Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Soccer Futbol Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
2012 Olympics-Women's Football
Topic Started: Jul 3 2012, 09:06 AM (2,129 Views)
libero
Advanced Member
[ *  *  * ]
It is fascinating to read how much better the US does in the Olympics compared to the Women's World Cup, I have no way really to explain that difference, it is not I think a case of the US team placing more emphasis on the Olympics than the World Cup in comparison to other nations but their difference in results is striking. How about this for an explanation, the US' greater depth helps them in the more compressed Olympic tournament (usually completed within 2 weeks compared to 3+ weeks for the World Cup) where the games are held closer together than they are for the World Cup?


I think this is a good explanation for the difference in US results in Olympics and the Women's World Cup. Watching this final and semifinal too, I was struck by the relatively poor technique of many of the US players, sure there are some with good technical ability, especially Rapinoe but also Lloyd and Morgan but my recollection is the US team of the 90s and early 2000s with Foudy, Hamm, Lilly, et al was a more technically gifted team than the current US squad. Anybody else notice this or am I just getting forgetfu/crankyl in my old age?

Anyway irrespective of the overall technique, great entertainment by the ladies in the semis and final.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
shelsoccer
Advanced Member
[ *  *  * ]
I'm going to disagree, libero. I think the current team is better technically. The 1990s teams were heavily reliant on athleticism. They were largely a product of Anson Dorrance's philosophy, a philosophy he still follows at the Univ. of North Carolina.

As more countries put money into women's soccer, they were able to approach or match the Americans' athleticism while being better technically and tactically (see Germany).
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Johnbuildr
Member Avatar
Advanced member
[ *  *  * ]
Yes, Shel, I sincerely believe that both the men's and women's upper level (and all levels for that matter) soccer in the US has far more technically proficient soccer athletes than in the past, not less.

Long gone are the days when the "less skilled" Americans can win matches on endurance with lesser skill sets. And gone are the days that they can or have to rely on that modus operandi.

However, there may well be something to the theory that the US women do better in a more compressed tournament, but it is because they are deeper in talent across the board and as well or better conditioned than some of their rivals, not because they are less skilled. That less skilled thing doesn't fly with me anymore, not based on what I see nor does it make sense logically to me.
Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum



Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
TonyDE
Advanced Member
[ *  *  * ]
Hmm, I see both views here but I tend to agree with libero on this. I watched many of the US women's matches in these Olympics and they did not look all that technically proficient to me. Plenty of heart, speed, aerial power and an incredibly quick counter attack. But apart from the players libero mentioned, most notably Rapinoe, I do not see the current US women's team as having the individual technical ability of those teams with Hamm, Foudy, Lilly, Millbrett, MacMillan, Jennings and others.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
alabastergremlin
Advanced Member
[ *  *  * ]
At some point you have to analyze the opponents skill level as well. I don't think it is any secret that the field is deeper and filled with better players than it was 'back in the day' when Hamm and Foudy played.

That was the point I never heard made when the discussion was had regarding if the team today could beat the World Cup 99 team.

I personally think they could...I don't think they appear as dominate today in large part due to the deeper field they are up against.

I checked ussoccer.com and didn't see the results from games from the late 90's but I seem to remember a lot of very lopsided scores in favor of the US. I think China and Sweden (is that right? Germany got better towards the end of that run too) were two of the better teams who gave the US challenges but those were few and far between (if my memory serves me correctly) although today there are many more quality teams. The game around the world seems to have caught up with the US. And that is good for the sport but may cut into the "legend" of some of the players today.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Johnbuildr
Member Avatar
Advanced member
[ *  *  * ]
<<....That was the point I never heard made when the discussion was had regarding if the team today could beat the World Cup 99 team.

I personally think they could...I don't think they appear as dominate today in large part due to the deeper field they are up against....>>

Spot on , AG!

I guess it would be impossible to convince me that we do not have generally much more technically proficient players than a decade ago and more of them in the US because we had (and have) so much room for improvement.

Sure, there will always be ebbs and rises in the talent available over time, but the total curve must be considerably higher over time as well, particularly in the women's game which was starting from ground zero not so many years ago.
Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum



Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
hobbes
Advanced Member
[ *  *  * ]
I wasn't sure where to put this, but I figured this made sense. Canada host the U.S. at BMO Sunday afternoon. For the U.S. I'm sure it's another friendly against a half-decent side as they prepare for 2015. Up here it is revenge for THAT game in England.

It could be interesting. The supporters end at BMO sold out in an hour. We didn't do that for World Cup qualifiers. There's a tifo display planned and we've made 1,000 head bands for kids or something... It should be a good atmosphere.

And if anyone has a toddler who needs help learning how to count to six, I'm sure lessons will be audible...

cheers,
hobbes

Saskatchewan for the CPL: multis e gentibus vires
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
hobbes
Advanced Member
[ *  *  * ]
So Canada decided to play a 3-5-2 which did a wonderful job of bottling up the U.S. but led to us getting almost no chances. As we started to sub, Alex Morgan got behind the Canadian backline twice in five minutes (once she torched Zurrer, the other time, it was a ball over the top) and she finished both chances well.

Kadeisha Buchanan, a 17yo central defender was tremendous for us, but the U.S. were the superior side by a lot even without Rapinoe...

And then at the end of the game Sydney Leroux came in for the U.S. She was booed every time she touched the ball and she scored in injury time. Some players would not celebrate a goal scored against the nation of their birth. Leroux was booked for her excessive celebration. But fair enough. I wasn’t surprised and she scored, so she can do what she likes with the moment.

She got a little defensive post-game about it, but then on twitter today said her celebration was in response to “racist chants” directed at her. And the shit storm begins.

For a start, I don’t really think she has to defend running to the Canadian supporters section, popping her jersey and shushing them. She has definitely had some racial abuse come her way on twitter and I find that regrettable and unacceptable.

But I know people who were in the thick of things in Toronto and they say her accusations simply aren’t true. This gets slightly more complicated when you consider that Buchanan and Robyn Gayle were playing on the right side of defence at the time for us. Surely if Leroux was racially abused, they would have heard it too?

Leroux apparently clarified to say that the chants occurred in Vancouver during Olympic qualifying? So I don’t know. I don’t want to say she’s lying, but it’s a fairly serious accusation and if there was a specific incident I would like to know when/where it happened, so we can try to make sure it never happens again.

Am I wrong to differentiate between what happens in the stadium and what happens on twitter? I take ownership of what is done in a Canadian supporters section, even if I’m not there. We’ve worked to make it a racist and homophobic free place. And thankfully it hasn’t taken much work. I’ve only ever heard one racist comment at a match and I wasn’t the only person who took the person who said it to task (and it was directed at the official) and the person in question apologized and said they knew it was wrong.

I feel like we can control what the atmosphere is like in the stadium and make it welcoming. But I don’t really feel like we can control what is said on the internet. Especially on twitter.

cheers,
hobbes
Saskatchewan for the CPL: multis e gentibus vires
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Merengue
Administrator
[ *  *  * ]
Here is an AP article with a misleading headline where LeRoux states,

Quote:
 
Leroux said later Monday in a statement issued through the USSF that ''my tweet from this morning wasn't in response to anything from yesterday's match at BMO Field.''

''In fact, the atmosphere at the stadium was a positive step forward for women's soccer. Unfortunately, the type of abuse I have received in the past and via social media for my decision to play for the United States is a step backwards. That is what prompted my response in the heat of the moment.''


So it was not based on any racial chants against her in Vancouver either, and the CSA said they never received any complaints of any racist abuse from either yesterday's game or the prior Olympic qualifier in Vancouver. Just sounds as if LeRoux got upset by what some fools on the internet said about her.
http://twitter.com/#!/SocrFutbolForum
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
hobbes
Advanced Member
[ *  *  * ]
Thanks for that Merengue. I'm glad she clarified. It's a shame some mouth breathers decided tweet what they did at her.

I am also happy that nothing was directed at her yesterday or in Vancouver. Yesterday's game was heated and far from politically correct, but I didn't think it crossed the line. I'm glad it didn't.

cheers,
hobbes
Saskatchewan for the CPL: multis e gentibus vires
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
shelsoccer
Advanced Member
[ *  *  * ]
Fools on the internet? Imagine that. Thankfully not here.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Create a free forum in seconds.
Learn More · Register Now
« Previous Topic · Olympics · Next Topic »
Add Reply