The US Women's National Team Has to Improve in Possession
In order to keep up with the growing women's game, the USWNT will have to make adjustments
The US Women’s National Team is probably the most influential team in women’s football, if not in all of women’s sports.
They have won 4/8 World Cups and 4/7 Olympics in the short history of international women’s football. Simply put, they have set the standard since the beginning.
As the women’s game continues to grow and other countries improve, what has worked in the past for the US may not work moving forward. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics was a good reminder of this.
The US has to improve in possession if they plan to maintain their place at the top. This isn’t saying that they need to increase the amount of possession they have in a game or become a heavy possession-based side. It’s about improving on the possession they naturally have.
I identified three areas that need refinement: build up play, their tendency to play direct, and the size of the team shape when they have possession. These three areas are intertwined and affect each other.
This post will discuss these three areas as well as the US’ mentality and Catarina Macario’s role.
Mentality
There have been times over the years when I thought that the US had played poorly, but they would somehow always get a result in their favor. It happened too frequently for it to be ignored, yet I was never sure how to accurately describe it.
Recently, during Real Madrid’s crazy run in the men’s Champion’s League, Om Arvind wrote an article on the mentality of Madrid. The mix of experience, expectations, and talent carried Madrid to their success. If you replace Madrid’s name with the US’, you would not be too far off the mark.
A notable take away from the 2019 World Cup was when the US scored their goals. In all 7 of their games they scored the first goal of the game, and in 6/7 of their games they scored in the first 15 minutes of the game.
This falls in line with the research that the FA did in England. They found that 75% of teams that score the first goal in the women’s game win the game. They also saw that around 40% of the first goals were scored in the first 15 minutes of the game.
The timing of the US’ goals at the World Cup can be seen below.
Most of the US’ goals were scored in the first 15 minutes of a half. To gain more insight on whether this was part of their gameplan, I compared their possession heat maps from the first 15 minutes of a half to the last 30 minutes of a half.
One can see that they had more possession in the attacking third in the first 15 minutes of a half.
The drop off in actions on the left side coincides with the danger that Megan Rapinoe presented early in games and then dropped off after the US had taken the lead.
Rapinoe herself mentioned the early goal and threat on her side against France as well as the French’s dominance in possession.
It was a good gameplan that led to a World Cup win. However, it did not work out for them at the recent Olympics.
At the Olympics they only scored first in 2/6 games. They were in unfamiliar territory of not being able to dictate the game state from being ahead.
The US may not be able to dictate game state as much as they did in the past. That’s why they should look to improve their possession game.
Size of Team Shape in Possession
As mentioned earlier, the three areas are intertwined and rely on each other. The ethos of the US is that they are more athletic than the rest, and the size of their shape is set up according to that line of thinking.
The massive shape that the US employs feeds into a direct style of play, but it hampers connections between players.
This can especially be seen in the midfield. The midfielders completed very few passes to each other in the knockout phase of the World Cup.
The size of the team in possession also forces players to make longer passes. Among the teams that played at the World Cup, the US ranked in the middle for average length of pass.
It can be seen that the countries that had shorter average pass length than the US were ranked highly.
Direct Play
Direct play is one of the core components to how the US has played. Their athleticism has allowed them to excel in 1v1 isolations and in situations where they may not have the numerical advantage.
For a long time, the US has been able to play direct without much incentive to be creative about it. It’s almost as if they are saying, "We’re going to be direct and isolate our players with yours. Stop us if you can.”
But as teams have gotten better at reading and stopping the direct play, more will be required from the US in this area.
While there is value and efficiency in advancing the ball into attacking areas with few passes, the US needs to add more guile to their repertoire.
This includes using body shape, feints, and deceptive looks to open passing lanes and shift defenders. These things will further open up direct options if they still choose to play those passes.
Another area within the direct play concept that needs development are direct runs that are made without giving support to the passer or the receiver. This can be seen below.
Buildup Play
Buildup play is the area that I think needs the most improvement. The teams at the Olympics did a good job of being organized against the US.
Sweden set the tone with the first game, but the Netherlands and Canada also did well.
One thing that stood out to me was how the Netherlands set up defensively against the US.
They were in a midblock and they were essentially telling the US to make something happen, to create something against their organized set up. It’s something the US struggled with.
Catarina Macario
Macario is the player with the most potential to be the catalyst for a better US in possession.
Against the Czech Republic in the 2022 She Believes Cup, Macario was deployed in the 9 role. Her performance highlighted what the US has been sorely lacking in that role as well as a partnership with Rose Lavelle.
The following clip stood out to me because I think it shows what sets Macario apart from most players within US.
She received a ball out wide after her corner was cleared. Instead of sending in a cross from an area at the edge of the penalty box that had an average expected assist (xA) of 0.121 she initiated a possession sequence that resulted in Lavelle crossing from an end line area with an average xA of 0.13.
Macario has the promise to be not just a key player for the US, but also influential in the success of their possession play.
Conclusion
The US Women’s National Team has always looked to get an edge over their opponents. It is a part of their mentality. They should view improving their possession game with the same mind set.
Photo by AP Photo/Aaron Doster
Average xA for crosses made in those areas during the 2018 NWSL season
Thanks! I found this very interesting and very in line with what it seems Vlatko is trying to do. He seems very bent on moving away from the long ball and wide structure to something much more narrow. You talked a bit about the midfield but I'm curious how you think this plays for what profile of OBs and CBs he is looking for.