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I don't want to merely win championships, I want to make a mark. Be remarkable. We will remember the drama of Abby vs Brasil, or Hope getting that one. But will we make a mark? Can't say I remember a single specific play from Spain's WC run. I do remember that I have never seen the game played so well in all my life.






Drama and heroics make individual moments memorable, and we often forget why the heroics were necessary in the first place...to paraphrase Sun Tsu in The Art of War, the best generals don't gain fame and reputation for their heroics, because when you do everything right, it looks from the outside like you're not doing anything that hard at all. Thus, in Spain's victory, a beautifully orchestrated system of play, but without the heroically memorable moments.

The master also said:

"The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined
energy, and does not require too much from individuals.
Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize
combined energy."


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good analogy & explains alot.

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If Spain didn't score a lot of goals its because teams refused to play with them. The Spanish midfield is the finest I have ever seen. To their credit....Germany did try and they were thoroughly dominated.

But the women.....

I don't disagree with you that they are playing they way they need to play. But there's the indictment on development!!! We had no one the equal of Louissa in terms of technical ability and creativity.

I disagree that the French team had more talent. The US women have been the perceived big dogs for years. Clearly one of the top 3 teams in the world for years.

We won the game...but not one who watched it could say we weren't outplayed.


Germany was killing people on the counter attack the entire tournament, but one of the biggest pieces of their counter (Muller) wasn't able to play. If he did, it would have completely changed the game. His replacement was awful, and Muller was having an outstanding tournament. Also was ironic Germany got beat off a set piece header when that is Spain's biggest weakness and generally one of Germany's strengths.

I don't necessarily think development is the main blame. It seems to be the biggest complaint on here though because everyone wants to see "attractive" soccer when so few teams play it. You can't really teach creativity. That is something you are born with imo. Completely agree that Louisa Necib is a fantastic player. And I think she'd be fantastic whether she was born in France, USA, England, Japan, Ghana, wherever. Her vision and intelligence is amazing, and again I don't think coaching did that for her. It helped with her technical skills, but I've seen a lot of extremely talented technical players who aren't good soccer players. In order to be elite, you need the technical skills (coaching/development) and the creativity/vision/intelligence (more natural imo but some people think coaching gets you this). So even if we had a great development system, we aren't going to be turning out Nacib type players unless we are fortunate to have someone that talented born here. No one but Brazil had someone on par with Nacib in terms of technical ability and creativity.

Even Ajax has taken some heat recently for turning out nothing but defenders recently (Vermaelen, van der Wiel, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, etc). All very good players which is a testament to Ajax, but they are taking criticism for not developing more attackers and creative mids. So even in a proven system, arguably the best development system in the world, they are having problems developing top creative players. But again I'd argue it's not Ajax fault (they have proven they can develop those type of players), more the fact that someone with Wesley Sneijder type creativity and intelligence hasn't been there recently.

France has more talent. The fact that you are saying how much better they are technically kind of shows that. Just because we are the perceived big dogs doesn't mean we are more talented. France had better players on the ball. More comfortable with it, better vision, etc. 10 of their players were on the team that won the women's Champions League. It would have been 11 but they cut the GK due to chemistry reasons, which I'm sure they are regretting with how bad the GK played. Their fullbacks were great, the only ones I've seen make threatening runs the entire game. All the announcers kept talking about was how France is going to be a force to be reckoned with from now on due to their skill and age.

We were outplayed, but not nearly as bad as anyone is saying. When I watch a game, I look at who creates the most legitimate scoring chances. France, for as much as they dominated possession, didn't create that many that scared me. Most of their shots were from outside the box, and that's not scary with Solo in goal. They hit the crossbar, but so did we. Their goal wasn't even a shot, it was a lucky cross that went in. They could have very easily been shut out. Even though we were outplayed, we still created scoring chances which is what matters, not how long you have the ball.

I see nothing wrong with how we have played style wise so far. Smart, organized, high effort, well conditioned, physical, competitive, etc. Those are all good things and shows we are well coached. Sure you'd like a little more flair, but I'd rather have players with the qualities above than someone with a ton of technical ability due to good development but no soccer IQ. For instance, Joe Cole (who was blasted by Mourinho for being great technically but not knowing how to play soccer). And Mourinho is fine playing boring, effective soccer which is how we can be described in the tournament.

What's been obvious this tournament is we have the best player in the world on our team, and she's been the difference. If you put Solo on France, they advance. In the very next semi final game, Sweden's GK makes two terrible mistakes which lead to goals. Solo is the only competent GK I've seen all tournament.

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Very good post!!!

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here ya go, what we're all talking about.
http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/women...long-run-071511
It has been a rather calamitous summer for United States soccer. First, the American men get schooled by Mexico in the Gold Cup final at a teeming Rose Bowl, a performance that underscored the talent gap – chasm is more like it – between the two rivals.

Then, in the U-17 World Cup – the one eventually won by home-standing Mexico – the Americans were embarrassed by Germany in the knockout phase, losing by four goals. As for the U-20 World Cup, which begins later this month? The United States failed to qualify.

And yet, the worst news for American soccer this summer could come Sunday – if the United States wins the Women’s World Cup.

There has been much to admire about the United States’ run to the final in Frankfurt, where they will play upstart Japan.

The good old romantic American character traits of grit, hustle and determination have lifted them past Brazil in the quarterfinals and France in the semifinals, both in dramatic fashion. (Their effort, it should be noted, has also supplied the same sort of easily packaged storyline – heavy on the schmaltz – as the pig-tailed All-American “girls” in the 1999 World Cup.)

The problem is the big picture.

If the United States wins, it will validate an increasingly outdated style of play: one that values speed and strength over skill and imagination. And that would be awful for American soccer.

Remaining married to those qualities – from the youth levels on up – is going to continue the United States women’s steady backsliding over the last decade. Soon, they will be in the same position the men find themselves – hopelessly overmatched against the world’s elite.

It is already happening.

Watching France and Brazil elegantly and consistently move the ball in and out of tight spaces against the United States with great skill and vision it was hard not to think: geez, was it only a generation ago that the Americans, with unmatched power and pace, ran roughshod over all but a few nations (China and Norway)?


HISTORY: USA
Despite coming home empty-handed two times in a row, failing to finish lower than third in any World Cup gives the United States an unmatched record of success in the game's marquee competition.
YEAR HOST FINISH
1991 China 1st
1995 Sweden 3rd
1999 USA 1st
2003 USA 3rd
2007 China 3rd
2011 Germany

What has been on display in Germany does not appear to be a fluke. The United States women were beaten last year by Mexico for the first time ever, and nearly failed to qualify for the World Cup. Last summer, the United States was eliminated from the U-20 World Cup in the quarterfinals – its earliest exit ever – while the U-17 team failed to qualify.

Then consider the five goals the United States has scored in the last two games: a corner kick, two crosses, a breakaway and an own goal. The only bit of imagination came from Carli Lloyd, whose clever back heel freed Heather O’Reilly down the left flank. Her cross was deftly redirected into the net by Lauren Cheney giving the United States an early 1-0 lead against France.

The Americans then went an hour before they put another shot on goal.

The two supposed next-big-things, Amy Rodriguez and Alex Morgan, have looked overmatched in this tournament, particularly Rodriguez, who appears to have no answers on how to beat a defender other than sprint past them.

This is not a condemnation of this United States players or coach Pia Sundhage, whose temperament is a perfect fit, but of the system and a culture that gave birth to it. The first time most of the players kicked a ball, it was probably in front of parents who cheered when little Johnny or Jane booted the ball far down the field.

Youth coaches pick the fastest and strongest players because they’re the ones that will help them win tournaments. (It’s easy to imagine Lil’ Messi or Xavi being left on the sidelines as kids.)

And, too often, developing the problem solving that is required at the world-class level is a casualty of trying to win. (Example: kicking the ball out of bounds under pressure robs players of the trial and error of figuring away out of their predicament.)

While it is simple to shrug, say so what and point to the scoreboard, look at what is happening in men’s soccer.


WOMEN'S WORLD CUP
ALL-TIME LEADING SCORERS Abby Wambach's goals in the 2011 Women's World Cup have moved her within two of the all-time record, a mark destined to fall to Marta.
PLAYER COUNTRY GOALS
Birgit Prinz Germany 14
Marta Brazil 14
Michelle Akers USA 12
Abby Wambach USA 12
Sun Wen China 11
Bettina Wiegmann Germany 11

What Barcelona and Spain have done is prove that creative, attacking soccer and winning do not have to be mutually exclusive. And Germany has transformed itself from a pragmatic, build-from-the-back outfit to one that attacks with exciting young stars like Memut Ozil and Thomas Muller – all while winning. In the last five years, Germany has reached the World Cup semifinals twice and the European Cup final once.

So, back to the women. As Brazil and France – among others – are able to match the United States’ organization, fitness training, strong goalkeeping and attention to detail on defense, it appears only a matter of time before the Americans are looking up at them.

It is something to consider Sunday when the Americans, trying to get by again on steely determination and the hard head of Wambach, are again chasing the ball against artful Japan.

A victory for the United States might be reason to cheer, but if there was a real commitment in this country to playing the beautiful game – instead of the brute-ful game – that would be a real reason to celebrate.

Last edited by sandman; 07/16/11 12:00 AM.
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Not finishing.....but we're playing our best soccer of the WC. Wambach combining nicely. I like Rapinoe a lot. Playing great high pressure defense.

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Goooaaaaall!! Great possession! Where has this team been?

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it was our best performance, we lost it in the 1st half by not finishing. congrats to japan who really needed a good ending & congrats to the american girls for all the class shown in post game interiews.

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Definitely the best overall team performance of the tournament...ironic that it ended in a loss, but overall a much better game of soccer than we've seen in a while! Can't begrudge the Cinderella win to Japan, who said more than once they were playing to give their hard-struck country something to believe in and be proud of.


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Let's forget the motivation and look at the reality. Japan defeated home-standing Germany, Sweden and USA, back-to-back-to-back, in the knockout stage. They were the team of the tournament, not because of the back-story, but because they played the most attractive style ... AND WON!!!
Once the game went to PKs, I felt strongly that Japan would win, DESPITE the presence of the world's No. 1 keeper (and drama queen) Solo. Why? Because while they could have trotted out a dozen technically proficient shooters, we put up Boxx (who made 1 of 2 vs. Brazil); Lloyd (who had airmailed almost every shot she took during the run of play); Tobin Heath (really????); and FINALLY, AT LONG LAST, WHEN IT WAS TOO LATE, Wambach.
Our women played very well, with tremendous heart. You can argue they should have been up 2-0 and cruising by halftime. It was a heart-breaker, no doubt. But at the same time, we must come to grips with the reality that the rest of the world is catching up. Professional leagues in Europe are getting much better. More nations are "in it to win it." And we haven't really begun to scratch the surface of talent in Africa and Asia.

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