For those who haven’t followed the 2011 World Cup qualifying cycle – the U.S. lost to Mexico in the CONCACAF semifinals before Alex Morgan finally gave the U.S. a try against Italy advances in a playoff series against Mexico that might feel like a rivalry in name only.
The U.S. women’s national team hasn’t lost to Mexico since that moment in 2010, and the U.S. women’s soccer team hasn’t lost at home to any CONCACAF opponent since 2000.
On Monday night, that story went out the window.
The U.S. women’s soccer team lost 2-0 in front of a raucous crowd in Carson City, Calif., not as low as last summer’s 0-0 draw with Portugal in the World Cup group stage, but the team’s final group game of the Gold Cup. The game is (hopefully) a helpful reminder that the team has yet to find a new, cohesive identity.
What should worry fans the most is how Monday’s performance reflected the listless U.S. women’s soccer team we’ve seen before.
But how much should we read into this year’s 270 minutes of action? How much does a loss change what needs to happen before the Olympics? Why is cohesion still a big issue?
Mexico provides necessary testing – and a reminder
Mexico deserves full credit and praise for its execution in all the places that mattered on Monday night. But by the same token, the U.S. women’s team failed in many of these areas.
This kind of failure can be helpful if used correctly (see: losses to France in friendlies in early 2015 and 2019, followed by World Cup wins both times). However, that has been the reward for this American team for a while. At some point, players and coaching staff either step up or they don’t.
What do U.S. leaders want from these games? If there was ever a time for the team’s young players to figure things out in a difficult situation, it was Monday night, trailing 1-0 at halftime against a Mexico team with a lot of unproven talent on the field. Put them to the test. Or even let them fail! Instead, Morgan, 34, with 217 caps for his country, came on after the break. That doesn’t tell interim head coach Twila Kilgore or incoming Emma Hayes anything about this team right now.
Morgan takes the field against Mexico (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
The mystique of the U.S. women’s national team has faded, and the rest of the world’s rising standards are only part of the story. Players used to think of their collective reputation and mentality as a sword and a shield – it told them something about themselves, and something about the other teams they faced. Without it, they lose their weapons and something more symbolic.
Leaning into an old-fashioned loser mentality can be a game, which may sound ridiculous considering the United States is still ranked second in the world by world governing body FIFA. Much has been written about the lack of joy in the U.S. women’s soccer team since those very strange Tokyo Olympics, but less attention has been paid to the possible flip side: exploiting anger for good because it replaces joy.
As the generational shift progresses, young players hungry for recognition and performance should take advantage of any emotional advantage they can find.
But first, they have to get on the field.
Why is cohesion still such a big issue?
It’s worth remembering that this Gold Cup is the USWNT’s first training camp of the year, which is still preseason for most of the players competing domestically in the NWSL. That’s not necessarily an excuse for the cohesion issues that plagued the U.S. women’s soccer team on Monday, but it’s at least helpful context, coupled with the massive rotation of personnel that occurred during the group stages.
Center back Naomi Gilma feels like she is the key to solving this problem both immediately and long-term. While it’s understandable to want to control his load, Gilmar has risen to the level of player he needs to be on the field at all times. She’s also now playing in the World Cup — and was the U.S. women’s soccer team’s best player in New Zealand and Australia by a very comfortable margin.
Gilma vs. Argentina (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
“All that was missing tonight was a little courage from the center backs and willingness from the forwards,” Kilgore said after the game. “No matter how many men we have in front of the defence, the expectation is to pass the ball forward and keep the ball moving, and of course sometimes there’s a balance required and then the ball will come back, but we do want to play forward.”
If the identity of the team is built around the backcourt, it feels like putting your best guard — the 23-year-old around whom the team will be building for the next decade — on the floor in the toughest group. Using Girma was more effective than playing alongside Tierna Davidson against Argentina.
U.S. Women’s National Team defender Kelly O’Hara said Monday that the team has gotten “stuck” in certain formations and tactics at times over the past few years, and that the performance against Mexico was in line with some of the team’s more frustrating recent performances. a feeling of. On nights like Monday, it feels like the U.S. Women’s National Team is clinging to an identity they need to shed, and some principles of the beautiful game that are great in theory but sometimes need to be abandoned when the game calls for it.
It’s impossible to know from the outside whether the coaching situation played a role here – everything from the team (at least publicly) is that Hayes and Kilgore communicated extremely well and everyone understood the scheme until five Hayes arrived from Chelsea in January.
Hayes being out until then is not an ideal situation in many ways, but it’s just a fact that the U.S. women’s soccer team has to deal with. The federation reached the agreement and now the team is dealing with the fallout of playing under an interim head coach who is stationed far away in the months leading up to a major event. This is not ideal and is not something that can be changed.
How much can we decipher the starting lineup and playing time?
My answer remains: “Not at all.” But, so you can watch the three games side by side, here’s the lineup…
Kilgore promised the rotation, and she delivered. Speaking to the media after Monday’s game, she bristled a bit at questions about whether such a rotation was counterproductive.
“The whole team is ready to play,” she replied. “The whole team is ready for tonight’s game. We had multiple options and this is the group we chose. I have full confidence in the team’s ability to execute.”
Kilgore said it’s important for all players to get a chance in this tournament, but it’s also important for the team to execute.
“It’s not just about partnerships, it’s about systems, roles and responsibilities,” she said.
From my vantage point outside the USWNT Technician franchise bubble, the Gold Cup remains the right place for experimentation, evaluation and rotation. But if you’re going to do that, you have to really commit.
(Top photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
