As always, take these with a grain of salt, since I do miss some action through replays.
| USA | 1st Half | France |
| 0 | Goals | 0 |
| 7 | Shots | 9 |
| 17:02 | Time of Possession | 20:56 |
| 45% | Time of Possession % | 55% |
| 302 | First Touches | 383 |
| 187 | Passes | 268 |
| 62% | Pass Completion % | 70% |
| 27 | Number of Pass Strings | 36 |
| 4.9 | Average Pass String Length | 6.1 |
| 15 | Longest Pass String | 14 |
| USA | 2nd Half | France |
| 0 | Goals | 2 |
| 10 | Shots | 4 |
| 16:35 | Time of Possession | 17:51 |
| 48% | Time of Possession % | 52% |
| 310 | First Touches | 305 |
| 200 | Passes | 195 |
| 65% | Pass Completion % | 64% |
| 33 | Number of Pass Strings | 26 |
| 4.6 | Average Pass String Length | 5.3 |
| 9 | Longest Pass String | 17 |
| USA | Game Total | France |
| 0 | Goals | 2 |
| 17 | Shots | 13 |
| 33:37 | Time of Possession | 38:47 |
| 46% | Time of Possession % | 54% |
| 612 | First Touches | 688 |
| 387 | Passes | 463 |
| 63% | Pass Completion % | 67% |
| 60 | Number of Pass Strings | 62 |
| 4.8 | Average Pass String Length | 5.8 |
| 15 | Longest Pass String | 17 |
The low passing completion rate seems about right for the USWNT – I remember thinking at the time that the giveaways were ridiculous – but high for France until I think back at what I suspect was the overall effect of the turf. The ball looked like it was difficult to control and most players on both sides seemed to have trouble with that.
That said, the US really did look as poor as their stats suggest. USSF had better hope that this was just a bad day at the office or this WWC will be a shitshow of epic proportions for the Nats…
If the game against France was a one-off, then I would not be so concerned. But the performances of the national team since Jill Ellis took over as head coach have not been encouraging. Even worse than the performances against quality teams such as Brazil been poor, there does not seem to be any improvement since the spring when Ellis was appointed as head coach. It’s hard not to conclude that she is in way over her head and unlikely to right the ship. Although painful, US Soccer would increase the chances of success in the WWC by immediately replacing Ellis. A new coach should not only try to get the national team onto a path for success, which at this point will be very hard, but also to develop a program to return the US to the top ranking before WWC 2019.
Here’s a credible, articulate analysis of lack of new blood in the USWNT. Hard to argue with the logic presented here: http://goo.gl/KFmvQD