what's new about emma hayes' uswnt, and will it work against japan

Emma Hayes’ first major international tournament has been nearly perfect. The trust and responsibility shown in the front three of Mallory Swanson, Trinity Rodman and Soph Smith has been repaid in them trio scoring seven of the team’s nine total goals, and assisting on the two they didn’t score.

After a 3-0-0 group stage performance I wanted to look at what’s been different about the team. There are surely several tweaks and changes we know nothing about, teams are complex and it’s impossible to know even most of the decisions being made pre- and in-game. But there are four that stand out to me.

Lindsey Horan is passing into the box rather than running into it

Obviously this was not all the time, and in fact one of the earliest missed chances was a would-be goal being missed by Horan as Mallory Swanson was behind her with exposed palms and no defender. From there, I thought it might be a long, frustrating game.

Luckily, things changed and that was one of the last times Horan was in such a position. Instead, she drifted into spaces around the box and looked for passes into it. This, to me, is the best utilization of her talent. She can find space in the final third, but Swanson, Smith and Rodman need service and space to make their runs, interchange, cause confusion, and play off one another.

Thanks to this tweak, Horan picked up two assists off passes into the box. One to Rodman who opened the scoring with a ridiculous spin move to split defenders. The other to Swanson, who quick feet collected, controlled and lofted a shot into the net. Staying out of the box afford the front line the space to find the angles to be their most dangerous, and I was finally delighted to see this happen.

Are these attacking pass patterns?

The opening goal against Germany was pure perfection and a look at how dangerous the front three can be when one of them gets to run into space. The other two immediately activate and know exactly what to do. But before all that, the passing pattern between Trinity Rodman and Rose Lavelle was straight off the training ground.

Rose drifted to the right side as an inverted Emily Fox zipped a ball to Rodman, whose heels were on the touchline. She hit the pass first time to Rose who redirected it first time into space behind the line, space Rodman started attacking as soon as she sent the ball toward Lavelle.

The speed of the passing was just as important as the precision. Once Rodman was in space, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson got active. Swanson made the near post run, dragging defenders with her, while Smith curled around her marker to take advantage of the space created by Swanson’s run. Rodman’s cross was low and quick, zipping by Swanson and redirected into the net by Smith.

Low key I think it’s funny how Horan is trailing the play with her arms spread out as if calling for a cutback. These are the kind of late runs I think she should be making, so I appreciate it, but when the front three have themselves and the ball in the box cutting it back should only happen if the opposition has filled the box with twenty-seven Wendie Renards.

Crystal Dunn’s real, actual, useful versatility

I’ve long held the belief that ‘versatility’ is a double edged sword for some, a lie for others. In the past Dunn’s ‘versatility’ had been used as a way to swat back criticism of her playing left back, her fourth best position. The annoyance wasn’t just that she was fulfilling a role she wasn’t most suited to, but that the versatility she was praised for was never actually utilized. While some other players got to bounce around positions they were never as good at as Dunn was in her third or fourth best position. It was very annoying.

Naturally, I was not happy to see Dunn deployed at the start as a left back again but knew it was smart since Dunn’s probability of matching up with Kundananji and Banda in transition was better than Nighswonger’s. I still had questions about Casey Krueger not being an option, but Dunn was named and so fine.

The cool thing was that as the game was in hand and subs were made to see it out, Dunn’s versatility was called upon. She started the game at left back and finished it as a right winger. This has also shown up in different ways in which Dunn is utilized when she’s at left back. Sometimes Hayes has her sit deeper, and sometimes she has her getting forward to combine with the fluid front three. Dunn even ripped a shot from outside the box in a central area that Australian keeper Mackenzie Arnold had to tip over the bar.

Now the next step will be to get her into the midfield where she’s her most comfortable and effective, but still, a fuller range of Dunn’s skills are being put more consistently on display.

In-possession structure + rest defense

Throughout the three games we’ve seen the team morph into different attacking structures. We noticed the 3-2-5 prior to the tournament, but even that has been tweaked, including a 3-1-6 versus Australia who were in desperation mode and sitting extremely deep after two poor performances.

Numbers in attack help you move the ball with lower risks while probing and moving the defense, but when the ball is lost all hell can break loose. Enter rest defense, which is the positioning of players while in possession to block, reroute or counterpress if possession is lost. It’s transition defense before the transition even happens.

Through the three games, the USWNT have allowed a total of eleven shots on target. While that measurement in itself isn’t a great representation of much, they’ve only conceded two goals, and none in transition. Considering the attacking talent faced and the amount of the ball the USWNT has had, plus numbers committed to attack, this is worth noting.

Previous coach Vlatko Andonovski struggled with this. In fact, he still might be. While he’s recouping pieces of his reputation on Temwa Chawinga goal contribution at a time, his Kansas City Current have also conceded 22 goals, which is one fewer than the Houston Dash, who sit twelfth.

Hayes keeping her midfielders in midfield (a concept) and implementing smart rest defense structures has helped the team control matches without conceding the ocean of space in front of their defense that plagued the previous era.

Will this all work versus Japan?

Why would you ask me a question like this? Do you hate me? Do you want to see me suffer? Is this fun for you?

Anyway, Japan have been one of my favorite teams to watch since last year’s SheBelieves Cup when they started putting it all together. They’re wildly adaptable in their gameplan and have tons of supremely skilled and fun players. In terms of overall team development, they’re at least a year ahead of Emma Hayes’ USWNT.

They also won’t be scared of the USWNT, in possession or out. Hayes’ weird decision to start Sam Coffey against Australia saw her get the yellow that suspended her for the match against Japan. In terms of players you can’t afford to lose against this specific opponent, Coffey was very high on the list. Now she won’t be there, and Hayes will have to trust someone she’s shown no trust in to this point.

Given all that, plus Momoko Tanikawa’s ridiculous stoppage time thirty-yard match winner versus Brazil reminded Japan of who they are and what they’re capable of, Nadeshiko should have the edge. Should. The thing is, the attacking front three can be a great equalizer against anyone, and Emma Hayes knows it.

Goals can force any team to scrap preferred gameplans, which would play into the USWNT’s favor. If Japan are able to dominate possession and limit the USWNT’s chances in transition, they should be able to pick up the goal that moves them along in the competition. I know it sounds super smart and revolutionary to be like who scores first and when will determine a lot but that’s the sort of #expert #analysis you come to beyond the vaudevillian cane for.