On Monday night a friend asked when the Womenâs World Cup would get some run on Slog. The answer? Right now! Itâs happening right now, on the eve of the US Womenâs National Teamâs quarterfinal match against China.
This has been a weird World Cup run for the US, as Americaâs attack has been uncharacteristically meh. Seattle Reign midfielder Megan Rapinoe has been the most threatening player, pinging in dangerous crosses and well-hit shots from the left flank. Unfortunately, Rapinoe is out for the teamâs quarterfinal match against China due to yellow card accumulation.
Rapinoeâs absence is a big deal as the rest of Americaâs top attackers arenât playing great. Striker Abby Wambach is old and, despite her group stage goal, relatively ineffective at the highest level at this point in her career. Her natural replacement up top, Alex Morgan, is still showing the ill-effects of a recent spate of injuries as she is absent her top-end speed. Morgan at full speed is like 2007 Fernando Torres (super awesome). Morgan at two-third's speed is like 2014 Fernando Torres (hilariously not awesome). This is not good for America.
Making things worse, head coach Jill Ellis seems at a loss for ideas as to how to get her side to create more chances. Attacking midfielder Tobin Heath has gotten a decent increase in minutes, but her pace isnât really being utilized. The system the US is using feels very English (more on this in a second): play long balls, aim for heads, try to force set pieces. In fact, Ellis said the majority of World Cup goals come from set pieces despite that fact being ludicrously untrue.
25 of 126 goals at this WWC have been off set pieces. http://t.co/79FUXLzEEj
â Paul Carr (@PCarrESPN) June 24, 2015
Despite a not-so-good attack, America has a goodâeven greatâdefense. Julie Johnston has been a revelation at center back, producing a series of imperious defensive displays with a healthy dose of attacking verve. And the ever-controversial Hope Solo has been at her best in goal. All told, the US team has not conceded a goal in its last 333 minutes. Thatâs awesome.
And Friday, against China, a good defense should be enough. While China is playing well, this is not the same Chinese team that pushed the Americans to penalties in 1999. Soccer is a fickle game, and the US could lose on penalties or a fluke goal, but they are heavy favorites on Friday with good reason. Americaâs offensive issues, however, could well be a problem in the next round.
Thatâs because a potential US semifinal match would be against the winner of Germany and France. Both of those teams have potent offenses. The Germans, in particular, stand out for their ability to play beautiful football; their nationâs footballing apparatus has an ever-increasing amount of gender parity, and German football is the best football in the world.
I love German soccer. No other nation produces players who create space as cleverly. Thomas Muller is the master of space creation, but there are seemingly dozens of Germans who move off the ball in ways no one else does. This includes their top women. Why? Well, I'm about to get really soccer/linguistics nerdy, so fair warningâŚ
Rene Maric, a bilingual writer for Spielverlagerung, one of the most sophisticated soccer tactics blogs on the internet that publishes mostly in German, fired off this tweet recently:
Writing & talking football theory in English is really tough. It not only lacks vocabular, but the style and possibilities, too. Pro German.
â RM (@ReneMaric) June 18, 2015
Then, after citing this Guardian piece on how the worldviews of German speakers differ from English speakers from a linguistic perspective, he spoke of coining the phrase "strategieraumkongestion" for describing a specific soccer strategy based on dealing with congested spaces. Just having that piece of vocabulary to bandy about hastened the teamâs understanding of the tactic.
Soccer is a complicated, interconnected team sport, and the ability to get everyone on the same page is crucial. If the only page everyone can get on is âhoof it toward a strikerâ (see: a lot of English-speaking countries), then that limits your teamâs ability to derive new ways to best an opponent.
So why bring any of that up? Well, the top of the menâs game is fairly flat. The best men wind up on a handful of top club teams, developing similar skills to the point where strategies in the World Cup are boring. Teams are limited by training time, and the lack of need for tactical specificity. Even something as unique as Spainâs run in the 2010 World Cup was A) predicated on their defense and B) less impressive than what Barcelona was doing at the club level at the time. Same for Germany in 2014 when compared to Bayern Munichâs best sides.
The womenâs game, however, is not so flat. The potential for national culture to play a huge part in the tournament still exists. Look no further than the US team. Their emphasis on fitness and athleticism has been a massive advantage for decades. Now that advantage may be waning as other countries leverage their own advantages. And thatâs an okay thing!
So if the US loses to Germany or France in the semi-finals, sure that would be a bummer, but it would also speak to the ways in which womenâs soccer is growing globally. And that match will likely be the closest thing weâll be able to see to an old-school clash of national soccer philosophies. So letâs root for a cool match in the semis⌠and letâs also root for me not having just jinxed the shit of our team for Fridayâs match.
Caption This. pic.twitter.com/WHIN6prLTh
â U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) June 23, 2015