The U.S. women’s national team struggled for much in the final third on Thursday night, slumping to a goal-less draw with Colombia in its first friendly of October.
Twila Kilgore’s squad were held to just two shots on goal while Alex Morgan missed a penalty kick in a disappointing home result at America First Field in Utah. It was the first match in which the Americans were held off the scoresheet since August 6.
Morgan had both of the USWNT’s best offensive chances in the first half, being denied in the box by Colombia’s Natalia Giraldo before also missing a spot-kick opportunity. Despite Trinity Rodman drawing a penalty kick before halftime, Morgan’s shot struck the right post, keeping the score level at 0-0.
Lorena Bedoya’s long-range effort in the 65th minute forced Alyssa Naeher into her first save of the night before the veteran also repelled Jorelyn Carabali’s header in stoppage time.
Ashley Hatch came close to propelling the Americans in front after 71 minutes but Giraldo dove down to punch away the winger’s low shot.
https://x.com/USWNT/status/1717716915349848490?s=20
Both Naeher and Giraldo registered two saves apiece in the draw, registering clean sheets for their respective teams.
The USWNT will close out its two-match slate on Sunday against the Colombians at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.
people had their chuckle at my expense but this is plainly wasting time. personally since it’s taken this long anyone who gets hired should have a 4 year plan with the olympics as mere milestone. part of pursuing success is having some urgency about it like you have goals and/or were messing up before.
I think that’s been the plan all along. Crocker wasn’t going to rush his process just to chase the Olympics. I also think Harvey has been the favorite all along and so they’re waiting for the NWSL season to end.
idk who chuckled but I agree here IV, unless it’s to move on today in another direction. idk if that happens today or not. if it’s the same kind of runout of players and tactics then your point will be soundly proven
IV wanted the new coach in place in August before the WC was even over that’s why people “chuckled” at him which is IV speak for “you didn’t praise IV for IV’s brilliance”
Hatch and Smith as the 9s, the time is now.
we’ve moved to a dual pivot without Lavelle because Sullivan won’t/can’t build out, and until she takes the reins in this uni and stops deferring to every other player to create, this is the team as long as she gets the run. Trip is she can do it but in this group, she doesn’t, just doesn’t look comfortable asserting herself imho, like she’s looking for others to do it
more on the USWNT dual pivot; it’s too easy to mark Horan. Sullivan literally unmarked, Sonnett too, as both defending 6s matched up on Lindsay, and were not made to pay for it
it’s a conservative approach that leaves Lindsay as the lone connector to the front line from the midfield who is usually double marked. in this game Fox was a connector too, thought she showed well
we do not switch the point with authority, or consistency, or effectively
so in a nutshell, the midfield is a hot mess right now, which makes the Morgan misses sting that much more
The results of a performance is what should dictate opportunities and potential needs opportunities to create results.
Morgan had three solid opportunities including her PK and obviously did not finish. Finishing is what distinguishes her from other potential players, however she has exceeded her opportunities with no results. Her job is to score goals!
What really puzzles me is Sonnett in the midfield? Never a lack of effort or enthusiasm and always a team player. However, very little positive comes from any of her touches? She does not move to ball quickly, break lines with her passes, or step into space to receive the ball? Sonnett always plays the safe ball and never takes any advantage into space and always remains passive. She seems to be vocal and directing personal around the pitch but whatever she sees in her mind does not transfer to her feet. My point is why brings a player like Sam Coffey into camp and not play her? She is a much better player than Sonnett in midfield!
I really like Horan’s game, she can grab the game like very few in the women’s game. Although I think she takes on too much of the teams burden to score and chance creation. When Lavelle is healthy she is dangerous and plays well with Horan but still everything cannot always go through Horan. Also, why jerk her around and put her into the 6 spot after playing most of the match further upfield?
Did all of you watch the match? When Sauerbrunn came on her positioning was so good. The little things she does imposes and dictates tempo and pressure on the opposing team because she can pick out a pass. The US goes from attacking from their defensive third to attacking from the middle third. Because Sauerbrunn takes a touch forward to midfield or receives a back pass in an advanced position and finds the diagonal ball. This diagonal balls what is what Rodman, Williams, and Smith thrive off of! Becky can still play and unfortunately no one plays her position better.
Super interesting to hear the financial break down for individual dispersement based on call ups and match results. So just throwing inexperienced players out there is not so easy when the results benefit the entire team greatly. However, the scope of formations need to reflect the talent available and opportunities need to be given and reflect the actual talent pool depth.
Twomile: betting on a player who is going to be 39 next year at the Olympics while not giving other players experience is dangerous. We saw it at the WC after only using Cook, Girma, and Sauerbrun in the year run up to Aus/NZ. Then Becky goes down and Vlatko has to bring Ertz out of retirement. If Sauerbrun is injured next summer or age finally catches her we’re left with Girma and Cook and people with no experience. I appreciate that at least this time that they gave Cook the 90 and sat Girma who has nothing to prove. If Becky is playing like Becky next July bring her along, but she doesn’t need to be playing with the NT during a friendly in November. Hopefully we see a lot of rotation for match 2, but with just about everyone on the roster still in the NWSL playoffs minutes could get interesting.
this is funny given your position on ream, who, to me, has generally looked “less than” since his injury break.
IV: the difference is there are plenty of other CBs of reasonable quality that we’ve seen. Robinson, CCV, McKenzie, Trusty, Zimmerman (in a pinch to fill out a roster) Cannon, and EPB in emergencies, that fills out a roster. Besides Becky it’s Cook, Girma and ………………..?
Keeping players around too long seems to be a theme for US women & men teams.
Not the men. Ask John Brooks?
USA women & men’s teams keep older players around longer than necessary and bring in young players that aren’t ready. US brought almost the same squad from the ‘19 team that faced England to the ‘23 matchup. If Sauerbrunn & Pugh were healthy, they would’ve started against England w/ no exception. 4 years later and close to the same team?! For context – England brought 3 players from that ‘19 matchup. Their collegiate players UNC Tar Heels- Bronze & Russo, & Greenwood who was on the bench and didn’t compete against the U.S. in ‘19. (If memory serves me correctly)
Correction- Match against England was in ‘22 not ‘23. It was Fran Kirby not Russo who competed against the U.S. in ‘22 not ‘23.
The World has caught up and I am not surprised.
Just go to a typical youth game and this is what you see-coaches and parents more concerned about winning that U10 game than actually developing players. The coach puts the biggest fastest kid at foward and everyone is told to kick it in his/her direction. Super ugly soccer.
A couple of weeks ago my 8 yr old daughter had a game and the other coach yelled “Send It!” At least 40 times during the game. And we wonder why we are falling behind.
what level is your daughter playing? hopefully not some ecnl or other higher level girls soccer league. ‘send it’, lol
BUT the love of athletes over players is REWARDED by the officiating, at the highest levels, over and over and I see it every weekend. That part is absolutely terrible and rewards bully ball which, as we all know I think, never works against good teams. So, that mental/emotional development part, you know, where you have to work it out with your teammates during the game, solve the riddles and puzzles to unlock defenses, is lost and the answers are forever stuck in ‘play harder’ ‘more urgency’ ‘first to the ball’, etc. I’m not saying those are not important, just that there’s way more to playing well and winning vs. good teams, and you have to learn that
Still, it’s the teams with the high level athletes which can also play, and they exist, that crush. they are the super teams out there, that recruit these teen aged girls (and younger) from all over to form super teams. I don’t think super teams help either; again, instead of needing to solve the puzzles and riddles, you’re just reams better than opponents
I’ve always been a huge fan of hers but Alex Morgan needs to sit. She was unproductive in the world cup and was dreadful last night not just missing golden opportunities but missing badly. Starting her next game is basically screaming to the world that accountability for the stars does not exist on this team and that nothing has changed.
Speaking of nothing changing, once again we played with only 3 CBs. When was the last time we called in anybody other than Sauerbrunn (old), Cook (not good enough to play in the WC) and Girma (very good). It seems to me that the US soccer federation views the Olympics as the Sauerbrunn send off series (like the World Cup was for Rapinoe) and they don’t want somebody better to crash the party and ruin it.
The game was very boring 💤 I am sad how much we have fallen we are no longer top 5, not bashing our players just facing the truth and music. 😔
Twila is coaching like an interim. Not changing anything or much of anyone. Not rocking the boat. Fresh ideas, a few fresh faces, and Micario and Swanson back from injury and you’ll wonder how we ever looked so blah. The timeline for the new manager makes me think Laura Harvey or Casey Stoney.
It’s a shame because interims can rock the boat without any consequences and give the incoming coat a buffet of options. The simple truth however is that the federation decides the roster, not the coach. The coach just follows orders.