YIIAUUCHHHHHHHH

Do you think Ali and Ash will make the Olympic roster? ANd do you think the CONCACAF tournament is structured in a way that will make it hard for us to qualify? I’m a new USWNT fan, I became a fan before the WWC because I found woso fanfics (yours included) so I don’t know a lot about soccer but I’ve somehow become I diehard USWNT and NWSL follower

Hi there.  Welcome to woso!  That’s women’s soccer, just in case you don’t know that yet.  lol.  First of all, thank you for reading the story.  I appreciate it very much.  :)  

Now to your soccer questions… I’ll take the easier of the two first.  I think the CONCACAF tournament is as good as it’s gonna get anytime soon.  CONCACAF is probably just as corrupt as the rest of the FIFA, etc.  But, in general, I think it’s a fair tournament and the USWNT should have no problem qualifying for the Olympics.  But you never know.  I think it was before 2012 Olympics (or maybe 2011 World Cup??) when the USWNT lost to Mexico and almost didn’t qualify!  So you just never know.  But there’s absolutely no reason the team shouldn’t win the CONCACAF tournament.  They’ll certainly at least come in 2nd place and still qualify.

Whether or not Ali and Ashlyn make the Olympic roster is a much more difficult question.  I believe with all my heart that the team is better with them both on it.  They’re excellent players who could both still start (in my opinion anyway), and even more importantly, they’re experienced veterans who know what it’s like to play and win on the biggest stages.  They were also both part of the 2016 Olympic team (Ashlyn was one of the alternates and Ali made her first Olympic squad ever - she missed the 2012 squad because of her knee injury) and I think it’s important to bring many of those players back so they will give it everything they’ve got to erase the embarrassment of their worst finish ever in Rio.  I’m hoping Ashlyn will get an official spot this time around because I believe she deserves it.  I personally think she’s a better keeper than Alyssa but I know most people disagree.  I watched Alyssa when she was with the Boston Breakers and she’s a great keeper, but she’s not nearly vocal or bossy enough back there.  She never has been and I don’t think she ever will be.  It’s just not in her DNA.  Her timidity back there is why a lot of the miscommunications happen along the backline.  It’s Alyssa’s job to tell them all exactly what to do.  Anyway, I digress.  Ashlyn should make the team as the 2nd keeper because she’s the only one with any true leadership skills.  You’ll notice that most of the time Jill Ellis tried some crazy grouping of newbies on the backline over the past 2-3 years she had Ashlyn in goal.  Alyssa almost always gets the best and most experienced defenders on her backlines.  This is certainly not always the case, but it does happen more often than not.  So I think Ashlyn should make the Olympic roster.  It’ll be her first time and I’ll be super stoked for her.

I also think Ali should make the squad.  She’s certainly good enough to play on that backline.  She more than proved that at the World Cup.  All the horseshit US Soccer and Jill Ellis tried to feed everybody about how old and slow Kriegs was over the past 2-½ years was exposed as exactly that - horseshit.  I think Ali is a better outside back than Sonnett and Davidson (and Purce for that matter too).  I think Crystal Dunn did a fabulous job at LB at the WC and I think Casey Short would be a great backup for her.  I think Kelley O’Hara is the starter at RB and nobody is going to change that.  US Soccer markets her like crazy and I just don’t see anybody taking that spot from her.  I still think Ali is a better defender than KO, all day every day.  But I agree that KO is a better offensive player than Ali is.  It depends on what the coach is looking for.  It’s just that simple.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Ali was the first and only defender off the bench in the biggest games in the World Cup.  That says it all right there really.  Why would you not bring her to the Olympics with you too?  Also, on a side note, I think Kelley’s too aggressive and reckless to be a starting defender.  I feel the same way about Sonnett too.  You shouldn’t have to worry about your defenders getting yellow cards.  You want your defenders to be solid back there and tough, no doubt, but you have to be able to rely on them for the full 90.  And if a player has to change the way they’re playing the game to avoid getting a second yellow card and leaving the team down to 10 players, then that’s a problem.  That’s just my take on defense in general.  Ali plays tough, physical, aggressive defense - that’s what attracted me to her in the very first place back in 2011 at that World Cup.  But she rarely commits a foul and hardly ever gets a card.  That’s how I like my defenders.  But that’s just me.  Another good thing for Ali is that she can play Center Back too.  She’s played CB quite often for the Pride in the NWSL over the past couple of years and she does a really good job of it.  A lot of people assume it’s because she was too slow and old to play RB anymore.  But that’s simply not the case.  Tom Sermanni moved her to CB because she was easily the best defender on the team and he wanted her in a more centralized position so she could help more on defense and so she could lead and command more from that centralized position.  She’s also really fast and he wanted her to play there in CB because the other CBs on the team were kind of slow.  Zadorsky isn’t slow though, but she wasn’t there when Sermanni made the move.  We all know how dynamic Ali can be from that RB position and she still sends in some of the best crosses in the game, NWSL or USWNT.  If the Pride ever get a decent backline again, Ali might move back to RB where she truly excels.  

The point is, she can play multiple roles along the backline and that’s a big asset for her when it comes to making the Olympic roster.  Instead of taking 23 players (20 field players and 3 keepers) like we do for the World Cup, we only get to take 18 players to the Olympics.  16 field players and 2 keepers.  Nobody knows what Vlatko’s going to do because he’s too new to get a feel for yet, but making the Olympic roster is one of the hardest things to do for the USWNT players.  Theoretically, you could take the WC roster and eliminate 1 keeper and 4 field players and you’d be all set.  But that alone is a difficult task.  Add to that the players who just missed the cut for the WC, like Casey Short, and the decision gets even harder to make.  Players like Julie Ertz and Crystal Dunn and Ali Krieger who can play multiple positions become very valuable now.  

And for God’s sake, everybody has to be healthy!!  Ellis screwed up big time in 2016 by bringing Megan Rapinoe who wasn’t ready to come back after her torn ACL.  It was ridiculous.  I love Pinoe - I truly do.  But she wasn’t healthy and shouldn’t have taken up a roster spot.  I hope Vlatko doesn’t do the same thing with Alex Morgan after she has her baby.  I love Morgan too, more than most people do, and I think she makes the team better just by being on the field and keeping the defense honest so the other players have room to do their thing and score goals.  I think Morgan is one of the most selfless strikers I’ve ever seen and she gets crap for it all the time.  The stats don’t show it but she changes the game just by being out there and keeping defenders busy and opening up space and setting plays up.  She’ll never get the credit she deserves for that either.  Anyway, I love her ok?  But if she’s not 100% then I don’t want her on the team.  Period.  End of story.  I know Sydney Leroux just came back after giving birth and played in the NWSL 3 months afrer having her daughter, but ask Syd how she did after having her first baby?  Syd was able to do that because she knew what her body needed after pregnancy beause she’d done it already before.  Morgan is an amazing athlete and I’ll be thrilled for her if she can do it, but I also don’t want her to try so hard either.  You just had your first baby.  Relax and enjoy it.  You’ve already got an Olympic gold medal, you know?  Here’s another advantage for Ali Krieger - Kelley O’Hara is injury-prone and can’t stay healthy these days.  That’s a big risk to take with you into the Olympics.  We’re gonna need a really good backup for her.  Ali Krieger.

So this is a whole lot of words to say I don’t know if Ali or Ashlyn will make the Olympic roster.  They both deserve to be there.  I think the team will benefit greatly from having them both there.  But we’re just gonna have to wait and see what Vlatko does.

Here’s what I think I’d like to see for my Olympic roster:

Strikers/Wingers: Rapinoe, Heath, Press,  Lloyd, Pugh

MF: Lavelle, Ertz, Horan, Mewis, Brian

D: Dunn, Sauerbrunn, Dahlkemper, O’Hara, Krieger, Short

GK: Naeher, Harris

cut from WC roster: Franch, Sonnett, Davidson, Long, MacDonald, Morgan (I know this is 6 players, but I put Casey Short into the roster instead of Sonnett)

Morgan Brian has been playing really well lately so I think I’d take her instead of Allie Long right now.  I personally don’t like Pugh very much - I don’t think she’s improved at all since she started playing with the team in 2105/2016.  I honestly would take MacDonald over Pugh but that’ll never happen in a million years.  And I really like Tierna Davidson a lot.  I like her much better at CB and I would seriously consider taking her over Dahlkemper because I’m not a huge Dahlkemper fan to begin wtih.  But, again, that’ll never happen.  Although who knows?  Jill Ellis got rid of Ali Krieger for less reason so who the hell knows?  I like bringing 6 defenders because Crystal Dunn could slide up into MF or Forward if necessary during the Olympics.  She’s the ultimate utility player who can kick ass on any line on the pitch.  Legitimately.  And I don’t like when they move JJ back to CB because she’s so good at that holding midfield spot.  The team plays totally differently when she’s not in midfield (they play worse).  So take 6 defenders.  Keep JJ at MF and move Crystal around if injuries happen and we need another body up top for some reason.

There.  I’m done.  I’ll stop now.  Aren’t you sorry you asked?  lol