Don't Blame the Goalkeeper

While I was on my way to Richmond last week, the US Women's National Team was crashing out of the World Cup, getting mauled 3-0 by Brazil. The big news items surrounding the game was the benching of starting keeper Hope Solo in favor of veteran Brianna Scurry and Solo's ensuing post-game rant in which she called coach Greg Ryan out. With such juicy pulp in the media, many commentators have focused in on that aspect of the team's tournament.

However, as Andrea Canales over at ESPNSoccernet points out, that focus has allowed Solo to become a scapegoat and shoulder the blame for the team's failure that rightfully falls on Ryan's shoulders. Although the USSF shares some of the blame, it was Ryan who failed to adjust his tactics when the team was surprised early on by North Korea and limped to a 1-0 victory over Nigeria.

I said at the time of the Nigeria game that if we played that poorly against Brazil, maintaining so little possession and relying on set pieces for offense, we'd get beat handily. And we did. We didn't play like the #1 team in the world. We played like a team that was outmatched technically and had to rely on brute strength to get through the tournament. No doubt, other nations have caught up with the US and we no longer enjoy the advantage we had in the 1990s. Does that mean we can't play attractive, technical, and successful attacking soccer anymore? I hope not.