Rapinoe, Woznuk, Lopez at National Team Camp!!!!!!!

Awesome news for Megan!!! And for Angie and Steph too, but I'm most happy for Megan.

http://www.soccer365.com/us_national_teams/story_10109001216.php

the first call-up since 2006 for former University of Portland star Megan Rapinoe

...

Rapinoe was one of the USA’s best players at the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup in Thailand and was on her way to breaking into the senior side in 2006, playing in four matches and scoring twice, but major knee injuries in successive college seasons (2006 and 2007) derailed her international career. She finally got healthy this season, scoring five goals with 13 assists for the Pilots while playing mostly attacking midfielder and during the camp will see her first WNT action in over two years.

Nice.
I really think Megan will wow them.

Having three players on the team who can play possession ball might help change the character of the team.

Purplegeezer wrote:Nice.
I really think Megan will wow them.

Having three players on the team who can play possession ball might help change the character of the team.

Yeah, that level is faster though...it's more one touch soccer and team play IMO...

athleticjames wrote:

Purplegeezer wrote:Nice.
I really think Megan will wow them.

Having three players on the team who can play possession ball might help change the character of the team.

Yeah, that level is faster though. There's less time for possession ball; it's more one touch soccer and team play IMO...

She didn't have any problem with the pace of play the last time she made the team. She looked to me like she's almost back at her old form, speed-wise. and I think she might havebetter 1v1 skills now. there's no question that she's willing to Play full bore....

What a Trio, eh? This news made me smile from ear to ear! I'm sure they will support each other and.... together start to influence the culture of the Senior Team as they did for the Pilots!

I'm so very happy for Megan especially! What a long road its been for her! But, she's back where she belongs!

GO PILOTS!!!

I agree. I guess I'm kind of a purist when it comes to soccer, and I'm more into the one touch technical style than the one-on-one stuff... Rapinoe is one of the few players talented enough to go one-on-one without hurting a team though.

The best indication to me of Megan's recovery back to the level she once mastered...was during the SCU game! When Coach Jerry Smith assigned a shadow to mark Megan. That was one of the most intense 90 min one-on-one battles I've seen! Except for Megan's goal where where she broke free to volley Jessica's cross...Jerry's instructions were simple! Stick to Megan like glue! And for the most part, she tried her darndest to do so! Anyway, it was an ultimate show of respect towards Megan's skills and workmanlike effort! How often does Jerry put a mark on anyone? Megan's one of the rare players who can either finesse you...or just run you over!

GO PILOTS!!!

That was maybe my favorite goal of all time, and another favorite was her sister's reaction on the bench.

I sure would love to see all three on the national team. I agree that they would possibly change the culture of the team to more of a possession team.

I saw Megan and Angie working out together on the Chiles Center track a couple of days ago. Now I know that they have a very good reason.

That is awesome for you all, congrats.

I'm kind of struggling with what you two mean by "possession team." To me, a possession team would be a team that plays great one-touch soccer with great technical skills that can play keep away from the other team. The ball can travel 60-90 mph, and the fastest humans can't run nearly that fast. As E. Wynalda would say, "The ball is always the fastest thing on the field." So, in the end while having good one-on-one skills like Rapinoe, Waznuk, or Lopez have is important, it's much more important to have great technical skills like being able to trap and pass to another player all in one motion IMO. Maybe that's what you meant...

Anyway, at least that's my experience as a former player....

One opposing coach - maybe Texas? - said after playing the Pilots that when his team lost the ball, it took a long time to get it back. To me, a possession game is that simple - lots of passes, passes just to keep the ball until we move it into open space and can create a dangerous situation - above all, short passes out of pressure rather than blasting it long out of pressure, usually to the other team. The other team gets tired and discouraged playing defense and chasing all the time. Yes, definitely, the faster the game, the more one-touch passes are needed to find the open space, and the first touch becomes more vital. Hopefully, too, the end of a long possession is creation of a dangerous situation, but even if it isn't, the damage has been done, and the damage becomes cumulative. Two years ago at the world cup, I thought the national team was far too direct, just knocking the ball forward. It was better under the new coach at the Olympics, but still not where I would like to see it, and I wonder if they will revert to knocking the ball forward when Wombach returns. I hope not.

I enjoyed watching the Pilots more than the national team, even though the level of play was obviously inferior.

I think it's a misconception that you have to play a rapid fire one-touch game to play possession ball. The teams that are the best at it don't play that way (Argentina, Spain) when they play it it, possession is by the whole team. It's all about spacing, showing for the ball, making simple passes to the open man, and not panicking under pressure. Done right, it's almost boring to watch.

I know I've pointed out this video before. There's little one-touch, almost no running, and all the passes except perhaps the backheel look like ones a rec team could make. Nobody tries for the 40 yarder into the teeth of the defense. The key for me watching that video is that the player on the ball always has a pass forward, a pass to the side, and a pass out of pressure available to him because other players make sure they are showing for the ball and spacing themselves. When they go into pressure, they do it enough so the opponent has to commit, but not so much that the attacker does. They never have to pass through the defense, but probe from angles until an angle opens up. And the backheel was no accident. Both players expected it. Watch Where Cambiasso heads after he makes his last pass.

And remember, he's a reserve defensive mid on this team who came on shortly before this sequence. He sometimes wore #9 in the Italian league. but here he's wearing #5, a defenders number.



The magic of that goal is that there is no magic.

It's great for the Pilots to have three of their best in the WNY camp. We'll see more Pilots there in the future, I reckpon I suppose it's a long shot that all three will make the Algarve Cup team, but I bet that all three will show up and contend. Does anyone know what's up with Aly Wagner? That's one talented midfielder not invited to the camp. BTW, Angie, Natalie Budge and Jennifer Tuttle were playing indoor soccer this week at Beaverton's Soccerplex, and Wozzie and Budgie quickly put their coed team up 3-nil. So yeah, Angie looks game-ready.

Thanks, Geezer - great stuff - First time I've seen it. It's not like the defense is slack, either. They are playing with intensity.

One absolute must to play this way is getting the good first touch, away from whatever pressure there is. You see that several times here, especially when the ball goes into the middle.

PurpleGeezer--

If that video is what you mean by "posession" soccer, then I think we are on the same page. Although there's not as much one touch soccer there, it's still two touch with a simple trap and a pass on every possession, knowing that the ball travels faster than any human can run... The best teams in the world in Italy and Brazil play that style at their best. I think that the womens' national team played that way at their best under Tony DiCiccio and has gone away from that in recent years. In my opinion though, playing that style is more a matter of coaching than players because our national teams are always loaded with All-Americans and future All-Americans.

I guess that I was curious to see what you meant because the college game and the National Team game are so different IMO. I think there's more of a disparity of talent at the college level, and it's more okay to let players play a little bit more one-on-one and take some risks and have fun. At the National Team level, there's less of a disparity of talent and the game is faster. If we don't play one touch or two touch soccer, teams like Brazil or Germany will beat us. If we do, were' still the best in the world IMO...

That's just one opinion from a hard core fan though... :face:

I think there is definitely a need for the player with good 1 v 1 skills. I would guess the vast majority of goals are probably scored because an offensive player with the ball beat someone and either scored or set up a score. However, that needs to happen around or in the box, not farther back down the field. It is the possession game and, as Geez said, attacking through the angles that gets the ball to your dangerous player in a dangerous spot. 1 v 1 does little if any good farther back, which is a lesson many (probably most) younger teams need to learn.

Anyway - strayed from my point - I think a good team needs that one player with the 1 v 1 skills who can take someone on in or near the box after the possession gets it to him/her there, and either score or set up a score. In a tight, even game, you need that kind of player, the one who can get the ball into the net when you really need it, and I think the most successful teams have that player (see UNC in the championship game, or Portland with Sinclair, or USC last year with Rodriguez). You get the ball to that player in a dangerous spot often enough and you'll score.

It's always important to have players who can finish like Sinclair, Milbrett, or Landon Donovan (in the men's game). I don't think we are in disagreement any longer on this. I just feel that by the above idea of the "posession game" it's more a matter of coaching than players. The Brazilian and Italian coaches are the ones who create the environment to tell their players, "We're only going to play one touch or two touch football."

In the goal in the video, the player who scored was just in great position after all of the two-touch soccer had been done. No one-on-one moves were necessary...

I need a beer. I think we are all starting to take the sport a little too seriously.

AJ -

1- I couldn't agree more that it is the coaches who create the concept of "possession game" with their players. I always stressed the idea that EVERY POSSESSION COUNTS - don't waste them, don't give the ball away until we have at least made a few passes (these were high school girls at a small school), do NOT just bash the ball forward, (that usually got a girl out of the game for a while), and above all, pass back out of pressure when necessary - for some reason, a very difficult concept at that stage of development. Incidently, it took years to get them thinking this way and to develop the skills necessary to play this way.

2- I think you could make a case that the great 1 v 1 in-the-box move in the video was the heel pass, although that may be a stretch and your point is well taken. I do still think that most goals are scored after someone beats a defender in close to the goal to either score or set up a score. A very common one is an outside player getting around a defender to send in a good cross. One of my favorite 1 v 1 goals is Sinclair's goal vs UCLA in the 4-0 championship game, after receiving the lateral pass, I think from Rapinoe (maybe Budge?).

3- I don't agree about taking the sport too seriously (probably not possible), but I completely agree about the beer.

Here's a commercial to lighten things up...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfzJMVj61Ds

Very good, AJ - A beer commercial would have been perfect.

(Yawn....stretch).....aahhhhh! What's up, everyone? Been asleep for a few weeks. Showing signs of actually getting out of bed.

Real happy for Megan, Woz and Steph. Hope they all make team.

Go Pilots - recruits, current players & alumni!!!

my favorite soccer video!
Why Japan will never win the world cup.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3050392803208120893&q=soccer+japan+pepsi