See, despite all the commentary from people crawling out of the woodwork to comment on the Solo situation, it's the soccer people viewpoint that I feel is most valid.
I could swear that there are people writing about this event right now who have not seen a women's soccer match this year, or perhaps ever. It's the curse of a non-mainstream sport, especially one that most people associate with kids running around on Saturday.
Soccer folk, however, who have observed the U.S. team through the years, know more about the situation. Here's one of the best takes I've read.
I have to say, though, that I take issue with Beulah's view on a reporter talking to Hope. That's just shooting the messenger.
The best thing that Beulah said and that I echo is how can you prepare for two years for this tournament and then look like this?
ReplyDeleteNever mind the Brazil game from what I saw of the other games it seemed like Ryan doesn't know much about soccer, let alone women's soccer.
The best coached team I saw was Australia. They got the mximum out of their talent which is a lot less than what the US had at their disposal. Bring Dicicco back.
I'm still not sure the US would have moved ahead. The team excelled in many ways and also lagged in some that everyone's mentioned.
ReplyDeleteBeulah's remarks on the midfield were things we've all noticed. The US has to be able to move the ball through better in order to compete with highly skilled teams. And they need to be able to utilize all of the personnel they field. A lot of that is down to poor coaching, the rest of it they can work on moving forward.
But whether they won or lost against Brazil this week, it would have been nice to see how their best team would have fared. I'm sure it would at least have been more fun to watch (and the players might have had the small satisfaction of having left it all on the field if they lost) -- and that's a big deal for me as a fan.