The USWNT has wrapped up their World Cup preparatory trip to New Zealand where they faced the Football Ferns twice in four days. After 180 minutes, the USA left with an aggregate 9-0 scoreline, 4-0 in the first and 5-0 in the second.
Going into these matches the USWNT had a few open questions that needed to be answered - mostly will be the starting goalkeeper, what are we doing with our midfield, and can we start to implement the new generation into the squad? Well… I think we got about 1.5 of those answered.
Did these results matter?
Almost the entire USWNT squad was available for these matches even though they fell outside of a FIFA window. We have the NWSL to thank for that. For New Zealand however, many of their players were not let go by their clubs because of the European season.
So we were left with a scenario where the #1 ranked national team in the world played the B/C team of the #24 ranked team. After a horrible run of form to end the calendar year with 3 losses in 4 for the US, they needed an opponent that would get them back in the winning column. For that reason I do think these results will help to boost the confidence and cohesion of the team, which if we’re being honest was much needed.
If we don’t take anything else from these matches back with us, I’ll take the confidence.
Who is the #1 goalkeeper?
Alyssa Naeher and Casey Murphy have long been in a friendly tussle for the #1 kit. With the World Cup only a few match days away, many fans were hoping to come away from these friendlies with a better idea of who that starting goalkeeper would be. Alyssa Naeher started the first match and clept a clean sheet without much to do, and Casey Murphy did much the same in the second match.
I’m not sure we got any closer to understand who will start between the sticks at the World Cup this summer.
The youth
Not only did we have one of our worst runs of form ever at the end of 2022, we also had very little idea of how our younger players would start to integrate as veterans shifted out. The need for a solution became even more urgent as injuries to Julie Ertz and Catarina Macario took them out of the squad for months at a time.
The 20 year old Trinity Rodman looked like the answer at RW. She was active, swung in some beautiful crosses, and created issues for the defense by combining with RB Sofia Huerta. The 23 year old attacking midfielder Ashley Sanchez provided coverage as the 10 which allowed Rose Lavelle and Andi Sullivan to play in a double pivot. One of the most interesting tactical wrinkles last night was how Rose Lavelle made late runs into the box from a deeper position. There was no better showcase of this than the 2nd goal for the USWNT, an amazing first time volley from Lavelle.
What now?
There are still many questions for Vlatko Andonovski but he did get the squad back on track to start the year. The critical questions and concerns will simmer a bit, but the job isn’t done to prepare for a title defense this summer. The USWNT will be back in February to compete in the annual SheBelieves Cup with matches against Canada (#6), Japan (#11), and Brazil (#9).
Good analysis. In the absence of Ertz and with no one stepping up to fill that role, I have thought that a double pivot was the best option for some time. I don't think that the best way to implement that was determined, however. I would like to see Lavelle used as the 10 with Huerta as the 8 to compare the effectiveness. If she recovers, I would like to see how Macario would fit in the midfield. Regarding the attack, we are in good hands (good feet?) with Smith/Rodman on the right and Morgan/Hatch at the 9, and Swanson/Pugh on the left. I honestly don't care which of the two is between the posts.