But damn, that still wasn't fun to watch. Defense leaves a LOT to be desired, but I think we need to solidify our back 4. Dalkemper, Sauerbrunn, why isn't Klingenberg the same as 4 years ago, she plays great for Thorns and find us another wing back. Playing forwards like Crystal Dunn and Kelley O'Hara as defenders is a nightmare.
Ironically what our womens team needs most is what our men's team never really exploited. A Kyle Beckerman defensive holding midfielder. We keep hoping Allie Long will be that, but it doesn't work out. I am confident that with the talent stock the USWNT has and Ellis' ability as a coach can work something out.
With all that being said, with Dalkemper and Sauerbrunn on the back line, I don't think we NEED Hinkle as bad as it looked like we needed her against Japan. Our best defense may be just like 2015 but add Dalkemper. I still like Ertz as defender as she plays this for her NWSL team.
This team needs Horan to be the central player the way Pulisic is for the USMNT. We don't need a striker-striker like Lloyd or Rodriguez anymore but someone to link up with Rapinoe and Press. And I think our youngsters like Horan and even Rose Lavelle are the ones to do it!
team to win the women's international cup. Hinkle and goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo anchored the shutout as the courage snuck an early goal and held on for 1-0. A lot more intense play by the defense tha the USWNT against Australia who seemed in control as long as Horan was in the middle of things. After she scored Lindsey made it back to make a header save on an Aussie cross. I agree they need to do something on defense and maybe talking to Courage coach Paul Reilly might help.
A true joy to watch!
Edit: at least cohesive offensively. They have work to do on defense. Ever since the moved Ertz out of the back line, they have struggled to put together a solid back four. Not that Ertz was the best defender (Sauerbrunn is) but she was one of the smartest players on the team. The 3 besides Sauerbrunn now just aren't up to the task.
2nd Edit: Dalkemper taking over for Sauerbrunn is good now, but the other 4 aren't, especially when Kelly O'Hara is on the wing.
left off the US team because of her religious beliefs. She anchors the NC Courage defense which is dominating the NWSL and has already wrapped the Shield. Hinkle should be on the team and starting.
That's a hard sell. I hope she wasn't stupid enough to say anything in front of Ellis.
She tweeted out after the Supreme Courts ruling "This world is falling farther and farther away from God... All that can be done by believers is to continue to pray." That was obviously directed at gay marriage and that's not going to sit well with the head coach.
... other members of the team are as well.
and Hinkle could help them and she is very effective on her NWSL team which includes gays. That article shows with analytics her effectiveness. The problem is the USWT is mucking it up by not being upfront as to why she's not on the team. It's not like she is an abuser (ALA Hope Solo) who the USWT looked the other way for years and she has definitely not broken any laws nor even disparaged anybody. Her one problem was she didn't want to wear the Rainbow colors on her body due to her beliefs but she is willing to wear the US team or Carolina Courage colors with pride.
Not going to redesign a beautiful design because of her religious beliefs. If she can't wear that and stay quiet then she's a religious beliefs martyr, and that's fine, but I won't blame the USWNT for that.
She was OK with not being invited to the team, but because they wanted a better team thye invited her. the backlash made them say she didn't make it because of soccer reasons which is BS. Either way the USWNT mucked it up. If they wanted the best team Hinkle would be on it. If they want a PC team than don't invite her. They don't have to have the best team because they probably still can win.
If you say playing for that crest and helmet is against your morals because it's racist, that's fine, you have your beliefs and I would support your ideas. But then don't get in a tussy when the Redskins end up cutting you if you do go to their camp.
Problem is there just isn't ANOTHER USWNT she can play for instead. It seems like a Carlos Vela situation, where the player's politics be it moral-politics or soccer-politics has wrote them off the squad for the detriment of the greater squad.
But still this is her own doing and keeping her off the team may make Rapinoe and other pro-gay players including our backup keeper play better and that's the end positive result I'm proud of.
Edit: To your point of inviting then not inviting. They invited her last year and she declined indicating the jersey and what it stands for, namely equality. I see that as an insult to the team. I'm not aware of this invite, then not-invite, then invite. The original decline to play DOES sound very Carlos Vela-ish and that's why he was off the MexiNT for so long. I just can't really get behind this girl. My own morals are probably taking over my soccer IQ.
Let's say someone gets traded to the Redskins, and because it's against their beliefs, they choose not to wear the throwback uniform (edit, assume the throwback Redskin is much more offensive than the current, which is a stretch, but go with me here).
They are cut from the team, and it's pretty cut and dry.
The USWNT/Redskins knowing full well that they have a problem with the throwback Redskin logo/Pride Numbers, invites them to camp, which pisses off a ton of people, and they cut the player again.
The problem is why the invitation back, knowing what everyone already knows?
Moreover, she's currently playing with and against players who seem to chalk it up to her opinion.
Like I said, I can track everything, but the invitation to come back to the team only to turn around and cut her is when things get weird. They should have just left her off and let that be the end of it. Inviting her back to camp, knowing what everyone knows, made/makes no sense whatsoever.