USWNT lessons from SheBelieves Cup: Some great play, and some flaws

The U.S. women’s soccer team was triumphant in the SheBelieves Cup, winning each match against Canada, Japan and Brazil. But there were enough shaky moments to make fans realize that the road to the Women’s World Cup this summer and an unprecedented three-peat title won’t come easy. Let’s take a closer look at the lessons learned from the tournament.

Well, I learned the midfield is a bit of a mess for the U.S. right now. Everyone playing there is very talented, but there’s some drawback to each player, which basically comes down to, whoever they are, they’re not Julie Ertz or they’re not playing alongside Julie Ertz. With Ertz as the defensive destroyer in midfield, everyone else in that area was free to go forward more, be creative more, etc., without worrying about defense as their primary responsibility.

That’s part of the reason I think Sam Coffey might have a solid shot at getting called back in for the upcoming friendlies and ultimately getting a spot on the World Cup roster if she does well. She’s a better ball winner with defensive instincts than some of the others converted to her position, just like some of them are better in their games in other aspects.

» READ MORE: Five months before the World Cup, the USWNT is gambling at a key position

If U.S. manager Vlatko Andonovski hasn’t already made it clear enough, let’s you and I make it so to everyone reading this: Ertz and Sam Mewis aren’t going to the World Cup. This is the crux of the issue that Andonovski is trying to deal with, and even some of his critics don’t envy him on it.

Andonovski’s ideal setup is Lindsey Horan and Andi Sullivan combining to do enough defensive and attacking work to make the midfield succeed. But Sullivan isn’t enough of a ballhawk, even though when she commits herself to it she’s very good at it; and Horan isn’t always positionally disciplined enough to make sure all the ground is covered that needs to be.

There were a few occasions in the U.S.-Brazil game when Horan and Sullivan ran into the same space after the ball. That can’t happen.

So far, Andonovski has rated Taylor Kornieck and Kristie Mewis as his top choices to be Horan and Sullivan’s backups. As I wrote at the start of the SheBelieves Cup, Andonovski is trying to shoehorn Kornieck into a defense-oriented role that she admitted she hasn’t really played before. She’s learning it because it’s how she’d get to New Zealand, but is it good practice for a player to be learning a position five months before a World Cup?

As you said, this is no knock on Kornieck’s skill set overall. She’s a pest on set pieces with her 6-foot-1 frame — Andonovski sent her on to lead the front line late in the Brazil game — and a plus-quality passer. In a way, I think Andonovski sees her as a Sam Mewis replacement, right down to the size. I just don’t know if she really fits in how he wants her to.

Kristie Mewis fits the system better, even though she’s not naturally a pure defensive midfielder either. As I wrote after the Japan game, she played outstanding that day, and she has major-tournament experience from the 2021 Olympics.

» READ MORE: Sam Coffey had ‘so much fun’ — and played well — in her U.S. women’s soccer team debut

I think Coffey has the defensive acumen to fit in; I think she deserves a fair shot to make the World Cup team, and I think she might not be getting it. If she isn’t called up in April, I can only conclude she’s out of the picture.

Another obvious lesson is that Mallory Swanson has to be on the World Cup roster. She’s been automatic for the U.S. lately and the lesson the world over is to go with the hot foot, so to speak. When strikers get on a streak, teams can usually ride that for a while.

It’s a bit weird to think the U.S. is solid and deep in the attack right now, but doesn’t have the midfield stalwarts it long had with Foudy, Boxx, Lilly, Lloyd and Ertz. Goes to show that talent arrives on a squad whenever it does, and often in waves.

» READ MORE: Alex Morgan, Mallory Swanson carry USWNT to 2-1 win over Brazil in SheBelieves Cup finale

Also, against even some top squads, the U.S.’s band-aid efforts wherever it is weak are usually still strong enough to hold up. It may not be pretty, but moving talented players around and asking them to pitch in on defense is enough to get the job done at this point. Against Germany, France and England, however, it may leave them aware of exactly what weak links to focus their attacks on.

I stirred up a hornet’s nest on Twitter when I wrote that Alex Morgan might not keep the starting striker spot when Macario comes back. I’m not saying I think Macario should get it back automatically, but I won’t be surprised if she does. It’s in part to get her playing time, and in part because Andonovski designed his system around having Macario in the middle of the front line.

A Swanson-Macario-Smith front three has a playmaking striker and shooting wingers around her. When Macario tore an ACL and Morgan came back in, I wrote last summer — and asked Morgan about it in a subsequent interview — that I wasn’t sure a pure finisher would fit perfectly there.

Of course, Morgan went out and proved the oldest adage in the book: put good players on the field together and they’re usually smart enough to figure it out. They’ve kept proving it ever since, right through the SheBelieves Cup finale in which Morgan became the highest-scoring mother in U.S. women’s team history. (And let’s say again: que golazo) The U.S.’s forward depth is the team’s biggest asset, and right now it’s just about outrageous. I can easily draw up a World Cup squad that doesn’t have Trinity Rodman, Midge Purce, and Christen Press and Tobin Heath even if they return to playing in March and tear up the NWSL.

How? By starting with this front six: Macario, Morgan, Swanson, Smith, Lynn Williams and Megan Rapinoe. Which of them do you drop? Not Williams, whose defensive pressing is world-class and just what you want off the bench. Not Morgan, who … well, if she was standing on the sideline in the 70th minute of a tied game, ready to come in as a sub, steaming as if she was a horse about to be sprung from the gate, how would you feel as an opponent?

And not Rapinoe, I don’t think, because she’s the soul of a locker room that has a lot of still-inexperienced players. She knows when it’s time to be serious and time to let loose, and she’s been really good at teaching that.

To be fair, this assumes FIFA keeps World Cup rosters at 23 players. That FIFA isn’t budging after letting the men’s teams in Qatar have 26 players last year is cheap and unfair, no matter how it gets spun to us. Andonovski has been quite blunt in saying that the world’s coaches have given FIFA an earful about it, for good reason.

» READ MORE: Mallory Swanson’s latest big goal carries the USWNT to a 1-0 win over Japan in the SheBelieves Cup

Taking a look at the team’s defense, I’m a little torn. Part of me is cheering on Crystal Dunn going public in her campaign to be moved up the field and out of the defense, because she is good enough and deserves it. But then again, it leaves the defense a little thin, especially on tournament experience.

Sofia Huerta, I think, picked up her performance in these latest games, but then again, she’s had shaky moments in the past and still hasn’t ever played on the biggest stage.

I agree on all this, though Dunn’s forthrightness is not new. She has told me and other reporters so for years. As of now it seems Andonovski plans to play Dunn on the left and Emily Fox on the right, and in terms of talent level that’s probably the best choice he’s got. I’ll be interested to see if Casey Krueger is called up in April, as Andonovski has indicated, to give Huerta a run for her money. Especially if Kelley O’Hara isn’t fully healthy yet by then. She keeps being close but not getting there, and she’s 34 and hasn’t played since last August.

Let’s take a moment for the centerbacks, too. If Macario is the No. 1 absence right now, Tierna Davidson might be No. 2. Alana Cook is good, but I’m not convinced she’s World Cup starter-class. She’s had a bad streak of making one big mistake per game, and that streak has gone on long enough that I’ve seen a fair share of other skeptics too.

Davidson was in U.S. camp before the tournament started and told me she expects to be ready to play for the Chicago Red Stars on the NWSL’s opening weekend at the end of March. I’d play her and Naomi Girma (who’s outstanding) for as much of the April U.S. games as possible. And I’d make them the top pair at the World Cup, with Cook and Becky Sauerbrunn filling out the group.

A quick word on the goalkeepers, too. Casey Murphy locked up the No. 2 spot with her big game against Japan, and Alyssa Naeher is still No. 1. There are no doubts about her going into this World Cup.

All my criticisms aside, I’m excited about the talent the U.S. women’s squad is bringing through now, especially with the possibility of Smith and Macario, who haven’t paired up since the last edition of the SheBelieves Cup, combining with Swanson and a-still-very-effective Morgan in the attack.

» READ MORE: Mallory Swanson’s goals lead USWNT to 2-0 win over Canada in SheBelieves Cup

True, this version of the team has a tendency to get inexplicably stuck in games where it needs to figure out opponents, but when the squad gets rolling, man, it’s fun to watch. With a resurgent Swanson, Smith’s arsenal of attacking options, and Macario’s superlative skills in almost every aspect, plus Morgan’s veteran savvy, are the U.S. still World Cup favorites? Yes. The chasing pack of teams is stronger than ever, but the Americans still set the standard.

Indeed they do. My bar for this team in the World Cup is the semifinals, mainly because I don’t think it’s fair to say it’s a bust if the team doesn’t make a fourth straight World Cup final. England is the most talented opponent in the field, but if I was the U.S. I’d be happy to let the Lionesses come in as favorites and have to deal with that pressure.

I think Germany might actually be the U.S.’ biggest threat, because they’ve got loads of young talent and don’t care about any of the mental stuff. Plus they have two outstanding performances against the Americans last November in their back pockets.