Lady Vols Soccer ⚽️ Tennessee @ Virginia Tech 11/15 Friday 7PM Blacksburg VA ⚽️ NCAA TOURNAMENT First Round ESPN+

#4,326
#4,326
knoxvol52 said:
Looks like nucleus of team is young don't think Rapinoe comes back and no inside information but maybe Morgan either getting older it seems.
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Rapinoe is retiring after she finishes this season with her NWSL team. Ertz also announced her retirement from the national team. There is going to be a big rebuild with most of the vets moving off the team. I don't see Morgan having much future with NWSL.

Smith, Rodman (who looked much better today), Germa, Lavelle is a good core. Need some upgrades at outside back (I think Dunn is also done with the team). If Catarina Macario can come fully recover from her ACL, she is absolutely electric and big solution to what the USWNT was missing this tournament. Same for Mallory Swanson.

Really impressed at how well Sonnett played today and it was just some bad luck and a great save that kept the US from advancing.

I am still taking Spain to win it all but Japan and England are right in the mix.
 
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#4,327
#4,327
sisaq said:
The whole world already caught up with usa. I remembered HAM ..when they use to beat Nigeria by 16-0. Not anymore. It's not the coach. I heard some ppl saying embarrassing... Nothing to be embarrassed. It's a sport and luck wasn't on their side as they missed couple penalties. Congrats.
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It is obviously a mix of both. The overall caliber of women's world has been going up rapidly since 2015. You can see it in low ranked teams making to the knock out stages and big teams like Brazil and Germany not advancing past the group stage.

At the same time, Vietnam was a poor team and the US struggled to score. They could not score against Portugal or Sweden. Vlatko had them playing incredibly predictable soccer in the group stage. And they have been subpar as an attacking side over his entire tenure. So, yes he takes some blame for tactics and team selections and sub patterns.

For example, it was clear from the OT that Smith should have been playing the 9 role ((over a consistently ineffective Alex Morgan) with Rodman, Williams, and criminally under used Alyssa Thompson getting some time. Emily Sonnett was dynamite and only got a shot because of Lavelle's red card. Hindsight is 20/20 but when the WC champ and #1 ranked goes out, heads have to roll. Bye bye Vlatko.

We have been here before. In 2007, Brazil embarrassed the US in the semis and then Germany obliterated Brazil in the final and it looked like 3 to 5 teams were as good or better than the US. The world has "caught up" narrative happened then to. The USWNT did a rebuild, with a new coach, and made it to the final where they lost to Japan in 2011 and then that core group won in 15 and 19. Three straight finals with 2 titles is a heck of a run though.
 
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#4,339
#4,339
Two of our Lady Vols will be playing for Jamaica (Last two left in the tournament)
Current Vol-Kameron Simmonds
VFL-Bunny Shaw
🇯🇲 Let’s Go Reggae Girlz! 🇯🇲

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Match starts at 4 AM

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#4,344
#4,344
turbovol said:
Isn't our first game--an exhibition against bama--tomorrow? Not a word that I've seen yet on UTSports.com or DailyBeacon.
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Alabama Welcomes Tennessee for Tuesday Night Exhibition Game
The Crimson Tide will kick off against the Lady Volunteers at 7 p.m. CT at the Alabama Soccer Stadium Soccer

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – In preparation for the 2023 season, the Alabama soccer team will host Tennessee in an exhibition match Tuesday night. The game at the Alabama Soccer Stadium will kick off at 7 p.m. CT.
The Game
Date: Tuesday, Aug. 8 Time: 7 p.m. CT Location: Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Venue: Alabama Soccer Stadium
How To Follow
Live stats will be available at SIDEARMLiveStats
Attendance to all regular season home soccer games is free.
 
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#4,345
#4,345
From ESPN's postmortem on the USWNT. It is a really important point:

The youth pipeline isn't producing the right players
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Anyone who has followed the youth national teams knew this day would come. The USWNT's under-20 team did not get out of the group stage at both the 2022 and 2018 U-20 Women's World Cups. The U-17 USWNT did get out of the group in 2022, only to be eliminated in its first knockout game, and previously crashed out of its groups in 2018 and 2014.
If the U.S. isn't producing the best young players, it won't produce the best senior players. The young players who made this World Cup roster -- the likes of Smith and Rodman -- are potent, but one-dimensional, forwards. Injured forward Macario, who brings flair and creativity, developed her game in Brazil before moving to the United States.
You also have to question the role of scouting when it comes to which players break through. Injured forward Swanson, a player known for her pace and athleticism, first caught the attention of the youth national team at 13. Rose Lavelle -- arguably the most creative player the USWNT has other than the injured Macario -- didn't earn her first youth call-up until she was almost 18.
For U.S. Soccer to have the best, most technically gifted and creative players available at the senior level, it needs to find these players at the youth level and bring them all the way through to the senior side. -- Murray
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