The USWNT beat Brazil 4-1 in the final game of the Tournament of Nations. Here are three questions facing them heading into World Cup qualifiers in October.
In the final game of the 2018 Tournament of Nations, the USWNT needed a win of two or more goals to take home the title. An early own goal from Tierna Davidson had the USWNT down early, but Rose Lavelle quickly evened things up heading into halftime. After the break, it was all US as they added three more goals in route to the title.
3. Are Crystal Dunn and Emily Sonnett really the answers at outside back?
For all three games in the 2018 Tournament of Nations, head coach Jill Ellis has gone with Crystal Dunn on the left side and Emily Sonnett on the right. Neither player plays at outside back for their club team, with Dunn playing forward or midfield and Sonnett playing center back. So why is Ellis playing two talented players out of position?
Well for starters, Casey Short and Kelley O’Hara, two of the best outside backs in the system, have been injured and Short has only recently been playing games again. As for the others that have been called up in recent years, well, they just don’t seem to fit with Ellis’ philosophy for her more attacking minded style or have fallen off in terms of play.
At the end of the day, this seems to be the way that Ellis is going with the system. While it hasn’t hurt them really on the score sheet, the defense has been definitely hurt by the decision to play these two on the outside. Dunn especially enjoys pulling hard up the field in support of Rapinoe. Even with her speed, this makes it very difficult to defend and ends up putting a lot of pressure on the center backs and goalkeeper. If they do keep these two on the outside, the center backs will have to do a better job of being in position and aware of what is happening around them.
2. Who will join Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan on the front line?
Head coach Jill Ellis seems pretty set on playing Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan together on the front line. In the first game of the tournament, Morgan and Rapinoe combined to score four goals for the USWNT. In the other two matches, they linked up in the second half of the Brazil game where Morgan scored easily off of a Rapinoe free kick.
The big difference between these three games is who the third forward on the field was for the US. In the first game, it was Christen Press. This allowed Morgan to have another true forward on the front line alongside her. In the following two games, it was Tobin Heath, a natural midfielder. Morgan has never been a target forward. It just isn’t the right role for her. Even going back to her early days with the national team, she was always the one who would take defenders on. This is a lot harder to do when you are the only true forward in the system.
Megan Rapinoe does her best work when she is out on the left flank creating for others. That means she will typically avoid pulling in towards the center of the park. This creates a lot more work for Morgan. If the USWNT want to see more production out of Morgan and Rapinoe, they need to re-evaluate the personnel on the front line heading into World Cup qualifiers.
1. Should Megan Rapinoe continue to take the corner kicks for the US?
Megan Rapinoe has always been known for her exceptional free kick abilities. However, in the second and third games of this tournament, her corner kicks, in particular, have left much to be desired. Her free kicks, however, have still been good. So this leaves the question, who should take them?
Well, for starters, Abby Dahlkemper has had success for North Carolina on corner kicks this season in the National Women’s Soccer League. Tobin Heath is another option as well. Even if it is not every single time, mixing it up might produce better results overall for the USWNT.