[BostonCard]

It's the world cup Olympic curse.  I believe no women's world cup champion has ever won the Olympic soccer gold the next year (or two years later in the case of Tokyo 2020).

BC

[BostonCard]

It's the world cup Olympic curse.  I believe no women's world cup champion has ever won the Olympic soccer gold the next year (or two years later in the case of Tokyo 2020).

BC

[dabigv13]

The USA - Italy WVB match last night was awesome, and just group play! Akinradewo played well. Paola Egonu was a beast for Italy, though accuracy a bit off. Going to try and make time to catch more of WVB matches, just remarkable athleticism on display.

[dabigv13]

The USA - Italy WVB match last night was awesome, and just group play! Akinradewo played well. Paola Egonu was a beast for Italy, though accuracy a bit off. Going to try and make time to catch more of WVB matches, just remarkable athleticism on display.

[DC 86]

The USA - Italy WVB match last night was awesome, and just group play! Akinradewo played well. Paola Egonu was a beast for Italy, though accuracy a bit off. Going to try and make time to catch more of WVB matches, just remarkable athleticism on display.

The match was fantastic and the US showed a lot of heart to come back and win, especially after the overturn of the overturn which was so demoralizing. Well worth watching Olympic WVB.

---

Good analysis of the US women's soccer match against Canada.  I believe that is three out of five matches in the Olympics the USA team did not score a goal.   My uneducated 2 cents:  Either the wrong offense is being used for this team's personnel or the USA simply isn't as good as advertised prior to the Olympics.

I mean, we're the top-ranked team in the world, we just won the World Cup in 2019, and we entered the Olympics on a 40-some game unbeaten streak (against some great teams, too). In the Olympic qualifying final in February 2020, we beat Canada 3-0, and we beat them 1-0 in the SheBelieves Cup earlier this year. We have the best collection of talent of any national team in the world. It's not that we're not as good as advertised. And the results under Vlatko to date suggest that our general tactical approach has been working. 

But obviously I can't say it worked here. Something was just plain off this tournament, and it's not something that really emerged in 2020 or 2021 in the runup to the Olympics. We looked dominant in every game coming in except for a 1-1 draw with Sweden in Stockholm in April (which, I dunno, man, sometimes when you play a top 5 team in the world on the road, you do well to get a draw). 

Maybe that's the main thing--we'd been too successful, and just like the NCAA basketball tournament, you want to take a loss at some point so your team experiences that feeling and regains the hunger to fix it. We did seem to lack a certain confident hunger, and we also lacked the ability to adjust to unexpected tactics. When Sweden beat us in Rio, we responded by revamping tactics and becoming a much more possession-focused team that would build through the back, rely on our midfielders, and get better chances that way than the old "just bomb it into Abby Wambach and she'll head it in" days. That's what won us the World Cup in 2019, and that's basically who we've been since. Possession has been pretty easy for a few years now. Against Sweden, it was impossible. They were anticipating passes and cutting off lanes, swarming attackers, etc. Standard stuff, but they stuck to it and we just couldn't respond. Then, my goodness, this Canada match. We had a good 10-15 minutes at the start, but after that, it was like our mids forgot how to complete passes and handle the ball. I don't know how a team just sort of collectively forgets the basics, but I'm all ears if someone has an idea. The mentality just wasn't there, and it's hard to pinpoint why. Like we'd just woken up and our body and brain weren't quite on the same page yet. 

Bizarre that it happens with this roster, too, since we basically ran it back with the 2019 version of the team. If anyone was going to be experienced enough to respond on the fly and not be overwhelmed by the moment, it was this group. Anyway, after the Bronze medal match, that likely means the end to competitive matches for the USWNT for Rapinoe, Lloyd, and maybe Sauerbrunn, and I'd expect a lot of new faces coming into the mix before 2023, with that generation of O'Hara/Press/Heath/Morgan potentially starting to see some turnover, too.

It was bizarre to watch the US in this tournament. As you said the team was on a 40 win / 4 draws / 0 losses run including matches against the same teams they faced at the Olympics. And the US players have been playing well at the club level too. I don't think it was a single thing, but one thing that stood out for me was a lack of fitness. I'm used to the US being the fitter team and wreaking havoc with their pressure, but the extremely high humidity in Tokyo seemed to sap their energy quickly. Maybe the age of the squad combined with covid-related interruptions affected the US more than other teams but it seemed like a lot of the listlessness wasn't lack of desire or effort but literally lack of physical energy. It just didn't seem that the group coped with the conditions well at all, which trickled down to what tactics they could employ effectively and to their execution of said tactics.

[DC 86]

The USA - Italy WVB match last night was awesome, and just group play! Akinradewo played well. Paola Egonu was a beast for Italy, though accuracy a bit off. Going to try and make time to catch more of WVB matches, just remarkable athleticism on display.

The match was fantastic and the US showed a lot of heart to come back and win, especially after the overturn of the overturn which was so demoralizing. Well worth watching Olympic WVB.

---

Good analysis of the US women's soccer match against Canada.  I believe that is three out of five matches in the Olympics the USA team did not score a goal.   My uneducated 2 cents:  Either the wrong offense is being used for this team's personnel or the USA simply isn't as good as advertised prior to the Olympics.

I mean, we're the top-ranked team in the world, we just won the World Cup in 2019, and we entered the Olympics on a 40-some game unbeaten streak (against some great teams, too). In the Olympic qualifying final in February 2020, we beat Canada 3-0, and we beat them 1-0 in the SheBelieves Cup earlier this year. We have the best collection of talent of any national team in the world. It's not that we're not as good as advertised. And the results under Vlatko to date suggest that our general tactical approach has been working. 

But obviously I can't say it worked here. Something was just plain off this tournament, and it's not something that really emerged in 2020 or 2021 in the runup to the Olympics. We looked dominant in every game coming in except for a 1-1 draw with Sweden in Stockholm in April (which, I dunno, man, sometimes when you play a top 5 team in the world on the road, you do well to get a draw). 

Maybe that's the main thing--we'd been too successful, and just like the NCAA basketball tournament, you want to take a loss at some point so your team experiences that feeling and regains the hunger to fix it. We did seem to lack a certain confident hunger, and we also lacked the ability to adjust to unexpected tactics. When Sweden beat us in Rio, we responded by revamping tactics and becoming a much more possession-focused team that would build through the back, rely on our midfielders, and get better chances that way than the old "just bomb it into Abby Wambach and she'll head it in" days. That's what won us the World Cup in 2019, and that's basically who we've been since. Possession has been pretty easy for a few years now. Against Sweden, it was impossible. They were anticipating passes and cutting off lanes, swarming attackers, etc. Standard stuff, but they stuck to it and we just couldn't respond. Then, my goodness, this Canada match. We had a good 10-15 minutes at the start, but after that, it was like our mids forgot how to complete passes and handle the ball. I don't know how a team just sort of collectively forgets the basics, but I'm all ears if someone has an idea. The mentality just wasn't there, and it's hard to pinpoint why. Like we'd just woken up and our body and brain weren't quite on the same page yet. 

Bizarre that it happens with this roster, too, since we basically ran it back with the 2019 version of the team. If anyone was going to be experienced enough to respond on the fly and not be overwhelmed by the moment, it was this group. Anyway, after the Bronze medal match, that likely means the end to competitive matches for the USWNT for Rapinoe, Lloyd, and maybe Sauerbrunn, and I'd expect a lot of new faces coming into the mix before 2023, with that generation of O'Hara/Press/Heath/Morgan potentially starting to see some turnover, too.

It was bizarre to watch the US in this tournament. As you said the team was on a 40 win / 4 draws / 0 losses run including matches against the same teams they faced at the Olympics. And the US players have been playing well at the club level too. I don't think it was a single thing, but one thing that stood out for me was a lack of fitness. I'm used to the US being the fitter team and wreaking havoc with their pressure, but the extremely high humidity in Tokyo seemed to sap their energy quickly. Maybe the age of the squad combined with covid-related interruptions affected the US more than other teams but it seemed like a lot of the listlessness wasn't lack of desire or effort but literally lack of physical energy. It just didn't seem that the group coped with the conditions well at all, which trickled down to what tactics they could employ effectively and to their execution of said tactics.

[BostonCard]

Brief bit on Allman.

https://www.axios.com/valarie-allman-dis...arieallman

BC

---

Longer piece on Allma...

https://www.teamusa.org/news/2021/august...p-in-tokyo

BC

[BostonCard]

Brief bit on Allman.

https://www.axios.com/valarie-allman-dis...arieallman

BC

---

Longer piece on Allma...

https://www.teamusa.org/news/2021/august...p-in-tokyo

BC

[old spanish trail]

The USA - Italy WVB match last night was awesome, and just group play! Akinradewo played well. Paola Egonu was a beast for Italy, though accuracy a bit off. Going to try and make time to catch more of WVB matches, just remarkable athleticism on display.

The match was fantastic and the US showed a lot of heart to come back and win, especially after the overturn of the overturn which was so demoralizing. Well worth watching Olympic WVB.

---

Good analysis of the US women's soccer match against Canada.  I believe that is three out of five matches in the Olympics the USA team did not score a goal.   My uneducated 2 cents:  Either the wrong offense is being used for this team's personnel or the USA simply isn't as good as advertised prior to the Olympics.

I mean, we're the top-ranked team in the world, we just won the World Cup in 2019, and we entered the Olympics on a 40-some game unbeaten streak (against some great teams, too). In the Olympic qualifying final in February 2020, we beat Canada 3-0, and we beat them 1-0 in the SheBelieves Cup earlier this year. We have the best collection of talent of any national team in the world. It's not that we're not as good as advertised. And the results under Vlatko to date suggest that our general tactical approach has been working. 

But obviously I can't say it worked here. Something was just plain off this tournament, and it's not something that really emerged in 2020 or 2021 in the runup to the Olympics. We looked dominant in every game coming in except for a 1-1 draw with Sweden in Stockholm in April (which, I dunno, man, sometimes when you play a top 5 team in the world on the road, you do well to get a draw). 

Maybe that's the main thing--we'd been too successful, and just like the NCAA basketball tournament, you want to take a loss at some point so your team experiences that feeling and regains the hunger to fix it. We did seem to lack a certain confident hunger, and we also lacked the ability to adjust to unexpected tactics. When Sweden beat us in Rio, we responded by revamping tactics and becoming a much more possession-focused team that would build through the back, rely on our midfielders, and get better chances that way than the old "just bomb it into Abby Wambach and she'll head it in" days. That's what won us the World Cup in 2019, and that's basically who we've been since. Possession has been pretty easy for a few years now. Against Sweden, it was impossible. They were anticipating passes and cutting off lanes, swarming attackers, etc. Standard stuff, but they stuck to it and we just couldn't respond. Then, my goodness, this Canada match. We had a good 10-15 minutes at the start, but after that, it was like our mids forgot how to complete passes and handle the ball. I don't know how a team just sort of collectively forgets the basics, but I'm all ears if someone has an idea. The mentality just wasn't there, and it's hard to pinpoint why. Like we'd just woken up and our body and brain weren't quite on the same page yet. 

Bizarre that it happens with this roster, too, since we basically ran it back with the 2019 version of the team. If anyone was going to be experienced enough to respond on the fly and not be overwhelmed by the moment, it was this group. Anyway, after the Bronze medal match, that likely means the end to competitive matches for the USWNT for Rapinoe, Lloyd, and maybe Sauerbrunn, and I'd expect a lot of new faces coming into the mix before 2023, with that generation of O'Hara/Press/Heath/Morgan potentially starting to see some turnover, too.

It was bizarre to watch the US in this tournament. As you said the team was on a 40 win / 4 draws / 0 losses run including matches against the same teams they faced at the Olympics. And the US players have been playing well at the club level too. I don't think it was a single thing, but one thing that stood out for me was a lack of fitness. I'm used to the US being the fitter team and wreaking havoc with their pressure, but the extremely high humidity in Tokyo seemed to sap their energy quickly. Maybe the age of the squad combined with covid-related interruptions affected the US more than other teams but it seemed like a lot of the listlessness wasn't lack of desire or effort but literally lack of physical energy. It just didn't seem that the group coped with the conditions well at all, which trickled down to what tactics they could employ effectively and to their execution of said tactics.

I agree with your take DC. They were late to the ball and our better player was often outquicked in contested possessions. Age often takes a hit in very hot conditions.  Knew they wouldn't but but hoped they would put in Macario. She is going to be the face of US soccer. Her footwork is technically amazing, and beautiful as well. In retrospect, she could have helped them today.

[old spanish trail]

The USA - Italy WVB match last night was awesome, and just group play! Akinradewo played well. Paola Egonu was a beast for Italy, though accuracy a bit off. Going to try and make time to catch more of WVB matches, just remarkable athleticism on display.

The match was fantastic and the US showed a lot of heart to come back and win, especially after the overturn of the overturn which was so demoralizing. Well worth watching Olympic WVB.

---

Good analysis of the US women's soccer match against Canada.  I believe that is three out of five matches in the Olympics the USA team did not score a goal.   My uneducated 2 cents:  Either the wrong offense is being used for this team's personnel or the USA simply isn't as good as advertised prior to the Olympics.

I mean, we're the top-ranked team in the world, we just won the World Cup in 2019, and we entered the Olympics on a 40-some game unbeaten streak (against some great teams, too). In the Olympic qualifying final in February 2020, we beat Canada 3-0, and we beat them 1-0 in the SheBelieves Cup earlier this year. We have the best collection of talent of any national team in the world. It's not that we're not as good as advertised. And the results under Vlatko to date suggest that our general tactical approach has been working. 

But obviously I can't say it worked here. Something was just plain off this tournament, and it's not something that really emerged in 2020 or 2021 in the runup to the Olympics. We looked dominant in every game coming in except for a 1-1 draw with Sweden in Stockholm in April (which, I dunno, man, sometimes when you play a top 5 team in the world on the road, you do well to get a draw). 

Maybe that's the main thing--we'd been too successful, and just like the NCAA basketball tournament, you want to take a loss at some point so your team experiences that feeling and regains the hunger to fix it. We did seem to lack a certain confident hunger, and we also lacked the ability to adjust to unexpected tactics. When Sweden beat us in Rio, we responded by revamping tactics and becoming a much more possession-focused team that would build through the back, rely on our midfielders, and get better chances that way than the old "just bomb it into Abby Wambach and she'll head it in" days. That's what won us the World Cup in 2019, and that's basically who we've been since. Possession has been pretty easy for a few years now. Against Sweden, it was impossible. They were anticipating passes and cutting off lanes, swarming attackers, etc. Standard stuff, but they stuck to it and we just couldn't respond. Then, my goodness, this Canada match. We had a good 10-15 minutes at the start, but after that, it was like our mids forgot how to complete passes and handle the ball. I don't know how a team just sort of collectively forgets the basics, but I'm all ears if someone has an idea. The mentality just wasn't there, and it's hard to pinpoint why. Like we'd just woken up and our body and brain weren't quite on the same page yet. 

Bizarre that it happens with this roster, too, since we basically ran it back with the 2019 version of the team. If anyone was going to be experienced enough to respond on the fly and not be overwhelmed by the moment, it was this group. Anyway, after the Bronze medal match, that likely means the end to competitive matches for the USWNT for Rapinoe, Lloyd, and maybe Sauerbrunn, and I'd expect a lot of new faces coming into the mix before 2023, with that generation of O'Hara/Press/Heath/Morgan potentially starting to see some turnover, too.

It was bizarre to watch the US in this tournament. As you said the team was on a 40 win / 4 draws / 0 losses run including matches against the same teams they faced at the Olympics. And the US players have been playing well at the club level too. I don't think it was a single thing, but one thing that stood out for me was a lack of fitness. I'm used to the US being the fitter team and wreaking havoc with their pressure, but the extremely high humidity in Tokyo seemed to sap their energy quickly. Maybe the age of the squad combined with covid-related interruptions affected the US more than other teams but it seemed like a lot of the listlessness wasn't lack of desire or effort but literally lack of physical energy. It just didn't seem that the group coped with the conditions well at all, which trickled down to what tactics they could employ effectively and to their execution of said tactics.

I agree with your take DC. They were late to the ball and our better player was often outquicked in contested possessions. Age often takes a hit in very hot conditions.  Knew they wouldn't but but hoped they would put in Macario. She is going to be the face of US soccer. Her footwork is technically amazing, and beautiful as well. In retrospect, she could have helped them today.

[BostonCard]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/gostanford/status/1422359320964960258?s=21[/tweet]

Klineman/Ross to the semis.

BC

[BostonCard]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/gostanford/status/1422359320964960258?s=21[/tweet]

Klineman/Ross to the semis.

BC

[ColoradoTree]

On fitness, it's probably not surprising that O'Hara, generally seen as the fittest player on the team (she takes it as a point of pride to win every "beep" test) really popped against Canada as being everywhere, while the mids lagged. 

And amen, Macario would've injected some much-needed energy. I understand why Vlatko wanted those three forwards subbed in, and weirdly, it did seem to light a fire under our mids, who started playing better. But I would've had Sam Mewis for Horan as a halftime sub, and I would've had Macario for Lavelle a little later in the game (which was impossible since Macario wasn't in the 18 to begin with), but oh well. Mewis for O'Hara was a sensible choice late in the game to try and control the middle of the midfield more, but it felt like too little, too late. 

Anyway, still Bronze to play for, and hopefully we see a renewed vigor in the team to go out on a high note.

[ColoradoTree]

On fitness, it's probably not surprising that O'Hara, generally seen as the fittest player on the team (she takes it as a point of pride to win every "beep" test) really popped against Canada as being everywhere, while the mids lagged. 

And amen, Macario would've injected some much-needed energy. I understand why Vlatko wanted those three forwards subbed in, and weirdly, it did seem to light a fire under our mids, who started playing better. But I would've had Sam Mewis for Horan as a halftime sub, and I would've had Macario for Lavelle a little later in the game (which was impossible since Macario wasn't in the 18 to begin with), but oh well. Mewis for O'Hara was a sensible choice late in the game to try and control the middle of the midfield more, but it felt like too little, too late. 

Anyway, still Bronze to play for, and hopefully we see a renewed vigor in the team to go out on a high note.

[WBB fan]

Brief bit on Allman.

https://www.axios.com/valarie-allman-dis...arieallman

BC

---

Longer piece on Allma...



https://www.teamusa.org/news/2021/august...p-in-tokyo

BC

Thanks for sharing this, a nice piece. I'm so happy for her. I'd never seen her throw before the Olympic trials in Eugene this June, and when I saw her out on the field, I didn't realize who she was. My first thought, that woman won't do very well, just doesn't have a discus thrower build, which she certainly does not. But then I saw her throw and realized that she has something else, a skill none of her competitors have in the same way -- balance in the ring, control of her movement, the legacy of her time as a dancer. She's just spectacular to watch. Others release the discus and then struggle to retain their balance and not foul. Valarie seems in total control all the way. Makes me wonder if other discus throwers may consider some dance training in the future! It certainly works for Valarie. So . . . , congrats. Hooray for her.

[WBB fan]

Brief bit on Allman.

https://www.axios.com/valarie-allman-dis...arieallman

BC

---

Longer piece on Allma...



https://www.teamusa.org/news/2021/august...p-in-tokyo

BC

Thanks for sharing this, a nice piece. I'm so happy for her. I'd never seen her throw before the Olympic trials in Eugene this June, and when I saw her out on the field, I didn't realize who she was. My first thought, that woman won't do very well, just doesn't have a discus thrower build, which she certainly does not. But then I saw her throw and realized that she has something else, a skill none of her competitors have in the same way -- balance in the ring, control of her movement, the legacy of her time as a dancer. She's just spectacular to watch. Others release the discus and then struggle to retain their balance and not foul. Valarie seems in total control all the way. Makes me wonder if other discus throwers may consider some dance training in the future! It certainly works for Valarie. So . . . , congrats. Hooray for her.

[BostonCard]

Stanford US Women's water polo through to the semi-finals after a 16-5 win over Canada.  Steffens had 3 goals.

https://usawaterpolo.org/news/2021/8/2/w...anada.aspx

BC

[BostonCard]

Stanford US Women's water polo through to the semi-finals after a 16-5 win over Canada.  Steffens had 3 goals.

https://usawaterpolo.org/news/2021/8/2/w...anada.aspx

BC

[Leftcoast]

Re: USWNT Soccer

Bill Walsh used to say it's better to replace your stars one year too early than one year too late.  I'm pretty sure he didn't come up with that (Perhaps Branch Rickey?) but it's a bitter and usually ignored truth.

Hard on the fans though, and these players are well loved.

[Leftcoast]

Re: USWNT Soccer

Bill Walsh used to say it's better to replace your stars one year too early than one year too late.  I'm pretty sure he didn't come up with that (Perhaps Branch Rickey?) but it's a bitter and usually ignored truth.

Hard on the fans though, and these players are well loved.

[DC 86]

Stanford US Women's water polo through to the semi-finals after a 16-5 win over Canada.  Steffens had 3 goals.

https://usawaterpolo.org/news/2021/8/2/w...anada.aspx

BC

And Makenzie Fisher also had 3 goals, and Aria Fisher had two. Stanford's contingent attempted 11 shots and scored 8 goals.

[DC 86]

Stanford US Women's water polo through to the semi-finals after a 16-5 win over Canada.  Steffens had 3 goals.

https://usawaterpolo.org/news/2021/8/2/w...anada.aspx

BC

And Makenzie Fisher also had 3 goals, and Aria Fisher had two. Stanford's contingent attempted 11 shots and scored 8 goals.

[OutsiderFan]

Did Kathryn Plummer not make the USA WVB team?  Can't imagine the USA has too many players better than her, so surprised to not see her playing in Olympics.

[OutsiderFan]

Did Kathryn Plummer not make the USA WVB team?  Can't imagine the USA has too many players better than her, so surprised to not see her playing in Olympics.

[82lsju]

Did Kathryn Plummer not make the USA WVB team?  Can't imagine the USA has too many players better than her, so surprised to not see her playing in Olympics.

she's an alternate on the team

[82lsju]

Did Kathryn Plummer not make the USA WVB team?  Can't imagine the USA has too many players better than her, so surprised to not see her playing in Olympics.

she's an alternate on the team

[PalmTree]

Did Kathryn Plummer not make the USA WVB team?  Can't imagine the USA has too many players better than her, so surprised to not see her playing in Olympics.

she's an alternate on the team

Would've been <really> nice to have had her on the team when Jordan Thompson went down with the ankle injury - thankfully, we pulled it out against Italy on Monday.

[PalmTree]

Did Kathryn Plummer not make the USA WVB team?  Can't imagine the USA has too many players better than her, so surprised to not see her playing in Olympics.

she's an alternate on the team

Would've been <really> nice to have had her on the team when Jordan Thompson went down with the ankle injury - thankfully, we pulled it out against Italy on Monday.

[Softball Fan]

Here was what prepvolleyball.com wrote about Foluke in their senior aces ranking back when she was a high school senior:

4. Foluke Akinradewo, 6-3 MB, St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale FL), No club – Stanford

You never saw Akinradewo playing club ball, because she is a three-sport athlete, also excelling in basketball and on the track. The best leaper in the class, she touches an astounding 10-9 and elevates effortlessly, which contributes to her being a devastating attacker and strong blocker. Academically oriented, the Canadian-born Akinradewo is a fast learner. She’ll probably start and be good for Stanford as a freshman and be all-world by the time she’s done.

I remember at the start of her freshman year Foluke was considered a "project" by many fans meaning plenty of potential but lacks polish in the skills of the sport.

[Softball Fan]

Here was what prepvolleyball.com wrote about Foluke in their senior aces ranking back when she was a high school senior:

4. Foluke Akinradewo, 6-3 MB, St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale FL), No club – Stanford

You never saw Akinradewo playing club ball, because she is a three-sport athlete, also excelling in basketball and on the track. The best leaper in the class, she touches an astounding 10-9 and elevates effortlessly, which contributes to her being a devastating attacker and strong blocker. Academically oriented, the Canadian-born Akinradewo is a fast learner. She’ll probably start and be good for Stanford as a freshman and be all-world by the time she’s done.

I remember at the start of her freshman year Foluke was considered a "project" by many fans meaning plenty of potential but lacks polish in the skills of the sport.

[BostonCard]

Did Kathryn Plummer not make the USA WVB team?  Can't imagine the USA has too many players better than her, so surprised to not see her playing in Olympics.

It struck me that the US VB team could really have benefited from her ability to hit out of system.  It seemed like we really struggled to set up the attack in our last three matches, and someone who could effectively clean up messes, like Plummer, would have been useful.

BC

[BostonCard]

Did Kathryn Plummer not make the USA WVB team?  Can't imagine the USA has too many players better than her, so surprised to not see her playing in Olympics.

It struck me that the US VB team could really have benefited from her ability to hit out of system.  It seemed like we really struggled to set up the attack in our last three matches, and someone who could effectively clean up messes, like Plummer, would have been useful.

BC

[M T]

At least in other sports, an alternate could be added to the roster for any particular  game. Is that not true in volleyball? If it is true I’m surprised they didn’t bring in Plummer for the recent game to replace their big hitter. As another player was injured in the game, maybe she will be on the roster for the next game.

[M T]

At least in other sports, an alternate could be added to the roster for any particular  game. Is that not true in volleyball? If it is true I’m surprised they didn’t bring in Plummer for the recent game to replace their big hitter. As another player was injured in the game, maybe she will be on the roster for the next game.

[82lsju]

Clouds began to gather Monday over Kasumigaseki Country Club, and the matching Swiss smiles of Albane Valenzuela and her brother, Alexis, could not have been brighter. This is their Olympic moment that nothing can spoil.

It’s why Valenzuela, a Phi Beta Kappa at Stanford, gave up her last semester of college golf. Turning pro was her best chance to get back to the Olympics, this time with her 19-year-old brother as her caddie. He is more than a brother.

“He is our miracle,” she said.

Alexis was 3 when he was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. He didn’t speak the first five years of his life — doctors said he might never speak — and the family was told he probably would never be able to attend school.

He now speaks three languages. After the Olympics, he returns to Dallas to get ready for his second year at SMU, where he played one tournament as a freshman on the golf team.

https://apnews.com/article/2020-tokyo-ol...ZGUz7kZgHQ

[82lsju]

Clouds began to gather Monday over Kasumigaseki Country Club, and the matching Swiss smiles of Albane Valenzuela and her brother, Alexis, could not have been brighter. This is their Olympic moment that nothing can spoil.

It’s why Valenzuela, a Phi Beta Kappa at Stanford, gave up her last semester of college golf. Turning pro was her best chance to get back to the Olympics, this time with her 19-year-old brother as her caddie. He is more than a brother.

“He is our miracle,” she said.

Alexis was 3 when he was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. He didn’t speak the first five years of his life — doctors said he might never speak — and the family was told he probably would never be able to attend school.

He now speaks three languages. After the Olympics, he returns to Dallas to get ready for his second year at SMU, where he played one tournament as a freshman on the golf team.

https://apnews.com/article/2020-tokyo-ol...ZGUz7kZgHQ

[pcgoode]

I watch the Canadian women’s team a lot as I am Canadian. It wasn’t their best game, and I think they were playing not to lose, which was a reasonable strategy given who they were playing. What I found bizarre is that the US team didn’t send in Rapinoe much earlier or start her. While I am happy the Canadian team won, I’m not sure that would have been the result if Rapinoe had come on earlier. She was clearly causing the Canadian team problems and I think the Americans would have scored at least once had she been given more playing time. 

Good analysis of the US women's soccer match against Canada.  I believe that is three out of five matches in the Olympics the USA team did not score a goal.   My uneducated 2 cents:  Either the wrong offense is being used for this team's personnel or the USA simply isn't as good as advertised prior to the Olympics.

I mean, we're the top-ranked team in the world, we just won the World Cup in 2019, and we entered the Olympics on a 40-some game unbeaten streak (against some great teams, too). In the Olympic qualifying final in February 2020, we beat Canada 3-0, and we beat them 1-0 in the SheBelieves Cup earlier this year. We have the best collection of talent of any national team in the world. It's not that we're not as good as advertised. And the results under Vlatko to date suggest that our general tactical approach has been working. 

But obviously I can't say it worked here. Something was just plain off this tournament, and it's not something that really emerged in 2020 or 2021 in the runup to the Olympics. We looked dominant in every game coming in except for a 1-1 draw with Sweden in Stockholm in April (which, I dunno, man, sometimes when you play a top 5 team in the world on the road, you do well to get a draw). 

Maybe that's the main thing--we'd been too successful, and just like the NCAA basketball tournament, you want to take a loss at some point so your team experiences that feeling and regains the hunger to fix it. We did seem to lack a certain confident hunger, and we also lacked the ability to adjust to unexpected tactics. When Sweden beat us in Rio, we responded by revamping tactics and becoming a much more possession-focused team that would build through the back, rely on our midfielders, and get better chances that way than the old "just bomb it into Abby Wambach and she'll head it in" days. That's what won us the World Cup in 2019, and that's basically who we've been since. Possession has been pretty easy for a few years now. Against Sweden, it was impossible. They were anticipating passes and cutting off lanes, swarming attackers, etc. Standard stuff, but they stuck to it and we just couldn't respond. Then, my goodness, this Canada match. We had a good 10-15 minutes at the start, but after that, it was like our mids forgot how to complete passes and handle the ball. I don't know how a team just sort of collectively forgets the basics, but I'm all ears if someone has an idea. The mentality just wasn't there, and it's hard to pinpoint why. Like we'd just woken up and our body and brain weren't quite on the same page yet. 

Bizarre that it happens with this roster, too, since we basically ran it back with the 2019 version of the team. If anyone was going to be experienced enough to respond on the fly and not be overwhelmed by the moment, it was this group. Anyway, after the Bronze medal match, that likely means the end to competitive matches for the USWNT for Rapinoe, Lloyd, and maybe Sauerbrunn, and I'd expect a lot of new faces coming into the mix before 2023, with that generation of O'Hara/Press/Heath/Morgan potentially starting to see some turnover, too.

[pcgoode]

I watch the Canadian women’s team a lot as I am Canadian. It wasn’t their best game, and I think they were playing not to lose, which was a reasonable strategy given who they were playing. What I found bizarre is that the US team didn’t send in Rapinoe much earlier or start her. While I am happy the Canadian team won, I’m not sure that would have been the result if Rapinoe had come on earlier. She was clearly causing the Canadian team problems and I think the Americans would have scored at least once had she been given more playing time. 

Good analysis of the US women's soccer match against Canada.  I believe that is three out of five matches in the Olympics the USA team did not score a goal.   My uneducated 2 cents:  Either the wrong offense is being used for this team's personnel or the USA simply isn't as good as advertised prior to the Olympics.

I mean, we're the top-ranked team in the world, we just won the World Cup in 2019, and we entered the Olympics on a 40-some game unbeaten streak (against some great teams, too). In the Olympic qualifying final in February 2020, we beat Canada 3-0, and we beat them 1-0 in the SheBelieves Cup earlier this year. We have the best collection of talent of any national team in the world. It's not that we're not as good as advertised. And the results under Vlatko to date suggest that our general tactical approach has been working. 

But obviously I can't say it worked here. Something was just plain off this tournament, and it's not something that really emerged in 2020 or 2021 in the runup to the Olympics. We looked dominant in every game coming in except for a 1-1 draw with Sweden in Stockholm in April (which, I dunno, man, sometimes when you play a top 5 team in the world on the road, you do well to get a draw). 

Maybe that's the main thing--we'd been too successful, and just like the NCAA basketball tournament, you want to take a loss at some point so your team experiences that feeling and regains the hunger to fix it. We did seem to lack a certain confident hunger, and we also lacked the ability to adjust to unexpected tactics. When Sweden beat us in Rio, we responded by revamping tactics and becoming a much more possession-focused team that would build through the back, rely on our midfielders, and get better chances that way than the old "just bomb it into Abby Wambach and she'll head it in" days. That's what won us the World Cup in 2019, and that's basically who we've been since. Possession has been pretty easy for a few years now. Against Sweden, it was impossible. They were anticipating passes and cutting off lanes, swarming attackers, etc. Standard stuff, but they stuck to it and we just couldn't respond. Then, my goodness, this Canada match. We had a good 10-15 minutes at the start, but after that, it was like our mids forgot how to complete passes and handle the ball. I don't know how a team just sort of collectively forgets the basics, but I'm all ears if someone has an idea. The mentality just wasn't there, and it's hard to pinpoint why. Like we'd just woken up and our body and brain weren't quite on the same page yet. 

Bizarre that it happens with this roster, too, since we basically ran it back with the 2019 version of the team. If anyone was going to be experienced enough to respond on the fly and not be overwhelmed by the moment, it was this group. Anyway, after the Bronze medal match, that likely means the end to competitive matches for the USWNT for Rapinoe, Lloyd, and maybe Sauerbrunn, and I'd expect a lot of new faces coming into the mix before 2023, with that generation of O'Hara/Press/Heath/Morgan potentially starting to see some turnover, too.

[johnbar]

At least in other sports, an alternate could be added to the roster for any particular  game. Is that not true in volleyball? If it is true I’m surprised they didn’t bring in Plummer for the recent game to replace their big hitter. As another player was injured in the game, maybe she will be on the roster for the next game.

No, once the games begin the roster is set, no alternates, even if there are injuries. The alternates aren't in Japan, AFAIK.

[johnbar]

At least in other sports, an alternate could be added to the roster for any particular  game. Is that not true in volleyball? If it is true I’m surprised they didn’t bring in Plummer for the recent game to replace their big hitter. As another player was injured in the game, maybe she will be on the roster for the next game.

No, once the games begin the roster is set, no alternates, even if there are injuries. The alternates aren't in Japan, AFAIK.