The US had a pretty good tournament considering how poorly the back line played throughout, (and until today) how poorly we played with the ball at our feet.
Unfortunately, the unforced errors, useless finishing and silly turnovers finally caught up to us. Without those, we win this game by multiple goals.
The news is both good and bad.
the Bad:
1. We lost a game and trophy we should have won.
2. Overall, the defenders were too slow and disorganized for the international game. Rampone was the exception as far as speed, but she had many key turnovers too, including the game tie-er in regulation. Buehler's horrible slowness and decision to play the ball across the goal mouth were bad, but Rampone's nervous turnover pass started the whole debacle.
3. USA Women are suffering from the same illness as the men, lack of quality defending talent. IMO we need to focus on speed, comfort on the ball and tactics instead of the "Buehl-dozer". After watching years and years of US soccer, it is clear we have to learn to defend with possession, and comfort on the ball as opposed to the mindless clearing wacks up the middle that allow teams like Japan to pressure us when they otherwise couldn't mount a dangerous attack( the men frankly suffer from this as well at times). If you watch alot of girls and women's soccer, you can see that besides pure athleticism, the biggest difference between men and women is committment to possession and comfort on the ball. Women DO NOT like the ball, they want to get rid of it, and they hope to make the pass that creates a spectacular goal. It was refreshing to see how Rapinoe, Morgan, and Cheney wanted to possess the ball. Hopefully it's a turning point for us.
4. Shannon Boxx showed her age
5. Abby Wamach, as beloved a star as she's been made, was horrible with the ball at her feet during the tournament, and frankly missed a number of sitter chances in the air as well. It's nice when she scores, but she's totally one-dimensional. Except for an exceptional 1v1 play and cross from Alex Morgan, Abby was shut down by the smaller Japanese defenders.
the Good:
1. Alex Morgan....athleticism AND quality soccer skills and instincts. The best we've had since Mia. Very exciting future with her scoring alot of goals for the R/WandB.
2. Megan Rapinoe... a star in the making, great skill on the ball, great instincts and decision making, great motor. A complete package.
3. Becky Sauerbrunn... why she didn't play in place of Buehler will forever haunt Pia.
4. Lauren Cheney.... her injury may have actually saved Japan as she was super dangerous and the most versatile of our attackers. She's young, and the prospect of a US attack with Cheney, Rapinoe, Morgan, and Heather O'Reilly on the wing is very exciting.
Hopefully, the USWNT staff will realize that the world has caught up to us as far as athleticism, and we need to get our act together on technical ability and possession. Thankfully we have the Olympics to look forward to next year. These girls may still get a gold medal for Wambach, Boxx, Hope and Rampone.
