America Women’s national team coach Emma Hayes said she wanted better decision-making and execution in front of goal. Costa Rica It’s his final game in the U.S. before he leaves for 2024. Olympic.
Instead, she Scoreless draw The U.S. Women’s National Team took 26 shots and maintained 80 percent ball possession. Tikas After the match, Hayes noted that the team’s ultra-low block 4-2-3-1 formation, also known as the “Christmas tree,” thwarted the opposition’s attacks and required the U.S. to play with precision, which ultimately did not materialize.
“Look, if you play the game by percentages and the law of averages, we’re creating more and more quality chances, we’re putting more of the ball in key areas, we’re touching the ball in key areas,” Hayes said after reading Opta statistics which showed his team had 67 touches of the ball inside Costa Rica’s penalty area and no goals.
“That last part is the hardest. I’m really patient because I’ve coached teams where you have to break down blocks and that’s the hardest thing to coach. If we hadn’t created the situations tonight, I’d certainly say something different, but I really like the intent of the team and we just kept going at it.”
Despite their statistical advantage, the U.S. Women’s National Team had a lower expected goals rating (1.82, per TruMedia) against Costa Rica than they did in Saturday’s match. 1-0 victory Mexico (1.94), the “last game” Hayes was referring to.
Tuesday’s match was played in sweltering heat (the heat index was 106 degrees Fahrenheit at kickoff) and was also a send-off match, which often leads to atypical team performances. Still, the USWNT’s lack of ultimate production over the past 180 minutes is concerning not just because it stands in isolation, but because it serves as a reminder of past issues.
The U.S. struggled with teamwork heading into last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, and problems foreshadowed in the run-up to the tournament came true as they finished in their worst performance at a major tournament, exiting in the round of 16. It was a different team, with a different coach. Hayes’ goal is long-term development, but with the Olympics just a week away, the question of when and where they’ll get going in front of goal remains a burning question.
There’s no denying the 2023 World Cup squad: there’s plenty of individual talent among its members, and some moments of magic for the team as a whole.
Final combination Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith Immediately after the trio took the field in the June 4 victory South Korea Proof of this is that these three players are performing at an MVP level. National Women’s Soccer League club.
For the USWNT, teamwork is still a work in progress, not just among the front three but the entire team — their best moments in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Mexico came in transition — and evolving that mentality will take more time than the four games the USWNT played under Hayes before the Olympics.
“We definitely need to be more clinical, that goes without saying,” Hayes said, “but considering we’ve only had about six training sessions in total since I took over I think the results have been pretty good so far.”
Midfielder Rose Label Lavelle was removed from the squad at the last minute after warming up on Tuesday because of what the U.S. Soccer Federation called “leg tightness.” Her creativity in tight spaces was sorely lacking against the opposition’s low block, a timeless lesson that applies to so many games these days. Lavelle’s rise for the U.S. Women’s National Team in 2017 coincided with the U.S. Women’s inability to solve the low block at the 2016 Olympics.
Corbin Albert He replaced Lavelle and played in attacking midfield. Lindsey HoranThe United States investigated but was unable to break through.
Rodman, Smith and Swanson each evaded defenders and reached the goal line within the first 12 minutes, only to have the ball hit by an opponent’s body or the goaltender’s hands. Noelia Bermudez –Getting in the way of crosses and shots.
The most cohesive attacking moment of the first half, and perhaps the entire match, came in the 37th minute, when a series of passes from the left wing led to the defensive midfielder Sam Coffey He lobbed the ball to Horan at the back post, whose flying right foot met the ball, but it bounced softly off the near post.
This was a rare attack from the left wing for the U.S. Women’s National Team. Jenna NyswongerNyswonger, who has emerged as the team’s starting left back, missed Tuesday’s game as part of workload management ahead of the Olympics. No player has stood out more in the Hayes era than Nyswonger. Nyswonger was first called up to the team in late November for a camp after Hayes was named to the national team (though not officially signed). Before Tuesday, she had started eight of the U.S. Women’s National Team’s 11 games this year. In her absence, the U.S. Women’s National Team changed course.
With Nyswonger on the field, the U.S. typically pushes high up the left wing and has the ball more often, but without her on Tuesday, the U.S. leaned more to the right, and Swanson, who started the game as a left winger, averaged enough that she was well inside Smith through the opening 45 minutes.
of #US Women’s National Team I often like to build out left with Nice Wonger, but tonight I overtaxed the right side (with her out) and it was reversed because Swanson’s average position is much further inside than Smith’s, which isn’t exactly new, but it’s much more noticeable. pic.twitter.com/KNa414lf9H
— Jeff Kassouf (@JeffKassouf) July 17, 2024
“Amazing,” Hayes said to the right-back. Emily Fox Early in the first half, a TNT microphone picked up Hayes talking to Rodman about the ball in a wide area. Like the other chances, it went well, but the USWNT’s ultimate accomplishment fell behind again on Tuesday.
Hayes switched to a 3-5-2 in the second half to try to create more attacking opportunities, and although the U.S. Women’s National Team looked more active, they still couldn’t find the breakthrough.
The preparation games require particular caution and awareness: an awkward mix of experimentation and injury prevention, contrasted with the anxiety players feel before a big tournament, with results almost secondary.
These unusual circumstances have made for a more boring game on the surface — the team has had some disastrous send-off matches before, including a goalless draw with South Korea ahead of the 2015 World Cup, which the U.S. won for the second consecutive year.
As Hayes has repeatedly told the world, things have changed dramatically since then. The U.S. is no longer the favorite to win this Olympics. Zambia, Germany and Australia Coach Hayes will make Mexico’s players tough on all fronts. Looking back at his time coaching the team from afar with interim coach Twyla Kilgore in the spring, there were plenty of signs of progress under Coach Hayes. Coach Hayes pointed out a variety of challenges they’ve faced recently, from Mexico’s individual marking to different defensive blocks.
But Hayes also said Tuesday that “we have to be patient.”
Tuesday was another practice in that challenge.
“In soccer, the hardest thing for any team to play against is a low block,” she said. “I think it’s important for us to remember that if we keep creating chances in the right areas, keep numbers in the penalty area, keep touching the ball as many times as possible in that area, the goals will come. I’m a big believer in that.”
