Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - #545: USWNT v Iceland recap

Episode Date: October 25, 2024

Thompson and Shaw show out, Smith does too. We only grow stronger each day. Greg and Belz recap the action from Austin on Thursday. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus any bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show, plus all patrons get access to our private Discord server, live call-in shows, and the full catalog of historic recaps we've made: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedAlso, check out Boots on the Ground, our USWNT-focused spinoff podcast headed up by Tara and Vince. They are cooking over there, you can listen here: https://boots-on-the-ground.simplecast.comAnd check out our MERCH, baby. We have better stuff than you might think: https://www.scuffedhq.com/store Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the Scuff podcast where we talk about U.S. soccer. Hey, hey, three fantastic goals, including from youngsters Alyssa Thompson and Jaden Shaw. I thought there was a lot of good attacking impetus from us against Iceland. A pace to the way we were playing that I liked. Greg, how you doing? I'm having a ball. I'm going to already say there were four fantastic goals in that game. It's easy to appreciate the opponent's goal when you win three-one.

Yeah. And you're right. There is a pace of that game, and it's really fun to watch this team because they're patient. You know, this is a patient team, which is not something that we were used to. We can't escape the comparisons to the Vlato era. They're just going to always be here. And I invite them now because it makes you appreciate this even more. We're so patient.

And to play that patient way without it turning into a slog, you need a pace. You need, like, you need buzzing. You need players buzzing all over the place. So you get that even while everyone's making patient-controlled decisions. And then we also have that extra gear when we want to just go like vertical pass, vertical pass, we're in behind. We have that in our locker as well. Transition, press, recovery, and then we're gone.

That's there too. This team is fun. Yeah. What a difference in Emma Hayes makes. And I mean, I do, it just makes the Velaco era even sort of more. mystifying. How could it have been so bad with, I mean, roughly the same players? I mean, there's some new additions, but crazy. I should, just a programming note, I should mention, I'm in Terminal T of Atlanta, Hartfield-Jackson, allegedly the busiest airport in the world

and just a short drive from the future home of U.S. soccer, so you'll have to excuse any ambient noise. I'll try to cut it all out in post-production. Are you consulting on the new facilities? Bells? Is that what you're doing in Atlanta? No, I'm not to be trusted to consult on anything, least of all a facility. A couple notes from Hayes' press conference. You know, she said on Shaw, quote, her ability to create and score goals is second to none in this country. And, I mean, you saw a little of that.

That was a nasty, nasty action from her. this sort of delayed elastico. The delayed, parsed out elastico, man. It's a deconstructed elastic. That's right. That's right. She didn't think we were moving the ball quickly enough in the first half,

said, which I was like, what? Man, I thought we were moving the ball really quickly in the first half. And with a lot of attention. Definitely, yeah, you could isolate some sequences where we were like, there we go, we're kind of zipping things around in here. But I think at the same time, there were, there were like, some glaring

misses that could easily stick out in your mind as you're watching we're like, oh, we've missed that run in the box,

that crucial moment. And so that's what we have to correct to really get the tap-ins that we want. Because we didn't, for all the fun I was having watching it,

not a ton of like guilt-edged, clear-cut chances, to be quite frank. No, that's true. Like both, it seemed, I think,

outside of the Thompson goal, of course, the best chances came from clipped balls to the back post, the one for Williams and the one for Swanson. And then she also said quality in front of goal was the difference between the first and second half.

I guess that's true. And she said she will have to consider so sparingly in this gold medal celebration tour that we're in the midst of, perhaps only off the bench, which if she comes in for 20 minutes, 30 minutes and scores a goal every game, I think I'll be fine with that. Yeah, it's a joyous 20 minutes

If we get 20 minutes of soap on the field Oh man, she's so good She's so good And then I just want to note That how happy Jaden Shaw looked after the game I mean, she was just beaming The quote I got from her I gathered from her video is

I took a big touch so I had to slide for it Which, um I like that Because she kind of did, it was a little long Should we do the lineups? Yeah, let's talk about the lineups and we'll talk about some of the, again, the missing pieces, which adds even more to what this group is capable of.

Yeah, so goalkeeper was Alyssa Neyer, and then sort of sticking to the basics kind of lineup, you know, considering who was injured or who's just coming back from injury. So Neier and goal, Fox, Sonic, Germa, and Nysewanger across the back line. I mean, that could have been a lineup we saw at the Olympics, if it weren't for Crystal Dunn. and then Sam Coffee, Crystal Dunn, who is not available at the moment, Sam Coffee, Rose Lavelle and Lindsay Horan and Midfield,

and then Alyssa Thompson, Lynn Williams, and Mallory Swanson across the front line. Yeah, and I don't think anyone, I mean, we obviously are going to read tea leaves because that's what we do, but I'm trying not to, because this is almost, it's a victory lap, so there's tons of factors for Emma to consider. She's putting these lineups together. I don't think it's necessarily her looking for her, best lineup right now. I think it's most likely just like

giving some players the ovations they deserve it. Do you think no? Like this is her top players with the group in hand given Sophia injured or you know, Sophia's restrictions. Okay, well you think if Rodman, if Rodman's

healthy, she starts over Thompson on the right wing. If Smith was fully healthy, she starts over Williams at Stryker. If Dun were available, and you were like had to win a game last night. She probably starts at left back. Okay, so maybe, yeah, maybe this is the, this is her lineup at the moment. I guess, yeah, I'm expecting

Emma to enjoy her ability to experiment in the next two games, is what I'll say. I guess what I'm saying is she doesn't look like she experimented that much here. No, no, no, no. I guess that's what I'm wondering, is if it's like a reluctance to experiment, which I don't really think it is, or it's just, I've got three games, let's, like, let's get the Olympic players there. their applause here. Like, this is their victory lap.

So, uh, it just seemed like she really likes to win, too, you know? Got a one draw now in her 10 games, right? And it's the coaster, nine wins, one draw. And it's that Costa Rica match where we had a thousand. What a blemish.

Sitters that we couldn't finish. Yeah. Yeah. So this is an amazing group. Like we just said, Trinity Rodman, not there. Sophia restricted. So she's on the bench. Kat Macario, uh,

I don't know what's going on. She hasn't been on the Chelsea's bench for a while. But it just again reminds you of what this team has, the kind of firepower that we have in attack especially, to be missing players, to have Jaden Shaw and Sophia not quite ready or coach's decision, whatever it is. And we just still have tremendous, tremendous attacking potential and energy. You know, I guess that's one thing I'm looking for from the next game is maybe we do see Shaw start over Haran. again, T-Leave reading, she says, Hayes says after the game, you know, the end of the season is coming at the wrong time for Jaden because she's just coming into like, you know, fitness and getting back to the level. So maybe she gets that opportunity to start in that spot and that would be cool to see her work her magic for 90 minutes. Let me give a real college try at reading this Iceland.

lineup. You're from Minnesota. I'm not from Minnesota. I'm from Iowa. You've got to be able to do your half Nordic. I'm not any Nordic. I'm zero Nordic. The goalkeeper is Telma Ivar's daughter.

Backline is Goodney Arna daughter, Glotis Pirla Vigo's daughter, and sadis, Heider's daughter, and Natasha Anasi. So that's the back four. And then Dilja, your Zomers, Hilder Anton's daughter, Selma Sol Magnus daughter, the goal scorer, and Sandra Maria Jessen across the midfield. And then they had two strikers, Bergland-Ross August's daughter and Svindis Jane John's daughter.

So the old naming convention is still very strong in Iceland. We got that Texas kid, though, the Texas kid playing for Iceland. Which one is the Texas kid? Natasha Anasi. She's 30. She's in her 30s, but she's from Texas, born in Texas. Huh. Yeah.

How did she end up signing up with Iceland? I assume she went on like a raiding party at some point and just stayed in Iceland from then on. That maybe she looked, do you remember back when everybody was taking trips to Reykivik? They were like really cheap flights to Reykavik. Yeah, I do. I miss that, I miss that fad, but. I did too. That's what she was doing.

Pretty good, not a bad team. Physical, wasn't toothless in the attack, and kind of difficult to break down, I would say. So it's like a good test for us. Yeah, organized sat in a decently organized block and we're going to ask you to earn it. And also, you know, we talk about the Volcano era and how it was just a ton of hopeful balls slowed into the box.

This is a perfect opponent to discourage that because I don't think floating balls into the box was going to be a great revenue stream against the Nordic. back line. So it really put an emphasis on, you know, trying to work the ball down, down closer to sea level. Yeah, yeah, totally. And we should say, I should say, Vigas' daughter and John's daughter play for Byron Munich and Wolfsburg, respectively.

You know, so, you know, these are playing for some pretty good clubs. To the timeline? I'm line. Second minute. just got a message that Iceland is not toothless. A little bit of attack up our right side. Fox ultimately deals with it. And then fourth minute, they're just on us.

Sonnet gets worked on our right. There's a bit of a scramble in the box. It gets cleared. Haran loses a duel for the bouncing ball. It gets whipped in from our left side, skids off in Icelandic head off frame. So we look pretty good, but also Iceland looks like they came to play too. Yeah, and it was not a great moment for Sonnet.

If you're thinking it's Sonnet might be kind of being phased out, you know, if it's that time. This would be one of the clips for that argument. And it did give Iceland a couple of chances to float dangerous balls in that they got their heads to ahead of us. They just couldn't make it a – they couldn't capitalize on their headers. But it's like, oh, this is what will make us nervous if Iceland can keep doing this all game. They didn't really keep doing it all game. Would you make the argument that Sonnet needs to be phased out? Because I guess my thought after watching the whole game is she was actually pretty good for the most part.

She was. That happened early in the game and then she pretty much got through the rest of it in typical Sonnet fashion. I don't know. It's hard to know without knowing. It seems like she is just an excellent locker room personality. I don't think there's any urgency to phase her out because I don't think we have a bunch of like, elite centerbacks coming in. And she's, again, she's got the rep where she can play four different positions,

you know, at a very basic level. So she's a good roster player, good personality. No, I don't think there's any hurry to get rid of her. Well, also, when we have Naomi Germa back there, and I don't know, just felt like the way we're playing last night, it was good to have a centerback with some ball skills, you know, who can, you know, step forward with the ball. you know, receive a ball under some pressure and do so.

You know, she's not elite at that stuff, but for a centerback, and I think compared to the rest of the centerback options that are in the player pool, she's a little more comfortable on the ball, and it seemed like it worked really well, the two of them together. Yeah, her liability is going to be open field getting cooked. Yeah. And so we'll have to see how she'd hold up in a game where that's more likely to happen. Okay.

All right, seventh minute, we get a little bit of a foreshadowing. Thompson carries it up the right side. So she started on the right wing. She ended up playing later in the game on the left wing, switching back and forth with Swanson. But in this case, she's up on the right wing, beats her defender to the end line, whips one across, maybe a little hot and high

for anybody to get to, but she definitely shows she's capable of creating things. And, yeah, I thought she had a, even aside from the goal, I thought she had quite a good game. Yeah, and we can get into our shape a little bit here. We're in a really basic 433 in our in possession. So, you know, when we're building, we're building patiently, and it is sort of a clear back forward.

The fullback sort of flared out, but sitting a little bit deeper early in the buildup. And the wingers, Thompson and Mao, are also staying pretty flared out for the most part. So we aren't doing the thing where we're doing the asymmetrical, like Nyswanger goes up or Fox goes up and the other one stays home. and Mao pinch his way in. It's very much like Lavelle and Heran are the interior like tens and coffee is sort of the single pivot here. And Iceland weren't really putting a ton of pressure on us

after the first few minutes where they kind of let us know they were here. And so we kind of were able to just, like this sequence would build really comfortably to just get the ball to Thompson in the right channel, 40 yards from goal. But then this is where Thompson can show that she can be a cheat code in that sort of like one-b-one matchup where she just has it. She's faced up against the defender who's able to stand their ground but just has to retreat because they're so panicked about Thompson being able to just race beyond them.

Yeah. So she takes it out. I mean, she carries probably 25 yards with the defender just backpacking the whole time. She doesn't have to beat the defender to gain 25 yards. She just mose these up the field because I think there is that fear of Thompson just running behind you. And Mal can do the same thing on the other side. It's a totally justified fear. I mean, she will eliminate you if you try to play up tight to her.

That 433 possession shape is interesting to me. Because, you know, everybody else is doing a 325 these days. We've done a 325 a lot. Is Emma just getting tired of everybody doing the same thing? I don't know. I don't know if this is just Iceland specific or, I mean, we end up pushing everyone up high. So it's not like we sit with 4D. Like we just built, we just built out that way to have those fullbacks kind of staying home early.

And then once we got up the field, we were patient enough that the fullbacks, like, Nyse Wonger would be up, Fox would be up. And so we definitely weren't like not committing numbers forward. It was just early in the buildup. It wasn't as, it wasn't as obvious that we were going to shift into that asymmetrical shape that we've been doing. Right, right. I mean, GERMO was getting up really high. I loved that part of it.

You know, I had a nice seventh minute. had a nice little pass into the pocket for Nice Wanger just off the corner of the box from our left From our left side Nice Warr wasted a bit, but you know by banging a pass into some shins But it was cool to see Germa so close in the buildup Yeah, and that buildup where Germa was up high in the 7th minute That was still a continuation off that Thompson delivery like we'd done that build and kind of really comfortably worked Thompson into the box or she Walked it up into the box herself and then she hit that delivery in we collected on the far side of the field and

field and then we just have like a full minute of poking and prodding and this was that patience we're talking about and when you're this patient you're this controlled then your center back can come up because you know in the vlaco era if germa makes her way up the field she's going to get punished for that because we're just going to give the ball away quickly with a you know hopeful driven ball in box into bodies and then you don't want your center but because we are as a team very obviously committed to making controlled decisions where we're going to know. knocked the ball around and play higher percentage passes more often. It was 14 passes around the edge of the box right there. After the Tom, this is after the Thompson cross. We'd already worked it up and gotten a decent look from Thompson. And then we connected another 14 passes before Nicewanger attempted another entry pass into the box to a teammate's feet that got cut out. So it's such an obvious intentional change here.

The big giveaway is body orientation. In the Velatco area, you know, we, we, we, we, we, hammered on this over and over. It was just a we were just complaining into the wind. But the ball would get to a player out in the edge of the area. And every other player for the U.S. would just turn their hips towards the goal and run at the goal because they knew

we were just going to drive a ball in. It was like, all right, we all run at it and see what happens. And now everyone is orientating their body towards the player with the ball. You have one or two people leaving the box to come out to play soccer with them. So that wouldn't happen unless everyone knows that's what

we're doing. You know, that's the instruction. go play soccer, we've got more to do. We're not there yet. We aren't ready to just hit a ball into the box. So it's a joy to watch. We're not amazing at it yet. That's the other thing to take away is it's so early in this process. We'll build patterns, we'll build tendencies and recognition

that people will start to identify with their teammates, and it'll get cleaner. But the ceiling is so high for that kind of play, for the kind of talent that we have. Because as we find out, as we saw in the Olympics, we don't have to get all the way to the tap in for our players to score. Like our players are so good that we can kind of skip some of the last few steps and just be like, well, we have this platform.

We got the ball to Mal Thompson in this range. She can just do the last three steps herself and get a goal. And that's just such an amazing opportunity. Like as a coach, you just have to just be thrilled at what your Arsenal can do here. Yeah, you're saying we don't, maybe we're not that good at it yet, the poking and the prodding. I think we're pretty good at it. It seems to me like we're pretty good at it.

And we may never lose another game. That's what I'm thinking. We're pretty good at the poking and the prodding. What we've got to get is that absolute, like that last dagger blow, like that last little decisive, you've got it, you've got the opening, you see where their arm is up, and you've got to get the dagger right under the arm into the heart. Through the ribs, through the ribs, right? I don't know how I got into this metaphor, but... You're always bringing up medieval stuff.

Always trying to stab people. So that's where we're at. I mean, you could kind of bend Emma's quotes into that. Like, that's the thing, the quality and goal isn't just like the last touch on the finish. It's that dagger right in the, right between the ribs. Yeah. Which ribs, like the third and the fourth rib? Yeah.

I mean, that's if you want to, like, keep them all. You don't want to actually finish them off. Yeah, okay. Good to know. You've got to take the next timeline item, I think. All right, so what? Ninth minute, we get a German chance off step piece. And this is another one where the set piece we get is from that ability to just go vertical.

Or in this case, it was kind of a diagonal where we find Mal behind on the side. And I think it was to bring Mal down on the, on the, Yeah, Anasi. So we're right on the end line. And then so we get a set piece. It's a clever set piece again because we don't just whip it in. We've got all the bodies up there, but we hit a ball and ground back at an angle to Thompson. She kind of floats a ball in.

It's half cleared out by Iceland and kind of just gets bundled over to Germa. And German has a really decent. It was a left foot. Yeah. Pivot. A little too close to the goalkeeper. or we could have had a germacle on this one. Oh, man.

It's coming. It's coming. Nine-minute mark. Coffee wins it in the press. Valleys it up to Heran just on top of the box. She turns and curls a ball in toward Williams on the back post, and it's just cut out. But it's a nice, I mean, everything about that is nice. Decisive intervention from coffee, you know, sort of winning it and passing it to

to Heron in the same motion. And then Haran's ball has a nice shot. shape to it, just not quite good enough. Very good. I thought our pressing looked really good at this point in the game, 11th minute, and we just got coffee, nice wanger, down their throat. But yeah, the dagger thrust in the ribs is still missing.

We're pressing in a 4-4-2 with Heran up top with Lynn Williams. And again, Herana's game, you know we could do a little bit more if we change that personnel. So then you're just talking about are there other tradeoffs that we're going to miss in other phases. So I'm curious about that because we kind of get a taste of it

when Horan comes off and another sort of wrinkle with one of our midfield changes that would be really interesting if you were going to go full murder ball or even like a little bit more murder ball. Hal, talking about howl. Oh yeah, man.

What, dude, what a fighter she is. She was an injection of fire into the game. All right, 15 minute mark, we get a foul on Rose Lavelle as she dribbles toward the left top of their box. Seemed a little reckless, and she just hits. So she lines up, you know, there's all the discussion and the wall and everything, and then she dimes it to the back post from 30 yards. And Williams, I mean, I think she could probably just go on goal here.

She tries to tap it back across, tries a side foot volleyed across the, face a goal, I think, and overhits it. It goes out for a goal kick. But I don't want to, you know, I don't want to be too negative. But I think when, let me just put it this way, when Smith comes on for Williams, everything changes, you know? Yeah. And I think, like, Williams is just, she's, she's a useful player in some ways, but she's not, on this team, she's a, she's a, she shouldn't be starting unless she has to, you know, for injury reasons. Yeah, I think she was, she had an off night. And again, Williams would be more valuable if we did go with more of a full-on

pressing scheme, if we were going to be a little bit even more aggressive than we were. I think that ups Williams's value. Sure, for sure, yeah. Germa gets caught a bit high in the 19th minute, I noticed, and as we're possessing, and they win it, but they try to play it down our left flank, and Swanson is just covering for her, which I think is just wonderful to see Mallory Swanson,

all-world attacking player, you know, goal scorer in the Olympic final, dutifully tracking back down our left flank to cover for Naomi Germa. It just brought joy to my heart. Yeah, when you see things like that, you cherry pick the crap out of them and say, this is Emma Hayes. This is what you get with Emma Hayes and the fighting American spirit. That's right.

I thought Rose looked really good, especially in the first half. She had a moment at the 19-minute mark where she turned and shook off a midfielder right at the midfield line. Just looked imperious there for a second, the way she strode forward off of that contact. And then she plays a through ball to Thompson, but Thompson wasn't making the run, so it didn't come through. 24th minute, she's dealing again, clips a ball for Swanson on the backpost. So from the right side to the back post, Swanson takes it on the volley. This is a really good chance, too, and just shanks it well over. I'm going to take exception to the use of the word shank there.

I think Swanson smashed it. I thought she connected with it really well. Well, maybe somebody was in the arena would be able to give us how it sounded, but I thought she really connected well and just, uh, guided. Just hit it straight up. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I'll have to consult the Oxford dictionary on the word shank. Lovely dummy in the 30th minute from Horan on a swanson ball from out wide on the left side. She plays a ball towards Horan. She dummies it, leaves it for Rose. And she, this is a really, this is a lovely sequence. quick turn to pirouette onto her left foot. And Swanson is, after playing the pass, just darting in free, and Lavelle just overhits the

pass, wax it out of bounds, and then immediately, you know, clutches her head because she knew it was on. Yeah, not just on, but slick, right? I mean, you... Yeah. There's on, and then there's, like, on where it was amazing. And that would have been one of those on where it was amazing sequences, like, that you live for.

Real chance for Iceland in the 34th minute, it's a lovely ball from Jessen, I believe. after shaking off Thompson through the lines. So right at midfield, and she just hits a low, driven pass between Nyswanger and Germa for Zomers. And Zomers is in on a goal. Like she's running free at the goalkeeper at Nairer and just hits a relatively tame shot, which Naira saves down to her right.

We don't love this, do we? It came from nothing. And this wasn't this wasn't anything Iceland really built. They just threw it in. Thompson was, was, uh, I'm not, we're not going to ding Thompson too much for getting shook here because it's not really her job to like be so dogged that no one can get a yard and a half space off of her at midfield. Um, you do notice like once, once she does get shook, we don't have her hand involved in

the midfield defense where she's going to be like a secondary defender to come in. Like Thompson gets shook to the middle. And so, yeah, so there's no midfielder. there to be like, oh, I am the next person to arrive and offend. It was very much just Iceland, able to pick their head up. But really, this is just Nice Wenger getting beat, in my opinion. Like, Nice Wonger just with the wrong body shape, wrong body momentum, and just doesn't prioritize the space behind her and instead is shifting out to the outside. Maybe just misreads the hips of the ball carrier, but she just kind of gets toasted. There's no real way around it.

Yeah. I think she does misread the hips of the ball striker because she's kind of, she's kind of shaped, like initially shaped like she's going to spray it out diagonally out wide. But it's also just a nasty ball. It is. It's a really, really nice pass.

But you see those nice passes where, like, a lot of times it'll be centerbacks that get, you know, beat by that pass. And you see, like, they're doing everything right and they just can't quite get to it. Nice Wonger is, like, All turned around. Like the fact that she has to flip her whole body around to realize that that Iceland attack, her runner, is just already on a dead run behind her.

I mean, it's not a great moment for her. I mean, it's a good point about Heran in the midfield because her sort of lack of ability to do, to execute mop-up duty sort of comes up again later in the game. Let's just let's go next to the goal 39th minute We're knocking for sure And this time we work it around From right to left And coffee plays it over to Thompson

Thompson thought in the postgame interview That it was maybe Horan who played it to her Which gave me some Made me feel a little better Because like sometimes we get these things wrong So do the people who score the goals occasionally But anyway, she gets it from coffee And she's I don't know

Like 25 yards from goal and she just goes at her. Backs her down into the box. Faints left a few times. There's sort of a crucial final faint to her left. Cuts in on her right. Takes one more touch to set it and then bends one in at the far post

just off the underside of the crossbar. Virtually unstoppable. Big smiles on everyone's face. Mal, Sof, Lynn, Ashley Sanchez, Emma Hayes. This is a nice moment. The big hug with Sof was an awesome bit of television where Sof's lifting her up. And I know we got comments after the game where Sophie is saying Thompson's her little sister. I mean, this team is, this team is fabulous to follow.

It is. It is. It is. The goal's amazing. You get it to, again, you get it to Thompson. And she's not like, she doesn't really have to beat the player. Like, she gets it outside of the box. And it's the Texas, it's a Texas gal getting defending.

and again, I don't know if it's all in fear of, you know, getting too close, but she kind of plays off of her. So Alyssa Thompson is never in danger of having the ball taken off of her foot. It's kind of like Trinity Rodman can do this too, where she just has control to wait and do whatever she wants. And if a shot never materializes, then she can always just recycle. But she makes the shot, she creates the shot, right? She creates that little window of space.

and it wasn't a huge window and she smashes it through the available spot into the top corner and you just think like she'll be able to do this against lots of teams yeah yeah exactly yeah it's like if you can get a little window

and you can hit the ball that clean I mean you can score a lot of goals that way that's the Burr-camp way since we kind of said Lynn Williams had an off game Lynn Williams had a real important moment here where this happened we kind of had a build-up where we kind of had the ball in the box leading up to this worked it out to rosalvel who had a shot from distance that got blocked out towards like midfield

and we kind of just headed it back up lynn williams collected that that next ball with her back to goal with someone right on her hip and hit that real nice pass to coffee where she could have recycled all the way back but she instead hit a nice constructive pass five yards just a short little thing but to coffee who was able to see the whole field. And that was kind of a key moment in this buildup. Yeah, that's a good point. Last, well, two more things from the first half before we take a little break, but oh my, that pass from Nice Wenger to coffee into the box in the 45th minute.

You know what I'm talking about? Outside of the left boot, after receiving under a little pressure and turning to her right, that was a crazy pass. like you know we kind of got this full nice longer experience because she was really good in possession as she always is

but then you know she was somewhat culpable on that recent the 34th minute chance but man this pass where she gets it with her back to goal basically at the top of zone 14 turns onto her turns to her left and then just plays like sort of a bending

on the ground left footed pass through two lines essentially to coffee in the box coffee has a really good chance to score here and kind of dithers on it and doesn't make good contact anyway. It's not her game. She's not a, it's not like her strong suit. But dang, that pass was nice, I thought.

And again, yeah, and this is the moment for me that would easily stand out in a coach's mind as one of the last things you see before halftime of like quality in the box and speed of play. Because we get coffee in with no defender because of that amazing past from ice swung. And coffee eliminates the danger with just her touch and slowness to. to continue to play. And then right after this, like, the next thing that happens is in the

scramble, we get it out to Huran at the top of the box, and I think it's Alyssa Thompson is right out there off of her shoulder, and Haran just does, I don't know if she doesn't see her, or if she thinks she's just going to be able to do like a scoop ball to somebody else into the goal, but we don't just play

Alyssa Thompson unopposed into the Man City cutback zone right after that coffee moment. So that's where I was just like, oh man, like, that is a bad miss from Lindsay Horan, who you'd usually count on to immediately put us into that dangerous spot. Yeah. She's,

that's, that's her, that's why she's out there is to make the correct soccer decisions. Yeah. So, that was a huge sequence of my mind for two big misses for, you know, if you're talking about quality of decisions and quality of play.

It was the coffee miss when we were, when we had her in on goal. And then Horan not playing Thompson and instead just like a, like a, like a QB just looking, looking, having to throw it away. You know, I noticed a couple of times where Lavelle didn't make a pretty clear choice on who to pass the ball to.

There was one in the first half, which I didn't put in the timeline where she had it. She could have hit coffee at the top of zone 14, and instead I think she just kind of like, she kind of dallied on the ball. There was a point later in the game. I'll just mention it now, so I don't have to mention it later, where she had Shaw in the pocket in Zone 14, right ahead of her and just didn't pass it to her and i don't and i don't know i don't maybe level and her and her doing some form of hazing against the younger players the newer players but um but uh there there are some there were some missed opportunities from level of too

yeah and so that's where that's where you say we're leaving that on the table right so if you're emma haze you're the manager and your your whole job is to extract every bit of uh threat that you can that's what you're looking at you're like we we have to clean these up because uh I don't want to win 3-1. I want to win 6-1. Yeah. Yep. Even if I was like, we're going to give up goals, but I want six.

You're not going to keep a clean sheet every time. She has eight clean sheets, I think, in her 10 games. Something stupid. That's crazy. Naomi Germa has something to do with that, I think. Last action of the half was Horan missing a free kick just wide, right? It's a pretty nice hit. And let's take a little break.

We'll be back in a second. if you want to hear this episode and all episodes ad-free, join the Patreon. The link is in the show notes. All right, we're back to the second half, 49th minute, a decent free kick chance for Iceland. Anasi, the Texas gal, nods it back across. But the, and 21, who is a sub who I...

Alder's daughter. Alder's daughter. Alder's daughter. She volleys it over from point-blank range, and she was offside, so shame on her. Not only that, so yeah, shame on her, but also on the replay, it looks like Fox gets her bell rung again. Like, I don't know what is going on with Emily Fox,

but she's just like a concussion magnet. How did she get her bell wrong? So she was putting her head right at the, I mean, Anasi, the Texas gal nods it across, and so it's right between Fox and Haldor's daughter, who's in an offside position. And it's like right at shoulder height. And so Fox stooped just a little bit, and Iceland brings her knee up first, and I swear it looks like you see Fox's head like snap a little bit.

I don't know. Maybe there was no contact at all. But again, because it's definitely Fox, and I feel like we've gone through this so many times with her, she just constantly putting herself in position to get rang. Yeah, it's not good. Okay, let's talk about the Iceland goal. It was in the 56th minute. like you said earlier it was really nice too it's a nice little one-two

through our left side from Selma Soul Magnus Daughter eliminates Horan and coffee pretty easily and then it's just Lavel sort of facing up to Magnus Daughter and she cuts her from right to left

and Level I mean Levelle puts up almost no resistance and goes to her left and just fires one into the far corner a gorgeous strike and it's one to one but you do I do

you might disagree with me but I feel like you do see a little bit of our midfield softness here oh a ton this is this is extreme midfield softness I mean you're being you're being generous to say

Lavel you know put up no resistance and and Haran put up even less than that Iran like Horan was just watching the whole thing yeah I mean her ran like almost demanded that the Iceland player run past her with her

with her body language because she she she gets there, right? She's right on number seven. Sorry, I, I, that's Magnus's Daughter. That's Magna's daughter. Yeah. So she's right on her when Magnus Daughter receives it. And then Magnus Daughter makes a little four-yard pass and Horan just like walks out of her way to the to the sideline. So it's like forces Magnus Daughter to then continue her run forward to get free of Herand. So I don't, I don't know what Haran's responsibilities are in defense.

I don't know if Bema's like, defending's not for you. You save your energy for all the possession stuff you're going to give us. But it is a real thing that Tehran is often a spectator in defense. And that was true during the Olympics too. So I do want to say it's not like Iceland waltzed through us over and over and over again through this midday. So it's not like the midfield was such a problem. on this sequence, the softness of the midfield was apparent, and then Iceland still hit an absolute worldie to score the goal.

It was a really, really, really nice goal. And no, no mark. I have no marks against Alyssa Neier here. I wouldn't think so. We talk about her near post positioning, how she tends to shade there, and this, you know, goes to the far. But we talk about blocking, defenders blocking angles. And while Naomi German is,

like a, like a machine, this is, this is her miss a little bit because it goes to her outside shoulder and it just sneaks in the far post. So she's, she's taking away a decent chunk of Neyer's goal, but she's not taking away the entire far post. So she, you know, she's, she's created a gap. And so she needs, she needs to be half of a body length closer to the far post. But again, that's a, it's an impossible calculation to make right every single time. It is impossible. I'm just thinking about, like, how many centerbacks can actually make that calculation? They're already incredible at it, like for human brains to be doing on the fly, for a moving ball, where you also have the responsibility to keep defending in case the player doesn't shoot and does something else.

Plus other players might move into spaces that you also have to defend. So again, she's off by not even half a body length. Yeah. She's a quarter of a body length closer to the far post. She deflects it. I guess you could practice that, right? You could just have somebody dribbling across the top of the box in front of you. you and shooting and you could figure out how to

I don't know yes you can with with people who aren't accustomed to it these players all do it it's like it's not instinctively I mean they've honed it they've become a part of what they all defenders do it to an extent so almost all defenders do it so it's just like

part of the ridiculous math that players are constantly doing yeah at this level all right well do better Naomi Germa. Nice tackle in the 61st minute from Melissa Thompson tracking back in the center circle. I mean, this is great because we were, I think we were a little nervy after the goal. And this was a moment that I think, you know, I'm more prone to sort of like great men,

like the great men and women of history sort of thing, the great moments of the game that, like, determine everything. I'm more prone to that sort of thing than you are. But it did seem like this tackle got us a little control of the game in a moment where we were starting to maybe lose control a little bit. And then she dribbles back a little ways, you know, we're back in possession. 63rd minute, Germa hits like, go ahead, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because it wasn't even just like a luxury tackle that sometimes attackers make where, you know, it gets, like, she had to do this because Lavelle had been dispossessed. Or Lavelle had raced forward.

Heron, I think, was one dispossessed. So our entire mid-thirds of our midfield is out of the play. And coffee was not in the right spot to stop a counterattack here. So it's Iceland running at our back line in two-thirds of the field. So there was nobody back. Like Thompson had to race back here because she had to do the job because, again, that midfield softness was kind of apparent. And she, and it was a, I mean, she bodied the person she tackled

who was, you know, like probably twice her height. Full head higher, yeah. Yeah, it was very, very decisive use of the body and tackle. So full credit to Alyssa Thompson there. 63rd minute, Germa hits a left-footed dime over the top for Swanson. If she takes this down cleanly, she's in on goal, but she can't take it down cleanly. It kind of sprays wide. Does it go out for a goal kick?

Flag went up, so Swanson's off the hook for her bad touch here. Swanson, yeah, I guess Swanson didn't have that great of a game either. Is that fair to say? I mean, it seemed like a Swanson game. I don't mean that in a bad way. Like, she has a lot of rough touches in these moments. She had a couple of other ones, too. But you just don't care because of what you know she can give you at any moment.

Okay, 66 minute, we get some subs. Yasmin and Ryan, Jaden Shaw, and Casey Krueger come on for Swamp. Johnson, Horan, and Fox. Yasme and Ryan at Gotham and Sean Kruger, you all probably know quite well. And I feel like the game was pretty choppy for a while, still 1-1. We didn't really create much danger for a little spell there. And then we get, I mean, I don't know if you have any notes from that period between the substitutions, but... No, I've got one coming up for Yasmin, but it's 75th minute.

Okay. 72 minute we got Hirschfeld before mentioned for coffee and Smith comes on for Williams Sophia Smith that is and yeah Hirschfeld was just out there battling man like it seems like a tough customer uh I loved it I mean she she wasted no time being like this is what I am here to do yeah and it's like the body language the facial expressions just her whole her whole thing that she's got going on Plus her first name is Hal. It's like, yeah. She came onto the field carrying a lunch pail, I'm pretty sure, in a hard hat.

So she just, she dropped a monkey wrench on the side of the, on the side of the field before she trotted on. But this is, it's because this is so different from what we've seen from any of the other players who've deputized in these midfield roles to just come in and wreck. So, so you're kind of just entree. I mean, it's very intriguing. And then you just have to see whether or not, like, the soccer piece of it, because we spend so much time in possession. We've got to see how she looks in those phases for the national team. Right. I mean, Williams, maybe I don't need to belabor the point.

She just really wasn't sharp. I guess outside of that moment where she played the pass before the Thompson goal, her last action was to dribble out of bounds, trying to beat somebody, 1B1 on the left side. You got something in the 75th minute. Let's do that. So I've got the Yasmin Ryan clip, which was just an outstanding moment for her. I'm not sure how she's going to factor in as the cycle moves on. But this moment in the 75th minute, where she gets the ball isolated on the right side,

near the end line, outside of the box, against the fullback. And again, we talked about how Alyssa Thompson did the same thing where you, you know, she can be in such control of the situation. Yasmin Ryan with just a little, a couple of quick stepovers absolutely sends Iceland's defender out of the field of play. So to completely eliminate a player like that

where you barely move at all is massive because you get to keep them made, you're not out of control for your next decision. So she completely eliminates a player, the next player comes over, and I think she nutmegs that player with a little three-yard pass to Jaden Shaw, the box.

And I'm just like, okay. Like that gets, that's where I perk up real quick. I'm like, this kid, this kid can play a little bit. And she's not, she's not 19, like the other kids who scored goals. She's 25. Yeah, she's 25. Largely, largely didn't play a role for the youth national teams coming up through the system.

That little moment will get your attention. And you're like, okay, that, that's a element of danger and control. And again, like, wherewithal, because the decision to, once you beat that player to not panic and have to make the next play that required a lot of composure and skill. That's enough for me to be like, okay, all right, I got time. I got time for Yasmin here. Yeah. She also had a cross where she, which I know we're not big fans of crosses on this podcast,

but it was like the way she, the casual way she just whipped it in was that pleased my eye. let's talk about the goals and then get out of here 84th minute Jaden Shaw Casey Krueger wins a duel up high it could have gone either way but Kruger wins it and then she finds Shaw running into the box good first touch

she's got Anasi to beat and she cuts her with this that's perfectly said deconstructed Elastico the second touch takes it past Anasi so the Elastico would be in step of your right foot, then use your outstep to cut past the player.

And the touch was long, like Shaw said. So she has to really book it. And then she just reaches out and toe pokes it through the young rushing keeper's legs. Kind of just as the door closes, you know, the ball slides through, rolls in. It's very, very nice to see two one. Yeah, just an absolute player. And again, the pass there, real nice from Kruger, real good shape of the run from jaden to let crueler get that pass into her to keep a window available instead of

cutting off her own window by running into the cover shadow the defender um but then it is it's just at some point you just have the you have the players right we have the players jaden shaw is a player uh to get the shot once once she receives a ball in that area and like we love emma hayes but it's like that's just that's just jaden shaw yeah yeah so we have her and she doesn't even have We don't even necessarily know she'll be starting for the full strength theme. I feel like she should be. You know she should be. We got some good options.

It does seem like Hayes is perfectly aware of Shaw's qualities. And, I mean, she said there's not many players in the world who can do what she can do with her feet. And I think that's true. Not that anybody needs me to back up what Emma Hayes says. And then let's do the last goal. 88 minute mark. It's Sophia getting in on the action. Another fantastic goal.

She gets a cutback from Thompson, kind of going away from the goal. She turns and shoots with her left foot. I mean, this is the kind of shot she can score on, but she ends up hitting it kind of tamely, and it gets bounced right back to her by an Icelandic defender, and she takes one touch. Was it off her chest or with their leg?

Thigh, maybe I'm going to say thigh. I'll find it to confirm. Okay. But anyways, one touch. and then just follies it with absolute venom in at the far post. What a hit. Yeah, and it's really good. I mean, I'm going to say it's improvisation because the way it does come back to her,

it would have been easy to just control it first and then be like, okay, now what should I do with it? But she was just like, no ball here swing. Like the balls where I, the balls where it should be, I'm swinging. Like there's no, there's no hesitation like to get her body set up to hit it and she smacks it. She does. Was it her thigh that she got it with? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Got it with the thigh and then just like continuous motion, goal.

Yeah, gorgeous. So she, you know, it seems like she could start if we really needed her to. What takeaways do we have here? I mean, reminder that Jaden Shaw is an absolute baller. I have to admit, in WOSO a couple days ago, I was a little bit critical of Alyssa Thompson for the way she's been playing for Angel City just being wasteful in the final third

and I think both Vince and Tara were kind of like shut up bells and I think I have to I have to admit that they were they're going to be vindicated by last night's performance far more than I am which is what this is all for us scoring vindication points

Yeah. I think Alyssa Thompson is a big takeaway, right? Like, what's beautiful is we don't need, we don't need her to be amazing right now. It's awesome that she is. But it's like, there's no, I don't think there's any like, okay, now should Alyssa Thompson be starting over Trinity Rodman? Because we don't have to do that. We just keep playing our ridiculous gold winning talent. And it's like, we also have Alyssa Thompson now to keep giving runouts when people aren't available or, you know, as 20,

five minutes off the bench, and then she needs to use those opportunities to keep looking good like she is in this game to cement a place as just the next outrageous attacking talent for the U.S. women's national team. Yeah. I mean, there will be injuries in the future. It's not just, it's not just going to be now, so it's going to be good to have, it's going to be good to have three, four, five world-class wingers on the team. I'm not sure whether we have five at the moment, but. I mean, yeah, you'd think about the Olympics and we just didn't sub ours out, right? Because I presumably because Emma feels, and I think she's right, that the drop off was enough that even getting in fresher legs would be worse for us

than just be like, nah, Trinity will do something cool. Sof will do something here. So, and obviously Emma's choices there were vindicated with a gold medal. So, yeah, it would be nice if we got to where it was like, no, as good as Trinity Rodman is, if she's played for 75 minutes, we have Alyssa Thompson who can match what she's doing and faster. Right. I mean, it's not totally unreal.

Match exactly what Trin does. I don't know, but she can match a lot of it, I bet. And again, I'm not trying to say we're there yet. It's not like this game against Iceland means Alyssa Thompson has fully arrived for the U.S. women's national team. But it's like, we're in such a great place where we get to, to see this play out now throughout this cycle heading into the next world cup and it's just while we're watching it again we'll get to see all the other players doing all this incredible

stuff so we're just in an amazing place as a fan of the program it is it is a nice place to be any you got a wish list for the next the next one the game on Sunday I want to see I hope we see more Yasmin Ryan because that I mean that one sequence was enough for me to be like I want more minutes from her. I hope we see Thompson again. And I want to see more Howl. I want to see what Hal can do. Just blowing people up.

I don't know if Shaw is there physically yet, but I would like to see her start over Horan. I'd like to see Lavelle stop hazing the younger players. Oh, I'm just kidding. Yeah, I think that's it. Anything else from you, Greg? No, Vamos. Be safe, Bels. All right.

everybody for listening. We'll see you.