Posted on 06/11/2019 4:41:50 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
There is always room to quibble. 20/20 hindsight is cheap, but I thought Ellis should have substituted earlier, perhaps even at halftime or shortly thereafter. What you DON'T want is to be in the knockout stage, playing a peer level team, and to have players coming off the bench for their first minutes in the World Cup.
Yeah, these women are all professionals. But that doesn't mean there aren't butterflies, especially for those for whom this is the first World Cup. Scoring especially takes a certain state of mind. Ideally all the scorers would get a goal or two against the weaker opponents, just to get that monkey off their backs before it's a quarterfinal or semifinal with the game on the line, and someone is still looking for her first goal.
It was good to get Alex Morgan off to a good start, but she didn't need five goals. It was nice to see Carli Lloyd get a goal, but this is her fourth World Cup and she doesn't need minutes. I'd have gotten Mallory Pugh in earlier, and I'd have brought in Jessica McDonald instead of Carli Lloyd. Morgan Brian needs some time; she was thought to be a lock as a starter a year ago, then she almost dropped off the team, and she ended up as a surprise late addition. She needs to get back into the flow. Tierna Davidson looked like a lock as a starter before her ACL injury last year; this is her first World Cup and she needs to get some time. Get these players in now, not against France or Germany with everything on the line, and they come in for their first touches.
Quibbles. But if the next game is also a blowout, this is what I'd look for.
Thailand is in shock. They look like Argentina vs. Germany during the German scoring blitz in that World Cup game. At this point, they don't have any idea where the Americans are coming from.
Impressive victory, but it could be fool’s gold. It was ridiculously easy and may induce some complacency. Chile won’t be a major challenge either, but the Swedish defense will be a stern test. Only then will we get a true reading of the US team.
France will have to deal with a physically tough Norwegian team tomorrow. It should provide us with some insight on the French team’s offensive capabilities.
Morgan showed she was ready for the tournament. Rapinoe was not as sharp, but she remains the most skilled player on the team. Her inventiveness and grit will be essential to moving forward. I also liked the play of Lloyd, Press, Pugh, Ertz, Lavelle, Dahlkemper, and O’Hara. Mewis and Horan played well, but I have questions about how well they will play against teams with more pressure defenses.
The biggest disappointment was Tobin Heath who looked nervous and not ready for prime time. Too much one on one. She is far better than what she showed today.
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USA are defending champs from 2015. This is football at its best. Never seen a foe crushed so decisively.
I expected a blowout but this was the mother of all blowouts.
Quite a Group F game. Congrats, USA!!!
Always room for improvement.
My wife said 10 goals. Told her I will be happy with 6. Thought I was on track with 3 goals at halftime, not expecting them to score 7 to get the 10.
But then they scored 10 for a total of 13!
That’s 1 goal every 4.5 minutes in the second half.
Factor in the 3 minutes added time.
AMAZING!
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