USWNT travels to the Olympic Games in Paris with question marks in attack

U.S. women’s national team coach Emma Hayes said she wants to see better decision-making and execution before scoring against Costa Rica in the Americans’ final game before leaving for the 2024 Olympics.

Instead, it was a goalless draw in which the USWNT fired 26 shots and had 80% of the possession against a Tica The team played extremely deep, a 4-2-3-1 “Christmas tree” as Hayes noted after the game, which blocked the channels and required a level of precision from the Americans that was never achieved.

“Listen, when you play a game where percentages matter or the law of large numbers matters, we create more and more high-quality chances and we get a lot of players in the key areas, we get touches in the key areas,” Hayes said after reading an Opta statistic on her team’s 67 touches in Costa Rica’s penalty area without a goal being scored.

“The last part is the hardest. And I’m really patient because I’ve coached teams that had to break through deadlocks and that’s the hardest thing you can do as a coach. If we hadn’t created situations tonight, yeah, I might say something different, but I’m really excited about the team’s intent. We kept going.”

Despite the statistical dominance, the USWNT scored fewer expected goals against Costa Rica (1.82, according to TruMedia) than in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Mexico (1.94), the “last game” Hayes was referring to.

Tuesday’s game was played in sweltering heat (the heat index at kickoff was 105 degrees Fahrenheit) and was a farewell game, which often results in some exceptional performances from teams. Still, the USWNT’s lack of bottom line over the final 180 minutes is not a cause for concern, but a reminder of the problems of the past.

The Americans struggled to perform before last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, and the problems that had been looming in the lead-up to the tournament became apparent when the U.S. was eliminated in the round of 16, its worst result at a major tournament. This was a different team with a different coach – and Hayes’ goal is long-term development – but with a week to go before the Olympics, the question of when things will click in front of goal remains a valid and pressing one.

The squad has plenty of individual talent, which is undeniable for the 2023 World Cup squad, and there have been magical moments as a group.

Proof of this is a combination of Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith shortly after the trio entered the game in the victory over South Korea on June 4. All three players continue to be MVP-quality for their teams in the National Women’s Soccer League.

For the USWNT, combination play is still a challenge not only among the top three players, but also as a collective. The USWNT’s best moments in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Mexico came in transition. Developing that ethos will take more time than the four games the USWNT played under Hayes before the Olympics.

“Yes, we need to be more targeted, I don’t necessarily have to say that,” Hayes said. “But I think considering I’ve done maybe half a dozen training sessions in total since I’ve been in office, that’s a pretty good result so far.”

Midfielder Rose Lavelle was briefly removed from the lineup after warmups on Tuesday due to what US Soccer described as “leg stiffness.” Lavelle’s creativity in tight spaces was sorely missed against the opponent’s low block, a perennial statement that has applied to many games in recent years. Lavelle’s rise with the USWNT in 2017 coincided with the USWNT’s inability to break low blocks at the 2016 Olympics.

Korbin Albert came on for Lavelle and played alongside Lindsey Horan in attacking midfield. The US team made some progress but was never able to break through.

Rodman, Smith and Swanson were all able to get around the corner of their defenders and reach the byline within the first 12 minutes, but their crosses or shots were blocked by opposing bodies – or the hands of goalkeeper Noelia Bermúdez.

The strongest attacking moment of the first half, and perhaps the entire game, came in the 37th minute, when a series of USWNT passes down the left wing ended with defensive midfielder Sam Coffey lifting the ball to the far post, where Horan touched it with his right foot and saw the ball bounce gently off the near post.

It was a rare attack down the left side by the USWNT. Jenna Nighswonger, who has established herself as the team’s starting left wing, was absent from Tuesday’s game as part of load management ahead of the Olympics. No player has gained more notoriety in the Hayes era than Nighswonger, whose first call-up came in the late November training camp that followed Hayes’s appointment (but not official arrival) to the team. Through Tuesday, she had started eight of 11 USWNT games this year. In her absence, the USWNT changed course.

The Americans often win possession by having Nighswonger push wide on the left in a quasi-winger role when she’s on the field. Without her on Tuesday, however, the Americans leaned drastically to the right, so much so that the average position of Swanson – who began the game as a left winger – was well behind Smith in the first 45 minutes.

The #USWNT often prefers a left side setup with Nighswonger, but tonight they’re overloading the right side so much (without her) that Swanson’s average position is actually so far inside of Smith’s that they’re inverted. This isn’t entirely new, but it’s much more pronounced. pic.twitter.com/KNa414lf9H

— Jeff Kassouf (@JeffKassouf) July 17, 2024

“It’s going so well,” Hayes said to right-back Emily Fox early in the first half, as captured by TNT’s microphone. Hayes spoke to Rodman in large areas about the ball. It was going well, as it has on other occasions, but the USWNT’s final score again left much to be desired on Tuesday.

Hayes switched to a 3-5-2 in the second half to find more gaps in the attack. The USWNT looked more lively but still couldn’t break through.

The key to farewell matches is caution and context. There is a strange mix of experimentation and injury protection – as opposed to the players’ possible anxiety ahead of a major tournament – that makes the result seem almost secondary.

All of these unusual circumstances obviously make for more boring games. There have been bad farewell games before, including a goalless draw with South Korea before the 2015 World Cup. The USA won that tournament, the first of two consecutive World Cups.

The landscape has changed drastically since then, as Hayes regularly reminds the world. The Americans are not the favorites at these Olympics, and a group that includes Zambia, Germany and Australia will challenge them at every turn. There were many signs of progress under Hayes, considering her time in the spring coaching the team remotely alongside interim coach Twila Kilgore. Hayes pointed to the variety of challenges they have faced recently, from Mexico’s individual coverage to different defensive blocks.

However, Hayes said again on Tuesday: “We have to be patient.”

Tuesday was another exercise in this challenge.

“For any team, the hardest thing to play against is playing against players who sit deep,” she said. “I think for us it’s important that we are aware that if we continue to create chances in the right area, continue to get a lot of players in the box and have as many touches as possible in that area, we will score goals. I’m sure of that.”