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uswntsoran · 4 years ago

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I keep seeing different things but I know you’ll tell it as it is- how do you think Lindsey and Sonny played today? Is Lindsey actually too physical and useless? Did Sonnett actually hurt her chances of making the Olympics?

Ok. For the 50 of you who asked about Sonnett, 1 who asked about Lynn, 1 who asked about Soph, and 2 who asked about Lindsey, here are my rambling thoughts because I haven’t slept much and while I might could try to actually write something decent, I’m not getting paid to be coherent right now so I’m not going to bother.

Wait, first, all y’all asking about Sonnett can’t be Sonnett fans based on how much hate I get for the standing, so I’m really glad she’s in your hearts and minds all the time. It makes me happy.

Anyway... things I thought while watching the game that are not just about Sonnett, so feel free to skip ahead:

wtf why are the cameras panning to fans without masks singing national anthems? Like, seriously, keep the fucking cameras off the crowd because it normalizes not wearing masks. Fucking Florida is an anti-maskers wet dream (thanks wet dream anon) btw.

And while we’re on the anthem, they’re standing, but no one’s making them put their hands over their hearts or sing... and yet... so many are. So... yeah, I have thoughts on that that I’m sure you can just figure out on your own. Controversy aside, Sonny tapping her finger to it was cute you can go ahead and direct your hate mail right here, k. But that’s not what you came for, huh?

Stop hating on Lynn. She needs to learn how to dribble at speed. She needs to learn to cut inside - I actually think that’s her biggest problem (the angle she takes to goal) - but this team cannot do what it does without her press. She sucks at finishing, yes, fine, but her defensive presence, both triggering the press and getting all the way tf back is essential. She’s on the roster for Tokyo stop saying she’s not. Her minutes aren’t because of her scoring ability. They’re sending 1 forward back, and yes, they rotated through Alex and Pressy too, but Lynn was the one most likely to be the one getting back to help. And not because Sonnett was in; because that’s the system the team plays. Lynn is why Marta was so pinned back. And that’s also why Sonnett was so high so often. From the fucking kickoff on, it was obvious that Sonnett was tasked with marking Marta. Like literally, watch Sonnett, not the ball, on the kickoff, and you’ll see.

Anyway, Sonny had a couple of great crosses in, that no one made runs for. And she wasn’t the only one this happened to. She also had two beautiful pinpoint long balls into Lindsey’s head that should have been goals. I said back when she was in Sweden that her long balls are something else, and lookit.

Also pay attention to the number of times Brazil is forced to work the ball BACK because they can’t work through Sonnett. That’s her doing her job even if you don’t see it because she’s not going in for a tackle or intercepting her pass. You know what else is Sonnett doing her job? Slowing down Brazil to allow Lynn or Lindsey or Rose to get back and set up a double-team sitch. Again, you might see that as Sonnett “needing help,” but it’s literally what she is supposed to do.

Yes, that ball into Lindsey was almost a nightmare, but she was trying to avoid Marta and jumping as she played it. Lindsey played the ball to her a couple of times and put her in really bad spots too, and no one’s saying Lindsey Horan doesn’t belong on the Tokyo roster, mainly because Brazil doesn’t press with the same intensity as we do so Sonnett had time to recover Lindsey’s mistakes.

Wait, that’s not true, I read someone saying we could still win the gold without all the standers and you know what: EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS ON THAT FIELD GOES THROUGH MOTHERFUCKING LINDSEY HORAN SO NO.

Anyway, back to Sonnett. You know who also put Sonnett in a really bad position right at the end of the game? Pinoe on that weak ball across the middle of the field. WTF was that? We got so lucky, but no one says anything because it’s Pinoe. Moving on. In the first half, Sonnett was tasked with playing high, so you have to understand that a lot of defensive responsibility then falls on Abby to shift over and cover. But off the ball, Sonnett is where she should be. She knows when to slow things down, when to apply pressure, she’s not diving in. She’s communicating a lot. She’s clearly more confident. She’s making herself an option for outlet passes and to relieve pressure from Rose and Lindsey. She’s fine, y’all.

I think the issue is most people’s experience with this team is the 2019 World Cup. In those games, teams were testing Crystal, coming down our left side because they weren’t going to go at Kelley. That’s shifted now with Kelley’s injuries and Sonnett being... well... not Kelley. And the whole world knows how good Crystal is now. So y’all maybe got used to seeing Lindsey back defending more and think that’s natural, but then when you see Rose or Lynn coming back to defend, you assume it’s because Sonnett isn’t good enough on her own. Teams are going to attack down our right side now, even when Kelley comes back.

And she created some combo plays on give-and-go’s offensively, too. Sure, Sonny and Rose struggled to connect early on, but so did Rose and Pressy. They all figured it out. She’s reading the game, she knows when to carry the ball forward, she beat Marta on the dribble a couple of times. Like wtf are people missing about this? And complaining about her lack of offense when that wasn’t her role against Brazil, and was even less her role in the second half? gtfo

The should-have-been a handball but still amazing Dunn slide tackle was on Abby, not Sonnett. Sonnett was higher up, marking Marta as she should be, and Abby had Debinha. We understand Sonnett isn’t supposed to mark both at the same time, right? Pia has pulled Marta lower than everyone’s used to seeing her, which means Sonnett played higher. At least in the first half. Vlatko pulled her back a little in the second half which was understandable because of the score and because the best combination on the field was the left side of Pressy-Horan-Dunn. Anyway, point is, Abby put Sonnett in bad positions multiple times, and yet Sonnett still found a way to handle Marta and sometimes Debinha. And I didn’t like count or anything, but it sure felt like Debinha broke Abby more than she did Sonnett. And that run that Debinha made right before the half that almost led to a goal came from Rose’s bad touch. Again, good scoring chance for Brazil, but not on Sonnett.

Her foul on Marta was tactical, and smart af. She might not be, but her soccer IQ is high enough to know to do that. Even Aly Wagner called it a professional foul, so why is anyone complaining about that. Brazil did the same thing several times. It’s smart soccer. And Marta totally took Sonnett out as payback, BECAUSE THAT’S PART OF THE GAME. No one’s hating on Marta.

Yes, she had a blocked pass that turned into a scary moment, but so did Abby, and Crystal missed a tackle. Things happen. Other teams are going to get chances on our goal. That’s why we have Alyssa. Oh, and that time it looked like she was beat and Alyssa had to make that badass save but it didn’t matter because it was offside? Yeah, she looks like she was beat because she was pulling up with the backline to catch Brazil offside. So that’s like... planned... not luck. That’s good defending is what that is.

Rose didn’t have the best game either, but she is an excellent actress. I especially enjoyed the short corner nonsense with Press.

JJ wasn’t JJ yesterday, but like, she’s still JJ so it’s fine.

I’m really happy with where Alex is at.

Seeing Alyssa strong in the air was great because that’s been her biggest weakness.

Becky is fantastic and should not retire.

I was unimpressed with Pinoe coming on and basically walking. I know she doesn’t trigger the press, but she was completely rested. JJ was frustrated with her. And like I mentioned, she gave Brazil that scoring opportunity towards the end. But no one cares because she scored. Dunn combines so much better with Press than with Pinoe.

Sophia is not ready for the international game, at least defensively. She looked lost quite a bit, like Brazil was playing keep away with her in the middle. And she put Sonnett in a bad spot too. You can tell Sonnett doesn’t trust her and had to shift out of position because of it. She doesn’t even step to the ball, and just lets Brazil cut in front and intercept it. And she takes too many touches in the box. She’s going to need time to adjust.

If people continue complaining about Lindsey going down too easily, I’m going to lose my mind. Watch her. She literally dribbles through people fucking fouling her and stays on her feet when it benefits the team. And when it doesn’t benefit the team, she takes the foul and hits the ground. It’s not a dive. These are legit fouls whether she hits the ground or not. She just has a high enough soccer IQ to know when to stay on her feet because she’s a fucking beast and when to draw a free kick. This is what I mean by her play is nuanced. It’s not just her service or her first touch, which are magical. It’s being a dick and slowing play down (multiple times), it’s drawing fouls and knowing when not to, it’s the different surfaces she uses and the no-look through balls. UNDERAPPRECIATED.

I’m gonna get called a racist again for this, I’m sure, but the Sonnett hatred after that game is akin to the Midge hype after the Canada game: both way overblown. Did Sonnett have a stellar game? No. But neither did like half the team. You know who played well?

Crystal

Lindsey

Press

Becky

Alyssa.

In that order. And Alyssa’s only last because she didn’t have a super busy game. But, she provided me with some of my favorite moments of the match outside of Lindsey’s assists. Alyssa Naeher is a rock. Gia bounced off her after that bad ball by Pinoe. Bounced. It was great. Play of the match.

Lastly, we were blessed with hip swivels from Becky, Lindsey, JJ, Sonnett, and Crystal all in one game.

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