Amid a historic losing streak, the U.S. women’s soccer team faces some big questions

HARRISON, N.J. — If you only saw highlight clips of the U.S. women’s soccer team’s 2-1 loss to Germany on Thursday, you might think the Americans were nearing a cliff edge. If you only read about the game on social media, you might think the team went over it.

In truth, the U.S. played quite well. They were undone by two smart German strikes, two misses with awful luck for Lindsey Horan, and two surprisingly unselfish moments by Sophia Smith where she passed instead of shot.

The two-time reigning World Cup champions certainly played a lot better than they did in the games that really raised alarms, last month’s losses at England and Spain.

But the big headline has been earned: The U.S. is in the midst of its first three-game losing streak in 29 years. And while manager Vlatko Andonovski has done his best to stop the fan base from panicking, he hasn’t quite succeeded.

“I believe in this group of players and I believe that they’re moving in the right direction going toward the World Cup,” he said in a news conference Saturday ahead of Sunday’s year-ending rematch with Germany at Red Bull Arena (5 p.m., ESPN). “I do understand that we lost three games — I’m not running away from it. That is my responsibility.”

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This is a coach’s life, of course. But Andonovski’s lineup selections are part of the issue, starting with the defense. Centerback Alana Cook has made multiple high-profile mistakes in recent games, with veteran Becky Sauerbrunn watching from the sidelines. That has led to calls for Sauerbrunn’s return, or for Tierna Davidson to replace Cook when she returns from an ACL tear in a few months.

And something seems off with the midfield trio of captain Horan, playmaker Rose Lavelle, and defensive anchor Andi Sullivan. Andonovski has given that group as many minutes as possible to build defensive cohesion to match their all-world talent, but it hasn’t happened yet.

“We scheduled these games for these particular reasons,” Andonovski said. “We wanted to refresh the team. We wanted to transition the team with a new group. We want to develop the players. We want to win games. Sometimes all of them don’t line up. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time.”

When asked specifically about the midfield on Saturday, Andonovski gave a pointed answer.

“I don’t know what issues you’re referring to on Thursday because there was some really good moments,” he said. “The fact that they orchestrated some of the better attacks that we’ve seen against top opponents is what makes us happy. … And I thought Andi was more impactful defensively, but, obviously, still has a lot of room to grow.”

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He also was asked about criticism on social media from U.S. legends Heather O’Reilly and Carli Lloyd on Friday, with a focus on the team’s mental fortitude.

“I heard about HAO and Carli,” Andonovski said. “They’re legends. I love them. I consider both of them my friends, and they’re entitled to an opinion But, at the same time, I would tend to disagree with the mentality piece they’re talking about.”

Overall, while Twitter may be falling — in soccer terms and overall terms — the sky over the U.S. team is not. Their quality and depth still surpasses almost every other nation on the planet, and they will still be one of the favorites when they arrive in New Zealand for next summer’s World Cup.

“I don’t think for us, losing one, two, three in a row as we have the last couple of games — that’s not going to hurt us in the big picture,” superstar striker Alex Morgan said as she prepared for her 200th senior national team game.

“If anything, this is motivation for us going into the World Cup knowing that what we gave wasn’t good enough, and what we need to give in the World Cup has to be better,” she continued. “We can’t have a lapse in judgment, not even once. We can’t decide not to make a run because they might not play the ball, or not to track back one time or not to go into a tackle maybe 80 or 90% — everything has to be 100% all of the time.”

Morgan showed this in style on Thursday with a high-press play that forced a turnover that led to the U.S. goal.

“I think there’s a lot of good learning points that we’re going to be taking with us over the next eight or nine months and applying,” she said. “And trust me, there will be video that will come back, I’m sure, in the next eight months, of these last three games.”

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The rest of the world isn’t just gaining ground with talent. As O’Reilly and Lloyd alluded to, the U.S. doesn’t take the field with a built-in psychological advantage anymore. Certainly not against Germany, the nation with Europe’s most stacked trophy case.

“I don’t think anybody was scared the least bit” of facing the U.S., said forward Laura Freigang, a 24-year-old who went to Penn State in 2016 and ‘17. While there, she played against Lavelle’s Wisconsin and Sullivan’s Stanford. This year, she helped Germany reach the European Championship final.

“I think we just know that we can beat anybody, and that’s our expectation for ourselves,” Freigang said. “We’re very aware that the U.S. players are brilliant and the team is really good, but we are as well.”

That doesn’t mean they’re writing the U.S. off. Germany manager Martina Voss-Tecklenburg knows better, as a former player and longtime coach.

“The young players are coming through and they have to grow into this self-image, into their roles,” she said. “But I think there are so many good players, with so much speed, especially in the attack, that they can find their way back.”