It Has Already Been A Long Day.
An Early Start To The Morning Can Only Get Better Tonight?
I have an ethos associated with 'the glass is half-full' and with that said I have reasonable expectations of Atlanta United in Cincinnati tonight. I need to be positive because my day did not start off well. Sure, I usually crawl out of bed very early on every morning - but 4:30AM has usually been reserved for catching a 6AM flight.
Yep, I live on the east coast of the United States, which meant a 4:30AM kickoff for the USWNT's opening match against Sweden at the Tokyo Olympics. I have always had high expectations of the USWNT - for all the obvious reasons. This morning was a wake up call, as I have never witnessed the women playing the way they did this morning. No energy, no second ball-winning, no creativity, and from what I could tell, a complete lack of physicality. The U.S. was very fortunate not to be down 3-0 at the half to the Swedes, who were tactically superior, as well as quick, fast, and hard into most tackles.
The U.S. plays New Zealand on Saturday, a New Zealand side that has not played a competitive match in sixteen months. We can only expect the U.S. women to come out with fire in their eyes to ensure they get three points and a chance of advancing in the tournament.
Back to tonight. The Atlanta front office did what they had to do on Sunday - Gabriel Heinze, similar to some non-MLS experienced managers, just could not accept that managing an MLS club is much different than handling a team in Argentina, England, or The Netherlands. Rob Valentino is next up, and at a minimum, he understands the expectations of the front office as well as the dynamics of MLS. Good luck to him and the boys as I would like to end the evening a bit different than the way I started the day.
It's just my take. @gary1123 justmytake.net
photo credit: EuroSport