⚽️ LADY VOLS SOCCER

Oh, the Women's Euro Championship this summer in England is going to be cracking good. So many strong teams. I'm a longtime fan of The Netherlands men's and women's national teams. The Dutch have a great tradition of playing attractive, attacking soccer, and they have a great reputation for turning out very technical and talented young players who make their way to bigger clubs outside of Holland. The Ajax academy is legendary. The Dutch women are the defending Euro champs (and also last World Cup runnerup)--and they've got some star talent (Miedema, Martens, Groenen, Van de Donk, to name four)--but Spain has become very good and will be a major threat. Barcelona is the best women's club in the world now--has been for two years--and many of Barca's players are on the Spanish NT, so they have a lot of natural chemistry on the pitch.

Sarina Wiegman, the successful coach of the The Netherlands NT, was hired away by England, which also has a lot of talent, as do France, Sweden and Germany. (The Dutch had a dramatic semifinal win over Sweden at the Tokyo World Cup, and Sweden should have won the Olympics but lost in the final to surprise Canada.) Any of those teams could win it, as could Norway or maybe even Italy or Denmark, though they'd be longer odds. It's weird seeing Wiegman coaching England. I presume she got a lot of money to take that job--but she will be under a lot of pressure to win it. England have a lot of talent, are playing at home--and English soccer fans are rather desperate for a Euro or WC championship--men or women. Meanwhile, Mark Parsons, an Englishman who had a lot of success coaching the Portland Thorns in the NWSL, is now the coach of The Netherlands. The last Euro was held in The Netherlands and the fans, as always, were great. They've got an amazing fan base that like to have fun.
I was sure Miedema was going to leave for PSG or Barcelona, so happy she decided to stay at Arsenal.
 
Tennessee’s Claire Rains and Texas A&M Andersen Williams having fun playing for USL W’s Tampa Bay United this summer.

 


Thanks for this link. I've watched a few minutes (will watch more)--and my first reaction was, 'Wow, that's a crappy field." My second thought was that Rain was/is playing too deep. She's playing left outside back, the same position she plays for the Vols, but her positioning is not right. At times early in the game she is barely forward of her left-side centerback when she should be farther forward. It doesn't do any good for a centerback to pass the ball to a full back who's not more than 5 yards in front of her and next to the touchline. She had a chance, early on, when Tampa United had the ball in the middle of the field, to make a run down the wide-open left side of the field and, it would be hoped, receive a pass with which she could have put some pressure on the Florida Elite goal---but opted to be cautious and didn't make the run. She's got excellent speed, and so can be more aggressive getting forward and still have the pace to recover defensively. In any case, glad to see her getting some work in!
 
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Wow: That was a nice crowd for UT's first soccer game....

FYI, UNC started its women's program in 1979--17 years before Tennessee and several/many years before most other programs as well, I believe.
 
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Wow: That was a nice crowd for UT's first soccer game....

FYI, UNC started its women's program in 1979--17 years before Tennessee and several/many years before most other programs as well, I believe.
I believe Tennessee was the last program to being soccer into the SEC.
 
M.A. Vignola is still out with a hip injury.
Katie Cousins is available but has yet to make the game day squad, hopefully that changes today.
 
M.A. Vignola is still out with a hip injury.
Katie Cousins is available but has yet to make the game day squad, hopefully that changes today.


The way things are going, I'm not feeling great about the chances of these two getting their contracts renewed in LA. Vignola seems to have a serious injury, which is a very unlucky thing for her, and I'm not seeing much eagerness to get Cousins on the field. It's still early, and we'll try to stay optimistic.....
 
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The way things are going, I'm not feeling great about the chances of these two getting their contracts renewed in LA. Vignola seems to have a serious injury, which is a very unlucky thing for her, and I'm not seeing much eagerness to get Cousins on the field. It's still early, and we'll try to stay optimistic.....
I’m afraid you might be right

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I think Vignola, if healthy, would be playing--either as a starter or sub. But when you're injured and unavailable to train or play for a long stretch,
you situation can become tenuous unless you impressed before getting hurt--and maybe she did. Let's hope so. It's just a question of when she
can get healthy and start training again. As for Cousins, we'd of course love to see her on the field to get a sense of how she fares in the big league. I'm watching the game now....
 
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Injuries/absences:
Angel City:
M.A. Vignola (hip) — OUT

14801CE2-3016-4836-B371-3AACD2681676.jpeg

Fingers crossed we get to see LVFL Katie Cousins.
 

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