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CONCACAF WCQ -Texas Tournament - Oct 4th-17th


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The big question for Schmidt is that she probably didn't get challenged in the past 6 months being unattached. Before NWSL, being unattached wasn't a problem since most of the squad was, so you didn't see that the unattached player was really that bad. Now, you just see how big of a deal it does to a player like Schmidt.

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1 hour ago, Blackdude said:

The big question for Schmidt is that she probably didn't get challenged in the past 6 months being unattached. Before NWSL, being unattached wasn't a problem since most of the squad was, so you didn't see that the unattached player was really that bad. Now, you just see how big of a deal it does to a player like Schmidt.

Is she still unattached? What is stopping her from signing in NWSL or Europe? 

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Didn't she get married recently? 

It's kind of a quiet year. With 3.5 spots we were high 90s percentile through.

Next year will be a performance year when having your game dialed in will be critical for everyone.

She's been a soldier for a long time. If she wanted to take a break from the pedal to the metal cycle, it would be a good year to do it.

 

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For the players and their performances, we've played some good and some bad soccer.  But it's kind of hard to get a gauge because playing top 10 teams is night and day different from #35-75.  Especially playing #1.

There are players who's game can excel against teams in the low range but struggle against A grade opponents. And players who don't really stand out against B/C teams but play their best against higher quality.

For example the defensive marking of a lot of the teams we've seen is loose and the gaps are all over the place. An attacker with that kind of room to work will look a lot better than against top teams where you'll be lucky to have 30 seconds unmarked and the quality of that defender marking you is much higher.

It should be a fantastic final, the result is a great unknown and I think less important than who can rise up to the challenge and be a positive force on the field. If you look good in the final, that speaks pretty loud and clear.

The American lineup against Jamaica was kind of interesting. Pretty experienced back line - O'Hara, Sauerbrunn, Dunn, Dahlkemper. Very experienced front line in Morgan, Heath and Rapinoe. The more interesting part is the middle - Lavelle, Ertz and Horan. Rose Lavelle is 23, Lindsay Horan is 24 and Julie Ertz is 26. They also started the same midfield against Mexico.

We float a number of players through the middle but most are on the lower end age-wise (Grosso 18, Fleming 20) or older (Matheson 34, Schmidt 35). Whatever Heiner-Møller deploys it should be an interesting matchup.

Our form isn't triple A right now but I imagine the Americans isn't either. So lots of random and the result could be all over the place. But again regardless I'll be happy if we can see a couple players step up and make a name for themselves and give us a thrill.

 

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The Panama/Jamaica tilt for the third World Cup ticket versus the playoff could be a real thriller with so much on the line. It's Wednesday at 5:00pm Eastern / 2:00 Pacific.

The Canada/USA heavyweight final is a couple hours after at 8:00pm Eastern / 5:00pm Pacific.

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6 hours ago, Vic said:

 

We float a number of players through the middle but most are on the lower end age-wise (Grosso 18, Fleming 20) or older (Matheson 34, Schmidt 35). Whatever Heiner-Møller deploys it should be an interesting matchup.

Our form isn't triple A right now but I imagine the Americans isn't either. So lots of random and the result could be all over the place. But again regardless I'll be happy if we can see a couple players step up and make a name for themselves and give us a thrill.

 

It will be interesting to see what the Canada starting line up will be considering they've already punched their World Cup ticket. I have to think he plays his best 11 and try for the win, or do you give the youngsters some more playing time to get experience?

 

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As starters, Matheson & Schmidt are past their due date. They're pace is too slow, not athletic enough and are not goal scorers. Fleming provides what Matheson used to provide and Scott is the preferred DM over Schmidt when healthy. Playing Sincy with Matheson & Schmidt just makes Canada an unathletic slow team. Matheson & Schmidt are now good for coming off the bench, for senior leadership and intangibles. 

Jury is still out on Prince & Leon against top 10 teams. Prince has started to show she can deliver as well against real competition. Would like to see how Leon fares against the US. Otherwise, if Leon can't step up, it is time to advance Huitema while Leon becomes the late 2nd half super sub.

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19 hours ago, Jith12 said:

Is she still unattached? What is stopping her from signing in NWSL or Europe? 

Yes she is. I think it's about her husband. He couldn't work in Europe. I'm guessing she'll be in NWSL next year. Don't think her husband would have problems working in the US.

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18 hours ago, BreadBoy said:

It will be interesting to see what the Canada starting line up will be considering they've already punched their World Cup ticket. I have to think he plays his best 11 and try for the win, or do you give the youngsters some more playing time to get experience?

 

Around peak performance cycles we usually friendly them a couple times a year where it's easier to experiment and tinker with the recipe. 

After 27 games without a win I'm sure the temptation is there to accept the likelihood and plan accordingly, but in a final with hardware and a podium on the line you usually load for bear out of respect for the sport and the spirit of competition. 

And that's kind of the exciting thing about it from both teams, to see what fully loaded means in terms of the deployment of players and tactics.

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OK here are my starting 11:

Sinclair, Beckie, Prince

Fleming, Grosso, Schmidt

Quinn, Lawrence, Chapman, Buchanan

Labbe

 

Harder to do pick than I thought. I think Zadorsky has played almost every minute so far, Matheson always deliver clutch performances, and Leon has looked very good. It will be interesting to see what somebody who actually knows something about soccer chooses :)

 

 

edit to add Labbe to make it 11 players

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Leon could win Golden Boot as she leads with 6 goals and in both tie breaker categories with 2 assists and the least minutes played over Morgan who also has scored 6. As a player who had to ride the bench this year in the NWSL it would be great if she would get it. 

 

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7 minutes ago, nstarsfan said:

You were right but I think I like my option better. 

IMO, Quinn really knows the middle of the field best and Lawrence has looked great on the outside. I really like Lawrence making the runs and overlaps, not sure if she can / permission to do that against the US.

  

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14 minutes ago, rkomar said:

Morgan looked offside on her goal.  It didn't affect the outcome of the game, but it sucks that she won the golden boot with that goal.

You wouldn't even need VAR to see that she was offside on that last goal. Hard to believe that there is even discussion about VAR for the WC next year and how FIFA want "to grow the game"

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An expected result albeit much closer than anticipated.  It was really 1-0 as the 2nd goal for the U.S. was clearly offside, no discussion.  Who was the AR on that side?  We were too slow and too many giveaways.  Did we have any shots on target?  Don't understand why we keep using Labbé, a second rate keeper.  Today she was still half asleep on the first goal, her face showed it from the start.

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