Sometimes you wonder why a coach doesn't make a change earlier.
I'm thinking of this at halftime of the U.S.-Germany women's semifinal in the World Cup televised from Montreal Tuesday, June 30.
U.S. Coach Jill Ellis, a Briton, didn't change out veteran Abby Wambach through group play and into the quarterfinals. Wambach, the all-time leader--male or female--in goals scored in international play, looked slow, sluggish, lacking dynamism in her forward position.
Finally, when two other American players had to sit out a one-game suspension due to accumulation of yellow cards, Ellis made mini-wholesale changes, including inserting speedy Amy Rodriguez and 22-year-old Morgan Brian.
At this writing, the U.S. has played its visibly best soccer of the whole tournament during the first half, holding ball possession superiority over the Deutschlanders by something close to 58%-42%. The Americans are moving fast, pressing the attack, having repeated shots on goal. It's beautiful, if you're a Yankee supporter.
Which makes you wonder why Ellis didn't make changes sooner: The U.S. was winning, so even though the team wasn't dynamic, it was continuing to win. But it wasn't explosive or dominating. As Carli Lloyd said, they had been back on their heels.
Wambach, bless her heart, was once world player of the year. But she looks far past her prime in this tournament. Her best role would seem to be as captain and exhorter of her teammates, a role which she played to key effect in the 1-0 quarterfinal over China.
We'll see how far the U.S. can take it.
Copyright 2015 Ed Piper
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