U 20 Women's World Cup

Bayernfan said:
After reading the article, I went back and watched the US Mexico game. I though Mexico was the better side, but the US had a couple of players with some flair (Pugh and Sanchez). Other than that I did not see alot of skill, or tactical awareness. Does not bode well fro the future NT. One difference, almost all of the French and German players play in professional leagues, PSG, O. Lyon, Wolfsburg, Bayern, etc. while the US players are ether playing for some club team, or a college team. Neither one of which comes close to duplicating the experience of playing full time under top notch professional coaching.

Both Germany and France a a professional development system, for both men and women, that has consistent philosophy . Nothing of the kind here, with clubs by and large being more concerned with wins and losses than development, and colleges limited by NCAA rules. So while French's "system" of play is really just long ball, 'm not sure you can teach players the nuances of the game, after years of poor coaching.

Lastly, when I first started watching women's soccer, we used to cream Mexico. I wonder how come the Mexican team can play much better soccer, with so many players US based?
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You already know the answer. It isn't that we don't have the talent pool or the technical players. It is a matter of choosing the right players and implementing a system. With attacking players like Pugh, Sanchez and Watt we don't have many excuses. The weakness that I saw was in the midfield and on defense and of course tactics. Not to mention the team was exhausted after trying to press North Korea for the first 25 minutes. That may work in college with unlimited substitutions and multiple reentry, but with 3 subs that just doesn't work well.
 
MakeAPlay said:
You already know the answer. It isn't that we don't have the talent pool or the technical players. It is a matter of choosing the right players and implementing a system. With attacking players like Pugh, Sanchez and Watt we don't have many excuses. The weakness that I saw was in the midfield and on defense and of course tactics. Not to mention the team was exhausted after trying to press North Korea for the first 25 minutes. That may work in college with unlimited substitutions and multiple reentry, but with 3 subs that just doesn't work well.
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Good points...Stayed up late, and of course was disappointed with the US team in so many ways: Pugh holds onto the ball way too long-she's a selfish player, her passing when she actually does, is inaccurate.; Korea was so much more of a team, and team play-not a bunch of individuals; I question the player selection ie. had a defender who plays forward in college-quite obvious she didnt understand the position properly, and got burned several times. Kickball USA....
 
I don't understand why they pick forwards to play defense. In general forwards have better ball control than defenders, but it is a rare forward that can defend 1v1 the way a dedicated defender can. Some defenders just have a knack for being in the way (half of playing defense is just getting in the way) and sticking their foot in at just the right time.
 
outside! said:
I don't understand why they pick forwards to play defense. In general forwards have better ball control than defenders, but it is a rare forward that can defend 1v1 the way a dedicated defender can. Some defenders just have a knack for being in the way (half of playing defense is just getting in the way) and sticking their foot in at just the right time.
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It might make sense if they actually possessed the ball. It's kind of like when they switch a receiver to defensive back in football. It rarely works out. They started 5 defenders in the game and 2 play forward in college. Not to mention Fox will be a forward in college and she played wing and wide back. Confusing player selection to say the least but you get what you get when you mandate they skip college. With tuition fees, books, room and board at an elite private school (Stanford, Duke, Notre Dame to name a few) running upwards of $70k a year even if the player gets a 75% scholarship that means another year of paying $18k as a family. I'm sorry but US soccer isn't paying any of those families' bills so that is going to cull your player pool just from a financial perspective. If US soccer offered to pay for the missing year of college 100% they might have gotten more of the right players.
 
outside! said:
I don't understand why they pick forwards to play defense. In general forwards have better ball control than defenders, but it is a rare forward that can defend 1v1 the way a dedicated defender can. Some defenders just have a knack for being in the way (half of playing defense is just getting in the way) and sticking their foot in at just the right time.
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Not sure what those 2 usually play in college, but it was rather comical when the center back and outside back collided and knocked each other over inside the box which allowed Korea space and time to get a shot off.
 
Can't say I'm at all surprised. The US has scraped through every stage of this competition. This should be a good lesson for all those who convince themselves that if the best male athletes played soccer, we'd rule the World. Our athletes are phenomenal, top notch but our ability to teach and play the game are not!
Look at all the other emerging nations who are moving to the forefront of the Women's game. They're not playing route one, over the top, direct soccer. They're possessing the ball, they're looking to create, looking to support the player on the ball. Yes we should maximize our athletic prowess, but come on, these kids are capable of playing a much higher level of game. The first game against France was a clear indication that this coach was out of her depth. 4-4-2 and trying to catch France with a long ball over the back line? Give me a break. I know it works at U13 in the SCDSL, but come on, why are we selling these kids short. Lets stop with the amateur hour, hiring of buddies and cronies in the National Team Coaching pool and lets get some quality coaches in place who implement a game that will serve our children for the next 20 years. The USSDA wants clubs to play possession football, but we allow that type of game plan at the National team level? What's the message there? This team had zero chance of success under that coach and process. Nothing personal, I'm sure she's a competent coach at a youth club level and a nice lady, but that group was poorly coached, mismanaged and a sad reflection of where we are allowing the game to go at this moment in time. Come USSF you can do MUCH better.
 
I didn't watch, but it sounds like what we see at the youth level. A team will play possession soccer when they know they are the superior team. But when they get to the finals of a tournament, the coaches freak out and play boom ball.
 
timbuck said:
I didn't watch, but it sounds like what we see at the youth level. A team will play possession soccer when they know they are the superior team. But when they get to the finals of a tournament, the coaches freak out and play boom ball.
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They had no buildup from the back, no movement off the ball to receive a pass, just toot it and boot it. PATHETIC
 
A couple of comments regarding the US team play at the FIFA U-20 WC
1. I was extremely proud of our players. They played with heart, determination and passion. If you see Sanchez's run in overtime to win back the ball, you know that every player gave it all they had. Kudos to them, for going so far on so little.
2. They deserved better! SO much better!. But we failed them, not the other way around.
3. US soccer failed them, by abdicating their role in player development to the clubs and colleges. This is just so pathetic, I don't even know were to start, but probably Steve Sampson, who dismantled what little youth development there was and turned it over to the clubs. The Fact that nothing has changed in the 20 years since is falls on Sunnil....both the men's and women's programs are a shambles..
4. College failed them. College is for players who want to be something other than professional footballers( 99.999 percent of the population). When I watch the college game I'm always amazed at the total lack of progress. It's the same kick the crap out of the ball and out physical the other team. Unlimited subs (basically) screw it up even more. Sub par coaching combined with very limited practice and no real coaching philosophy. You reap what you sow.
5. Clubs failed them. I do see some clubs try and change the dynamic. But the majority of the big clubs exist solely to pay the Directors huge paychecks. No one seriously cares about development, when you can recruit superior athletes, and win in the short run. There are some clubs trying to break that model, but are regularly poached by the big, win at all costs teams.
So I feel like the system betrayed these young women. They brought all the attributes you need to succeed, but were given lip service by the clubs, the colleges, and most disgustingly of all US soccer. Shame on us.
 
Pretty much have to agree with everyone else here. Wasn't a big fan of the keeper, she just didn't seem that mobile, team should include her more in the offense, but maybe she isn't capable of this. Sanchez and Pugh had to help the defense and midfielders way too much, taking them away from any counter attacks. The coach should have found a spot for Watt for the whole game, not just the last 30 minutes. Girls weren't moving without the ball, bad first touches, waiting too long to make a pass. Midfielders were always taking to long to join in attacks. Expected more. The France Germany game was amazing. Looking forward to watching the rest of this tourney.
 
Anyone see the France girl go down after being head butted from behind as they went up for a header? She tried to play after sitting out about 5 minutes, then had to leave and was sitting on sideline, then was taken away on a stretcher at the start of OT. Such a dangerous play and nothing was called.
 
socalkdg said:
Anyone see the France girl go down after being head butted from behind as they went up for a header? She tried to play after sitting out about 5 minutes, then had to leave and was sitting on sideline, then was taken away on a stretcher at the start of OT. Such a dangerous play and nothing was called.
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That was arguably a straight red, she threw the knee in there as well. Not even a yellow was criminal.
 
It is possible that the ref did not see the severity of the contact during the game. A program of reviewing the video and being able to give out red cards after the game would help.
 
I'm watching the USA v. Japan game, it's half-time now. It's embarrassing just how bad we're getting dominated. Japan is literally maintaining possession in our defensive third. Their technical ability is on a completely different level and they're simply toying with us. If Japan actually knew how to shoot the game would be 5-0 right now. Possession is 65-35 and they've out-shot us 15-0...in the first half.

After watching the first 45 minutes of this game, I pretty much have to agree with everyone in this thread. It's not just this U-20 women's team, our entire national team program is in shambles. Both the women's U-17 and the women's team have looked under-whelming in recent tournaments where they struggled to hold possession. Our men's U-17 , U-20, and U-23 (which couldn't qualify for the Olympics) have all looked under-whelming. And we don't even need to mention the men's Senior team which got out-shot by a bunch of CONCACAF minnows in last year's Gold Cup and are down 0-2 in WC qualifying. And it's not just the results, the common theme among all these teams men and women is that we can't maintain possession against decent opposition. Our players have the tactical awareness and composure of a u12 team.

While I'm glad that we've established the USSDA system, at the moment though it has to be considered an out-right failure so far. The DA system on the boys side has been around for 7-8 years, which is long enough to have had players go through the full cycle. Yet we have almost nothing to show for it. No perennial or world class players have come out of the DA system and USNTs still have no real cohesion. All our youth players who do have potential like Christian Pulisic spent less than a year in our DA system and saw vast improvements once they trained overseas.

I actually was in favor of the DA program coming to the women's side. But as others have said, after watching the U-20 World Cup, the youth national team program needs serious reform as well otherwise they're just going to be spinning their wheels like the men's program. The era of acquiring big athletic girls for kick and hoof is over. If we don't modernize our women's game soon we will be marginalized for generations. Just because we essentially invented women's soccer doesn't entitle us to always be at the forefront. Just ask England...
 
Worst part is that the US still has a punchers chance and if they win that might be even worse as they may think nothing is wrong.
 
Justafan said:
Worst part is that the US still has a punchers chance and if they win that might be even worse as they may think nothing is wrong.
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That one way show is finally over---- 30 to 1 in shots and complete domination. Japan is so more advanced. USA is too concerned with size and strength of players and should be skill and speed!!!!!!
 
mo fields said:
That one way show is finally over---- 30 to 1 in shots and complete domination. Japan is so more advanced. USA is too concerned with size and strength of players and should be skill and speed!!!!!!
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So After reading this thread About our best not cutting it internationally. I had to watch what the hoo-haa was all about.....OMG, it's all true. Our 20's vs Japan felt like I was watching an antiquated, bayonette carrying, In-line firing civil war era squad trying to fight against an 11-woman samurai-ninja ambush. Japan was sooo ....precise ,clean, dementional, dynamic and united. We...well, were NOT.

If that is what our "best" has to offer, we are undoubtedly not progressing at the same rate the rest of the world is.

The real question I have is, how the hell do the powers that be not see or immediately do something about it?
 
Zerodenero said:
So After reading this thread About our best not cutting it internationally. I had to watch what the hoo-haa was all about.....OMG, it's all true. Our 20's vs Japan felt like I was watching an antiquated, bayonette carrying, In-line firing civil war era squad trying to fight against an 11-woman samurai-ninja ambush. Japan was sooo ....precise ,clean, dementional, dynamic and united. We...well, were NOT.

If that is what our "best" has to offer, we are undoubtedly not progressing at the same rate the rest of the world is.

The real question I have is, how the hell do the powers that be not see or immediately do something about it?
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We played defense the whole game. We had 3 total shots and zero on goal. We didn't even have a legitimate chance to score. With the two players up top that we had that is a serious concern. Maybe Pugh and Sanchez should have been in the midfield. They were the only ones that could hold possession against Japan. How do we get outshot 29-3?
 
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