This year's Women's World Cup has been fantastic. And not just because the good ol' US of A is in the final after two of the most exciting soccer games - men's or women's - I've ever seen, but because the soccer itself has been great in every match. The pace and power of the women's game will never be on par with the men's game, for obvious reasons, but the skill and creativity are quickly catching up. Plus, the women's game doesn't have any of the diving and playacting (save the last 15 minutes of the USA-Brazil game) that can make the men's game so infuriating at times.
But here's the problem - at least, if you're an American - while teams like France and Japan are coming out of the woodwork to challenge the traditional powers, the US women's game doesn't seem to be evolving at the same rate. The US women's team seems to focus on three qualities as being important: work rate, size, and spirit. Not surprisingly, theses are the same attributes that are most often mentioned with the US men's team. If you don't immediately see the problem there, go back and look at the men's results against top competition recently. Spirit and work rate don't win soccer games the majority of the time. If you want to be elite, you first need the skills and creativity, then the tactical awareness and smarts. The spirit and work rate can put you over the top, but lacking the others you're going to spend a lot of time chasing the game.
For the majority of yesterday's semifinal matchup France dominated the US. Dominated. They were better tactically. They relied on positioning, movement, and quick passes. Their touch was outstanding and, player-for-player, they were much more creative. The US won because a) the French goalie was terrible and b) Abby Wambach is a 5' 11" freak of nature. Now look at who the US is facing in the finals. A Japan team that has plowed through two teams - Germany and Sweden - with characteristics very similar to the US, i.e. big, fast, power teams. It's going to be a very interesting game.
The big question is what does the future hold for the US women's program? Title IX and other societal advantages gave the women's program a huge head start on the rest of the world, but they're catching up quickly. If the US women continue to think that just hard work and that indefatigable American spirit will keep them at the top (as the men's program seemingly does), they are sorely mistaken. Other countries will continue to get bigger, faster, and stronger, but will also focus on creativity and tactics. And it won't take long for the US to be left behind. If the US wants to remain ahead of the curve they need to shift focus now.
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3 comments:
Check out an actual statistical analysis of women vs. men diving done by Wake Forest.
http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2011/07/13/faking-it-on-the-soccer-field
Agree with Ian on all points. However, who says that we focus on work rate, size and spirit? The inane announcers? I'm so tired of all the US Soccer retreads giving their opinions. Give me REAL analysis.
I would be willing to wager that we focus a TREMENDOUS amount of training on both the men's and women's sides to tactics, skills and set pieces. However, there seems to be a disconnect, because that doesn't show up on the field.
It's one of two things:
a) Our coaching sucks and isn't utilizing the best talent and/or tactics.
b) Our players suck and are incapable of playing with the high level of skill that other teams have.
With regards to the women, I think I have to lay it on coaching. Our players play at the highest level in the world in college and WPS. They are the best athletes America has to offer. We should be running circles around the rest of the world!!!
As for the men, I think it is primarily the players. The best US athletes are never going to play soccer. We still have very good athletes, but what does it tell you that so many are foreign born, or raised abroad. Some of our great players routinely get frustrated when playing on the MNT. Clint is a perfect example. He is a pure scoring machine. GET HIM THE BALL! He is tracking back all the time and begging for service. As a result, I think our coaching philosophy is to try and cover up our flaws, rather than showcase our skills.
Last beef... WHERE ARE ALL THE HISPANIC US NATIONAL TEAM PLAYERS??? The Hispanic ethnic class is the fastest growing in America. They love soccer, yet they all root for Mexico. Can you think of a good Hispanic US player? I predict that when the MNT embraces Hispanic players, and when the Hispanic fans embrace the MNT, we will take the next step on the world stage. Until then, they will continue to boo our own National Anthem.
For the women - definitely the coaching. Although she's gotten them to the finals, Pia Sundhage's decisions have been questionable throughout the tournament. Maybe she knows something that I don't, but when you substitute the same players at halftime of every game and the second half subs always play much better I would think those players should be starting. And yet, Rapinoe and Morgan are still getting limited minutes.
For the men, I blame the entire ODP system that feeds into the national teams. It's terrible at finding and identifying talent, and the players that do go through this system come out lacking any elite skills or creativity. Maybe that's why Dempsey is such a standout - he didn't participate in ODP.
Great point about ODP. The best US players are privileged kids with enough money to play elite soccer. If you are coached by the best and play with better players, fields and equipment - you'll be good! It takes a TON of time and money to follow this path. Very similar to golf. In both cases, I feel you could take any motivated kid with motivated parents and decent athletic ability and MAKE him a passable player on ODP teams or on a golf tour. I'm not saying you make another Messi, just a passable ODP player.
Soccer also has the politics of player selection, so that adds another wrinkle. ODP needs to be more accessible to more players to make sure of the smaller talent pool of soccer players (as opposed to football etc), the best move forward - not the most privileged.
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