I have waited for a while to write this story as I wanted to wait and see a mixture of both public opinion and to see what the media wrote and allow all parties to weigh in on comments. I have now read and heard to my hearts content and have decided to post some of the most pertinent stories and videos for you to recap. Pull up a chair though - because this will take you a spell to get through.
Foc Soccer = http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/7271586
ESPN = http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3038644&name=chang_jen
The Hope Video = http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3039111&categoryId=2378529
US Soccer Postgame = http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_2555913.html
Left out to Dry = http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=468135&cc=5901
The Abby Decision
I have already spoken of this earlier in my blog so I will simply recap here. The decision to:
Wait for Wambach to get out of the locker room for 10 minutes to put her back in was poor. I cannot remember the last time a coach waited that duration of time before making a decision to sub for an injury.
Put her back in after she came off with a gash on her head that needed stitches with a possible concussion was irresponsible of her health being complicated further by the fact she was a target player in the air.
Substitutions
There is something to be said for having the best crop of players your country can offer. And while maybe not plentiful, you still know you have a solid crew of athletes that can get the job done. You have to have trust and faith in those players and when the time calls for it - go to your bench and give them the opportunity to prove you right and prove themselves capable. And beyond that - sometimes fresh legs are the best thing to help a squad late in a game. In the instance of Wambach, there were two clear cut opportunities that she could have and should have been subbed - effectively making her get an additional hour’s worth of rest so that by the time the semifinal came around - she would have been able to perform well. As is - she never was even a factor in the semifinal - and each game the tournament went on her legs looked heavier and heavier. Another reason she wasn’t a factor was due to Scurry’s goal kicks - I address that later. I would have loved to see Natasha Kai play more than 5 minutes in the World Cup. I hope her confidence is not shaken in all this as well.
The actual substitutions are also a bit of a wonder. I think Diccio said it best in the semi when he said making those defensive substitutions instead of attacking ones when you are down by two goals is telling your team that you don’t have any faith in them. He could have done better the whole tournament with his choices of subs and the timing of them.
The Giggles
Apparently at one point during the game the camera crew panned over to the bench and Coach Ryan was caught giggling as if we were up 3-0 in the game. I don’t think there has ever been a game where I have played or coached where I was losing that I had a case of the giggles and the fact he did during a World Cup semifinal match when we were down 3-0 makes me ill.
The Game Plan
The biggest thing I want to know was what was the game plan? From comments I heard in various articles it was said that each of the groups of players would basically split up in practice and go practice on their own - thereby never really getting the opportunity to gel and transition together. That is poor coaching. It is one thing if you do a balance of that - but for that to be your standard practice is just wrong. And tactically I thought there was a whole lot of nothing going on out there. I have seen NCAA women’s games that were more exciting. How is it that the best of our best came out for 10 halves of soccer and were only able to put on a good showing for two of them? I find that so subpar that I am actually going to write US Soccer about it - urged on by Jamie Trecker.
The Own Goal
One of the things that has really pissed me off about Ryan’s Comments was it is extremely clear to me that he blames Leslie Osbourne for losing the Brazil game. All he wanted to focus on was the own goal that was scored first and then the red card. He thought Scurry played great - I am wondering what he was smoking. He kept bashing on that own goal without saying Osbourne’s name like it was she alone who lost the game for the US. And the reality was he couldn’t even come to grips with the fact that when you defend - it is safety first - especially if you aren’t 100% confident in the keeper behind you. Sure she made a mistake and sure Brianna called her off but it was clear Osbourne did not have faith in Scurry and Ryan was the catalyst to that situation.
The Red Card
I guess for me one of the things that I don;t understand is how when the red card was issued which was so blatantly poor officiating - that Boxx just took it. And that the US squad just look at the referee like - you just stole my ball - ho sad. I would have been up in that referee’s face. Sure John Terry and others are being punished by the FA for actually grabbing the referee in the send off of Mikel against United - but they were right in their justification to confront the referee - and that was just a league match. This is the World Cup. I felt like the US players basically just bent over and said - ok I guess I’ll take it in the ass.
Ryan’s Bad Comments
“We weren’t prepared for wet and rainy training sessions in China, cause of sunny California you know (their training ground).”
I find this to be sickening that he actually admitted this. The fact that England went to China a whole month ahead of time to acclimate to the Chinese climate and the field conditions and we went two weeks ahead is appalling. The fact that he admitted he did not properly prepare his players for the weather elements of the match is beyond confusing to me.
“I am very proud of the effort that they put in tonight. To say that, this game is one game, and its over now, and were moving on to prepare for our game against Norway, another very important match for our team. “
The effort - I thought totally sucked - and if it was their best effort then they sucked as soccer players and athletes. Are you for real???? This is one game?? This is the MOST IMPORTANT GAME OF YOUR CAREER DUDE!!!!! This is the World Cup! This is the most important game of some of these girls careers. How can you throw it away like it is just some league game.
From Tony Diccio, “Ryan said going in to this tournament that the goal was to get to the semifinal. I think the goal should always be to win the prize in a situation like this. “(Especially when you are ranked #1 by FIFA and are the favorites to win the tournament)
I’m not always a Diciccio fan but he nailed it on the head. And the fact that Ryan had set the bar so low is beyond me. Every tournament I go into with my youth teams always has the same goal (at least said to the players anyway) and that is to win the tournament.
As to the coach - well my take is he will be canned by next Friday - hopefully before. Enough time to play the third place game, fly home, unpack his bags and he will get the call. And if he doesn't - Mr Gulati is a moron. Ryan can't even own up to any of his decisions on being wrong which shows a totall lack of character that highlights his ignorance and arrogance. I mean he flat out said after Abby's head injury that if he had a second chance he would do the same thing again. Unbelievable. I really wish they would stop promoting the Women's assistant coaches to head coaches.
Hope Solo’s Comments
On a side note apparently that game where Scurry played against Brazil back in June - the reason Hope wasn't playing was because she was at her father's funeral - who she had dedicated her tournament and her play this World Cup to him.
Sure she said some things that pissed people off - but you know what, I want everyone to step back for a minute and reflect on something. As a kid - what is something you wanted to badly if you were an athlete? To be the best in your sport. To get paid to be the best and to be able to represent your country by being the best. it is something that every day you think about. Every time you get a knock in practice or a game and you have to play through it. Every time you start to wonder why you put yourself through what you are doing - it’s because you love it and you want it so badly. And the idea that she had worked her but off for 20 years to get to this point. To play well, top be determined and focused and winning, and to have someone not only tell you that - well not today -_ it don’t think you can do it and I don’t have trust in faith in you to take us to the final and then to see your team play awful and the keeper who replaced you not do well when you felt you could have done better - that your World Cup hopes are over and who knows if you will ever have an opportunity to have this moment again and be so close to achieve the ultimate pinnacle of your career - is so heartbreaking that most people truly can’t fathom it while sitting in their houses thinking about their 8-5 jobs cause they were never talented enough to get here.
And for someone to tell a US citizen that they don’t have anything to say or they can’t speak their mind - who are you kidding???? Someone who has been wronged? I find the most irony in this since it was only one year ago that the US men stood up and campaigned on the idea of Don’t Tread on Me. Well you know what Greg Rya and US Soccer - Hope Solo basically told you to not Tread on Her. Good for her. I’m glad someone had some balls to speak up. And I am sure in that moment her father would have said - stand up for yourself Hope.
Professionalism
Some people said it was unprofessional - well to be fair, I haven’t exactly seen professional athletes go through the business school and know what a learning curve on professionalism is. They usually also get to defer most things to a press agent or someone else to do the talking for them. Some people said she called out a teammate. Well here is my take on that. I don’t think in this situation you can separate the two. You can’t critisize the coaching decision and not critisize the play of the keeper - because it is one and the same. And really - all she said is that she thought she could do better. We train these athletes to have confidence in themselves - not to be humble - so why do we expect her to say or feel anything different than confidence?
Her World Cup hops are gone. They are done. By the time she has the opportunity to go to another World Cup - she will be 30 years old. It could still happen - but most likely she will be a back up by that time and the rest of the world is clearly catching up to the speed of play and technical and tactical way of playing the game. next time won’t be so easy.
Her benching of the third game
She has now been benched for the third game because of this - I am not surprised. And really - I don’t think she cares. I mean do you really care at this point about playing in the third place match when you could have been playing in the final? Sometimes you realize when you are ok sacrificing some things for the greater good of your sanity. And honestly - i have never felt better as a person when I have taken the higher ground and not said my peace on something that really chaps my ass. It only eats me up inside that I didn’t say what I wanted to say. There is an article above that talks about Solo being left out in the cold by her teammates - i think the writer is correct. I think her teammates should have stood beside her long before this and in the end - where were they? None of them had the guts to stand up for what they felt was right - and that lacks character in my opinion.
This is the best quote from that article “So this is what happens when a woman speaks out? When she tells it like it is? When she speaks from the heart, uncensored instead of all those generic, fill-in-the-blank responses every other American athlete regurgitates and we roll our eyes at when controversy strikes?”
Brianna Scurry’s No Comments - the US press agent
It is probably best she didn’t comment - but the fact the US press agent made sure she didn’t and tried to stop Solo from doing so was poor management. I think the USSF should have seen there was a greater issue here and made sure there was a sports psychologist on hand to help diffuse the situation and help the players deal with this emotional roller coaster. There was not.
Scurry’s World Cup greatness
Ys she was a great keeper but her time has passed. That is what happens in athletics. And one thing that really bugs me about all this is that this was Hope Solo’s chance to show she was in the same category as Brianna Scurry was - well she doesn’t have that same opportunity now to earn her star. And one thing that I didn't realize about Scurry until Heather Mitts said it pregame was that Scurry's kicks were a concern because Hope can kick to half field whereas Scurry's land in the attacking section of the neutral third for Brazil. So explain to me how her cat like reflexes help us when she can't get the ball 15 more yards up the field against a team like Brazil who can run and dribble like the wind????? I still don’t understand. And because of this - Abby Wambach never got ahold of the ball.
Show Some Passion - The overall play on the field
I guess when I look at all of this there is one thing that still pops out in my head as being a former player I have dealt with this situation. Even if you don’t like the coach or think they are inept - as a player, you have a responsibility to go and and perform to your highest level possible. I felt like the onus is still on the players of the US squad to do that - and they failed in my opinion. I don’t feel that Ryan in his most poor moments should have been able to castrate the play of the women - so I feel like a good chunk of this is on them. They have been playing the better part of 20 years in this sport - they should know how to get it done.
My US World Cup Player of the Tournament
The US player of the tournament for me was Lori Chalupny. She was the central midfielder and she was all over the place getting involved and disrupting as much as she could. She was steady, consistent, worked hard and was a solid presence for us. Her touch and passing was good and she scored when the US needed her to do so. I look forward to seeing her more on the field. Unfortunately - not much has been said or highlighted about her by anyone this tournament which I think is a shame. She was one of the few bright stars on this team that played well.
Sunil Galti - I hope you get your head out of your ass and fix this - because if you want to help a women’s league thrive here in another year - you sure have your work cut out for you by what the world has seen of the highest level of play our US women have to offer - and that does not bode well for a league that will try to tell everyone there is a great product.
No comments:
Post a Comment