THOROUGH ENOUGH ANON! PLEASE HIT ME WITH ANY DISAGREEMENTS (THOUGH NOT TOO HARD) OR COMMENTS ON THIS!

[that-soccer-guru]

Am I the only one that was pissed that ESPN cut away for the national anthem? Maybe I am being way too deep with it but I feel like theres something unbelievably tone deaf about it being the first match the USWNT were ALLOWED to kneel for after they spend months going round and round with Pinoe for doing it and the first time they as a team can show their alliance with the black community since the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor on the NT and for a large network like ESPN to fill that time with commercials to stuff your pockets instead-?? Maybe it’s really not that serious but there was something so ignorant about it to me.

Oh I hated it, so much

If it's their way to pander to other people, then they are welcomed to bite my ass

If it was a way to get more money out of a broadcast people were tuning into excitedly they're also welcomed to bite my ass

There's no good excuse for cutting away from something that mattered.

[that-soccer-guru]

So are we acting like kneeling isn’t purely performative and just starts conversations about who is or isn’t kneeling instead of actually productive conversations?

Kneeling starts a conversation and shows unity. It's the absolute minimum thing and the players aren't heroes for doing it, but it demonstrates significantly more awareness than standing.

It also starts a conversation that helps us recognize who enjoys privilege while refusing to help others because they're comfortable in their life. It helps us know who digs their head in the sand and pretends that things aren't happening.

It's the start of something, a step in a journey, and a more significant step than standing while you're teammates are clearly united on an issue.

[that-soccer-guru]

I’m surprised vlatko took Dunn out she was doing so well

Dunny did amazing this game! It's as good a time to do it during a friendly.

KO ran out of gas so I suppose that looked like the perfect moment to try out the outside backs.