Emily Fox played right back for the USWNT vs. Canada. Is that good or bad?
The Americans' best left back prospect in decades played the first half Thursday on the other side of the field. It was partly out of necessity, but it could also be for the greater good.
ORLANDO — It was not, to be sure, the biggest story in the U.S. women’s soccer team’s thorough 2-0 win over Canada on Thursday night.
Mallory Swanson scoring both goals was higher up the list, as were the powerful demonstrations for equality and trans rights that both teams made before kickoff.
But when the U.S. starting lineup was announced, an unusual name was listed at right back: Emily Fox.
A player built to solve the Americans’ decades-long quest for a left back was moved to the other side of the field, one with two other players already on the depth chart. And Crystal Dunn started yet again at left back, sending a signal that a player with roots as an attacker remains unable to return there.
Spun positively, it signals the U.S. team is trying to build an even deeper depth chart. But spun negatively, it’s a reminder of two things: Sofia Huerta has been inconsistent against big teams, and Kelley O’Hara is an injury-prone 34-year-old who hasn’t played since last August.
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After the game, Fox offered a reminder of her own. She played right back some when she was a big-time college prospect at North Carolina, so good that she earned her first three of her 29 senior U.S. caps while still a Tar Heel.
“I feel comfortable on both sides,” she said, “and wherever they need me, I’ll be there.”
And asked if she sees much difference between playing the left or right, she said matter-of-factly: “I don’t think so, no.”
U.S. manager Vlatko Andonovski and his staff analyze these things down to the inch, with as much statistical and eye-test study as any big-time sports team. So, for as much as he enjoys the occasional joust with reporters, he wasn’t being facetious when he said Thursday night that “we can schedule a clinic of the profile of a right back, how we believe the players need to play in order to fit in our system.”
He praised Fox and Dunn for being “very good defensively in a one-v-one situation,” and also “solving problems under pressure”: Dunn with her positioning and passing, Fox with dribbling to create space.
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Dunn ended up playing just the first half. Emily Sonnett came in for her at halftime, taking over the right back spot and moving Fox to the left.
We’ll see if Huerta plays Sunday against Japan (3:30 p.m., TNT, Universo, HBO Max, Peacock), with its outstanding passing and possession game. And the tournament finale against Brazil on Wednesday (7 p.m., same outlets) will be the biggest test: superstar Marta, superstar-in-the-making Debinha, and big-time youngster Kerolin.
O’Hara might be back for the U.S.’ next games after that in mid-April, the details of which are still to be announced. And whether she is or not, it’s no grave sin to try something else while she’s out. Especially with the SheBelieves Cup’s three-games-in-a-week format, which replicates the schedulde of a World Cup group stage.
“I think this is a tournament where you’ll see a good amount of rotation, getting people in the mix of getting experience and playing against top opponents,” Dunn said. “And yeah, I think it’s great. Everyone is ready to take on any role that the coach obviously gives us, and it’s obviously a compliment for players to be able to be adaptable.”
But Dunn knows better than anyone that being too adaptable turns you into an outside back for good. It happened to O’Hara some years back, and when it happened to Dunn under Jill Ellis, she didn’t hide her displeasure. Nor has she hidden it since, in many interviews over the years with The Inquirer and other outlets. The latest came Friday, a big interview with GQ.
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As Dunn spoke Thursday night, she was looking right at this reporter. If she has changed her views, she didn’t quite say so. But she has also made no secret of being happy to be back on the field in any way after giving birth to her son, Marcel, last May. (He was in the media interview area, too, and was the life of the party.)
“I’m obviously a player that has fell into the backline, and I try to make it my own,” Dunn said. “I try to play it the best way that I can, being authentic into my own self. But I think everyone can fill any role that’s given to them.”
There’s little doubt that Dunn and Fox can, given their talents. Whether it’s right for the U.S. team is a different story.
Then again, in a World Cup year, the only story that ultimately matters is the one that wins.
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