Catherine Macario is considered the focal point of USA‘generational transition. However, that plan had to be put on hold after the 22-year-old tore the ACL in May of this year LyonLast game of the season.
On Saturday, before next month World Cup qualifying, the Americans get a first look at life without Macario – and a preview of what much of the qualifier will look like against lower ranked opponents.
The United States fell in the first half goalless first Colombia at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado, before scoring three goals in 45 minutes second much better to win 3-0.
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Washington Spirit striker Ashley Hatch start as number 9 before saturday Alex Morganwho leads? National Women’s Soccer League with 11 goals in the first 10 matches of the season (17 goals in 17 matches in all competitions). Hatch is a seasoned poacher who won the NWSL Golden Shoe last season, and she’s the most traditional midfield pick the US has. She has her first match in 2022 on Saturday and seems to lack familiarity with the wingers Sophia Smith and Mallory Pugh when the United States struggled in the first half. Movement from the front third is too slow and the execution in the last third is often sloppy.
Colombia set up a low defensive block just as the United States is expecting to meet a number of opponents in the World Cup qualifiers, which begin on July 4. Superior opponents have played the Americans that way for years with The degree of success varied, although Colombia used a sweeping defender. Its rear four was unlike anything the United States had seen in a long time.
“It’s no secret that they’ve focused a lot on not scoring,” said US coach Vlatko Andonovski. “So our main focus is [the] the last third, the different combinations, create space and implement the opportunities that we create. “
Morgan – on his return to the team after a nine-month hiatus – replaced Hatch at the start of the second half, and that substitution, along with the Ashley Sanchez instead Lindsey Horaninstantly changed the tune of the game for Americans.
Sánchez joins lavender roses to create an aggressive system using two attacking central midfielders. Lavelle and Sanchez were excellent dribblers in tight spaces and with that, the ball-finding and technical prowess that followed sent Colombia out and left the visitors out of sight. Lavelle jumped at the chance, making a superb pair of passes to assist Smith in scoring in the 54th and 60th minutes.
These are the games where Lavelle is most needed. Lavelle was included in the senior team in early 2017 in response to the US being eliminated in the quarterfinals in 2016 Olympicwhen Switzerland sit low and dare America to be creative. The Americans did not, and then-head coach Jill Ellis began looking for a playmaker like Lavelle who could break through defenses on dribbling and play a killer final ball. On the ground. Lavelle was central in the US’s 2019 World Cup victory and won the Bronze Ball at that tournament.
Now, Sanchez exhibits a similar profile in a similar place in the cycle. Like Lavelle, Sanchez was unpredictable, trying to execute daring moves, from a heel strike after she was stuck on the sidelines in a 2v1 situation, to a scorpion kick assist. She played a role in building on Saturday’s first goal and she was fouled on a dribble to take the free-kick that led to the United States’ third tally.
“I think Ashley Sanchez was one of the main reasons why we played a little more sophisticated in the second half,” Andonovski said.
“Because she can eliminate players on the dribble and she can connect well with the players around her. She also asks different questions from defenders. They have to adjust. In a couple of different situations, anytime you’re trying to figure out how to adjust, the opponent can take advantage of that timeline. adjustments that the opponent has.”
Together, Sanchez and Lavelle bring to the United States unprecedented level of possession and creativity in the midfield. Andonovski will need that throughout qualifying, when the risk of being exploited four behind is lower. They could prove useful either side-by-side or alternately to the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
This, like with role 9, is where Macario’s absence is felt. Macario, one of Europe’s best players this season helping Lyon win the Champions League, has established himself this spring as a fake number nine, whose exchange with Lavelle created a nimble attack. Active, dangerous, capable of confusing opponents. Andonovski marveled at how the players around Macario had adapted to her.
With Macario gone in the near future, the No. 9 role is much-needed, and there will be a gap to fill in the creative and game-changing parts. Placing such importance on the absence of a player who has only made 17 caps may seem like an exaggeration, but building around Macario now, and for the 2023 World Cup, is exactly what the US has done in past nine months.
Now, Morgan and Hatch will take on that number 9 role. Hatch has no say – and Andonovski praised her post-game when asked – but Morgan reminded the world (and Andonovski) on Saturday why she’s been Team America’s dominant forward of the decade past, scoring 115 goals and winning a pair of World Cups with more than 190 caps for the national team.
Morgan has evolved her game over the years to be more multidimensional than she usually gets, but she’s still a very different player than Macario, and that means the approach is evolving. development this spring will require some retooling at a critical stage.
Sanchez will also be part of that process. She’s also relatively inexperienced in the international arena, but that’s where the United States finds itself now, on the eve of World Cup qualifiers: back with Morgan and Megan Rapinoewho also got her back on the team and assisted in the third goal, and for new players like Sanchez and Taylor Kornieckwho scored the last goal on his first international debut.
Whether Andonovski has the right mix of veterans and youth will be decided at World Cup qualifiers in Mexico. There is little risk of missing out on the tournament with four places to go, but only with the winner of the CONCACAF W Championship automatically qualifying for the 2024 Olympics, making the right decisions now is now a must.
