By width of post, USWNT stays alive in World Cup
The United States women's national team advanced out of their group stage, but there are still systematic issues plaguing the USWNT.
The U.S. women’s national team is still alive in the World Cup—by the two-inch width of a post.
In second-half stoppage time, Portugal’s Tatiana Pinto thrust a ball ahead in a last-gasp attack for the Portuguese to score the goal that would send them through to the knockout stage. Telma Encarnacão flicked on the pass, and the USWNT defense was now on their heels and out of position. The ball fell into the path of Ana Capeta, who drove into the box with only U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher standing in her way of the goal that would have led to utter catastrophe within the USWNT and a group stage exit in a World Cup—the U.S. had never failed to reach the semifinals. But Capeta’s effort was not to be, as her strike thudded off the post and American fans collectively exhaled. The USWNT survived and advanced with a 0-0 score, but another insipid performance, the trend of this World Cup and the Vlatko Andonovski era as a whole, was on full display.
"It was a beautiful sound to hear it hit the post, that's for sure," Naeher said. "But that's something we talked about—we knew they were good on the counterattack, and they like to get in behind."
The United States will now face a frequent foe and thorn in their side, Sweden, in the round of 16, and be without Rose Lavelle, who offers a different dimension in the midfield with her comfort carrying the ball and driving at defenders.
"I don’t think it was in sync," Andonovski said. "I don’t think that was a good performance all together."
"The most important thing," Andonovski added, “is that we got the job done."
The problem is that the USWNT has looked out of sync and played poorly in stages of all three group stage games at the tournament, and that is ignoring the underwhelming showing and score lines in the lead up to the tournament and at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
"One thing that I want to say is that this team wanted to win this game more than anything else, and they did everything they could in preparation for this tournament and in every game," Andonovski said.
"But I’ve never seen this team step on the field and not try harder and not compete. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and they can say whatever they want, but I just know how this team feels.
"And it’s not like we played well, but we own it. We know it’s not good enough. We know we’re not happy with our performance, but, you know, we qualified for the next round. We’re moving on.
"It’s not like we don’t have the pieces. It’s not like we have not done this before against good opponents. Like I said before the game, we have to stick to our principles, we have to stick to our game model, and we have to stick to our philosophy," he concluded.
What are the principles? What is the game model? What is your coaching philosophy, Vlatko? Because those three things have not been apparent after nearly four years of you being the head coach of the U.S. national team. The tactical adaptability has been non-existent, as the USWNT seems to want to die on the hill playing a 4-3-3, which leads to the midfield getting outrun and a ceding of possession against most above-average opponents.
What’s more, the synchronicity of the team is sorely lacking. Whenever a U.S. player receives the ball, she is quickly surrounded by opponents, and there is no movement off the ball to offer the ball carrier an option to play out of the pressure. Too many times, the U.S. is dispossessed because a player has no available pass or they choose to take matters into their own hands and dribble at opponents. The latter is understandable—you want that hunger and ambition; the former is inexcusable—you have to play as a team, not a collection of talented individuals.
"I don't see a game plan," said Fox’s Ari Hingst. "I don't know what the game plan is—defensively or offensively. There is one problem: the player from the U.S. team that has the ball—wow, she is lost because no one else wants to have the ball. There is no position to play from, so this is a real problem."
I would be remiss not to mention that the rest of the world is catching up. With the Women’s World Cup expanding to 32 teams this year, the concerns of uncompetitive games were quickly put aside. In recent years, nations that have the infrastructure to develop male soccer players are now applying the same system to develop female youth players. Against the Netherlands and Portugal alone, the U.S. was inferior in technical ability, tactical nous, and overall team camaraderie.
Which brings us to the conversation of why the U.S. is lagging behind the rest of the world. The answer is not simple, but there are definite signs of the rut the Americans find themselves in compared to the flourishing competition.
You have to start at the youth development pipeline, and in the U.S., with the Development Academy, a U.S. Soccer-run development league that had across-the-board standards for coaching, practice times, and games, ceasing existence, the male teams shifted seamlessly to MLS Next, which held the same ethos as the DA. Meanwhile, the girls youth teams were sent into the wilderness with Elite Clubs National Leagues, which do not have the same organizational structure or standards of accountability that the DA had. All the teams are not getting U.S. Soccer-certified coaching, practice, and competition. The U.S. youth teams are not performing up to par in the U-17 and U-20 World Cups, tournaments they use to dominate. The U.S. youth national teams have not come close to winning these tournaments, even getting bounced in the group stage in recent editions. The players in those youth teams are the present and future of the senior national team.
Secondly, the U.S. still values athleticism too highly. If you look at the make-up of the USWNT roster and the side Andonovski rolls out, athleticism and who can run the longest and fastest are high on his list of needs. The U.S. used to have the best fitness, which would outlast teams and serve as a fear factor for any opponent they faced. I spoke to a source this week that is well-connected in U.S. women’s soccer circles who said she talks to coaches who train Lindsey Horan who say they know girls born in 2009 that have better foot skills than Horan. What the U.S. had in athleticism, they lack in technical ability, a burgeoning area of play for much of the U.S.’s opponents.
The technical deficiencies were on full display in the U.S.'s group stage games. The first touches were rough, the passing was sloppy, and their finishes were futile. Comparing that to the Netherlands, who sharply possessed the ball around the U.S. and put away their chances. If you watch many of the other top-ranked teams in this World Cup, their technical ability shines through.
When the Portugal-U.S. game was finished, the Americans huddled in the center of the field. But the first person to speak was not the head coach, Andonovski; it was three-time World Cup veteran Kelley O’Hara.
"I just told them, ‘Listen, guys, we did what we had to do,’" O’Hara said. "‘This game’s done. The group stage is done. We advanced.’" She, like several of her other teammates, seemed to know that a low bar would not be good enough moving forward.
In a further worrying scene, after the huddle subsided, cameras caught U.S. players dancing, smiling, and enthusiastically taking selfies after their World Cup run stayed alive by the skin of their teeth.
"There's a difference between being respectful of the fans and saying hello to your family, but to be dancing and smiling..."
"I have never witnessed something like that," said Lloyd, who won two World Cups with the US and was well known for her ruthless demeanor on the pitch. "There’s a difference between being respectful of the fans and saying hello to your family. But to be dancing, to be smiling? I mean, the player of the match was that post. You’re lucky to not be going home right now."
Lloyd continued her diagnosis of the recurring problem for the two-time defending champions.
"I’m just seeing a very lackluster, uninspiring, taking it for granted culture where winning, training, and doing all you can to be the best possible individual player are not happening," Lloyd said.
When Lloyd’s comments were relayed to Andonovski, he quickly brushed them off.
"To question the mentality of this team, to question the willingness to win, to compete—I think it's insane."
The U.S. performance and the fact that they barely advanced out of their group at the World Cup and played underwhelming in the process while never getting out of first gear say otherwise. That the U.S. looked disorganized defensively on when to press and went to drop without possession. That the USWNT attack is disjointed and lacks ruthlessness in front of goal. That players are left on islands—with no options to pass the ball. That there is no recognizable identity for this team after 3 1/2 years under Andonovski. Those all speak to what Lloyd is saying, and the static nature of the U.S.
"The player of the match was that post. You’re lucky to not be going home right now," Lloyd cracked.