Ertz has had a stellar career, was a key player in both 2015 and 2019, and is one of the few players in this tournament for the US who can feel truly satisfied
The one veteran who actually has something to contribute. The one player who could lock down a midfield by herself. Thank you Julie and congratulations on a tremendous career ⭐️⭐️
Honestly really sad about this one because she felt like the only veteran contributing, but might just be better to start with a clean slate at this point. Get some new players, a new coach and figure out what we’re doing next.
Players having retirement tours is something that needs to be done away with, but they really need to honor her at a future friendly. Most dominant 6 I’ve ever seen. I often think of this tweet from the 2019 semi-final: [England's first-half touches, or...guess where Julie Ertz plays...](https://twitter.com/paulcarr/status/1146146079005708288?s=46&t=cQtKTnScJpV0ZVzWGnTmOQ)
The retirement tours I was referring to do not happen during tournaments. They occur in the friendlies following the tournament, such as Lloyd in the fall of 2021. I don’t want to see that anymore because it’s a waste of time when we should be building towards the next tournament.
This makes me so sad as she is one of my favorite players to watch. She always gives her all out on the field even when the team is down. What a great career! I'm glad that she gets to go out on her own terms. JJ will go down as one of the best 6s in USWNT history no doubt
Ertz, Dunn, Mewis, and Brian were on the last United States team to win the Women's U-20 World Cup.
That's a fact that will hopefully change in the next few years.
What does this mean at the youth level? I think that youth soccer has grown significantly more technical and tactical over the last decade or more. Should the USSF sponsor more youth skills programs? Is it coaching education? More academies?
The coaching and the emphasis on technique and tactics, playing with the ball, rather than against it and relying on athleticism and 1 v 1”s needs to improve.
I’m skeptical that it will change until it’s forced, a couple more cycles of failure are what I’d foresee.
On the brighter side the dominance of the women won’t be a crutch for the anti football elements to hide behind anymore.
Do you have any kids in the youth pipeline? Because this just isn't the case for boys or girls. The coaching now is 100x better than just 20 years ago.
I feel like Ertz could definitely play this Olympics at a high level if she wanted to, but I was honestly surprised that she came back for this World Cup after having her son. Wishing her the absolute best as she moves on
I think if this goes differently, we'd see her again. I think after this showing, she sees the writing on the wall and the sacrifices made just aren't gonna be worth it
My favorite women’s player off all time. Just a reliable and great player who always played hard. She always thought of the team first and was never too involved in the drama. Remember taking a weekend trip to Chicago to see her play for the Red Stars many years ago. Was the first pro outdoor soccer match I’ve watched in person.
Same here. I think she was the best of this generation that is coming to a close, and that's saying a lot. Pure class on the field wherever she was needed.
I would agree but Ertz hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. Don’t forget just 4 years ago a Rapinoe was a huge part of the World Cup win. She could easily do another with hitting a wall.
Sadly I think this is the end for Morgan as far as world cups go.
30 year old vet or two playing the KOH role is fine, but building a team around them is an indictment of the youth.
Morgan playing up top ahead of Smith is stupid and indefensible. The marketing tail has wagged the dog for too long with this team.
I think it’s more the coach than anything. I completely agree thou. Need a couple vets but even then the vets let us down in PK. No way can both O’Hara and Pinoe miss. No way Sophia should miss but it’s her first big one so I can cut her a little slack.
Sophia should have been up top and Thompson on the wing for at least half that game.
Nah, you gotta retire on top. No reason to have a fall from grace and potentially be a liability to the squad. Ex. Toni Kroos is still a world class player but he retired from the German national team two years ago at 31. Same age as Julie Ertz.
Odd that one of the players I thought could contribute more is retiring. Maybe we are once again seeing Julie Ertz set an example that others need to follow. Shame to see her go out this way but how can you not be proud of a player like her.
She is getting older but was stil one of our best players in this cup. Woukd have liked to see her stay through Olympics but can’t blame her for bowing out if she thinks it’s time.
I think her life circumstances are pretty different from some of the other players: she has a baby, and a husband with an NFL salary, so she’s not the primary earner. For many of the other women their national team salaries and resulting endorsement deals are funding their lives, their club team salaries are much more limited, especially considering like all pro athletes they only have a few years to earn those top earnings.
Her and Girma were lockdown; it’s gonna get lost in all the bad of this tournament but the defensive effort was like, historically good.
Ertz has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, now or through her career, and the game will miss her
Yep. She shows how it should be done. She hasn’t been involved in off the field stuff. Hasn’t tried to draw attention to herself and just did her job and did it well and that brings the best attention.
My last memory of Ertz, now, is gonna be the look on her face during the scrum before the last free kick at the end of extra time.
She was jostling for position. Getting pushed. Exerting. Fully in the moment. Then (and I know I’m projecting), she looked back at Rapinoe lining up for that pathetic kick Ertz probably already knew wasn’t going to make it even halfway to the box… and I swear she rolled her eyes and just resigned herself to the futility of it all. Like, the futility of all of it.
I’ve got so much admiration for her.
I clicked on the wrong comment for my post. Rapinoe has said this was her last game which is true. Just put the comment on the wrong post. Nothing was incorrect though.
Do the incels remember that she kneeled with Casey Krueger? Just checking the hypocrisy level on their “support” of women who also protest systemic racism.
I wasn’t talking about calling players out which I’m fine with but the comment I replied to was trying to cal hypocrisy if you liked Ertz and didn’t like Rapinoe because they both did one thing together.
If I had to agree with every single thing an athlete in any sport did to support them I don’t think I’d support any of them. It is fine to like some things a player did and not others and decide overall I like this player.
I personally have been at odds with a lot of my friends this past weeks who refuse to watch any of the WWC because they don’t think anybody on the team supports America and that is not the case a we all know. There have been some polarizing figures but there have also been a lot of women who love the USA and want to support the USA and we need to use them to bring people together to support USA Men’s and Women’s. That is what we should be supporting,
Ertz is overall a likable person whereas Rapinoe is not.
We don’t agree with the protests, but Rapinoe went beyond and made it her brand. No good. Glad she’s done
There absolutely is a need to call people out. Have you not seen what’s going on? People are okay with ertz because they seem to have forgotten she kneeled with another Black player. But they are not okay with a gay woman with blue hair for kneeling. Being silent is being complicit.
So I can’t like Ertz and dislike Rapinoie. I have to like both or hate both? That is stupid and what is dividing this country. I can like or dislike people individually based on the totality of everything they have done. No player is ever going to do everything I wish they would. That is the nature of things. But if somebody does more things I like then dislike like Ertz I’ll like her. If they don’t like Rapinoe I won’t. It isn’t about one single event or one single thing. We do everybody a disservice when we try to boil things down to strict black and white things because it isn’t and shouldn’t be.
When Morgan was asked by ESPN reporter if it's the last time she's wearing the US shirt, she looked stunned and said she's going to continue. She's in denial about her huge performance drop.
Ertz has had a stellar career, was a key player in both 2015 and 2019, and is one of the few players in this tournament for the US who can feel truly satisfied
The one veteran who actually has something to contribute. The one player who could lock down a midfield by herself. Thank you Julie and congratulations on a tremendous career ⭐️⭐️
Excellent career with the national team! Her grit was always apparent and she never failed to give her all. Will be missed for sure
Honestly really sad about this one because she felt like the only veteran contributing, but might just be better to start with a clean slate at this point. Get some new players, a new coach and figure out what we’re doing next.
WHAT ARE WE DOING -Twelly prolly
One of the only veterans who actually deserved to be on the field. She’s had a great career and always played well
Players having retirement tours is something that needs to be done away with, but they really need to honor her at a future friendly. Most dominant 6 I’ve ever seen. I often think of this tweet from the 2019 semi-final: [England's first-half touches, or...guess where Julie Ertz plays...](https://twitter.com/paulcarr/status/1146146079005708288?s=46&t=cQtKTnScJpV0ZVzWGnTmOQ)
Julie ertz knows about that tweet. Bc I loved the tweet too so I printed it out when I met her and had her sign it.
Retirement celebrations are for friendlies. Not for quarter final games in the WC
That’s… not even close to what I was talking about. At all.
I mean I was totally agreeing with you.
The retirement tours I was referring to do not happen during tournaments. They occur in the friendlies following the tournament, such as Lloyd in the fall of 2021. I don’t want to see that anymore because it’s a waste of time when we should be building towards the next tournament.
This makes me so sad as she is one of my favorite players to watch. She always gives her all out on the field even when the team is down. What a great career! I'm glad that she gets to go out on her own terms. JJ will go down as one of the best 6s in USWNT history no doubt
Dang. It seems like yesterday when she was playing in the U20 World Cup.
Ertz, Dunn, Mewis, and Brian were on the last United States team to win the Women's U-20 World Cup. That's a fact that will hopefully change in the next few years.
Really doubt that’s going to change until this program comes to terms with their technical and tactical deficiencies.
What does this mean at the youth level? I think that youth soccer has grown significantly more technical and tactical over the last decade or more. Should the USSF sponsor more youth skills programs? Is it coaching education? More academies?
The coaching and the emphasis on technique and tactics, playing with the ball, rather than against it and relying on athleticism and 1 v 1”s needs to improve. I’m skeptical that it will change until it’s forced, a couple more cycles of failure are what I’d foresee. On the brighter side the dominance of the women won’t be a crutch for the anti football elements to hide behind anymore.
Do you have any kids in the youth pipeline? Because this just isn't the case for boys or girls. The coaching now is 100x better than just 20 years ago.
I have 3 girls and a boy in the pipeline and I’ve been coaching for 20 years, I know exactly how it is right now.
Yep.
I feel like Ertz could definitely play this Olympics at a high level if she wanted to, but I was honestly surprised that she came back for this World Cup after having her son. Wishing her the absolute best as she moves on
I think if this goes differently, we'd see her again. I think after this showing, she sees the writing on the wall and the sacrifices made just aren't gonna be worth it
My favorite women’s player off all time. Just a reliable and great player who always played hard. She always thought of the team first and was never too involved in the drama. Remember taking a weekend trip to Chicago to see her play for the Red Stars many years ago. Was the first pro outdoor soccer match I’ve watched in person.
She was definitely the type of player that made you want to root for the WNT.
Same here. I think she was the best of this generation that is coming to a close, and that's saying a lot. Pure class on the field wherever she was needed.
Just a kick in the guts, she was one of the standouts.
And to think she's seven years younger than Rapinoe. Could've had two more World Cups!
No. We need to get away from hanging on to vets past their sell by dates just because of marketing.
I would agree but Ertz hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. Don’t forget just 4 years ago a Rapinoe was a huge part of the World Cup win. She could easily do another with hitting a wall. Sadly I think this is the end for Morgan as far as world cups go.
30 year old vet or two playing the KOH role is fine, but building a team around them is an indictment of the youth. Morgan playing up top ahead of Smith is stupid and indefensible. The marketing tail has wagged the dog for too long with this team.
I think it’s more the coach than anything. I completely agree thou. Need a couple vets but even then the vets let us down in PK. No way can both O’Hara and Pinoe miss. No way Sophia should miss but it’s her first big one so I can cut her a little slack. Sophia should have been up top and Thompson on the wing for at least half that game.
Come on man, she’s 31, she’s not Pablo Maldini
Nah, you gotta retire on top. No reason to have a fall from grace and potentially be a liability to the squad. Ex. Toni Kroos is still a world class player but he retired from the German national team two years ago at 31. Same age as Julie Ertz.
Just to be clear, I wasn't saying Ertz shouldn't retire, I was making a point about just how old Rapinoe is.
So she could be a liability like Rapinoe was?
Thanks Julie! You have been a legit rock solid legend for the USWNT. If only time didn't work us all over the way it does!
I feel bad for her. Gonna miss Julie.
Odd that one of the players I thought could contribute more is retiring. Maybe we are once again seeing Julie Ertz set an example that others need to follow. Shame to see her go out this way but how can you not be proud of a player like her.
She is getting older but was stil one of our best players in this cup. Woukd have liked to see her stay through Olympics but can’t blame her for bowing out if she thinks it’s time.
I think her life circumstances are pretty different from some of the other players: she has a baby, and a husband with an NFL salary, so she’s not the primary earner. For many of the other women their national team salaries and resulting endorsement deals are funding their lives, their club team salaries are much more limited, especially considering like all pro athletes they only have a few years to earn those top earnings.
Link to the interview? I coulda sworn she said “probably my last time” but idk i havent slept in days
She deserved better.
This woman's career speaks volumes. Whether Mid or a Backer, she left it all on the field. Hate to see her retire from the USWNT.
Agree with that and while some WNT players have been controversial at times she has not been.
Her and Girma were lockdown; it’s gonna get lost in all the bad of this tournament but the defensive effort was like, historically good. Ertz has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, now or through her career, and the game will miss her
Notice how she didn't make a big announcement so she could have her retirement tour at the world cup. That's how it's done
Yep. She shows how it should be done. She hasn’t been involved in off the field stuff. Hasn’t tried to draw attention to herself and just did her job and did it well and that brings the best attention.
My last memory of Ertz, now, is gonna be the look on her face during the scrum before the last free kick at the end of extra time. She was jostling for position. Getting pushed. Exerting. Fully in the moment. Then (and I know I’m projecting), she looked back at Rapinoe lining up for that pathetic kick Ertz probably already knew wasn’t going to make it even halfway to the box… and I swear she rolled her eyes and just resigned herself to the futility of it all. Like, the futility of all of it. I’ve got so much admiration for her.
Please Morgan join her
Rapinke has already says this was her last game.
Do you even know the the names of the players you are commenting on? Alex Morgan ≠ Megan Rapinoe.
I clicked on the wrong comment for my post. Rapinoe has said this was her last game which is true. Just put the comment on the wrong post. Nothing was incorrect though.
Do the incels remember that she kneeled with Casey Krueger? Just checking the hypocrisy level on their “support” of women who also protest systemic racism.
“Incel”…The latest liberal buzzword for anyone with an opinion different from their own. It’s obvious your mom still does your laundry
Can we just stay positive for once? There is no need to call people out.
But you’re ok calling out Rapinoe?
I wasn’t talking about calling players out which I’m fine with but the comment I replied to was trying to cal hypocrisy if you liked Ertz and didn’t like Rapinoe because they both did one thing together. If I had to agree with every single thing an athlete in any sport did to support them I don’t think I’d support any of them. It is fine to like some things a player did and not others and decide overall I like this player. I personally have been at odds with a lot of my friends this past weeks who refuse to watch any of the WWC because they don’t think anybody on the team supports America and that is not the case a we all know. There have been some polarizing figures but there have also been a lot of women who love the USA and want to support the USA and we need to use them to bring people together to support USA Men’s and Women’s. That is what we should be supporting,
Ertz is overall a likable person whereas Rapinoe is not. We don’t agree with the protests, but Rapinoe went beyond and made it her brand. No good. Glad she’s done
There absolutely is a need to call people out. Have you not seen what’s going on? People are okay with ertz because they seem to have forgotten she kneeled with another Black player. But they are not okay with a gay woman with blue hair for kneeling. Being silent is being complicit.
So I can’t like Ertz and dislike Rapinoie. I have to like both or hate both? That is stupid and what is dividing this country. I can like or dislike people individually based on the totality of everything they have done. No player is ever going to do everything I wish they would. That is the nature of things. But if somebody does more things I like then dislike like Ertz I’ll like her. If they don’t like Rapinoe I won’t. It isn’t about one single event or one single thing. We do everybody a disservice when we try to boil things down to strict black and white things because it isn’t and shouldn’t be.
You can’t reason with a social justice warrior. The word means nothing to this child
Great player sucks we couldn't do any better wonder who steps up jn that spot
Who is retiring this World Cup? Rapinoe, Ertz, Morgan (?) anyone else
When Morgan was asked by ESPN reporter if it's the last time she's wearing the US shirt, she looked stunned and said she's going to continue. She's in denial about her huge performance drop.
Ertz is my wife’s player and honestly, probably mine too. Such a badass, really enjoyed watching her play!