3.8.17
ASN Morning Read: She Believes Ends Badly
The United States women's national team finishes last at its most important tournament of the year; the U.S. men's head coach talks about unity and the Gold Cup; player surveys.
- The Americans fell to France, 3-0. Whoops.
- Two tweets to sum up the performance:
GUYS. #USAvFRA pic.twitter.com/PqiMlutOn0
— thrace (@thrace) March 8, 2017The losses to England and France mark the first time the #USWNT has EVER been shut out in consecutive home games.
— Paul Carr (@PCarrESPN) March 8, 2017 - If it's words you're after, these are some wise ones: "The U.S. won all of their fall matches because they were playing against teams that were always going to be hard pressed to keep up. But those six matches should have been enough for the new world order to look a whole lot better than it did at SheBelieves. The team scored one goal in three matches and it wasn’t exactly the result of a beautiful buildup but rather a glorious, individual effort and a shot off the crossbar that pulled the German keeper and defense out of position. They all count of course, but goals like that won’t come often against the top teams in the world. And then on Tuesday, after a few dodgy moments on the weekend against England, the defense was soundly beat on a number of occasions. Yes, it is fair to wonder at this point where exactly this team is going with its current formation and tactics. And it is fair to wonder if Ellis is trying to squeeze players into the formation of her choosing instead of bringing in the best players and letting their respective strengths and weaknesses determine how the team looks."
- This survey of 140 anonymous MLS players is fascinating (although the line graphs are confusing).
- Arena, on divisions in the U.S. squad: "All I know is they have a U.S. passport."
- Seems like a pretty easy group:
#USMNT’s Gold Cup group: Panama, Martinique and the winner of a Haiti-Nicaragua playoff
— Planet Fútbol (@si_soccer) March 7, 2017 - Arena, on the group: "In all honesty, I know very little about Martinique and very little about Haiti or Nicaragua, so we’ll have to do a little work and get caught up to speed with those countries. These days in CONCACAF all the matches are difficult, so it’s going to be challenging. We’re playing one of the strongest teams in the tournament in the first match, so that’s going to be important."
