The US Women’s National Team won 4-1 over Switzerland last night. However, that scoreline is somewhat deceiving as two USA goals came from PKs as did the lone goal for Switzerland. The USA goal scorers were Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd (PK), Christen Press, and Abby Wambach (PK). Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic scored Switzerland’s only goal from the penalty spot after Rapinoe handled in the box.
The USA certainly controlled a majority of the match; however, their dominance in possession resulted in surprisingly few quality buildup plays and far too many wasteful giveaways in the final third. Despite those misses, the USA still managed to get 15 of their 16 shots on frame.
Jill Ellis had Rapinoe play a slightly new role moving the midfielder from her usual spot on the left wing to a more fluid number 10 position roaming across the field ahead of Lloyd and Lauren Holiday.
Holiday was also in a slightly different role as she was tasked with the responsibilities of a holding midfielder. Ellis said she wanted Holiday to sit a bit deeper and dictate play from just in front of the center backs. Meanwhile, Lloyd settled in the number 8 role traveling from box to box supporting both Rapinoe and Holiday.
Christen Press playing up top on the right alongside Alex Morgan in the middle and Sydney Leroux on the left had a mixed night. She looked either frustrated or confused several times throughout the match. At times she had significant miscommunication with players running down for an attack. She also stumbled and ultimately wasted a near 1v1 scoring opportunity with Swiss keeper Thalman in the first half. Despite some struggles earlier in the game Press scored an impressive goal as Switzerland attempted to clear the ball from the box. Press chested it down, let it bounce once, and then rocketed a well struck volley off the underside of the cross bar.
The consensus among players and the coaching staff after the game was some of the miscommunication and mistakes from tonight could be attributed to the extremely short practice time before the game as some players arrived on Sunday and others arrived on Monday from their varied NWSL clubs.
The length of camp prior to games and tournaments continues to be an excuse used by the USWNT despite the fact that many core players in the Starting XI including Morgan, Rapinoe, Lloyd, Holiday, Rampone etc have been playing together regularly since 2011.
The Swiss flew in from Zurich on Sunday, which means they endured at least 10 hours of flying, including a layover in DC, a six hour time difference, and a massive change in climate (Zurich isn’t nearly as humid or hot as North Carolina).
There is some truth in the issues inherent with practicing only a couple of times before a game, but noting or blaming camp or practice length has become a common refrain used to explain less than stellar performances.
According to a blog by former USWNT head coach Pia Sundhage, the USWNT will convene for a fairly lengthy residency camp in early 2015. Swiss players before the game noted their team has no plans for a lengthy residency camp and noted their camps generally last 10-14 days. Shorter camps are commonplace in Europe for both up and coming teams like Switzerland, but also World Cup winning behemoths Germany. The primary factor influencing this trend in Europe is that clubs are unwilling to release their players for such long periods of time.
Overall there is nothing inherently wrong with the USWNT continuing their reliance on frequent and lengthy camps, but it is worth questioning what the players may be missing out on that European players gain by spending more time with their clubs and meeting with their national team for shorter intervals.
The USWNT will convene for a two week camp prior to their two game series against Mexico. The two sides will meet in Sandy, Utah on September 13th and then play against on September 18th in Rochester, New York.
The series against Mexico will serve a similar purpose to last night’s game–provide a forum for players to learn new roles, build chemistry among likely starters, and narrow down the list for the World Cup roster. These matches are less about the opponents since Switzerland, Mexico, and the field for the CONCACAF qualifying tournament won’t provide much of a test for the USA.