Sanchez discussed the “really difficult” experience of being suddenly trapped on the bench for the USWNT
Ashley Sanchez said that it took her months to process Vlatko Andonovski’s controversial decision to bench her for the entirety of the 2023 World Cup.
Speaking on the “Friendlies with Sam Mewis” podcast, Sanchez gave her account of what she called a “really difficult” experience.
“I definitely thought I was going to play,” said Sanchez when describing pre-tournament discussions with the U.S. women’s national team coaching staff.
“Rose [Lavelle] had been injured, so I was told actually that I was going to have a big impact, and play a lot of minutes. So yeah, that was exactly what I was expecting.”
It would be hard to blame Sanchez for taking that as the truth, in part because she was playing on a regular basis. From November 2021 until the USWNT’s send-off friendly against Wales, Andonovski had given the California native minutes in 25 of a possible 28 matches. The signs seemed to point towards this World Cup being her time to shine.
However, what followed was an abrupt about-face. Savannah DeMelo got the nod in the team’s first two World Cup games, making way for Lavelle as the USWNT built the latter’s minutes up.
Lavelle returned to play a full 90 minutes in a grinding scoreless draw with Portugal that very nearly saw the USWNT crash out of the group stage. Even with the U.S. having a mathematical incentive to push for a goal, Sanchez wasn’t called upon.
A door seemed to open when Lavelle was suspended for the round of 16 clash with Sweden due to yellow card accumulation, but again Andonovski looked elsewhere. A formation change saw Lindsey Horan push up to play as a No. 10, with Emily Sonnett coming in alongside Andi Sullivan.
Per Sanchez, sometime after the team left for New Zealand and before the first match against Vietnam, she was given the bad news: The coaching staff had decided it wasn’t going to give her a chance.
“What made it a little bit more difficult was that I knew before the first game that I wasn’t going to play,” recounted Sanchez. “So, when we were struggling, I kind of wanted to [say] I could maybe help or…give a different look, but I knew that I wasn’t gonna go in.”
Sanchez: World Cup ‘hardest moment of my career’
Despite the U.S. struggling to create chances and managing just one goal in its final three games, Sanchez would be one of two field players (along with Alana Cook) to end up with zero minutes.
Asked how she knew her opportunity wasn’t coming, Sanchez said that she was told in no uncertain terms.
“I was told that I wasn’t going to play,” said the North Carolina Courage playmaker. “I was trying to make the best of a situation, but it was definitely hard.
“When I was in it, I was [thinking], you don’t want to look back and have such a negative idea of something that you dreamed of your whole life, you know? But when you’re in the moment, you’re trying so hard to think of the positives, but you’re also like, ‘yeah, but I’m here, I worked my ass off to be here, and I know I’m not going to play.'”
Sanchez called the experience “probably the hardest moment of my career,” adding that to some extent her responsibility to the team was reduced down to simply not being a burden.
“I almost didn’t feel like I was part of it. Which was really hard, because…I didn’t really contribute,” explained Sanchez, who noted that the rest of the team “had such a different experience than I did.”
“I think it was a little bit easier to talk to Kelley [O’Hara] sometimes, because a lot of my friends were playing, and I didn’t want to be pouring things onto them. They didn’t need that…
“I think that was the hard part too, is having to almost deal with it myself. Because I was like, ‘I don’t want to put this on anyone else.’ It’s hard. It’s hard for everyone, no matter if you’re playing or not playing, it’s just really hard. So I felt like I didn’t process until I got home. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that was way worse than I thought.'”
The attacking midfielder returned to the NWSL, scoring within seconds of entering her first match back with the Washington Spirit.
However, Sanchez said that her anticipated catharsis didn’t come from that goal, and that she wouldn’t work out her feelings about the entire episode until this past winter.
“I felt like I’m going to come back, I’m just gonna play really great and prove everyone wrong, and then I was just kind of like, ‘Oh, I think I actually need to deal with this,'” recalled the 24-year-old.
“It’s not just going to go away because you’re playing well, you know? And that was probably…I hadn’t gone through anything that hard, I would say.”
Sanchez called the USWNT’s World Cup trip ‘a tough experience’
It’s safe to say that no one associated with the U.S. women’s national team had the World Cup they had envisioned.
Few players are likely feeling that as keenly as Ashley Sanchez.
The Washington Spirit playmaker did not play a single second for the USWNT at the World Cup, a wholly unexpected turn of events that has resulted in plenty of criticism for the team’s former coach, Vlatko Andonovski.
Speaking to reporters after her NWSL club’s training session on Wednesday, Sanchez declined to go into much depth about how the World Cup went for her, only conceding that she had imagined the experience would be different than it was.
“I probably shouldn’t comment on that,” said Sanchez. “Let’s just say the role was not what I had planned.”
Sanchez had solid reason to plan on some real minutes at this World Cup. For one thing, the USWNT ended the tournament on a 238-minute run without scoring a goal, the last 120 of which came with Rose Lavelle suspended. The realities of the tournament seemed to strongly indicate a need for a creative player whose whole career is predicated on opening up opposing defenses.
Additionally, Sanchez had become a regular under Andonovski. After receiving her first cap in a November 2021 win over Australia, the 24-year-old had appeared in 25 of a possible 28 USWNT matches heading into the World Cup, including a start in the team’s send-off friendly win over Wales.
Instead, Andonovski — who had raised eyebrows already by including three No. 10s, including Sanchez, on his roster — opted to start Savannah DeMelo against Vietnam and the Netherlands. Lavelle’s only start of the tournament came against Portugal, while a formation change saw Lindsey Horan deployed in a more attacking role for the team’s final game, a round of 16 loss on penalties against Sweden.
Sanchez would join center back Alana Cook, another previously established regular for Andonovski, as the only two field players who spent the entire four-game run on the bench.
Speaking more generally about the USWNT’s World Cup, Sanchez called the event “a tough experience” for the team, adding that her full attention has now shifted to Washington’s NWSL stretch run.
“Obviously we needed time to process what happened, but as soon as it was over and we’re back here, our main focus is on the Spirit,” said Sanchez. “We can’t really look back and be thinking in the past anymore, and we have a new goal to be obviously champions again. So I think that’s our sole focus right now.”
Sanchez’s teammates for club and country were quick to note that even though Sanchez was deprived of a role on the field, she still offered the USWNT everything she could throughout the tournament.
“I was so impressed with Sanchez, because obviously that is such a difficult situation,” Andi Sullivan told reporters. “I think we’re all aware that that can happen to any of us at any point. And she was so steady, at least front-facing to the group, which is part of the [USWNT] culture.
“She was contributing a lot as a teammate. Because like we said, there’s so much stress and tension, and she had the loudest laugh, making jokes, especially around the meal room… She was still giving, and giving such an important aspect to the group. So I’m really impressed with her, and proud of her.”
“I think she handled it as well she could have,” added Aubrey Kingsbury, who like Sanchez was confined to the bench as Alyssa Naeher remained first-choice in goal. “We understand that you have to embrace the role you’ve been given, even if you don’t really like it.”
Sanchez: ‘It’s hard to really process’ World Cup
Regardless of how difficult the World Cup experience was, Sanchez has already taken steps to put it behind her. Making her Spirit return off the bench against the Houston Dash in Sunday’s 1-1 draw, Sanchez scored what was clearly a statement goal roughly 40 seconds after entering as a substitute.
“That felt really good,” Sanchez conceded with a smile. “Honestly, yeah, I needed that.”
62': Ashley Sanchez enters the game 63': Ashley Sanchez scores a goal
“I was laughing maniacally,” said Sullivan, who watched the game from home as she recovered from playing every minute at the World Cup.
Trinity Rodman, who like Sullivan was granted a few extra days to rest after the tournament, added that she “jumped off the couch and started screaming” as Sanchez scored.
“I saw it coming from a mile away, as soon as she started dribbling up the field,” said Rodman. “I was like ‘yup, she’s baaaack!'”
In a follow-up interview with Pro Soccer Wire, Sanchez said there were also more practical concerns in putting the World Cup behind her. Namely, she had to do battle with the major jet lag upon returning to the D.C. suburbs.
“The first two days I was waking up just so early, and couldn’t go back to sleep,” said Sanchez. “I hit the third or fourth day and I slept the whole entire day. And then since then, it’s been good.”
On the tournament as a whole, Sanchez admitted that while she knows going to a World Cup is an achievement in and of itself, it might be a while before she feels that way about an experience that didn’t follow the script.
“I feel like for me, it hasn’t really sunk in. I feel like we got back and we just like started getting into it again,” said Sanchez. “It’s hard to really process, but I feel like we didn’t achieve what we wanted to, and I feel like until we do, it’s not going to feel like an accomplishment [for me], if that makes sense. Like it is an accomplishment, but ultimately our goal was to win, so it doesn’t feel the same.”
The 24-year-old took less than a minute to get on the scoresheet upon her Washington Spirit return
Ashley Sanchez did not take long to send a message to her now-former U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski — and to whoever replaces him.
Sanchez was named to the USWNT’s World Cup roster but did not see a single minute of playing time at the tournament, as the team ultimately crashed out in the round of 16 for its worst World Cup finish ever.
That result ended up costing Andonovski his job, with the 46-year-old stepping down last week after four years at the helm.
Though Sanchez entered the World Cup with 24 caps, Andonovski opted to use the uncapped Savannah DeMelo ahead of her, with the Racing Louisville standout starting both of the USWNT’s first two games.
After a disappointing World Cup, Sanchez returned to the Washington Spirit on Saturday in a NWSL game at Houston. Less than a minute after coming off the bench, Sanchez made her presence felt.
62': Ashley Sanchez enters the game 63': Ashley Sanchez scores a goal
It was Sanchez’s fifth NWSL goal of the season and her fourth consecutive league game with a goal. The Dash would ultimately level the match in stoppage time, as María Sánchez earned her side a 1-1 draw.
Sanchez’s newfound consistency should serve the USWNT well
The U.S. women’s national team seems set to truly lean on Ashley Sanchez for the first time, and an offseason evolution means the playmaker is ready for the occasion.
In some ways, this moment has been a long time coming: Sanchez starred at the youth national team level, received her first USWNT call-up at just 17 years old, and led a national title contender in assists as a college freshman at UCLA. Upon joining the Washington Spirit, she claimed NWSL’s Future Legend award in 2020, a stand-in for Rookie of the Year after that season was significantly curtailed by the pandemic.
The California native’s trajectory has always pointed towards a place on the world stage with the USWNT.
That leads to the 2023 World Cup, and an interesting sort of pressure. With Rose Lavelle’s fitness still a major question, the nation will tune in to the USWNT’s Group E opener against Vietnam and in all likelihood, Sanchez will be on the field in her place. Vlatko Andonovski’s side is expected to win handily, but will only do so if they get a strong effort from their central attacking midfielder. More than most players, Sanchez will be under the microscope.
Sanchez is, at her core, an entertainer. That’s obvious to anyone that has seen her play for the USWNT, the Spirit, at UCLA, or with youth national teams. The tricks, the moves, the celebrations all point to a player who wants to put on a show.
Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
It also becomes clear in conversation. An interview about offseason training pivots on a dime into Sanchez laughingly recounting a one-car fender bender she got into days after buying a new Tesla (she and her passenger Emily Fox were not injured, and the car was easily repaired). A misunderstanding in a post-game interview comes with the kind of exaggerated reaction more commonly seen in sketch comedy than the media room at Audi Field.
In front of a crowd of thousands, or just talking to a reporter, Sanchez wants to bring some levity to the table. That informs her style of play, and in terms of raw ability, there are few doubts that Sanchez can deliver at the highest level. The creativity and showmanship that comes out when she’s joking around materialize in highlight-reel goals and assists. She’s the kind of player people pay to watch.
The questions for Sanchez have in the past revolved around consistency: can she impact games when she’s not absolutely feeling it, or not finding the pockets as easily as she’d like? Will the defensive effort be there?
Speaking to Pro Soccer Wire not long before being officially named to the USWNT’s World Cup roster, Sanchez is blunt about how the consistently high expectations placed on her for club and country — a big difference from the first three seasons of her pro career — have sparked a change for her.
“The standards are so high in both places that it’s like, no drop-off,” explained Sanchez. “I’m just feeling really prepared when I do go into [national team] camp because it’s like the same exact environment.”
According to her, that’s a stark contrast from years past, where things like high pressing and defensive effort were simply not part of her job description with the Spirit.
“Obviously, it’s expected at the national team. And I would do it there, and I’d come back and it was like…I mean, no one really cares,” said Sanchez. “But I just think [Spirit head coach Mark Parsons’ system] just helps in a way. I gotta train it a lot, I gotta practice it a lot, [do it] in games. And then it’s not a shock to the system when I go in with the national team.”
Sanchez was speaking about a specific need to put in more hard running without the ball, but it reflects the inconsistencies and instability that have surrounded her at club level. Despite a path that seemed to be leading inexorably to this point, Sanchez has barely experienced anything resembling smooth sailing.
Think about the last few years in the NWSL, and at the Washington Spirit in particular. The pandemic started weeks after Sanchez was selected fourth overall in the 2020 NWSL College Draft. Sanchez’s first pro season, a massively valuable moment for growth, would see her play a total of nine competitive games, all in empty, minor-league stadiums.
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
In 2021, the Spirit managed to win the league championship in completely unlikely fashion, but were also one of the focus points in the abuse scandal that has changed women’s sports on a fundamental level. Washington’s players — after the dismissal of head coach Richie Burke, one of the coaches found to have committed that abuse — ended up playing a major factor in an ownership change, standing together to demand a sale of the team.
In 2022, a new set of problems emerged. The Spirit could not find their feet amid a grueling, over-stuffed early season schedule. Burke’s replacement Kris Ward was dismissed over a training ground incident, while a team that had talked about its justifiably huge ambitions finished in 11th place.
Her club and international teammate Andi Sullivan, in an interview with Pro Soccer Wire, said it’s been at least as difficult as those facts would make it seem.
“I think she’s had — and not just lately and now, but her whole professional career — a lot of difficulty with the timing [of when] she came into the league, and the team that she came to, and the challenges that have been presented to her,” said Sullivan.
Despite all of that, Sanchez found her role with the USWNT growing. After getting her first cap late in 2021, she scored her first senior international goal in April 2022. Sanchez’s play may have waxed and waned amid the chaos with the Spirit, but Andonovski kept calling her in with the knowledge that she wasn’t far from being a truly special player at the highest level.
At long last, 2023 has offered Sanchez the stability to move consistently in that direction. Sanchez has responded accordingly, saying she approached this offseason as if it “might be the most important offseason” of her career.
“I think [there] was a lot more added pressure in obviously going into a World Cup year, and my first real opportunity to be on the team,” said Sanchez. “I think I kind of went at it a little bit differently. Me and some of the other players on the national team all trained together in LA, which was really fun and we got really good work in. I think that really helped me.”
That group included Fox as well as veterans like Crystal Dunn, Sofia Huerta, Alyssa Naeher, and Becky Sauerbrunn. In each case, those players aren’t just USWNT regulars, but models of consistency. It’s a dream group in terms of modeling the high standards that are a part of the national team’s internal culture, and in helping steer Sanchez towards this evolution in her game.
Still, the offseason is short, and most of Sanchez’s growth has come in training with the Spirit. On that front, she says that — after admitting some skepticism — the club’s own improvements have surpassed her expectations.
“It’s really funny, because last year, I was in the office of [Spirit general manager] Mark Krikorian and he was just like, ‘You have to trust me.’ He kept saying that,” said Sanchez. “I was like, ‘You know, I’ve heard this a lot of times, but OK, I will.’ And I think he’s just exceeded everything. Him and Michele [Kang, the Spirit’s owner] have put together the greatest staff group ever.
“I just feel like I’ve grown so much in such a short amount of time, on the field, off the field, professionalism, all the things. When I reflect back, I’m like… I would not have done that last year, I would have thought completely different. I just honestly think they’ve been great in my development, on the field and off the field.”
That manifests most specifically in a changed mindset when it comes to pressing. While the Spirit and USWNT play different systems, the No. 10 for both teams cannot be a passenger, and Sanchez says she’s been able to transform her mentality when it comes to being without the ball.
“I changed my mindset [from] ‘I’m just defending and pressing or whatever,'” Sanchez says with a mock roll of the eyes, conveying how she used to think of that part of the game as a sort of drudgery. “I think when you put your mind on ‘Oh, this can be a really good attacking opportunity to catch them when they’re disorganized,’ or whatever. I think when I thought about it that way, it’s really easy to want to get the ball.”
Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
It has not gone unnoticed. Parsons told reporters in May that in his analysis of the team heading into 2023, Sanchez was “in and out of games, and [her] defending was in and out as well,” before characterizing her as undergoing “a transformation this year.”
Sullivan echoes that sentiment, saying that she’s seen Sanchez become more consistent, and also sharpen her ability to choose the right time and place to showcase her attacking skills.
“People were drawn to her for the Spirit and for the national team because of those moments of just being able to slice something open that no one else could,” said Sullivan. “Since going into the national team, and Vlatko demanding a lot of her and now, this offseason under Mark with a clear style and a clear role and clear standards, she’s just been able to absorb all of that and grow a lot.
“I think that’s credit, obviously to Mark and his coaching, but moreso Sanchez absorbing that information and being coachable and applying the information that he is giving her.”
That last point comes through from Sanchez herself, with the playmaker saying that she’s taken on the “never too high, never too low” philosophy that Parsons has preached since being hired late in 2022. That includes an increased emphasis on video analysis, which comes from both the Spirit and the USWNT.
With a laugh, Sanchez said the enjoyability of those sessions “depends how well I played,” but quickly adds that she’s taking on a more even-keeled approach to analyzing her mistakes. “It’s never as bad as you think it is. But then also, you can’t get better if you don’t watch it and analyze these things.”
Per Sanchez, a high level of specificity is a constant in those discussions, which has been a welcome shift away from coming to her own conclusions from game film.
“Before, when I would watch film on my own, I was like, ‘I think I could do something better here,’ but there’s nobody telling me exactly what I should be doing,” explained Sanchez. “Now it’s like, I know it’s expected of me, so it’s easier for me to analyze, but they also give me feedback: ‘You’re in good space, but you need to face up. You need to be out of the shadow, two feet to the right.’
“I think that just made it really easy on the field, to be remembering things like that. And I can kind of be like, ‘OK, this is exact same play, and I need to do this.’ And then it usually works out, so I think they know what they’re talking about.”
All of which adds up to the Sanchez of 2023: still extravagantly talented, but now a player that her teams can rely on in all phases of the game. This is the Sanchez that the USWNT will be looking to at the World Cup:
The flair she’s known for is obvious, but consider everything else at play in this moment. Washington had just fallen behind 1-0, on the road against the Portland Thorns. Sophia Smith golazo, Providence Park is roaring.
It’s a gut-check moment for the Spirit, and as Dorian Bailey’s cross kind of creeps through, it’s running away from everyone.
This is where we see the difference. The cleverness and skill level involved in Sanchez’s heel flick — and it’s intentional, as you can see from how she finds Ashley Hatch with her eyes — is staggering, but she’s doing this at a full sprint. This play is a lost cause, and Sanchez had to put in major work to deliver that bit of magic. There’s no waiting for the moment the defense stands off of her, but rather an insistence. She’s not accepting a gift, but rather changing the game, as a protagonist.
Data bears this out with the Spirit. In 2021, with Sanchez on the field, the Spirit were barely breaking even, with FBref saying Washington’s expected goals per 90 minutes were merely a plus-0.05 above how they did without her. In 2022, that number fell into minus-0.07, meaning Washington fared slightly better when one of its best players was not on the field.
In 2023? That figure has jumped dramatically, with Sanchez’s plus-0.38 the best total on Washington’s roster.
As a player whose own in-game actions depend heavily on what the attacking midfielder in front of her is doing, Sullivan’s perspective may offer the best summary of Sanchez’s maturation.
“I’m looking at things that she has to deal with, and I’m blown away,” said an effusive Sullivan. “I think she is really growing more resilient [in] handling things, and I think that’s — honestly that’s how you survive the national team. Things don’t get easier. You get better at handling those difficult moments and you bounce back quicker and you stay steadier, and I think I see that more and more from her every day, and it’s really cool to witness.”
Sanchez: “I just think we were like: business. We’re doing business today.”
Sometimes the stars just need a proper stage.
Before a national TV audience on CBS and an enthusiastic crowd of 12,232 at Audi Field, U.S. women’s national team attackers Trinity Rodman and Ashley Sanchez put on a show in the Washington Spirit’s 3-1 victory over the San Diego Wave.
Rodman scored the game’s opening goal before teeing Sanchez up for the eventual game-winner, the just desserts for a dominant performance from two players that are fully expected to end up on Vlatko Andonovski’s 23-player roster for this summer’s World Cup.
Last month, Andonovski challenged the Spirit duo to put their obvious connection to more frequent use at club level, and will have to acknowledge that against one of NWSL’s top teams, they looked unstoppable.
To go with her goal and assist, Rodman led all players on the day with four key passes, and threw in five successful dribbles. Her five shots were more than San Diego (four) managed as an entire team, and would have been the most of any player in the match if not for Sanchez having six (along with a key pass and a successful dribble that drew a roar from the crowd on the banks of the Anacostia River).
Rodman opened the scoring on a pass from Sanchez that may not go down as an assist due to Christen Westphal’s glancing intervention. Don’t let that fool you: the play was still the clear product of both the duo’s chemistry and some work the Spirit have put in on the training ground.
Speaking to reporters after the match, head coach Mark Parsons was elated with much of what he saw, but highlighted that goal in particular.
“We wanted to get more of Sanchez between lines,” explained Parsons. “Ash, for Trin’s goal? Yeah, that’s perfect. I grabbed [Morinao Imaizumi], our assistant coach, and gave him the biggest kiss, because we’ve been working so hard on this connection, and they did a good job.”
Much has been made of Andonovski’s comments, but Parsons said he wasn’t concerned about anything beyond unlocking the duo’s obvious potential.
“I don’t give a crap about what national team or anyone else wants. I really don’t,” said Parsons. “What I do care is about players playing in their best position, showing their top qualities.”
Parsons added that the team has been emphasizing that Sanchez is “the first thought and the second thought” when the team is on the ball.
“With their quality, when we have Sanchez, Trin, and [Ashley] Hatch cooking like they were today?” asked Parsons before answering his own question. “Yeah, it’s a problem. It’s a big problem.”
‘We’re doing business today’
Sanchez and Rodman (who made NWSL history on the day as the only player to have 10 career goals and assists before the age of 21) would connect again in the 70th minute, a situation they created numerous times throughout the match: Rodman on the dribble into a dangerous spot, Sanchez with a late-arriving run, and the former cutting the ball back for the latter.
Sanchez sent one such look wide of an open net in the first half, then had another similar look saved by Kailen Sheridan. The third, however, worked out just right.
Sanchez joked after the game that the simple handshake celebration between her and Rodman — known as two of NWSL’s staunchest pro-celebration advocates — was reflecting the job at hand.
“I just think we were like: business. We’re doing business today,” laughed Sanchez before adding a more serious note on how she brushed off the previous missed chances.
“I think obviously, it’s easy to get frustrated in those moments,” noted Sanchez. “I was just trying to keep myself composed, and keep demanding the ball and taking shots regardless of the previous misses. I think she laid off a great ball, and it was a good finish. But I think that’s like a testament of just trying to stay focused and not think about the past.”
Rodman said that she couldn’t parse how much of the pair’s success in the final third on the day was down to the team’s work in training, or just the special understanding she has with Sanchez.
“I just feel like it happens so naturally,” said Rodman, before coming back to explain some of the process that allows them to thrive.
“We’ve worked all week — me, Ash, and Hatch — just on our opposite movements,” observed Rodman. “I feel like the first couple games, it was kind of like, two of us were running forward and there wasn’t that person coming underneath, or vice versa. [Today] I feel like I would come underneath, and I knew Ash would then take the space, and I would flick it to her. Or, she would do a no-look pass for the slip. I just think, ‘it’s there.'”
For Rodman, Sanchez, and the Spirit, business appears to be booming.
“I think everything’s kind of coming together,” said Sanchez. “Every week we’ve gotten better.”
The NWSL returned to regular season play after its first dalliance with the new Challenge Cup format, and gave fans plenty to think about.
Julie Ertz made her first appearance in the league in over two years, and the early signs are that her presence will change a lot about how Angel City FC executes. That follows some positive changes that came in part from Lynn Williams arriving with NJ/NY Gotham FC this winter, while Cece Kizer’s return to fitness has opened up missing elements for the Kansas City Current.
Unless you’re the Portland Thorns, change is good at this part of the season. For some teams, that means staying the course in anticipation of changes for the better coming to fruition. In other cases, we may have a couple of teams who need to consider more marked changes to avoid being left in the dust.
Here’s your look back at another eventful weekend in the NWSL:
The USWNT boss was delighted with Horan, Sanchez, and Sullivan’s play against Canada
The SheBelieves Cup may be delivering more clarity to the U.S. women’s national team’s midfield picture.
USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski has taken more questions about that part of his team in recent months than any other. However, a recent change has shifted it from a cause for concern to one that is making progress towards being an area of true strength at the World Cup.
Even without Rose Lavelle (who was held out as a precaution due to a minor injury), the USWNT central trio of Lindsey Horan, Ashley Sanchez, and Andi Sullivan controlled play on both sides of the ball, giving their side the platform for a straightforward 2-0 victory over Canada on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Andonovski first praised his entire team from a mentality and effort perspective, and then had plenty to say about the particular qualities of his midfield’s performance.
“Obviously we have a plan,” said Andonovski, alluding to an ongoing process that has seen the USWNT have to move away from having veteran stars like Julie Ertz and Sam Mewis available. “The plan is in several stages, and in the stage that we’re at right now, I’m actually very happy with our midfield.”
Andonovski has most recently made a small, but nonetheless significant change to how his midfield structure looks, and the distribution of roles that comes with it. A team that spent much of 2021 and 2022 playing out of a 4-3-3 formation — with two midfielders (usually Lavelle and Horan) obliged to join the attack — has since this past November moved into a 4-2-3-1. That has sacrificed attacking numbers, but the trade brings solidity against counter-attacks and fluency in possession.
That change helped tilt the win against Germany that ended a rare three-game losing streak for the USWNT, and against Canada it seemed to really be bearing fruit against top-tier opposition.
In a match where Canada were held to 0.24 expected goals despite trailing from the game’s opening stages, Sullivan was a midfield force, tackling with authority and prompting the team’s tempo. Horan seemed to barely put a foot wrong alongside her, easily moving the ball out of pressure and playing passes into the final third. Sanchez, playing as the No. 10, nearly scored an early golazo and was able to repeatedly draw Canadian defenders before dishing the ball off to open players.
Praise for the entire midfield triangle
Andonovski was particularly effusive about the partnership between Horan and Sullivan, and how that benefits both players individually.
“I’m gonna start with Andi. I thought she was tremendous,” said Andonovski. “I thought that she was very good defensively and covered every little gap that developed, and part of the reason why Canada couldn’t break through the middle was because of Andi and her ability to close down.”
On Horan, Andonovski said with a smile that “on both sides of the ball, Lindsey was Lindsey… pressure doesn’t faze her, and she has ability to do things on the ball that not many players can do. She’s just a world-class midfielder. But one thing that I was happy about Lindsey, is that she doesn’t neglect the work off the ball. She puts [in] a proper shift, and effort off the ball. So that’s what makes her world-class.”
Andonovski said that Sanchez, who got her 20th cap but has largely been restricted to appearances off the bench, did well but would benefit from more time to gel with striker Alex Morgan and the rest of the attack. In particular, her relationship with Morgan in the defensive phases was tested, and the USWNT boss says that was a major positive to take from the game.
“Sanchez has got special qualities,” explained Andonovski. “It’s not easy to synchronize her movements right away, because she hasn’t played much with Alex [Morgan], but when they do [synchronize], I think it worked very well. I’m very happy where she’s at positionally, and happy where she’s at in the stage of her development.
“The [area] that I feel like she needs to grow and get better is the defensive part, because she puts so much work and effort [in], but her timing and angle is just a little bit off. And it’s not quite synchronized with Alex’s movement when we want to shift from mid-block into high press, for example.”
Andonovski said that Sanchez “studies the game a lot” and said that Canada’s test of how well the USWNT’s front four could restrict their build-out phase is a great learning opportunity for Sanchez when her side doesn’t have the ball.
“I have no doubt that she’s gonna get better. In fact, games like this as well, it’s going to help her get better, because if we try certain things with her against teams that [are] not going to expose us, we’re probably not going to see everything that we want to see,” said Andonovski. “Now, every little thing: if you’re not in the proper spot, if you’re one step to the left or one step to the right, you’re gonna get exposed, and that’s where you learn the most.”
Jaelin Howell is back in the fold for the U.S. women’s national team.
Two days after missing out on the initial roster, the Racing Louisville midfielder has been called in by USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski after an ankle injury ruled Taylor Kornieck out for games against England (Friday October 7, 3:00pm ET, Fox) and Spain (Tuesday October 11, 2:30pm ET, ESPN2). Kornieck suffered the ankle injury in the final moments of San Diego Wave’s playoff-clinching 2-2 draw against the Orlando Pride last Sunday.
Howell’s last appearance with the USWNT came back in April against Uzbekistan, and though she was called up for the team’s pre-tournament camp, she did not make the final CONCACAF W Championship roster. Still, Howell has been called up more often than not since finishing her collegiate career, and is clearly still in the mix for Andonovski as the USWNT prepares for next year’s World Cup.
Midfield picture muddled
Howell’s return to the USWNT comes with the midfield arguably in more flux than the rest of the team. Sam Mewis, a presence there for years, has barely been able to play in 2022 due to a persistent knee injury. Stalwart defensive midfielder Julie Ertz hasn’t played a game in 14 months, having become a mother after the Olympics last August, and is currently without a club. Meanwhile, Andonovski has seemed impressed by Portland Thorns rookie Sam Coffey, who has been competing of late with Andi Sullivan for the starting job as the team’s No. 6.
Howell is also a defensive midfielder, but her roving, ball-winning style of play is different from Sullivan and Coffey, who tend to hold space and set a tempo. That opens the door to Howell playing further forward in a role not unlike the one Lindsey Horan plays. Deploying Howell next to an anchor midfielder would free her up to leave space and force turnovers, a situation she thrives in.
The competition in that No. 8 spot is intense. Horan looked more mobile than she has in the last 18 months during the last USWNT window, and Kristie Mewis remains a trusted option as well. Kornieck’s form cooled somewhat after the beginning of the 2022 NWSL season, but it was not surprising to see her name on the initial camp roster.
Adding to the difficulty for Howell, Andonovski has looked at deploying two true attacking midfielders at once, pairing Rose Lavelle with Ashley Sanchez multiple times in 2022. Howell’s club teammate Savannah DeMelo is also very much in the mix as a playmaker after an outstanding rookie season.
Still, for Howell, proving that she can play at the USWNT level as both a defensive midfielder and in more of a box-to-box role would boost her chances of more caps in the near future. With the World Cup less than 10 months away, these are opportunities players have to seize if they’re going to be on the USWNT’s tournament roster.
It was an easy USWNT win, but the team sees room for improvement
What could have been a potentially difficult night ended up being rather pedestrian for the U.S. women’s national team, who had little to worry about in a 3-0 win over Costa Rica that sent them to Thursday’s CONCACAF W Championship final.
Goals from Emily Sonnett and Mallory Pugh late in the first half, after some big misses and a shot off the post from Alex Morgan, allowed the USWNT to preserve some energy in the second half, with Ashley Sanchez firing home a third just before the final whistle to put an exclamation point on the victory.
Despite the ease of the win, though, post-game reactions were a bit reserved, as the team expressed a focus on wanting to cut down on mistakes.
“I feel like we made too many technical mistakes that are a byproduct of our mental preparation,” Vlatko Andonovski said bluntly on the CBS Sports Network’s broadcast of the game.
In the press conference following the match, Andonovski expanded on that assertion. “I thought that we made too many technical errors. Too many for the players that were on the field, because we know that they’re technical,” said the USWNT head coach. “We know they can settle the ball and pass and execute different technical demands, even under a lot more pressure in pressing moments. But today, for some reason, we made like I said, a little too many (mistakes), and that’s something that we’re gonna look into, to see what it is.”
That’s not to say that the USWNT’s performance was poor, with a relentless counter-press effectively rendering the first half an offense vs. defense exercise. Getting into halftime with a two-goal advantage gave them a vital advantage going into the final: a less demanding second half.
“We went with the game plan from the defensive standpoint that I thought that we executed well when it comes down to reading the moments, and when we want to press and when we want to drop off a little bit and allow them to connect (a) few passes,” said Andonovski. “So as we’re playing this game, where the result goes in our way, we actually started changing a little bit on how we defend, and allowed them just slightly more touches on the ball, which was for us moreso ‘let’s not waste any any extra energy that we have to to win the ball back.'”
Facing an unfamiliar Costa Rica, who came out having rotated key starters in Raquel Rodríguez and Melissa Herrera and playing a 5-4-1 formation, Andonovski detailed aspects of his game plan that helped the U.S. make the game easier on themselves.
“We knew that we’re going to have to, per se, ‘borrow’ a player from the back to overload their backline, and we knew that it’s not going to be easy to execute, because we haven’t had an opportunity to work on that,” said Andonovski, alluding to a back four that saw Sofia Huerta often joining the attack while Sonnett stayed home. “We offset the build up a little bit, with the fullbacks, and build a little different way. But overall, I still think it worked well, because especially early on, we were able to create opportunities, we were able to score goals.”
Andonovski credited that back four—who helped keep Casey Murphy from facing any shots on goal, and only one shot at all—for remaining focused throughout, even as their job largely became about possession and tempo-setting with the ball.
“(Costa Rica) were playing so low and because they were bringing numbers a lot centrally, it was hard for them to transition out,” explained Andonovski. “It looked a little bit easy for our backline, but sometimes this is even a little bit harder, because they were only called out to defend in two or three instances. So they have to maintain 100% focus throughout the whole game, and I think that they executed defensively everything well.”
Lessons hopefully learned in Utah, so they don’t have to be learned next week at the W Championship
As Tuesday night’s U.S. women’s national team friendly against Colombia became Wednesday morning’s 2-0 win, things got weird. The goals both came from the USWNT’s right backs, a late storm delayed the game by nearly an hour, and of all people Ashley Hatch ended up in a shoving match.
Amid all of that, the USWNT faced a slightly different, more open version of Colombia than they did in Saturday’s first meeting, and the game was a tougher task. Alyssa Naeher, starting in the second game, had a few moments to worry in a way that game one starter Casey Murphy didn’t, and while the USWNT were worthy winners, it wasn’t exactly a smooth path.
That path can be summed up in three moments, so let’s dig into what we saw Tuesday night:
Tactical gambits?
Vlatko Andonovski caught Colombia out with two really interesting experiments in the first game: going with two No. 10s from halftime on by bringing Ashley Sanchez in, and a late move to try Kristie Mewis as a No. 6.
The double-ten was put out there from the start in Utah, with Lindsey Horan starting underneath Sanchez and Rose Lavelle, but while the move broke the game open as a halftime adjustment, things weren’t so easy when used from the start.
What was the difference? For one, Colombia simply wasn’t fatigued from defending for 45 minutes, and they got the chance to adjust to the rhythm the U.S. set with two attacking midfielders from kickoff rather than having to figure it out on the fly. With the Colombian line of contention higher, Sanchez and Lavelle had less room to turn and face goal.
Neither played badly, but rather than the revelatory bunker-busting look we saw in Colorado, the USWNT were not quite able to stretch Colombia enough. It was a game of “almost” for the USWNT attack, with Colombia’s center backs frequently doing just enough with their emergency defending to keep true danger at bay.
Mewis, meanwhile, was the subject of some Colombian adjustment to U.S. tactics. Namely, their central midfielders tried to lure her out of her position as the midfield anchor to open up room for counters. Mewis, a natural No. 8 who can play further forward, still has the decision-making instincts of someone who generally plays with one more midfielder staying home. She wanted to step—for good reasons, as winning the ball on a counter-press can create excellent scoring chances—but sometimes stepped into the trap Colombia set for her.
None of this is to say the USWNT should discard either of these ideas. Sanchez and Lavelle have both developed such defensive engines that they can be deployed in this 4-3-3 formation together without being an irresponsible choice. Mewis’ long-range distribution remains a weapon, and between the lack of true defensive midfield options to give Andi Sullivan a rest and the prospect of some CONCACAF teams not being as savvy as Colombia were on Tuesday, it stands to reason that she will be better in this role if it comes up again in the W Championship.
Gamesmanship test
CONCACAF has a reputation for being a real test for a favorite’s ability to withstand provocation, and the USWNT should expect teams to look to get under their skin. It’s a great way to narrow the gap in terms of talent and experience, and while U.S. fans may not enjoy it, it’s a part of the game the USWNT has to be good at.
You can’t say they were particularly good at it against Colombia, though. Obviously the memes tell the story of the late-game clash between Ashley Hatch and Jorelyn Carabalí, a situation that saw Carabalí shoulder-check Hatch after the ball was gone, shoves exchanged, and eventually Hatch pushing Carabalí away with a hand to the face.
Referee Katja Koroleva gave Hatch a yellow and had no card for Carabalí, which means she didn’t follow the Laws of the Game for either player. In the W Championship, this hands-to-the-face moment could have easily resulted in a red card for Hatch, which is the actual punishment for this infringement.
The thing is, though, that Hatch wasn’t the only player to put a hand on an opponent’s face. Taylor Kornieck did the same in the first half, trying to evade some particularly grabby marking on a corner, a play that drew no attention from the referees at all. Early in the game, ESPN’s cameras focused in on Alex Morgan looking visibly frustrated with some aggressive pre-corner kick contact as well, though to her credit, she kept her hands to herself.
These are big learning experiences for the newer USWNT players, as they’re not going to get the more collegial treatment from defenders that we see in NWSL (where opponents are your former college/YNT teammate on a pretty regular basis). Not falling for the provocation should be a key talking point within the group over the next few days.
Reset button
That aforementioned lightning delay came at a pretty good time for the USWNT, who had only a top-notch Naeher save to thank for the scoreline still being 1-0 at the time. Colombia were finding some promising counter-attacking opportunities, and though the USWNT had somewhat regained their footing from around the 70th minute, their grip on the game had still loosened in the middle portion of the second half.
The USWNT came out from the break looking like they’d sorted everything out. They came back out with a high press that completely threw Colombia off, ramping the tempo up and pinning their opponents back deep. Within around 100 seconds, they put the game to bed with a powerful Kelley O’Hara strike.
For one thing, a quick side note about our first moment: Mewis and Sanchez were a factor here, and that’s a reason for the coaching staff to continue to looking at them for more time in these roles.
But more to our point here, the USWNT wasn’t going to regain their footing in this fashion so easily had that storm cell broken up before hitting Sandy, Utah. It’s a big stretch to say Colombia were definitely going to equalize, but they had gotten a couple of corner kicks and were rounding into a threat, and that’s not what the USWNT wants when 1-0 up in the final 20 minutes of a game.
The good news here is that the break provided a chance to learn in the locker room, and put those ideas into practice soon thereafter. The bottom line? There are some important lessons in a game like this, but it’s vital for the USWNT learned them in Utah rather than still needing to learn them down in Monterrey next week.
