WNT v China, Dec. 13, 2015, pre/pbp/post

What's happened to Sydney Leroux? Is she still injured? It's also about time to see Whitney Engen if she is still in competition for the Olympic roster.

I'd like to see Press start and Morgan come in for her at the half -- to compare the two of them in the same match. Press I see in competition with Morgan to start in the Olympics, assuming we continue (and I think we should) to play a single forward. Press is wasted out on the flank where she so often plays.

At center mid, I would like to see Horan for half the game and the next in line -- whether Mewis (probably) , Colaprico, or Lavelle play the other half. Also, for reasons of comparison.

With Rapinoe probably out for the Olympics, and O'Reilly riding the bench, the competition at outside mid looks like it's between Heath, Dunn, and McCaffrey. Maybe we'll see the resurrection of O'Reilly or a change of position to midfield for O'Hara or Leroux.

 

Im still in favor of a rotation of the central attackers. I believe they r equally good with any combination of Press, Lloyd and Morgan and they need to use that luxury. Lloyd is in great shape but she is still 33 and doesnt need to be playing 90 minutes each match. While Morgan is just entering her prime her history of injuries and the way she plays with reckless abandon is also a concern for 90 minutes. By splitting up the time they shouldnt lose anything in the offense while keeping three key goal scorers healthy and played in. Now if Press comes up lacking in big situations against big teams, they can always go back to the way things r now, but if it works the team will be better for it.

Ellis needs to get Colaprico in for a half whether Horans plays well or not. The Engen story is even made odder by Rampone not being available. If Engen doesnt get any minutes against China it's sort of a statement.

Also, why is Solo playing 90 minutes in all these matches? I think it's a given Solo starts the Wambach sendoff match so if I dont see Harris or Naeher today I may need to hire a private investigator.

 

Need to see HAO. Without Rapinoe ... Ellis needs to be challenging her wingers to no end. That needs to be the #1 competition right now.

 

I mentioned this is the Olympic roster thread. The two big jobs for Ellis is replacing Holiday and replacing Rapinoe. I like what I saw from Horan and want to see more but I also want to see Colaprico. Rapinoe seems to be the bigger problem as most of the outside players she has do better on the right which leaves her with just Heath on the left.

 

What the.......5:20 Central time and the ESPN2 Basketball game has just started halftime...this game is scheduled in the 4:30-6:30 slot. What the????????

 

Relax. The match is at 6:30 Central, after the BB game.

 

Match starts in ~1 hour, at 16:30 PST = 19:30 EST.

USA WNT twitter is still in pre-lineup anxious-energy mode. Make a salad, mow the lawn (no snow to shovel), relax.

 

Match Guide
U.S. WNT vs. China

MATCHDAY SCHEDULE – DECEMBER 13
All times are approximate:
11:00 a.m. – Main ticket office, in between Gates 2 and 3, opens
1:00 p.m. – FanHQ Phoenix opens
1:00 p.m. – Parking lots opens
4:00 p.m. – Gates opens
5:00 p.m. – Kickoff

 

On GameDay, are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

US lineup: Naeher; Krieger, Sauerbrunn, Johnston, Kling; Dunn, Horan, Brian, Heath; Lloyd, Morgan

 

Naeher with the start in goal

 

2015/12/13 Sun @ 19:30 EST

USA (Jillian Ellis):
13 Alex Morgan, 10© Carli Lloyd
17 Tobin Heath, 14 Morgan Brian, _ Lindsey Horan, 25 Crystal Dunn
22 Meghan Klingenberg, 4 Becky Sauerbrunn, 16 Julie Johnston, 11 Ali Krieger
21 Alyssa Naeher

China PR (Bruno Bini): Dunno. Guessing from their 12/07 Mon 2-0 win vs. Italy:
9 Wang Shanshan, 11 Wang Shuang, 31 Ma 晓旭
18 Han Peng, 13 Tang Jiali, 21 Wang Lisi
24 薛娇, 10 Li Ying, 23 Ren Guixin
2 Liu Shanshan, 5© Wu Haiyan, 6 Li Dongna, 35 杨曼
22 Zhao Lina

 

Any live feeds?

 

So is Lindsey Horan 31 or __?
And Johnston is till 19 I think.

 

U forgot 2 pm to 3 pm Labor settlements, field appraisals and federation loans.

 

What are we doing here?!? So I guess this may be a precursor to Rio.... Minus Solo.

 

This lineup does not bode too well for Leroux, O'Reilly, Engen, or Rodriguez. If none of them get subbed in, it may be a long year for them.

 

Any way to watch the start of the game? The basketball game on ESPN before is in over time

 

ESPN News Anthems now

 

ESPN2: mbb LSU 84-84 Houston, start of OT

USA-China begins on ESPN News. For those of you with WatchESPN, just select whichever "Live" event is showing "ESPNNEWS", even if it says "SportsCenter" or whatever. Lineups! (then p-in-p the mbb, for when it shifts back)

... well, it worked for 30 seconds of lineups, but now it says "Error Code: 302". Sooo ... I can stream the W20s, but not the WNT

07' 0-0 Yaay! It's working! China gk, tails off into left touch past midfield.

 

That would be helpful if I had that channel.

 

4 minutes in .... you've missed nothing

 

Depends on how you define nothing; I'm the kind of person who can miss a 5-second shot of Tobin Heath sitting on a bench and blinking in HD and be grumpy about it for 24 hours.