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U.S. Women's Soccer

U.S. Women Underwhelm in 1-0 Victory Over Trinidad

American Soccer Now contributor John D. Halloran takes the long view in his analysis of Wednesday's World Cup qualifier, sharing four observations about the match and the players.
BY John D. Halloran Posted
October 16, 2014
5:44 PM
THE UNITED STATES women's national team kicked off World Cup qualifying on Wednesday night with a 1-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago in Kansas City, Kansas.

The win came on the back of a lone goal from Abby Wambach, but considering that the U.S. was a heavy favorite to win the match—the U.S.'s all-time record against Trinidad and Tobago heading into the match was 7-0 with the U.S. holding a 54-2 advantage in goals scored—the result was certainly not what many expected.

Here are four things we learned from the match.

Some Changes

Being the first game of the U.S.'s World Cup qualifying campaign and not having injuries to any of its major stars, U.S. head coach Jill Ellis likely started what she sees as her best lineup against Trinidad on Wednesday night.

The core of the team essentially remained the same with Hope Solo, Ali Krieger, Christie Rampone, Becky Sauerbrunn, Carli Lloyd, Lauren Holiday, Wambach, Megan Rapinoe, and Alex Morgan all in the starting lineup. The only semi-surprises in the starting XI were Christen Press on the right wing and Meghan Klingenberg at left back. But considering that both Klingenberg and Press have featured prominently in the U.S.'s recent matches, neither was a shocking selection.

Klingenberg earned the start over Kelley O'Hara, who was the starter for the U.S. in its gold medal-winning 2012 Olympic campaign. But Ellis has been slow to use O'Hara in the back and Klingenberg's strong form in the U.S.'s recent games against Mexico justified her start.

In the match against Trinidad, Klingenberg proved she belonged in the starting lineup, repeatedly putting good service into the box, getting forward exceptionally well, and minding her defensive duties. Her play of the night came in the 74th minute when a giveaway out of the back by Solo nearly resulted in an equalizer for Trinidad. However, Klingenberg's recovery on the play made the difference in breaking up the play and preserving the shutout for the Americans.

Press, for her part, started over several veterans, including Sydney Leroux, Heather O'Reilly, and Tobin Heath.

Although Press did have a number of solid passes in the attacking third to open up opportunities for teammates, she struggled in front of net. In the 14th minute, she had an open header which she hammered straight at the Trinidadian goalkeeper and, in the 39th minute, Press couldn't get a solid shot off from an open chance in the box. She also struggled on a number of occasions with her first touch, causing her to lose possession.

The Formation

As expected, the U.S. began in a 4-3-3, the same formation the team has used in every game under Ellis. Just as in the U.S.'s first friendly against Mexico last month, Wambach was deployed in the No. 10 role playing underneath the striker, Morgan.

The use of Wambach as a No. 10 made the U.S. appear to be playing in a 4-4-2 as Wambach generally stayed high and close to Morgan, with Lloyd and Holiday sitting deeper in the center of the U.S. midfield.

Often, too much is made of formations. Many U.S. fans have been highly critical of the team's 4-3-3—preferring the team return to a 4-4-2—but with Wambach in the No. 10 role, it's a distinction without a difference.

The problem with the U.S. attack seemed to have more to do with Wambach herself who, despite scoring the winning goal, struggled throughout the match. While Wambach is both the U.S.'s all-time leading goal scorer and holds the world record for all-time international goals, she looked slow and out of sorts against Trinidad.

On several occasions she struggled to get on the end of passes which led her into space and, uncharacteristically, couldn't put away several aerial chances in the box. To be fair, no one on the U.S. had a particularly good night on the offensive end of things, but Wambach also should have done better with a pair of gilt-edge chances in the 52nd and 73rd minutes.

The other big question that remains for the U.S. is the role of Holiday in the team's new system. In the U.S.'s last several matches, Ellis has preferred to play Holiday as the team's No. 6, sitting in front of the center backs.

On the one hand, Holiday's distribution out of the back is simply world class. On repeated occasions against Trinidad, Holiday switched the field to open up the U.S. attack, including several 60-yard cross-field passes that were simply jaw-dropping.

On the other hand, Holiday is a world class attacking midfielder and, arguably, the U.S.'s best choice to play the No. 10 role. Holiday's attacking ability helped her club team, FC Kansas City, to the NWSL title this fall and Holiday originally broke into the U.S. starting XI in the 2011 World Cup as a forward.

However, if the U.S. were to push Holiday into the attack, it would only create more of a logjam at those positions and still not resolve the fact that the U.S. doesn't have an experienced holding midfielder on the roster.

What was up with Rapinoe?

Arguably the worst performance of the night came from Rapinoe, who is usually one of the team's most dynamic players. On Wednesday night, Rapinoe repeatedly gave the ball away and struggled to do anything productive in the attacking third.

Her lack of simple possession has been obvious when she's played the No. 10 role for the U.S. and it continued to be a problem while playing wide against Trinidad.

She did have a couple of good moments, putting in an excellent service across the face of goal in the ninth minute and hitting a shot off the crossbar from 40 yards out just before halftime. However, those moments didn't overshadow her repeated bad touches and passes, or the open chances she missed in the 52nd and 62nd minutes.

Going forward

Wednesday's match may have been an anomaly and, considering the U.S. has outscored its group stage opponents by a combined score of 99-2 in their past meetings, advancement to the knockout round is practically guaranteed.

But there's no doubt that the U.S. was unfocused against Trinidad, something that shouldn't have happened considering the long camp the U.S. had to prepare for this tournament. Nearly everyone on the team had a poor game—from Solo in goal to Morgan up front. The U.S. also struggled against Trinidad and Tobago's speed—something they don't see very often from more technically proficient squads like Germany, Japan, France, and Sweden.

World Cup qualifying in CONCACAF is always a little bit tricky, as the U.S. found out four years ago when a loss to Mexico in qualifying forced the squad to play a home-and-home series against Italy to earn its way in. But considering that the U.S. is the No. 1 team in the world, hosting the qualifying tournament, and competing against a series of teams that have never even played in a World Cup, the U.S. should do much better.

John D. Halloran is an American Soccer Now columnist. Follow him on Twitter.

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