Vigilantes figure it out, too but that's not what I want out of soccer. Women have boxing and MMA now. No need to have it in the game of soccer. IMO, Women's soccer needs a "revolution" like basketball had to distance itself from the Detroit Pistons of Mahorn and Laimbeer and hockey had to distance itself from Roller Derby without the acting and again when they actually started calling penalties when players didn't "play the puck". Run up behind someone receiving the ball and bang them from behind, you get a yellow. Grab someone's arm, shoulder, or jersey that got past you with the ball, you get a yellow. The men's game would also be better off doing the same but I don't see it ever happening.
Soccer is a physical game, you either learn how to deal with or make comparison to 80s pro basketball teams.
You can encounter situations with big players, more aggressive ones, nasty players, etc doesn't matter what size you are just need to learn how to play vs all types. Have a good first touch, dribbling and passing abilities, good balance, mental strength, etc.
USA MNT play vs rough or physical teams in concacf all the time. Some of the players when they first get on those teams and not used to the hard nose over-aggressive style of opponents and they don't play well at first.
Have to recognize some teams will foul more than others, referees can miss calls and you can't change that no matter how much you want to take the physicality out of the game.
What you can do is focus on what you can control such as your performance and how you might react to fouls or non calls. The key is to focus on your strengths and not retaliate. When you maintain your compsure, you can frustrate your opponent and gain an advantage.
It's easy to lose your focus when playing against a team that will foul, hold, trip, push during games. When you focus on the so-called "dirty" plays, the rough team, the non-calls, etc you are just taking the focus on playing the game and become more focused on what the other team is doing instead.
Losing you focus normally means you lose sight of the opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net, move the ball up, create opportunities for passes, etc players can be less aggressive going for the ball to avoid contract, 2nd guessing. You can make more mistakes when you're focused on the physicality of your opponents.
Pulisic is a good example of a smaller player with good mental strength. He's fouled a lot, teams try to frustrating and knock him off his game. Instead of retaliating what does he do? he scores goals he creates chances, he stays focused, he executes his game plan he trusts his ability.
We need more pulisic type players and to teach those players to maintain focus and deal with all types of opponents. Rough ones are not going away anytime soon so deal with them and get on with it.
