Womens World Cup 2023 in Oz and NZ

We should make it out of the group stage but whether we can make the quarters is in the balance.

The injuries to Mead, Kirby and Williamson are huge losses.
 
Interest has been ramping up here all last week with the squads arriving. nZ not expected to do well and had some pretty average warm up results.

Im off to see US v Vietnam at the Cake Tin this Saturday.
 
Abel Tasman said:
Interest has been ramping up here all last week with the squads arriving. nZ not expected to do well and had some pretty average warm up results.

Im off to see US v Vietnam at the Cake Tin this Saturday.
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I see Vietnam have improved immeasurably sover past couple of years. Interesting to see how they get on v US. Not the thrashing they would have got at previous world cups?
 
Excited about the tournament. Not sure how England will do though. Williamson, Mead and Kirby are extremely important players and we wouldn't have won the Euros without them. White and Scott retired after the Euros as well and were really important.

But we still look strong. Bright and Greenwood are experienced in big tournaments so should be fine in defence. Greenwood is similar in her style of play to Williamson. Lauren James and Ella Toone have been great this season and are more than good enough to replace Mead and Kirby. It looks like Daly is going to play up front as well, which is a better position for her. Hopefully they'll have the same dynamic as White and Russo last time. Daly hassles the defenders for 70 minutes the Russo comes on to score.

Good to see Jordan Nobbs back in the squad as well.

I can't see us failing to get out of the group. Although China and Denmark are good teams. But we've got a tough route from then on. I'm expecting a quarter final loss to Germany. But I'm hoping for them to go all the way.
 
I don't think Kirby will be missed all that much. She hasn't been a mainstay of the team for at least a couple of years now. I think there are better players than her who will fill any gap she might leave.

Not so with Mead - top scorer and Player of the Tournament in Euro 2022 and Williamson - probably one of the best defenders around. They will be a much greater loss, especially since there aren't any replacements of the same quality.
 
Liamo said:
I don't think Kirby will be missed all that much. She hasn't been a mainstay of the team for at least a couple of years now. I think there are better players than her who will fill any gap she might leave.

Not so with Mead - top scorer and Player of the Tournament in Euro 2022 and Williamson - probably one of the best defenders around. They will be a much greater loss, especially since there aren't any replacements of the same quality.
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Kirby was really important during the Euros. Especially against Sweden. She's a really important link between midfield and attack. I think Toone is a good replacement though.

Kelly, James and Hemp are all solid enough wide players. All different kinds of players to Mead though. I wonder if Daly might slot in over there as well at times. Closer to Mead as a goal threat but better central.

Williamson is the one with no direct replacement. Really important player. I like Greenwood and Carter, both very good defenders. And Greenwood can bring the ball out like Williamson, but not as well as she does it.
 
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Zoophonic said:
I see Vietnam have improved immeasurably sover past couple of years. Interesting to see how they get on v US. Not the thrashing they would have got at previous world cups?
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I can imagine if Vietnam use their strikers wisely they could beat the US with a bit of a smash and grab?
 
Watching the opening game now. Quite a nervy first half. New Zealand don't look like they're struggling to find that final ball. Norway are struggling to get hold of the game. Hopefully the second half will improve.
 
What a low key build up to a world cup. Admittedly I have not been seeking out news on this tournament, but I only first noticed TV adverts for the games about 3 or 4 days ago - anyone not following the sport might have missed out the fact that this is even happening. Whereas the men's WC is hyped up by the media for months beforehand.

With England winning the Euros, I would have thought that the hype for this would have been in overdrive.
 
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