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2019 Women's World Cup in France ... June/July

The Dutch ladies are through to the quarters with a 2-0 win over Italy. Italy go home as perhaps the pleasant surprise of the tournament. They certainly impressed me.

Germany/ Sweden is next ... another clash of styles. These have generally not tilted the way of the defending sides, but maybe Sweden buck the trend. Nah. Probably not.
 
Sweden is up 2-1 at half and driving Germany nuts running into space left by their loose back four. It’s early yet but either way, the Germans are not playing anything close to the same level we’ve seen from the other side of the bracket.
 
Germany out for this and the Olympics...
USA V England
Netherlands v Sweden Semis are set.
(I missed most of both games... Work and I thought they started at noon... :eek:ut:
 
Swedes absolutely nailed their tactics and executed really well. Brave, brave performances from those two deep midfielders in their 4-2-3-1 allowed them to keep the pressure on out wide and push forward with real danger. Germany did pretty much nothing to shift the flow of play and just didn't have the fight required for the day. Sweden shows again how far tournament savvy can go. They played soft against the US in the last group game, but they had their legs today when it mattered more. Big W.
 
Lots of complaints about UEFAs use of the World Cup to determine Olympic spots. They get 3 slots in the 12 team field. The 2nd and 4th ranked teams in the world are missing out because they don’t have a proper qualifying tournament. Last time, it was England who missed out because they have Team Great Britain in the Olympics. This time, England’s semifinal appearance puts them in.
 
Complaints largely coming from Germany and France, one assumes. And in France's case ... yeah, that hardly seems fair. In Germany's case they lost to another Euro team which is virtually the same as losing to them in a qualification tournament. Since everyone knew ahead of time that the WWC was UEFA's qualifying, then ... umm ... win that game and you're good.

And yes. Please be adults and have actual Olympic qualifying from here out UEFA.
 
England and the US square off in Lyon at 3:00 eastern on Fox.

Not much to say here. It's the number one ranked side against number 3, and it's a doozy of a matchup. The Lionesses are good and so are the Yanks, and it's likely going to come down to execution. Grab the big moment and you can go grab more big moments. Miss out and you're playing in that God forsaken 3rd place game.
 
Can't wait.... wish I was going to be watching it on my home telly instead of a 5" phone screen at work, but so be it.
 
Can't wait.... wish I was going to be watching it on my home telly instead of a 5" phone screen at work, but so be it.

TBH, I really wish this game wasn't coming on the heels of Aho's offer sheet. My nerves are shot, but that's a personal problem.
 
TBH, I really wish this game wasn't coming on the heels of Aho's offer sheet. My nerves are shot, but that's a personal problem.

Agreed.

USA ends up winning one Offsides (Removed) goal and a PK saved against England.
Honestly the second half the Lionesses outplayed them.
 
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Meh ... tight game from start to finish really, which is pretty much as expected. England have a quality side and they were never going out quietly. Both sides had breakdowns in the back, but both sides have the kind of attacking quality that forces those breakdowns. The US gutted one out, which is what thus far has separated them from the other teams with high talent levels in this tournament. US fans can like it or not, but either way there's now a decent sized group of teams that are at about the same level at the top of the women's game. There's no more just blitzing a team with pure talent in the knockouts of these tournaments for the US. Those days are gone.

Alex Morgan really stood up on a day when Rapinoe couldn't go for the US. She took on a huge load and carried it off well, getting the game winning goal, yes ... but her holdup play was really, really good throughout. Have a sip of tea, luv. Christin Press shows what a difference American depth can still make. She's the best attacking bench player in this tournament and she also came up big subbing for Pinoe. And props to Rose Levelle for her best game of the tournament. Shame she ended up coming out with an injury because she was truly dynamic. And somebody please tip a cap in the direction of Alyssa Naeher (corrected ... again). She didn't keep a clean sheet, but a couple of Stretch Armstrong saves and a big PK save ought to earn her some respect.
 
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And somebody please tip a cap in the direction of Ashlyn Harris. She didn't keep a clean sheet, but a couple of Stretch Armstrong saves and a big PK save ought to earn her some respect.

or @AlyssaNaeher .... just making sure caps get tipped in the right direction :)

Here's hoping for a lot of hamstring healing in France between now and Sunday afternoon.
 
Speaking of tipping caps ... I owe one to Jill Ellis. Again. I'm certainly not alone in having been critical of the US coach, who often seems to struggle to get her best 11 in their best positions and often has set tactics that don't work only to double down when it's time to adjust. Over the course of the last two USWNT games, against basically equal opposition in terms of starting 11 quality, she has not only set effective game plans, but she's used her depth ... the one remaining talent advantage that the US still has over the rest of the women's game ... to make those game plans work. AND she's been absolutely nailing the shifts she sets during the games to adjust to issues.

And as much as the press ballyhoos Phil Neville, he got out-managed yesterday. His decision to move Parris central and break up the one combination that the US was always going to struggle to contain (Parris and Bronze combining on the right flank) was dumb, but correctable. Except he never really corrected it and I think it only served to frustrate two of his key attacking players. Bronze was stuck playing a very static fullback role and she got pressured into bad defensive decisions on both of the US goals. Parris meanwhile never really asserted herself in attack and grew increasingly frustrated to the point of completely losing her composure in the last ten minutes as England chased the goal to tie it up. Daly, the fullback he shifted to the right wing to replace Parris added virtually nothing and the US' Crystal Dunn probably had her easiest game of the tournament since the Thailand game. Instead they tried to pressure and out-number the US up the middle and it clicked enough for the goal, the offsides goal and the penalty kick ... but the final score is the thing, and two of those positives only came after Neville partially adjusted for his mistake by bringing Kirby off the bench to give them another passer in midfield.

Ellis meanwhile adjusted for Rapinoe being dinged up by not only inserting Press ... who was terrific, again ... but by adjusting the shape when the US was defending. She went with a 4-4-2 diamond, with the two high forwards being the wingers Press and Heath while Morgan slid back to the point of the diamond midfield. I've NEVER seen this shape from the US with Morgan in the game. It's a thing they've sometimes done when Lloyd has been the lone striker, but not Morgan. That allowed the US to use Press' legs to full advantage to get the ball away from Bronze and force England to start their buildup elsewhere. Really, really sharp tactical idea and the US executed it well. Between Neville's decisions and the US's changes, Bronze was basically a non-factor and that's a BIG advantage to the US. Since that shape requires more running out of the two wider midfielders, she went with Horan instead of Mewis to pair with Levelle and that was a nod to Horan's better mobility and versatility. It also went against the run of form for the tournament because Mewis had been the US' most consistently effective midfielder. That kind of thing take cohones. That midfield diamond also set Levelle up to have two built in passing options every time she gained the ball in defense and she responded with by far her best game of the tournament.

In the end you have to execute and adjust and the players have to make plays, but tactics matter and Ellis got them right while Neville really didn't.
 
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The Dutch are through to the Final with a 1-0 win over Sweden in extra time. Kind of a back and forth game, but played at a much sleepier tempo than the last two US matches. Sweden has plenty of chances and I thought they had the Dutch on the ropes late in regulation but they just couldn't finish. Then the Oranje get a chance, finish it and move on.

Fairly good matchup for the US, as the Dutch play an open game and won't bunker like the Swedes would have done. The Netherlands side has skill up front, size and quality all around and are on a great run of form coming off of the European Championships last summer. It's no walkover for the US for sure, although I do like the style of play matchup a LOT better.
 
Tied at the Half the Dutch keeper has made more save but both keepers have had good saves/ reactions.

Rapinoe converts a PK. (VAR)
Lavelle with a strike to put them up 2.
 
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Comprehensive win for the US. The Netherlands gave sticking to a defensive setup a go, and limited the damage but that wasn’t really close. Most telling was that every time the Dutch tried to open it up, they got absolutely swarmed with scoring chances the other way ... quickly. The US was better in every zone and Jill Ellis managed to continue to nail the tactics. Just dominant. Truly impressive
 
I was driving so I could only listen, my wife was watching on my phone. Sounded like the Dutch dominated the last 5ish minutes of the 1st half but that was it. US took 13 shots inside the box, Netherlands none. Rapinoe ends up with the Golden Ball and Golden Boot. Morgan gets the Silver Boot. Rose Lavelle gets the Bronze Ball. Lucy Bronze got the Silver Ball.
 
If by "dominated the last 5" minutes you mean "created a solid scoring chance for the first time all game" then yes. The announcers got so excited that the Dutch actually kept possession for a little bit that it was almost embarrassing. In fact, the announcing WAS embarrassing all tournament. It's especially jarring when you hear Strong and Holden do a solid, professional job on the men's game just a few hours later.

Meidema had exactly two decent sequences of play in the entire game. Ertz owned her. Groenen made no impact on the game at all, and Spitse's passes were all over the place. It's hard to express just how comprehensively the US midfield bossed that game. Not sure if the Dutch freaked out and kind of locked up mentally or what. They certainly never managed an effective tactical shift and maybe the talent gap in midfield IS that big ... but I don't think so. I think the US owned the moment and the Dutch shrank from it, largely. Van Veenendaal, Bloodworth, Van de Donk and Martens played well enough and Beerenstyn was quite effective. The only time the Dutch got consistent joy was when they cycled out to her and Van de Donk on the wing with support from the fullback trailing. Without the ability to link up through the midfield, that 4-3-3 of theirs got VERY defensive and had to cover a ton of ground when they gained possession to even think about an attack.

A lot will be said about a lot of players and a lot of it will be wrong. Those 4 midfielders ... Ertz, Levelle, Mewis and Horan ... they won the US this World Cup. They cut the heart out of every team the US played. That's a freaking hit squad right there.
 
I wasn’t watching, I was listening to JP and Wagner. It seemed like the Dutch had more of the ball over the last 5 minutes of the half. But they registered nothing. Reason #863 why a radio simulcast of a TV broadcast stinks if the broadcaster isn’t aware of calling for radio too.

I heard very few mentions of Ertz yesterday, more of Mewis and LaVelle. But like a shut down cornerback in football, if the receiver is that well covered, they don’t get targeted. What was most surprising about the midfield is how Horan was used (or not). She played 90 against Thailand but Ertz had to slide to center back for Sauerbrunn. She came off in the 59th against Chile and went 90 (for Ertz) against Sweden. In the knockout rounds, she was an 89th minute sub against Spain, a 63rd minute sub against France but played the full 90 (for Mewis) against England. She was unused yesterday but Ellis was forced into an early sub for O’Hara.


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