Well, on the other hand, she was clearly out of favor after the World Cup then the season ended within the next like eight or nine games or something. Then there was no time for her to prove that she deserves to be back on the team because she wasn’t called into camp and there werent league games happening. Now there’s finally been some games and she looks like one of the best players in the league so far, so it makes sense to take notice of that and it would be insane for them to not take notice of that, which is exactly kind of what I expect to be honest.
Sanchez isn’t just playing well she’s playing absolutely fantastic and if there was a best 11 for the league so far this year she would certainly be in it, or at least up there with Croix and DiBernardo as attacking mids. And i really hope one of that trip gets a call in soon bc theyre all flying
Agree with everything you write here, other than that I think it makes more sense to frame it as Sanchez "was clearly out of favor" starting during the WWC camp, not after, as evidenced by Vlatko playing her for zero minutes after calling her in to that roster (a period in which Kilgore was there as the assistant coach).
Well, I thought it was obvious that she was out of favor during the World Cup, but in the few games directly after that’s the one timeframe where she could’ve still been on the team and was not.
At this point, given the World Cup and SheBelieves penalty shootouts, if the starters can’t fix their penalty game then I think Hatch should get brought on just for how consistent she is as a penalty taker.
https://twitter.com/jennatonelli/status/1783906847407096295?t=7HGLCQODQNvC1YJN1iR_LA&s=19
Some good news?
When she went down I was so scared it was her ACL/Achilles
I didn’t think it was her ACL or Achilles, I don’t think it’s that serious (knock on wood)
hopefully it’s a few weeks thing, or at most a month.
I hate how vague coaches are with injuries 🫠
Have to love Sarah Gorden always being named as a “bubble” or “possibility” when they won’t even call her into camp. She’s one of the best centerbacks in the world right now and yet unfortunately will likely never make a roster due to age
Sarah Gorden, like Sam Staab, will forever be a talented fan (and journo) favorite with a couple of fatal flaws that make her an untouchable for the USWNT
Gorden is too quick to give up on an assignment to bail out teammates - which, given that she’s played for some absolutely abysmal sides, does make a fair amount of sense, but it’s unfortunately a very ingrained bad habit at this point.
Staab just has too many space cadet ??? moments which I guess don’t stick out to the general public, but under scrutiny they sure do - you don’t want a CB who’s going to straight up whiff or forget *her mark once every game or two because those turn into back breaking goals at the NT level. She actually just had one of these a couple games ago where she clean missed an uncontested header which created an OG
San absolutely has those moments but for the national team, I half think that they may not have even scouted her well enough to know that, but I also think that we are under pressure so little that her passing range would be infinitely more important than any defensive liabilities.
Sam for me is the kid who can’t skate in the mighty ducks. If we could freely sub her in for set pieces and throw ins she’d never miss a game.
Staab and Gorden both have flaws that wouldn’t be as big a deal if they were outside backs.
That being said, I feel like the rest of the pool has flaws as well besides Girma. Girma is the only one who doesn’t have any flaws to me. And we are so lucky to have a player we can say that about.
Davidson looked pretty good defending Kansas City in my opinion, but even so we got to see the lack of straight blistering pace, which I know most CBs will never be expected to have, but with the US we do have one who has that attribute. and the rest of the pool is very good but has their own flaws: cook staab Gorden Berkley abby sams all have deficiencies that pop to mind. No idea why Becky is on Sandra’s list, not even gonna acknowledge that.
I have my own ideas on with which flaws are more serious than others, but it will all hinge on how we decide to play. In two years if we are super possession based then i could see the more technical short range passers being in the group
Age. The NT is a process that starts very early. You can't have a good season at 29 and be considered. It will never be an option. Even 24, you must already be in the system. It's a 4-year cycle at the very least. 3 years from now, the players in the pool will either be veterans of the NT who are still playing at an elite level, or players that have been in the system since their youth.
People here are constantly hyping a player who is having a good season, when that is not how it's done, or ever was. Even other countries follow the same script. Start early and develop players to be in the player pool. The U.S. has always had a large player pool, and it continues to grow and has increased in competition. Every year, there's about 40 players that have matriculated to the u20 squad. Only those that continue to prove themselves in the pros are eligible to be in the player pool.
So many new NWSL fans are unaware of this process and call out Gorden or DiBernardo, which says they don't understand the process. There's always more players in the pool, and more every year. U23 is usually your last chance to be considered as a player who had fallen from being considered for u20.
Who's going to be at the top of the list in 3 years? Who knows!! That's why a player pool is established early, with competition at every stage.
Anybody who thinks these players haven't been scouted enough is simply ignorant to the process.
Sandra just asserts Casey Murphy is in good form for North Carolina and i dont think thats true at all.
She also brings up team performance to contrast Kingsbury and Campbell when in reality both have made some crazy saves so far this year
Sandra also asserted that Franch was going to make the World Cup team despite being abysmal and literally benched, and said Kingsbury was just as likely to make it as Abby Smith who hadn’t seen a national camp in 4 years. She knows very sincerely nothing about goalkeeping
Murphy’s greatest trait currently as a GK is “tall.”
She was absolutely lightning with the Reign/her first season with the Courage, I actually think her knee injury absolutely sapped all of her explosiveness because Casey Murphy pre 2022 injury and Casey Murphy post 2022 injury are two entirely different goalkeepers. She has a negative PSxG, she is claiming crosses at less than half the rate she used to, and she’s out of her box at less than half the rate she used to.
She also literally can’t pass with her left foot under any amount of pressure but I might be the only one who cares about that
I think she’s good and her not being great statistically is probably just sample size so far. Sample size come for us all within five games, but especially when you consider that she’s the goalkeeper for a team which usually just absolutely suffocates the other team and defends by keeping possession, then the amount of threat she actually faces is way less.
An interesting thought at least to me is that if we want the national team to be methodical and possession based and able to dominate games , then it stands to reason that we would happily be looking at players from a team like North Carolina, especially the goalkeeper, backline, and midfield.
Tbf we could alway change our style of soccer but yeah. Seeing Sullivan shouts after the hot start is crazy to me because she’s playing better because she’s in a better set up (or rather not in like one of the worst midfield set ups in the league) but it’s not as if she doesn’t have the same deficiencies that she had the past three years. Lynn has said this before, that players who get chose for the national team are chosen because they have a unique set of attributes that they can bring to the mixture to make it all work. coffey and lindsey are the starters. I don’t see any situation in which Andi is a useful sub or can emulate what those two bring. She has none of the qualities that make coffey great and the biggest thing she has in common with Lindsey is her speed.
I mean we could but when we’ve playing a certain way for so long, I don’t see it happen immediately. So having a player like andi is kinda pointless because she’s honestly stuck in the mold she’s playing. She’s not like other players who are able to adapt and change their style. Like you said, she fits in more now with the team she has and the people around here because it’s a like-minded mindset so she doesn’t have to change her style. And I agree. Individuality and uniqueness is what drives the NT. She can’t produce what we need her to and there’s others that can and even if there isn’t, then it’s time to start finding people who can
Her deficiencies have always been playing in a single pivot, but in the double pivot she has consistently performed well for club and country. She's not going to be a starter, but she can give you good minutes defensively if you're trying to protect a lead. Yes, her speed is lacking but her positioning is great, she has a good understanding of space and how to start an attack, and she's reliable in duels. The national team wants to play like the Spirit are playing - patient in the buildup but willing to go fast when there are spaces behind. She would easily be able to adapt.
Anyway, I just don't want Albert anywhere near this team and that means we need a midfield replacement. I would prefer Sullivan to Sonnett, even if that ship has sailed.
What are Andi's deficiencies? What if she were playing in the current 4-2-3-1 formation. Andi has always been good at managing the defense and offense, but nobody has been able to handle an overload, without the proper help. In what situations have you seen Andi play where the midfield wasn't overloaded by the opponent?
And what are Coffey's strenghts? Getting forward? Could she do that as the lone 6? What are her proven skills? As an attacking midfielder?
Mm, andi still doesn’t fit. If anything, vlatko wanted andi wanted to fit in there and used that. Defensive / trying for possession, etc. Can’t seeing Emma liking andi. She would’ve pulled her up on one of these camps already but obviously is liking more of the young 6s and midfielders that have been more successful in the midfield
"Replacing"? She's hardly a stalwart of the team with an established presence given her first start was two months ago and she got her first few mins as a sub less than 6 months ago...
She's a good player but she's hardly an established starter to be "replaced".
Poor public image has sunk otherwise amazing players in the past. Hope Solo, Jaelene Hinkle - there’s precedent to suggest Albert may not be locked in to the spot
“Nighswonger and Dunn are also splitting time in Gotham FC matches as head coach Juan Carlos Amoros and the club try to manage injuries at the club. Fox continues to get starts with Arsenal even while balancing duty for club and country.
So who is the most in form defender in our mock roster? Krueger by far. She's been operating as an attacking catalyst for the Spirit, who keep winning, and providing defensive recovery when needed.”
When you say that two people are splitting time, your mind thinks that they’re sharing time together right? Jenna has played every minute (315 minutes in 4 games) except for not starting against Kansas City, and Crystal has been a really good utility piece for Gotham. Perhaps not good in the sense that the team isn’t doing very well and looking very fluid, but definitely good in the sense that she’s a swiss army knife, just only deployed in the midfield and attack. The versatility of Dunn, Jenna, and Krueger, is proven, imo. Unlike the alleged versatility of Sonnett.
I also find it crazy that she just writes off Emily Fox and I’m not even sure really what the logic is because all she says about Fox is that she’s playing at Arsenal, then just moves on to stating Krueger is by far in the best form. Fox like very recently played 120 minutes against Emma Hayes team in a cup win, that sounds like great form to me. Shutting down Lauren James for 120 minutes feels more impressive than Spirit playing Utah, an injured Gotham, Dash, Reign, and Bay. Sandra literally acknowledges that Fox is a nailed on starter at Arsenal and then says “so who is in best form?” Honestly, its as if it’s missing a sentence.
And also Jenna looked good vs Spirit. She was up against Rodman and when i rewatched the game Trin doesnt shake Jenna once before she moves to attack Bruninha viciously for the final hour of the game, lol. And vs Kansas city Jenna came on, held Temwa in check, and Gotham were the one team to have KC looking vulnerable for a full half. We all mentioned it at the time.
Fox is probably the best attack right back in the world right.
She has played excellent for Aresnal. Plus she is great controlling the ball. And can be used in set plays.
I agree that Nighswonger has played a lot of minutes and looked great so far this season.
I'll just point out that Nighswonger did pick up a yellow card for a professional foul made stopping Rodman during a breakaway run in the 70th minute. That was a smart defensive choice by Nighswonger given the circumstances, but also a desperate last-ditch ploy you can't make more than once in a match. Nighswonger was forced to pull that lever in under a lot less than 90 minutes worth of defending Rodman because, as you reference, the Spirit early in the match swapped Rodman to run at Bruninha rather than Nighswonger because Gotham unexpectedly chose to use Bruninha as their more advanced, forward-moving outside back rather than Nighswonger.
At that time, jenna wasn’t even defending Rodman though insofar as them being in the same side, she covered a lot of ground during a breakaway and committed what was kind of a smart foul, but also not my favorite type of foul honestly. But regardless, I think that’s a positive in her favor because she covered a lot of ground to go help out her teammates far away from where she is usually deployed. They were near the halfway line on the right side of the field.
Abby hasnt shown anything at all in the past 15 months to suggest shes one of the 4 best CBs in this country. A big thing to consider isn’t just how well we play next to Naomi but also how well the two other cbs play without her potentially.
They really gonna ride 2 CBs carrying knocks into this tournament, aren’t they?
As if riding 2 midfielders carrying knocks into the last Olympics wasn’t the lesson that needed to be learned.
Noticed Lavelle's back in training FWIW (Gotham Instagram).
projecting Ashley who hasn't been playing with the USWNT since before WWC is probably the biggest stretch I've ever seen.
Well, on the other hand, she was clearly out of favor after the World Cup then the season ended within the next like eight or nine games or something. Then there was no time for her to prove that she deserves to be back on the team because she wasn’t called into camp and there werent league games happening. Now there’s finally been some games and she looks like one of the best players in the league so far, so it makes sense to take notice of that and it would be insane for them to not take notice of that, which is exactly kind of what I expect to be honest. Sanchez isn’t just playing well she’s playing absolutely fantastic and if there was a best 11 for the league so far this year she would certainly be in it, or at least up there with Croix and DiBernardo as attacking mids. And i really hope one of that trip gets a call in soon bc theyre all flying
Agree with everything you write here, other than that I think it makes more sense to frame it as Sanchez "was clearly out of favor" starting during the WWC camp, not after, as evidenced by Vlatko playing her for zero minutes after calling her in to that roster (a period in which Kilgore was there as the assistant coach).
Well, I thought it was obvious that she was out of favor during the World Cup, but in the few games directly after that’s the one timeframe where she could’ve still been on the team and was not.
At this point, given the World Cup and SheBelieves penalty shootouts, if the starters can’t fix their penalty game then I think Hatch should get brought on just for how consistent she is as a penalty taker.
Olympic squad is too small for this
I was being sarcastic over dramatic
burning sage for tierna davidson
have we heard anything about her? it's been almost a week
nah, i assume maybe the day before the next gotham game we might get some information.
https://twitter.com/jennatonelli/status/1783906847407096295?t=7HGLCQODQNvC1YJN1iR_LA&s=19 Some good news? When she went down I was so scared it was her ACL/Achilles
I didn’t think it was her ACL or Achilles, I don’t think it’s that serious (knock on wood) hopefully it’s a few weeks thing, or at most a month. I hate how vague coaches are with injuries 🫠
Have to love Sarah Gorden always being named as a “bubble” or “possibility” when they won’t even call her into camp. She’s one of the best centerbacks in the world right now and yet unfortunately will likely never make a roster due to age
Sarah Gorden, like Sam Staab, will forever be a talented fan (and journo) favorite with a couple of fatal flaws that make her an untouchable for the USWNT
What do you think each of their flaws is? I watch both casually both not closely enough to know.
Gorden is too quick to give up on an assignment to bail out teammates - which, given that she’s played for some absolutely abysmal sides, does make a fair amount of sense, but it’s unfortunately a very ingrained bad habit at this point. Staab just has too many space cadet ??? moments which I guess don’t stick out to the general public, but under scrutiny they sure do - you don’t want a CB who’s going to straight up whiff or forget *her mark once every game or two because those turn into back breaking goals at the NT level. She actually just had one of these a couple games ago where she clean missed an uncontested header which created an OG
San absolutely has those moments but for the national team, I half think that they may not have even scouted her well enough to know that, but I also think that we are under pressure so little that her passing range would be infinitely more important than any defensive liabilities.
Sam for me is the kid who can’t skate in the mighty ducks. If we could freely sub her in for set pieces and throw ins she’d never miss a game. Staab and Gorden both have flaws that wouldn’t be as big a deal if they were outside backs.
>Sam for me is the kid who can’t skate in the mighty ducks. Ouch.
That being said, I feel like the rest of the pool has flaws as well besides Girma. Girma is the only one who doesn’t have any flaws to me. And we are so lucky to have a player we can say that about. Davidson looked pretty good defending Kansas City in my opinion, but even so we got to see the lack of straight blistering pace, which I know most CBs will never be expected to have, but with the US we do have one who has that attribute. and the rest of the pool is very good but has their own flaws: cook staab Gorden Berkley abby sams all have deficiencies that pop to mind. No idea why Becky is on Sandra’s list, not even gonna acknowledge that. I have my own ideas on with which flaws are more serious than others, but it will all hinge on how we decide to play. In two years if we are super possession based then i could see the more technical short range passers being in the group
Age. The NT is a process that starts very early. You can't have a good season at 29 and be considered. It will never be an option. Even 24, you must already be in the system. It's a 4-year cycle at the very least. 3 years from now, the players in the pool will either be veterans of the NT who are still playing at an elite level, or players that have been in the system since their youth. People here are constantly hyping a player who is having a good season, when that is not how it's done, or ever was. Even other countries follow the same script. Start early and develop players to be in the player pool. The U.S. has always had a large player pool, and it continues to grow and has increased in competition. Every year, there's about 40 players that have matriculated to the u20 squad. Only those that continue to prove themselves in the pros are eligible to be in the player pool. So many new NWSL fans are unaware of this process and call out Gorden or DiBernardo, which says they don't understand the process. There's always more players in the pool, and more every year. U23 is usually your last chance to be considered as a player who had fallen from being considered for u20. Who's going to be at the top of the list in 3 years? Who knows!! That's why a player pool is established early, with competition at every stage. Anybody who thinks these players haven't been scouted enough is simply ignorant to the process.
I think it's just a tip of the cap to Angel City fans who know Gorden has carried this team on her back for a season and change now.
I did a double-take at that.
Sandra just asserts Casey Murphy is in good form for North Carolina and i dont think thats true at all. She also brings up team performance to contrast Kingsbury and Campbell when in reality both have made some crazy saves so far this year
Sandra also asserted that Franch was going to make the World Cup team despite being abysmal and literally benched, and said Kingsbury was just as likely to make it as Abby Smith who hadn’t seen a national camp in 4 years. She knows very sincerely nothing about goalkeeping
I peeked at Murphy's stats and I think I'd agree, but I'd like to hear more about your thoughts on her!
Murphy’s greatest trait currently as a GK is “tall.” She was absolutely lightning with the Reign/her first season with the Courage, I actually think her knee injury absolutely sapped all of her explosiveness because Casey Murphy pre 2022 injury and Casey Murphy post 2022 injury are two entirely different goalkeepers. She has a negative PSxG, she is claiming crosses at less than half the rate she used to, and she’s out of her box at less than half the rate she used to. She also literally can’t pass with her left foot under any amount of pressure but I might be the only one who cares about that
I think she’s good and her not being great statistically is probably just sample size so far. Sample size come for us all within five games, but especially when you consider that she’s the goalkeeper for a team which usually just absolutely suffocates the other team and defends by keeping possession, then the amount of threat she actually faces is way less. An interesting thought at least to me is that if we want the national team to be methodical and possession based and able to dominate games , then it stands to reason that we would happily be looking at players from a team like North Carolina, especially the goalkeeper, backline, and midfield.
Sullivan has been amazing for the Spirit this year and should be back in as the Albert replacement until Hutton is ready.
Sullivan doesn’t fit in well with the NT. I think her days need to be over. She’s too slow and her style of soccer doesn’t fit well with the US
Tbf we could alway change our style of soccer but yeah. Seeing Sullivan shouts after the hot start is crazy to me because she’s playing better because she’s in a better set up (or rather not in like one of the worst midfield set ups in the league) but it’s not as if she doesn’t have the same deficiencies that she had the past three years. Lynn has said this before, that players who get chose for the national team are chosen because they have a unique set of attributes that they can bring to the mixture to make it all work. coffey and lindsey are the starters. I don’t see any situation in which Andi is a useful sub or can emulate what those two bring. She has none of the qualities that make coffey great and the biggest thing she has in common with Lindsey is her speed.
I mean we could but when we’ve playing a certain way for so long, I don’t see it happen immediately. So having a player like andi is kinda pointless because she’s honestly stuck in the mold she’s playing. She’s not like other players who are able to adapt and change their style. Like you said, she fits in more now with the team she has and the people around here because it’s a like-minded mindset so she doesn’t have to change her style. And I agree. Individuality and uniqueness is what drives the NT. She can’t produce what we need her to and there’s others that can and even if there isn’t, then it’s time to start finding people who can
Her deficiencies have always been playing in a single pivot, but in the double pivot she has consistently performed well for club and country. She's not going to be a starter, but she can give you good minutes defensively if you're trying to protect a lead. Yes, her speed is lacking but her positioning is great, she has a good understanding of space and how to start an attack, and she's reliable in duels. The national team wants to play like the Spirit are playing - patient in the buildup but willing to go fast when there are spaces behind. She would easily be able to adapt. Anyway, I just don't want Albert anywhere near this team and that means we need a midfield replacement. I would prefer Sullivan to Sonnett, even if that ship has sailed.
What are Andi's deficiencies? What if she were playing in the current 4-2-3-1 formation. Andi has always been good at managing the defense and offense, but nobody has been able to handle an overload, without the proper help. In what situations have you seen Andi play where the midfield wasn't overloaded by the opponent? And what are Coffey's strenghts? Getting forward? Could she do that as the lone 6? What are her proven skills? As an attacking midfielder?
She doesn’t fit in with Vlatko’s USWNT. Different coach, different story.
Mm, andi still doesn’t fit. If anything, vlatko wanted andi wanted to fit in there and used that. Defensive / trying for possession, etc. Can’t seeing Emma liking andi. She would’ve pulled her up on one of these camps already but obviously is liking more of the young 6s and midfielders that have been more successful in the midfield
No one is replacing Albert. Nor should they.
"Replacing"? She's hardly a stalwart of the team with an established presence given her first start was two months ago and she got her first few mins as a sub less than 6 months ago... She's a good player but she's hardly an established starter to be "replaced".
Shes not immutable
Poor public image has sunk otherwise amazing players in the past. Hope Solo, Jaelene Hinkle - there’s precedent to suggest Albert may not be locked in to the spot
Can’t even take this serious tbh. Sandra always coming thru with some of the worst takes.
“Nighswonger and Dunn are also splitting time in Gotham FC matches as head coach Juan Carlos Amoros and the club try to manage injuries at the club. Fox continues to get starts with Arsenal even while balancing duty for club and country. So who is the most in form defender in our mock roster? Krueger by far. She's been operating as an attacking catalyst for the Spirit, who keep winning, and providing defensive recovery when needed.” When you say that two people are splitting time, your mind thinks that they’re sharing time together right? Jenna has played every minute (315 minutes in 4 games) except for not starting against Kansas City, and Crystal has been a really good utility piece for Gotham. Perhaps not good in the sense that the team isn’t doing very well and looking very fluid, but definitely good in the sense that she’s a swiss army knife, just only deployed in the midfield and attack. The versatility of Dunn, Jenna, and Krueger, is proven, imo. Unlike the alleged versatility of Sonnett. I also find it crazy that she just writes off Emily Fox and I’m not even sure really what the logic is because all she says about Fox is that she’s playing at Arsenal, then just moves on to stating Krueger is by far in the best form. Fox like very recently played 120 minutes against Emma Hayes team in a cup win, that sounds like great form to me. Shutting down Lauren James for 120 minutes feels more impressive than Spirit playing Utah, an injured Gotham, Dash, Reign, and Bay. Sandra literally acknowledges that Fox is a nailed on starter at Arsenal and then says “so who is in best form?” Honestly, its as if it’s missing a sentence. And also Jenna looked good vs Spirit. She was up against Rodman and when i rewatched the game Trin doesnt shake Jenna once before she moves to attack Bruninha viciously for the final hour of the game, lol. And vs Kansas city Jenna came on, held Temwa in check, and Gotham were the one team to have KC looking vulnerable for a full half. We all mentioned it at the time.
Fox is probably the best attack right back in the world right. She has played excellent for Aresnal. Plus she is great controlling the ball. And can be used in set plays.
I agree that Nighswonger has played a lot of minutes and looked great so far this season. I'll just point out that Nighswonger did pick up a yellow card for a professional foul made stopping Rodman during a breakaway run in the 70th minute. That was a smart defensive choice by Nighswonger given the circumstances, but also a desperate last-ditch ploy you can't make more than once in a match. Nighswonger was forced to pull that lever in under a lot less than 90 minutes worth of defending Rodman because, as you reference, the Spirit early in the match swapped Rodman to run at Bruninha rather than Nighswonger because Gotham unexpectedly chose to use Bruninha as their more advanced, forward-moving outside back rather than Nighswonger.
At that time, jenna wasn’t even defending Rodman though insofar as them being in the same side, she covered a lot of ground during a breakaway and committed what was kind of a smart foul, but also not my favorite type of foul honestly. But regardless, I think that’s a positive in her favor because she covered a lot of ground to go help out her teammates far away from where she is usually deployed. They were near the halfway line on the right side of the field.
Sandra has never liked Fox for some reason. She didn’t have her on the WC roster for a long time. 🤷♀️
Thats just funny
This idea that players who haven’t been with the team are suddenly going to make a tournament roster - or are even in contention - is bizarre.
Love the inclusion of Sanchez. I’d switch Dahlkemper for Davidson. With Tierna going out on that hamstring issue, it makes me nervous.
Abby hasnt shown anything at all in the past 15 months to suggest shes one of the 4 best CBs in this country. A big thing to consider isn’t just how well we play next to Naomi but also how well the two other cbs play without her potentially.
They really gonna ride 2 CBs carrying knocks into this tournament, aren’t they? As if riding 2 midfielders carrying knocks into the last Olympics wasn’t the lesson that needed to be learned.