The U.S. ladies’s nationwide soccer crew’s 2-0 loss to Mexico on Monday felt all too acquainted. After a pair of encouraging matches that noticed interim coach Twila Kilgore deploy a younger, energetic lineup in additional experimental formations to start out the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup, the Individuals rewound the clock to final 12 months, after they have been caught in a cycle of inflexible predictability that led to their worst World Cup end.
Monday’s loss to Mexico felt quite a bit like that World Cup group stage finale on Aug. 1 in opposition to Portugal, half a world away in Auckland, New Zealand. As a defective fireplace alarm triggered gentle panic and confusion within the stands that day, the Individuals slogged by means of a scoreless draw with Portugal that laid naked all of the rapid risks that their preparations had portended. The U.S. in the end wanted the assistance of the put up in second-half stoppage time to keep away from a bunch stage exit that day.
The stakes have been a lot decrease for the USWNT on Monday, with their place within the Concacaf W Gold Cup knockout stage already booked, however the efficiency in opposition to Mexico was equally regarding. Right here was the return of a U.S. crew that, challenged with a robust tactical plan executed by technically gifted gamers, couldn’t clear up stress in actual time.
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It was a well-known U.S. crew, too — eight of the 11 starters in opposition to Mexico took half within the 2023 World Cup, with most of them incomes important minutes. The Individuals’ tactical form additionally typically mirrored the 4-3-3 formation seen final 12 months (with loads of nuanced tweaks), quickly turning away from the aggressive three-back system that Kilgore lately explored with a brand new group of younger gamers.
Mexico regarded and sounded quite a bit like Portugal on Monday. El Tri gamers knew they would wish to place of their finest efficiency and by no means entertained the concept of dropping, in line with Mexico coach Pedro Lopez. He seemed like Portugal coach Francisco Neto seven months earlier, solely Lopez might enjoyment of a mission achieved moderately than the heartbreak of slim elimination from the World Cup group stage.
Earlier than the sport, Lopez described a hungry Mexico crew as a “wolf in sheep’s clothes.” By “leaping out of their form,” as Kilgore described it, Mexico made the U.S. appear to be the sheepish underdog. After his aspect received, Lopez concluded: “We’ve got seen that wolf.”
Mexico’s ahead line of María Sánchez, Kiana Palacios and Lizbeth Ovalle compelled sloppy, hurried passes out of an skilled U.S. again line — three of the 4 beginning defenders have been additionally starters in the identical positions when the USWNT received the 2019 World Cup. With no buildup play on the bottom or by means of midfield, the Individuals performed lengthy, and Mexico made almost twice as many interceptions whereas additionally matching the Individuals in duels received, per TruMedia.
“I believe the sport is about moments,” Kilgore mentioned. “And if we take a look at these moments the place in the event you take [Mexico’s first] aim for instance, it is a microcosm for the sport as a result of a crew [scored] from a defensive aim kick for us, which is one thing that we typically pleasure ourselves on, and we did not win the primary ball, did not win the second ball after which did not execute.”
What’s vital from a U.S. perspective is that that is now not about Mexico or Portugal, particularly. It isn’t a few scoreless draw with the Czech Republic two years in the past, or a depressing three-game dropping streak by the hands of England, Spain and Germany to finish 2022. The pattern is now clear: The USWNT’s issues are deeper-rooted than any particular person opponent and are an indictment of an American participant pool missing creativity and problem-solving abilities, simply because the failures of the World Cup uncovered.
Monday marked Mexico’s second time beating the USWNT in 43 all-time conferences, the kind of numbers that carry in regards to the cliché narrative that the world is catching up. But such a view is outdated; the world caught up a very long time in the past.
Simply take a look at the grueling path the USWNT took to win the 2019 World Cup, when the opposite seven quarterfinalists hailed from Europe. 4 years later, Spain received its first World Cup whereas the U.S. went residence simply because the knockout stage started after pedestrian performances over 4 video games. Within the time between 2019 and 2023, the USWNT regressed by means of standing nonetheless, grinding out an unconvincing bronze medal on the Tokyo Olympics.
After the Olympics in 2021, then-coach Vlatko Andonovski tried a roster overhaul stricken by accidents and received Concacaf’s qualifying match for the World Cup and Olympics. A strong victory over Canada within the remaining papered over apparent issues from earlier in that match, together with a younger, athletic Haiti crew that made the U.S. again line look caught in quicksand. The distinction between Haiti on that night time — or Argentina final Friday — and Mexico on Monday is that El Tri struck first and did not give the U.S. a window to punch again.
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Salazar: USWNT loss to Mexico is ‘very regarding’
Sebastian Salazar joins “SportsCenter” to interrupt down what the U.S. ladies’s nationwide crew’s loss to Mexico within the Gold Cup means for its future.
This U.S. crew badly wants a brand new path and a reassessment of how the squad must be constructed — as such, the deliberate arrival of incoming supervisor Emma Hayes can’t come quickly sufficient. Judging by Monday’s efficiency, it appears unlikely that Hayes alone can overhaul this U.S. crew in time to win an Olympic gold medal. The U.S. ladies stay in an id disaster, caught between a mere renovation and an entire teardown.
The group stage of this Concacaf W Gold Cup was a very good time to seek out out what might work, and certainly, the fluid formations that made youngsters the focus within the opening two video games achieved that — to a level. Personnel modifications in opposition to Mexico have been partly influenced by a three-day turnaround between group stage video games — Kilgore mentioned she wished to see how gamers dealt with the cadence of a match that mimics the Olympics schedule. However reverting to outdated habits in opposition to Mexico was a step backward, solely highlighting the work forward.
Kilgore was appropriate in her postgame evaluation that there are “no straightforward video games” anymore and the Mexican crew, with its particular person expertise and steering from Lopez, is not any pushover. El Tri‘s capability to defeat the U.S. is a testomony to how aggressive the worldwide recreation is now.
Hayes was employed with the USWNT’s long-term future in thoughts. Neither she nor U.S. Soccer would publicly admit it, however her agreed-upon late-Could arrival solely works if the federation is not prioritizing the quick time period of the Olympics as a lot as the long run of the 2027 World Cup. Fixing every thing in time for this summer season’s Olympics — within the period of time Hayes can have — might be an order too tall even for the most effective coaches on the planet, and U.S. Soccer absolutely is aware of that.
Hayes brings the correct mix of deep familiarity with the U.S. participant pool — and, as her latest feedback earlier than being employed recommend, a deep consciousness of its shortcomings. The Individuals want a no-nonsense outsider who will are available in and rip up the playbook of long-standing standard knowledge.
Indicators of the latter have been there even earlier than Hayes’ precise arrival. Previous to Monday, there was renewed optimism about this U.S. youth motion, and that shouldn’t be forgotten due to the loss to Mexico. Olivia Moultrie, the 18-year-old midfielder, regarded prepared for extra accountability in her two-goal efficiency in opposition to Dominican Republic, and 19-year-old Jaedyn Shaw met the second once more, as she has so many occasions already within the Nationwide Girls’s Soccer League, with a brace and dazzling efficiency in opposition to Argentina.
Hayes’ thirst for inventive options ought to result in plans that revolve round Shaw, amongst others. Catarina Macario, who Hayes is aware of properly from recruiting her to Chelsea, is lastly nearing her return after two years on the sideline recovering from a torn ACL. Macario was imagined to be the brand new attacking point of interest for the USWNT earlier than her damage in 2022. Mallory Swanson regarded like the most effective forwards on the planet earlier than her knee damage final 12 months, and he or she too might quickly return to the sector.
One of many extra rapid conundrums that must be solved by Hayes and Kilgore is the dichotomy between the person expertise on this U.S. participant pool and its flat performances as a collective. Monday’s USWNT lineup did not lack particular person high quality, nor did any lineup rolled out on the 2023 World Cup, however the USWNT squad has repeatedly regarded lower than the sum of its components.
Simply as we noticed on the World Cup, the USWNT on Monday regarded like a crew the place gifted people had little to no reference to one another. The ahead line led by Sophia Smith within the No. 9 function, flanked by Trinity Rodman and Lynn Williams, performed in siloes. In midfield, Rose Lavelle and Lindsey Horan both occupied redundant house or have been successfully reduce off from the movement of play by Mexico, which took the unconventional method of getting center-back Rebeca Bernal floating ahead like a false No. 6 to jam up passing lanes.
How is it that such supremely gifted people, who’ve confirmed their talents in arguably the most effective league on the planet, the NWSL, can’t appear to discover a modicum of chemistry in high-pressure worldwide settings? Teaching is just not the entire reply. Andonovski took a lot of the warmth for the USWNT’s poor 2023 — he deserved his share of the blame for sticking with what wasn’t working for too lengthy, however gamers provided no options to the issues in entrance of them inside video games. Even the most effective tactical plan or personnel modifications would have failed on the World Cup based mostly on the USWNT pool’s incapability to unravel complicated stress.
That lack of creativity Hayes has lamented, and the dearth of chemistry so clearly on show, have come again to chew the USWNT too continuously in recent times.
Monday’s stumble in opposition to Mexico means the U.S. will face Colombia within the Gold Cup quarterfinals, which is able to see groups uniquely reseeded based mostly on their factors collected (and tiebreakers) moderately than predetermined matchups based mostly on group finishes. Among the many 12 groups on the Gold Cup, Colombia secured the most effective end on the 2023 World Cup with a quarterfinal look. The South American visitor crew at this match profiles equally to Mexico in that it has the tactical nous to manage the sport and particular person aptitude to capitalize on key moments.
Till Monday, the U.S. ladies had not misplaced a recreation in a Concacaf competitors in over 13 years, one other stunning loss to Mexico at World Cup qualifying in Cancun in 2010. That defeat 14 years in the past within the semifinals of the competitors represents the one time the American ladies haven’t received an official Concacaf competitors by which they’ve competed, 15 in complete. Now, they’re gazing a attainable quarterfinal exit on residence soil if they can not produce a vastly higher efficiency than they did on Monday.
If that occurs, it would set off additional alarms, however very similar to that August night time in Auckland, the Individuals have tried to play by means of these warnings for a very long time. Rebounding to win this match would restore a crumb of confidence, however extra vital is that they present some chemistry and path. Discovering these qualities has been a stop-start course of over latest months, one which requires extra persistence than the fan base may need after many years of unprecedented success.
Change is tough, however at some point, it should really feel just like the U.S. crew is really transferring ahead.
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