This U.S. team is too old. I think several players have lost a step. They will still dominate weaker sides but elite opponents have caught up. That kind of problem gets masked for the U.S. because we qualify through CONCACAF, where no one except Canada can match up. If we played through Europe, the U.S. team wouldn’t win as many games and wouldn’t always qualify, but they’d be a better team. CONCACEF contributes to a false sense of security. It would be better if problems got exposed sooner. We have way too many players over 30.
Sweden and England may be the class of the tournament this time. Germany and France are also in that class but didn’t qualify. Win or lose, the U.S. is due for a major rebuilding cycle, starting in about two weeks.
Right now, Sam Mewis, Lindsay Horan, Rose Lavelle and Tierna Davidson are the building blocks going forward. Andi Sullivan was in that group but went down twice with back to back ACL tears and fell out of the mix. She has worked her way back and was on the bubble for this squad; she’s another to keep an eye on. I think Mallory Pugh will be back as well. She was brought along too fast, becoming a regular while still in high school and leaving college after one semester. She should have stayed in college to develop and toughen up, but she has tremendous speed and touch and is a natural playmaker. Heath, Rapinoe and Press have all been around forever, but they’re all aging out. Beyond that, I think every position on the team will be up for grabs.
USA is definitely going to need to retire some of the older gals.
Sweden is playing very well.
Another great post by you sphinx and you were not even able to watch!
Hope that gets fixed soon.
I think coach Andonovski needs to throw a chair across the room.