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COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – If the U.S. women’s national team’s 4-0 win over South Korea last Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is any indication, the stagnant attack seen at last year’s World Cup has become a matter of concern. Completely past.
Emma Hayes’ era as USWNT coach began in a sluggish first half-hour before striker Sophia Smith quickly turned and passed the ball to winger Mallory Swanson to score the first goal of the game in the 34th minute. Swanson made a powerful run behind the South Korean backline and cleared the ball to score her first of two goals of the season. That night in a match that embodies the team’s patience and the fluidity of the front line.
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“I think there’s something really good about Emma’s style and the way she wants us to be fluid in our organizing principles, so I think she gives us a lot of freedom,” USWNT midfielder Catarina Macario said after the match.
Macario played the No. 10 role on Saturday in her first participation with the national team in 781 days. She pressed in high areas alongside Smith, the USWNT’s No. 9, as the USWNT built attacks with five players across the front line at times. Macario also often ventured into wide areas to find game. Swanson was shifting inside at times as well, moving to the No. 9 role late in the game after a series of substitutions. Trinity Rodman rounded out the USWNT’s front four with her usual sustained effort on both sides of the ball on the right wing. The exchange between these four players in particular is a welcome sign for a team that has been very aggressive — a word Hayes recently used to describe what the team should avoid — at the 2023 World Cup, where the USWNT’s round-of-16 exit marked a milestone for the program. Worst finish in a major tournament.
Swanson and Macario were absent from that lineup due to injury. Swanson was arguably one of the best players in the world before she tore her left patellar tendon last spring, and former USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski was developing Macario as a focal point of the offense in 2022 before Macario tore her left ACL. Hayes now has the advantage of the health of those two players, not to mention the luxury of bringing Crystal Dunn, Rose Lavelle and Jaedyn Shaw off the bench in the second half to add fresh legs to the attack.
Shaw, 19, is the USWNT’s top scorer this year and one of the most versatile and creative attacking players in the group. On Saturday, Shaw primarily played left field alongside Swanson.
Hayes said Friday that she divides her coaching responsibilities as American sports teams do, with different coaches specializing in different areas of the game. The attacking third is her responsibility, so Saturday’s frontline was a first look at how a USWNT group loaded with scoring talent will operate with Hayes now on the sidelines, after a six-month wait while she finishes the European season at Chelsea.
The new coach praised her team’s ability to process a lot of new information this week, but stressed on Saturday that there was room for improvement. The Americans were slow and, at times, disjointed in the first 30 minutes on Saturday. South Korea got an early corner kick and went close as a byproduct of the Americans’ mistakes. The USWNT eventually settled into the game, and the opening goal came from a period of patient possession that ended with center back Naomi Girma on the ball in an advanced position. She played Smith, who turned and Swanson quickly scored.
“In terms of what I’ve asked the group to do, what we’ve prepared for, and executing on that — we’ve taken steps in the right direction,” Hayes said. “I felt in the first 30 minutes it was the technical execution that we struggled with. We scored in our first three chances, so we were efficient, we were clinical.”
She added that “there’s another level” Smith still has to reach, especially in her combination play with Swanson.
The USWNT faces South Korea again on Tuesday in St. Paul, Minn., in the final team match before Hayes selects her 18-player Olympic roster. They are spoiled with attacking talent to choose from, and every decision they make on how to set up the front line has a knock-on effect on the rest of the positions. Alex Morgan reaffirmed her role as the team’s No. 9 player earlier this year, but Morgan did not play on Saturday. Hayes called it a precaution due to pelvic tightness in training on Friday, noting that the crew wanted Morgan to play “nice and fresh” on Tuesday.
Smith has always been the other natural option in the striker role, but last year she was moved into a wide role alongside Morgan and the entire attacking line struggled at the World Cup. Smith’s central presence on Saturday underscored why this was her best role.
Rodman remains ever reliable, having played in every match for the USWNT since the start of 2023. She was active throughout Saturday’s game, sparking passing sequences after winning the ball back in deep areas and getting to the end line to send in crosses.
Macario is a dissident within the group. She is a generational player who can thrive as a free-spirited No. 10, or can drag down defenses as a striker.
“I realized in hindsight because I coached her at club level, so I know how she works the pocket,” Hayes said. “She can attract players, she can escape pressure, she’s a pressure-resistant player, she connects really well.”
Hayes said she “really enjoyed the front four in the first half.”
“Fluidity” is a common way to describe Hayes’ tactics, and it showed in the attack on Saturday. However, Hayes has consistently tempered expectations, stressing the need for operations. It’s a process – and she’s not nearly satisfied yet.
“I think you can see we’re building something,” Hayes said. “There’s a lot of work to do. There are a lot of holes in our game, no doubt, but it’s been a good start.”
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