The USMNT boss was U.S. Soccer’s highest-paid employee over the period
U.S. men’s national team head coach Gregg Berhalter earned more than triple the salary of U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski, per a new U.S. Soccer tax filing.
Over a one-year period from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, Berhalter earned $1,641,398, which included $300,000 in bonuses.
In that same period Andonovski made $446,495, including $50,000 in bonuses.
Berhalter, whose contract expired at the end of 2022, was U.S. Soccer’s highest-paid employee over the period of the tax filing. Andonovski was only seventh on that list.
U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone was not on the list at all, as the president job remains a volunteer position.
In other listed expenses, U.S. Soccer paid law firm Latham & Watkins $4.9 million over the period of the filing, with the firm leading the federation’s legal fight against the USWNT.
Swanson and the counter-press? Great! Facing a high press? Not so much
At the moment, the U.S. women’s national team is a cliché glass of water.
If you see a team that has now won six straight games and just beat three strong sides in Canada, Japan, and Brazil en route to yet another SheBelieves Cup title, you’re looking at a half-full glass. They have a key player in extraordinary form, injured regulars are approaching full fitness, and they gave up just one goal in what is effectively a preseason tournament while facing sides whose players are in many cases closer to 100%.
If you’re thinking that Canada was a shadow of itself due to off-field issues with its federation, or that Japan worried the USWNT throughout their match, or are picturing Brazil’s near-misses from Kerolin or Adriana, you’re Team Half-Empty. You saw the USWNT struggle with two very different pressing set-ups, and are expecting things to go awry in the first game where the U.S. doesn’t bury their first great look at goal.
Well friends, guess what? You’re both making great points. Let’s get into the positives and negatives of the USWNT’s showing at the SheBelieves Cup.
Swanson’s show
Mallory Swanson is unstoppable at the moment, scoring in all three SheBelieves Cup matches for the USWNT and in seven straight games overall. The list of attacking players anywhere sharing this sort of stratospheric form consists of maybe Sam Kerr, and that’s it.
Under Vlatko Andonovski, there was a Christen Press phase before the pandemic like this, and Catarina Macario and Sophia Smith have spent time as the seemingly inevitable source of goals and assists on this team. Swanson is indisputably having her time under the spotlight right now.
One remarkable thing about this run is that it’s not happening with a particularly stable attacking group around her. The following is a list of what other attacking players were on the field when Swanson scored on this run:
Morgan, Smith, Lavelle
Morgan, Rodman, Lavelle
Hatch, Rodman, Sanchez
Morgan, Williams, Sanchez
Morgan, Rodman, Sanchez
Morgan, Williams, Lavelle
With Smith absent for both camps this year due to a foot injury, and Rose Lavelle missing two SheBelieves Cup games for precautionary reasons, Vlatko Andonovski has toggled between plenty of groups on offense, and Swanson seems to work just as well alongside any of them. We also saw Swanson look very comfortable playing off of Macario in 2021 and the early part of 2022, leaving little worry if the USWNT ends up going back to more of a false No. 9 look come the World Cup.
What’s been very impressive from Swanson is that she’s using her off-ball movement to create the kinds of chances she thrives in: running a channel, receiving the ball just as she breaks in behind the defense. Teams know the USWNT is looking for it. Right-sided defensive players know that’s where she’s going to end up, and still — whether in counter-pressing moments, long balls from the back, passes from midfield, or combination play — they can’t stop her from getting there anyway.
In the months ahead, any team that’s serious about winning the World Cup or that finds itself in Group E is going to be intently studying how to either prevent Swanson from finding these openings, or to cut off her supply from the rest of the group.
It’s vital for the USWNT that they keep opponents guessing, because at the moment, this doesn’t seem like a team that is going to imperiously march through seven games to a trophy. Much like these last two games in particular, the USWNT is on course for some very tight knockout round games in which one player being decisive is the difference.
The good news? The roster is deep with that kind of player, and Swanson in particular is arguably the decisive player in women’s soccer right now. If the team can maintain that — and especially if they add to it — their chances of a third straight World Cup victory are stronger than people seem to think right now.
Pressing problems
That said, there is a reason your social media timeline of choice seems full of doubt. It boils down to some clear issues the USWNT has had facing a high press. To be fair, any organized high press attempted by fast players is by its nature difficult to play through. To their credit, the USWNT has used friendlies to actually work on this rather than simply playing it safe in hopes of an exhibition victory.
However, it’s fair to say this is very much a work in progress, and come the World Cup, we may see them have to adopt some safety-first tactics to get through the opening stages of games. Generally speaking, that’s how high-pressing teams operate: you press for 15-20 minutes trying to get a lead or at least throw your opponent into disarray, then spend some time defending out of a more defined block so you don’t have a team full of exhausted players.
The USWNT, after simply overwhelming a Canada side that had been through so much coming into game one, found themselves on the other side of the coin against both Japan and Brazil. These games weren’t equal — Japan’s press was more organized and dangerous, whereas a tired-looking U.S. gave Brazil an assist by offering up some uncharacteristically sloppy play — but the outcome was close enough to the same that it should be a concern.
(AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)
We’ve seen some other top teams unsettle the USWNT like this over the past few years. Sweden did it at the Olympics, and both Germany and Spain showed that they were paying attention to the trend late in 2022.
As was already covered here, to some extent any press that is executed at a reasonable level is going to make the team in possession look uncomfortable. There seems to be an expectation among fans that can’t be reconciled: many teams are improving worldwide and deserve more respect, but also, the USWNT should be able to beat anyone anywhere with ease, so that discomfort must be an indicator that the team is falling off a cliff.
The sky is not falling for the USWNT, who as a reminder just beat three higher-end teams despite fielding a squad that is (Lindsey Horan aside) in preseason. But it is time for the fanbase to come to grips with a reality that, as high-pressing tactics have become more and more a regular thing in the women’s game, USWNT games might look a little rough around the edges.
It also must be said that the USWNT showed its preseason status in these two games. Some fundamental elements — first touch, body shape when receiving the ball, how often they checked their shoulders, and how early they made their move to be an option for the next pass — were lacking. By contrast, Japan and Brazil both seemed to be closer to top gear. That shouldn’t be the case at the World Cup.
However, here’s where the worried USWNT fan might want to start looking when they consider issues with the team: in this tournament, both Japan and Brazil pressed the way you’d expect them to. Japan’s 3-4-2-1 is not an unknown quantity, and Pia Sundhage’s 4-4-2 with Brazil is something everyone should be very familiar with by now.
Why, then, did these pressing structures seem to come as such a surprise? It’s one thing to enter a game knowing that it’ll be a bit scruffy because both teams are pressing. It’s another to see the USWNT seemingly not prepared to find the angles needed to play around those differing shapes. Every press gives up openings to gain certain things, but the U.S. had to find those spaces rather than knowing where they would be from the jump.
Japan and Brazil both seemed to catch the USWNT off guard, and while the players and coaching staff both did solid work sorting things out on the fly, it’s a bit alarming that they were having to find their way mid-game, and that’s not a completely new issue. Last year’s three-game losing streak saw a similar dynamic play out.
The pressure right now on the coaching staff should be on making sure more games resemble the Canada match rather than a worrisome scramble to get through the first 20 minutes without conceding. Higher-end teams are no longer going to hold off on taking the big tactical risk pressing is against the USWNT, and as we saw last year, there are teams out there good enough to turn a worrying phase for the USWNT into actual goals.
Pressing solutions
The flip side to the USWNT’s issues when facing a press is that they remain an absolute nightmare of a counter-pressing team. That’s down to both the work of the coaching staff — Andonovski’s teams, going back to FC Kansas City and the former Seattle Reign, have largely been counter-pressing experts — and the individual players.
Swanson’s goal came from counter-pressure that ended with Lynn Williams forcing a turnover and getting the ball to Lavelle in space. The USWNT counter-pressed Brazil into a giveaway on Alex Morgan’s goal that wasn’t (a shame, since Andi Sullivan’s first-time through ball was the best pass either team played on Wednesday), and seized on another chaotic situation when Morgan scored a goal that actually counted a few moments later.
Williams is comfortably the best counter-pressing forward on the planet, and last month we were talking about how strong her claim is for a World Cup roster spot despite losing 2022 to injury. This is ultimately why the talk about her not being the most clinical finisher has always missed the point: the USWNT will score more goals with her in games, because they’ll get more chances, because no team and no individual is better at counter-pressing.
It’s not just Williams, though. Anyone who has watched Trinity Rodman in NWSL has seen her — even in mid-block systems, which the Washington Spirit have largely played during her first two seasons — force turnovers by combining a clear understanding of when to jump on an opposing player with her obvious athletic gifts. Rodman’s ability on that front already seems top-tier, and we’ve only really seen the tip of the iceberg. In Mark Parsons’ system this year — expect more high pressure and more counter-pressing — she’s going to improve rapidly.
Swanson and Smith may not force as many turnovers, but they’re both vital cogs in this machine due to how quickly they choose and make the correct run after the turnover comes. Going back to Swanson always managing to get stereotypical Swanson chances even though every opponent wants to prevent them, this is often where they come from. She (and Smith) see the turnover coming, and make the most dangerous run early. The USWNT player picking up the loose ball doesn’t have to cycle through options or take an extra touch to wait for the opening. The ball pops loose, and the pass in behind to a world-class attacker is already on.
Probably not a game that will be known for its attacking brilliance, but w/ USA only getting off 5 shots to Japan's 15, the chances that USA had *on average* were far better than the opponent.
The Japan game was a perfect example. Japan’s expected goals were higher, as even a casual viewer would have guessed. However, since they also out-shot the USWNT by nine, their xG per shot was quite low. The USWNT didn’t create a lot, but the chances they carved out were good ones, and with their forwards, the higher xG chances tend to become actual goals.
All of this is to say that counter-pressing, and the avenue towards higher-leverage openings, is how the USWNT has been winning games that seem more even on a surface level. They put teams into terrible positions just when they believe they’ve dealt with the threat and start to open up their shape, and they have a range of forwards and midfielders (it must be mentioned that Lavelle is more or less an ideal No. 10 to receive the ball in a counter-pressing situation) built to thrive in exactly these moments.
More than any other thing, this is the path towards a USWNT World Cup win this summer.
The USWNT forward is in the form of her life right now
Mallory Swanson was limited to a bench role at the 2019 World Cup. She then didn’t even make the Olympic squad two years later.
This summer, though, Swanson appears poised to not only play a central role for the U.S. as they aim to win a third straight World Cup, but she may be positioning herself as the team’s most important attacking piece.
That’s the kind of form the forward has been in for the better part of a year, which she demonstrated again on Thursday against Canada.
The USWNT defeated Canada 2-0 in their SheBelieves Cup opener, with Swanson scoring both goals. The second was an opportunistic finish after a mistake from Canada but the first was the pick of the night, demonstrating quick thinking and textbook technique to keep the ball down on the volley.
It was the fourth consecutive USWNT appearance with a goal for the 24-year-old, who has six goals over that span. As head coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the game, Swanson is excelling not just on her own, but also in combining with Lindsey Horan and Crystal Dunn on the left to create overloads.
“She plays so well individually but we can see more and more Mal combining with the players around her,” he said. “One of the reasons why I felt like our left [side] subgroup was good was because of her synchronized movement with Lindsey and Crystal.”
Andonovski noted that Swanson is still only 24 and has yet to reach her ceiling but, having made her USWNT debut as a 17-year-old, she is now vastly experienced at the international level.
Swanson has 88 caps already and is older than several of players expected to join her in attack at the World Cup, like Trinity Rodman, Catarina Macario, Sophia Smith and Ashley Sanchez.
The coach is noticing Swanson becoming more of a leader, and demonstrating the USWNT’s ideal patterns of play for some of her less experienced teammates
“A growth that we see in Mal is her leadership qualities,” Andonovski said. “She’s becoming a really good leader on the field. Her understanding of the game is very good and her ability to help the players around [her] is tremendous.
“She doesn’t realize how much she’s helping with her communication, especially some of the younger players that sometimes play around her like Ashley Sanchez or Ashley Hatch or Trinity, so very happy with her and I truly believe we still haven’t seen the best of Mal.”
That is a truly scary prospect for opponents, who will be forced to reckon with Swanson and several other world-class attackers in Australia and New Zealand this summer. Those opponents will hope a couple of them cool off between now and then, but Swanson doesn’t look like she’ll be one of them.
“She’s in the moment,” Andonovski said. “Not just confident and not just playing well but it’s one of those things when you’re just feeling it, and she’s just feeling it. That’s the simplest way I can put it: She’s just feeling it.”
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.”
Andonovski discussed the team’s composition and midfield ahead of their SheBelieves Cup opener
The U.S. women’s national team plays its first top-tier opponent of 2023 Thursday, but they’ll be doing so without numerous big names.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday ahead of their SheBelieves Cup opener against Canada, USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski acknowledged as much, but he feels that the team’s proverbial glass is still half-full.
“This is not something that we wanted to see, where several players that are in fight for this final roster that are not in this SheBelieves [Cup] camp, which we were hoping to see a lot of them back,” said Andonovski. “But that’s part of the game, unfortunately. Injuries happen, and we’re just going to have to deal with it.”
The list goes on and on: Christen Press, Tobin Heath, Kelley O’Hara, and Casey Krueger were all name-checked by Andonovski during his media availability, and the coach ended his remarks with a note that Rose Lavelle would miss the Canada match with an unspecified knock suffered in training.
While Andonovski says the USWNT expects her to be available for the other two SheBelieves Cup matches against Japan and Brazil, it just underlines a long-standing problem: he hasn’t really had many chances to field his very best lineup.
Andonovski said that while he has such a long list of players vying for a World Cup roster spot that he’d rather not try to name them all and accidentally forgot one, there are benefits to the situation.
“To some degree, maybe it is better,” explained Andonovski. “We still haven’t shown our cards. Because you’re looking at, in every game you watch, you look at the starting 11, you feel like ‘oh, I wish so-and-so was here too.’ Maybe by the World Cup, we are going to have everyone that we feel like is gonna give us the best chance to win, to be [in the squad], and then show our cards.”
Midfield details emerge
The USWNT’s midfield remains an ongoing point of discussion. A recent move towards looking at the team out of a 4-2-3-1 formation seems an acknowledgement of how to get the best out the central midfielders available.
That adjustment began in November’s 2-1 win over Germany, and carried on into the USWNT’s two wins over New Zealand last month. The shift is straightforward: the team’s deepest-lying midfielder — largely Andi Sullivan over the past couple of years — isn’t left isolated in transition, and their No. 10 (Lavelle or, most likely against Canada, Ashley Sanchez) has more freedom to push higher and become a second goal threat.
Another change in that zone has gotten USWNT fans talking, with San Diego Wave midfielder Taylor Kornieck telling reporters last week that during this window, she’s being looked at as another option for the No. 6 role.
Taylor Kornieck up first on today's #USWNT presser, & tells @thegoalkeeper that she is in fact working in this camp as a 6. Adds that Vlatko & Andi Sullivan have both been helping her on some specifics.
Kornieck has largely spent her professional career in a box-to-box role or functioning as an unorthodox sort of No. 10, but the USWNT’s depth when it comes to midfield anchors has been limited. Sam Coffey received call-ups in the back half of 2022, and Jaelin Howell has been in the mix during Andonovski’s tenure, but neither are in camp.
The USWNT manager detailed some of the specifics of how he’d like to deploy Kornieck in a role that she hasn’t had much experience in.
“We watched the [San Diego] games when Taylor played as a [No. 6], and we watched her play, the only game she played as a [lone] six, I think it was in [2022] Challenge Cup, against Portland, away,” said Andonovski, who added that he agreed with Wave head coach Casey Stoney that deploying the towering midfielder at the base of a midfield triangle isn’t the best use of her skills.
“I do agree that her best role as a six is if she has [freedom] to be an [No. 8],” explained Andonovski. “In order for us to do that, so if we see Taylor on the on the field as a six, that most likely will be with another, [a] double-six.”
In other words, Andonovski sees Kornieck as a player that still needs to have some freedom to leave her post, either to join the attack or to rove around in a ball-winning role. The team’s old 4-3-3 formation simply didn’t allow for that sort of improvisation at the position, but with the right type of player alongside Kornieck, Andnovski says he can see it working in the 4-2-3-1 that seems to be taking hold.
Interestingly though, Andonovski said he doesn’t think it’s very likely that that other player will be Sullivan.
“I feel confident in the abilities of both players, but I just, as of right now, I don’t know if we can see both of them on the field [at the] same time,” said Andonovski. “We will see different combinations of midfielders on the field, different types in different times of [this] tournament.”
The fourth-year USWNT boss stopped short of ruling the idea out entirely, adding that if “it would help us be successful if we have Kornieck and Andi in the same time on the field, then we may try that as well,” but it sounds like a look that isn’t in the cards for the matches against Canada, Japan, or Brazil.
The USWNT coach will be doing some unspecified work for the USMNT in Qatar
For Vlatko Andonovski, 2022 is over in terms of his coaching duties with the U.S. women’s national team. But his work for U.S. Soccer is far from over.
Andonovski has said he’s set to travel to Qatar, where he’ll do some unspecified work for the U.S. men’s national team at the World Cup.
Speaking to the media following Sunday’s 2-1 win over Germany, Andonovski was asked about his plans for the remainder of 2022, with the USWNT set to gather next at a January camp in New Zealand.
“First and foremost I’m going go to Qatar with the men’s team,” Andonovski said. “I will be helping the men’s team a little bit with some work.”
Andonovski added that while he moonlights with the USMNT, he would be continuing with his day job as his team gets ready for the World Cup next summer.
“Then in the meantime, [I’ll be doing] analysis of the year and seeing where we are in the process and what else we need to do to get ready for the next camp and then for the World Cup,” Andonovski added.
Andonovski’s entire coaching career has been spent on the women’s side, save for a stint in charge of the Kansas City Comets of indoor league MISL.
The USMNT will kick off the World Cup next Monday against Wales.
The USWNT is missing a lot of key players, and the coach provided updates on almost all of them
The U.S. women’s national team is currently dealing with a lot of injuries.
Some are long term and others are more minor, but many of the USWNT’s most important players over the past several years are presently sidelined.
On Monday after announcing his roster for November friendlies against Germany, USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski offered updates on no less than 10 players who are currently out: eight who are injured and two coming back after giving birth.
Here is a list of the players Andonovski spoke about on a conference call.
The #Chiefs will have USWNT HC Vlatko Andonovski in attendance as the team’s drum honoree for the Week 6 game against the #Bills.
The Kansas City Chiefs have selected their drum honoree for Sunday afternoon’s tilt with the Buffalo Bills.
The team announced on Thursday that Vlatko Andonovski, head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, will serve as this week’s drum honoree. He’ll be up on the GEHA Drum Deck, banging the drum to get the crowd at Arrowhead Stadium fired up ahead of the game.
Andonovski has strong ties to the area, playing for the Kansas City Comets from 2001-2005. He previously coached the NWSL’s FC Kansas City from 2013-2017. He’s been the head coach of the USWNT since October of 2019, where he has a 41-4-6 career record including a CONCACAF W Championship title in 2022.
Other pregame entertainment will include a national anthem performance by award-winning singer and songwriter Grace Kinstler. The Gladstone Fire Department will present the colors. There will be a flyover of four combat helicopters from Fort Riley, Kansas.
Parking Gates will open at 11:00 a.m. CT and the Ford Tailgate District will open 30 minutes later, where there will be performances by DJ Lazer and The Stolen Winnebagos ahead of the game.
The loss to Spain marks the first back-to-back defeats of the Andonovski era
The U.S. women’s national team’s trip to Europe for some big-time friendlies did not go according to plan.
The USWNT fell 2-0 to Spain on Tuesday, marking their first back-to-back losses in over five years. Goals from Laia Codina and Esther González were enough to give Spain their first-ever win over the USWNT.
The USWNT had entered this FIFA window on a 13-game winning streak, including a CONCACAF W Championship run that saw them avoid conceding even a single goal, but a 2-1 loss to England was followed by a lethargic performance against a Spanish side that was missing many top players after much of the squad said they would no longer play for head coach Jorge Vilda.
To find the last time the USWNT fell in two straight games, you have to go all the way back to the Jill Ellis era, and far into it. At the 2017 SheBelieves Cup, they fell to a 1-0 loss to England, who got their winner in the 89th minute. That lead into arguably the worst loss of Ellis’ tenure, a 3-0 capitulation against France in the USWNT’s final visit to RFK Stadium.
Vlatko Andonovski, who had entered this pair of games having lost just twice in 49 games (41W-6D-2L) since being appointed USWNT boss, will be hoping for a similar turnaround that the 2017 team showed.
Inflection point
After the loss to France, the USWNT went on a 27-game unbeaten run, winning 25 times. Ellis turned away from some unsuccessful tactical ideas after those losses, and while the team did lose to high-level European opposition before the 2019 World Cup (France won a January 2019 friendly 3-1 in Le Havre), momentum and cohesion within the program had clearly shifted in a positive direction throughout 2018.
While the USWNT entered this window short-handed due to injuries to many regulars, and also had the emotional toil of the Yates investigation to work through, some patterns — an inability to truly control the midfield in possession, and leaving too much space in defensive transition among them — predate those issues.
With the 2023 World Cup less than a year away, Andonovski has good cause to examine whether this is just a blip, or if this is his version of that critical moment in the Ellis era.
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.
