USWNT Need A Win against England

I don’t say this as a mean of over exaggeration, but Friday’s friendly match against England is a crucial game for the USWNT. This is a team at a crossroads, clearly in transition, and with a coach who may be in over her head.

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For the record, no I do not have much experience as a coach, except for my daughter’s soccer team; so for me to be critical of head coach Jill Ellis I may be overstepping my bounds. However, the fact of the matter her team looks completely lifeless, playing without any type of spark or cohesion. They were completely and utterly outplayed by France last weekend, looking two steps slower and could not gain any type of control in center midfield. Some of her moves were highly questionable. None so more as her move of Carli Lloyd to the left side of the midfield. While Ellis may have done this to give Lloyd more freedom and remove some of her defensive responsibilities, it was these very responsibilities that made Lloyd the player she is.

Regarding the match against France, Ellis had this to say:

“We’re in the process of trying to get answers and playing different players and we knew France would be a fantastic test for us. At this point, we’re in the process of evaluating and also building and that’s why we play strong teams, to test ourselves. I don’t think we had great possession, we turned the ball over a lot, but still we had some quality chances, as did France.”

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The key point in Ellis’ commentary is that France made the most of their chances, taking advantage of a leaky US defense, especially Lori Chalupny, who was playing in her first international competition in five years. Normally a midfielder, Chalupny was moved to defense by Ellis to make up for the absence of stalwart Christine Rampone. Chalupny was simply not up to the task, constantly being burned by the faster French, and having to be bailed out by teammate Becky Sauerbrun on several occasions. Ellis finally moved Tobin Heath over to aid Chalupny and this seemed to help a little. Moving Heath was one of the few smart moves Ellis made against France.

As I said, this is clearly a team in transition. Ellis stated one of her jobs is to play different players, younger players, to develop that next core. Playing against England, ranked sixth in the world, will give her young players another chance against top competition. Maybe Friday’s game will give Morgan Brian more of an opportunity to put her wealth of skills on display. She was certainly held in check against France,and her inexperience in international competition.

Maybe Ellis will give surprise addition Tori Huster an opportunity as well, especially since the team looked quite lost in midfield. If Chalupny, Brian and Huster continue to struggle, Ellis will have no choice but to play Shannon Boxx and other vets, such as Kelley O’Hara and Ali Krieger, sooner and more often. If the move of Lloyd continues to be ineffective, I hope Ellis will have the insight to abort the move for future matches, especially the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

In goal, I suspect that Ashlyn Harris will be the nod over Nicole Barnhart. Harris wasn’t the issue against France, she made several key saves and was razor sharp in the first half. She is nowhere near ready to wrestle the number one spot away from problem child Hope Solo, but if Solo continues to make foolish life choices, Ellis may have no choice but to ride Harris come June.

As for England, they aren’t talking like a team who is nervous about playing the number two team in the world. Goalie Siobhan Chamberlain had this to say.

“Women’s soccer is huge and they are massive stars – bigger stars than the men’s players.USA are the biggest team in the world. Their high profile makes it a bigger occasion. But we need to take it as another game and not worry about them.When you’re in the tunnel and it’s 11 players stood next to 11 players, it’s just about how you go out there and get the job done, regardless of the name on the back of the shirt.If you look for it there will be more hype for this game, which is great because you will get more people interested in it.”

Chamberlain’s words seem to echo many of her teammates’. English defender Karen Carney was a little more reserved however.

“They (the USA) were runners-up in the last World Cup, they’re Olympic gold medallists and their history in the women’s game is second to none. They always turn up in the big tournaments. USA will be slightly different to Germany but equally as challenging. The way their players think, their mentality and their dedication to training is unquestionable. Their work ethic is phenomenal.”

Without question, if the USWNT loses to England, it will raise huge doubts about Ellis in the eyes of US Soccer. If ever a team needed a win and a decisive one at that, it’s the USWNT. For a team at a crossroads, Friday’s game will perhaps indicate which way this team is headed.

quotes courtesy of TheFa.com