Just answering the questions the way you want them.

http://www.soccerwire.com/news/nt/uswnt/as-uswnt-leave-for-winnipeg-and-womens-world-cup-many-questions-remain/?loc=psw

We’re now less than a week out from the start of the Women’s World Cup. Next match counts. June 8 vs Australia (7:30 p.m. ET, broadcast live on FOX Sports 1, NBC Universo).

Left Back

Meghan Klingenberg does not have the defensive nose to cope with top attackers, nor the pace to keep up with the speedy wide players that Australia (among others) can bring to bear. Her wide midfielder may not help her.

Defensive Midfield

Lauren Holiday is not a defensive midfielder. Jill Ellis insists on playing one of her most talented players dreadfully out of position. The U.S. midfield may not give Holiday some defensive help. Her only option may booting it long.

Central Midfield

USWNT forms a 4-4-2 on the field. They can't maintain possession and build attacks consistently with only two starting in central midfield. In fact, maintaining possession may not even be in their game plan? A “direct” (longball) gameplan will not work against more tactically sophisticated sides.

Wide Midfield

The oddity of the current USWNT 4-4-2 is that it is built to allow wingers to get wide, get to the endline, and put it in the mixer in fine English style – and yet the best old-school winger the U.S. has (Heather O’Reilly) is largely warming the bench.

And of late the wide midfield positions have been filled by players for whom that is not their normal (or best) role. Christen Press, for example, is a forward. And yet they are being deployed nominally as wingers. That should not continue once Megan Rapinoe returns to the starting lineup. Whoever is playing out wide may not be instructed to track back and provide additional cover for Holiday, Klingenberg and right back Ali Krieger. And even if they are instructed, they may not do it.

Forward

For all that one hears about the strength of the USWNT at forward, the position is surprisingly unsettled at the moment. Alex Morgan hasn’t played a match in seven weeks, and it remains unclear when (if?) she will see action in the World Cup. Sydney Leroux started against South Korea; her pace and power is unsubtle, not what Ellis should look for in a forward? And if she starts against Australia, there may be no partner for her.

That brings us, of course, to Abby Wambach. Put aside her absence from NWSL this year, and the remarkable recent interview she gave to the New York Times; her on-field showings over the last six months have done little to affect my view that at 35, she is now strictly a flat-track bully. But she is a flat-track bully with unmatched clout within the WNT, and indeed the USSF. Her single-minded determination to win a World Cup for herself may be dictating team planning and decision-making. If she starts, the only question is how long until Ellis subs her out.

Chemistry

The WNT’s performance against South Korea exhibited many of their typical failings under Ellis, but above all they looked tired and flat to me. That could be simply a function of a brief lack of focus and a long week of media outreach, or I say a symptom of broader problems of coaching, spirit, and chemistry.

Do not forget that four years ago I thought the U.S. was lackluster in the run-up to the World Cup, and then look what happened. But don't expect Ellis to reprise Pia Sundhage’s feat in 2011 of getting the most out of her squad when it really counts.

Makes me wonder why former coach Tom Sermanni was sacked a year ago.

Forward Christen Press scored in the 61st minute and Megan Rapinoe scored her second goal of the match in the 78th minute for the Americans, who beat Australia 3-1. Combined with the 1-1 tie between Sweden and Nigeria earlier on Monday, the U.S. has a strong lead in its World Cup group.

US Womens National Team Wins World Cup. Crushes Japan 5-2.

Will there be a mass firing of writers at Potomac Soccer Wire tomorrow morning? Or will they each write about why they were correct even though they were so very wrong about everything? Will Soccer Wire send flowers and congratulations and apologies to Jill Ellis and her team? Or will they revel in their new position as the biggest laughing stock ever in the sports writers community?

Is Soccer Wire ready to apologize for calling Abby a bully, especially after seeing the team trophy lift tonight?

Is Soccer Wire ready to admit that they are no longer relevant or respected in the soccer community?

This week it will be hard to find anyone who admits they actually read their trash.

what...did you say something? NO ONE CARES

Yup, no one cares. There are plenty of legitimate soccer publications out there. No one reads a bunch of washed up soccer coaches writing in Potomac Soccer Wire.

The team is clearly racist. All I saw was white girls. They obviously discriminate against sister.

But third star or no, I do think it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that Ellis’s tenure has been marked by any number of poor coaching decisions on her part. And there are deep, longstanding issues with the program (lack of improvement in tactical sophistication at all levels, and a closed, insular player pool, to name two) that Ellis has let fester or even made worse since she took over from Tom Sermanni.

Those problems were not be banished when Christie Rampone and Abby Wambach hoisted the World Cup trophy.

Mark Shawhan. Still wrong about everything. At least The Doctor Wendy LeBolt admitted she was wrong about Jill Ellis and the team.

When will Chris Hummer and Charlie Boehm shitcan the idiot writers who are tearing down Soccer Wire?

As a liberal, I'm more focused on diversity achievements than team performance, and this team fails big time.