The USWNT played their first of two friendlies this week in a No. 2 vs No. 3 match up against France. This would be the first match up after an almost month long camp in California and the first of two matches the US would be without Hope Solo, who is currently serving a 30 day suspension by US Soccer.
The US appeared to revert back to a 4-4-2 formation with Carli Lloyd and Tobin Heath on the wings while Lauren Holiday and Morgan Brian paired up in the midfield. Christen Press and Alex Morgan started up top while Lori Chalupny got the start at left back, moving Meghan Klingenberg over to right back. Whitney Engen and Becky Sauerbrunn rounded out the back line and Ashlyn Harris got the start in goal.
What turned out to be a 2-0 defeat for the US could have been much worse as both the formation and where personnel were placed in the formation caused an issue for the US for the majority of the match.
France began the match looking to expose the US defense and did so almost immediately, getting behind the back line twice within the first ten minutes of the match. The US had some chances early on as well, highlighted by a beautiful backfield nutmeg by Morgan and excellent through ball by Press, but neither opportunity was able to pay off.
The US did have moments of good possession and attacking presence in the first half, but it was France who were the far more dangerous team, racing down the flanks and easily out running the defense and making them chase them down, allowing for plenty of solid opportunities.
In addition to Morgan’s outstanding back heel early in the match, the US did have a few other standout moments in the first half. The first belong to Harris who made two incredible saves within a minute of each other, proving to many why she deserved her place in the starting XI. The other positive came as the US almost took a 1-0 lead at the end of the half. Lloyd played a beautiful through ball to Morgan which France goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi came way out wide for. Morgan dribbled around and shot toward the open net but defender Laura Georges just got a toe on the ball to steer it out of danger leaving it scoreless at the half.
Neither team made any changes at the half, a move that perhaps would come back to haunt the US as they gave up two goals in the course of a minute early in the second half. The first goal came as the defense was once again outpaced by Elodie Thomis who sent a well placed cross to Eugenie Le Sommer who snuck in between two defenders and was able to hang long enough to get a head on the ball and into the net.
The second goal for France was more of a fluke, a “shross” as most people would call it. Jessica Houara received the ball down the left flank and sent what appeared to be another cross in towards the net, but instead of finding a player, it found the inside of the post and bounced in for France’s second goal. Unfortunate bit of luck for the US, but the two goals combined were enough for Jill Ellis to sub Ali Krieger into the match, moving Klingenberg over to the left.
The USÂ had the opportunity to pull one back as Abby Wambach drew a questionable penalty moments after entering the match in the 63rd minute. Wambach took the penalty herself but the shot, though well placed, was not hit very well and Bouhaddi was able to save it without much trouble.
The US offense did look more put together in the final 20 minutes or so. They were able to keep possession and move the ball better than they had most of the match in order to create several opportunities. Tobin Heath had the ball in the box and what appeared to be a fairly open shot, but was unable to strike it cleanly, Lloyd another opportunity but had the ball toed away last minute and Wambach got her head on a corner from Holiday but sent it just wide. Though the offense had improved by the end of the match, they were just not able to finish and get on the scoresheet.
There were many questions after the game as to whether personnel on the field and on the bench were being utilized correctly. While many have been wishing for the US to return to a 4-4-2, why put Carli Lloyd on the wing instead of in more of a central role where she excels? The same could be said with Lori Chalupny on the back line. Chalupny has been solid in her return to the USWNT, but is now playing in a role that she doesn’t normally play and some suggest if Ellis ever does decide to play with a defensive midfielder, she would be a good option for that role (which seems to be at the very least a semi-popular opinion).
Throughout the match there were several mentions of the fact that the US was without several key players. Christie Rampone, Megan Rapinoe and Sydney Leroux were all unavailable due to injury and Solo is serving her suspension. While I think missing players does play a factor to a point, France is a very good team and played very well in this match.
It will be interesting to see how the formation and player roles change in the upcoming months leading to the World Cup. The good news is that yes, there are about four months and lots of game time between now and June, but there still need to be time to build combination and chemistry once those role and formation concerns are figured out.
