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[QUOTE="Forza Azzurri, post: 4716998, member: 1452"]
Reffing was awful.  It looked like that Japanese ref was trained by the same person who trains concacaf refs.  Should have been multiple yellows in the game, most of them going to the Dutch.

The US plays a naive form of the game.  Every time Morgan touched the ball with her back to goal in a non-dangerous area, she got absolutely hammered by one of the Dutch center backs.  It sends a message; it disrupts rhythm; it is physically taxing on the player getting crunched.  The US does almost none of that to opposing players.  The Dutch, in general, took no prisoners.  When they had a opportunity to level someone legally, or illegally, they took it.  The US needs to learn how to be nasty.

Not sure which changed the game more: Lavelle or the Dutch center back going out.  Regardless, Lavelle completely changed the game from the American perspective compared to the ineffective DeMelo.

Smith and Rodman are wingers who provide zero width.  It is really hamstringing the American attack, especially because the right back almost never gets forward and Dunn also prefers to cut inside rather than going to the touchline.

The Dutch, to me, simply looked like a better coached team, albeit less talented individually.  I don't think talent, alone, is going to win this world cup so the US needs to figure it out.

What I don't know is if we have options on the bench that can, for example, provide that wing play for 90 minutes and can do so at a difference-making level.  If not, I do not think the current line-up, with the current setup and tactics can win a World Cup.
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