Who will lead USWNT protection on the World Cup? Does Vlatko Andonovski even know?

The one crew to not concede a objective on the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship additionally got here out of the event with none apparent readability round its beginning again 4 and No. 1 goalkeeper. Go determine.

U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski began a unique again line in every of the crew’s 5 video games on its technique to profitable one other continental crown and qualifying for each the 2023 World Cup and 2024 Olympics. He fielded 5 distinctive beginning 11s as a part of his ongoing experimentation with a brand new group of youthful gamers — however it’s in protection the place the adjustments look like extra about discovering options than having gamers get reps.

The place, precisely, does that depart the defensive unit with one yr to go till the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand? Factoring in some ongoing vital absences, troublesome selections loom.

Casey Murphy began in objective within the July 4 opener towards Haiti for simply her sixth profession cap. Murphy made a memorable save 37 minutes into the match, denying Haiti standout Melchie Dumornay one-on-one to protect an early U.S. lead because the Individuals teetered.

Dumornay & Co. proved too fast and misleading for U.S. center-backs Becky Sauerbrunn and Alana Cook and even Emily Fox — maybe the quickest U.S. defender on the present roster — conceded a penalty kick after Haiti acquired in behind. Roselord Borgella hit the put up on that effort simply earlier than halftime, and Murphy and the U.S. emerged 3-0 winners in a sport that hardly felt comfy.

Afterward, Andonovski credited Haiti’s distinctive attacking gamers, noting that “they may expose any defenders.” Two days later, he clarified with a extra affirmative assertion concerning the state of the U.S. protection.

“Completely, there is no such thing as a drawback within the again,” he stated forward of the crew’s 5-0 win over Jamaica. “However there have been moments within the sport that we might have carried out a greater job. It is an enormous distinction. I believe our again line is stellar. I really imagine that we have now the potential to cease any assault, any participant on the planet and I’ve no drawback saying that we’re prepared to try this no matter who’s on the again line.”

– Watch LIVE: Women’s Euro final (Sunday, 11:30 a.m. ET)
– Want ESPN? Sign up & start streaming instantly

He added that the beginning lineup towards Haiti “might be going to play the vast majority of minutes on this event” and that there have been predetermined rotations heading into the CONCACAF W Championship to account for the warmth, fast turnarounds for video games and the necessity to check totally different partnerships.

Proper full-back Kelley O’Hara joined Sauerbrunn, Prepare dinner and Fox in that beginning again 4 towards Haiti. Fox missed the group-stage finale towards Mexico and the semifinal towards Costa Rica earlier than returning for the ultimate. Lineup adjustments continued all through the two-week event.

That leaves us with some key questions concerning the U.S. protection…

---

Which pair works greatest collectively in central protection?

Sauerbrunn is the captain and, implicitly, the penciled-in starter for one of many center-back roles. She was arguably the perfect center-back on the planet throughout and following the crew’s 2015 World Cup victory, and he or she has lengthy been a participant whose superior positioning and talent to foretell play allowed her to be in the suitable place on the proper time. These traits — fairly than relying purely on her abilities — are why she stays a fixture within the lineup at 37 years outdated.

Nonetheless, her profile requires the suitable associate to enhance her at center-back. In 2015, that was a younger, expert Julie Johnston (now Ertz) to deal with open-field tackles and recoveries. In 2019, it was Abby Dahlkemper, who on the time exhibited a few of the greatest long-range passing of any center-back globally.

Dahlkemper stays an possibility, though she appeared to fall out of favor throughout final yr’s Olympics, and her restoration from damaged ribs prevented her from making the CONCACAF W Championship roster.

Tierna Davidson began alongside Sauerbrunn within the Olympics semifinal final yr — Davidson conceded the penalty which in the end determined the sport — and the bronze medal match. Davidson, additionally a 2019 World Cup-winner, paired with Prepare dinner for the pair of friendlies in Australia on the finish of 2021, in addition to for at the least one half of all three SheBelieves Cup video games to start out 2022.

Davidson, nonetheless, tore an ACL in March throughout coaching with the Chicago Purple Stars, probably pushing her return to early 2023.

That left Prepare dinner and Naomi Girma as the opposite central choices for the event. Emily Sonnett can play centrally, however featured solely as a full-back throughout the event. Prepare dinner and Girma may very well be the long-term partnership for the U.S. within the again, however proper now it appears to be like like they’re competing towards one another for a spot within the lineup.

Prepare dinner has the obvious edge after beginning 4 of the 5 matches in Monterrey, and he or she is an offensive goal on set items which the U.S. has lacked within the current absence of Ertz. However Prepare dinner struggled in one-on-one duels towards Haiti’s prime gamers within the opener.

Girma is a novel possibility throughout the U.S. participant pool. The No. 1 general decide within the 2022 NWSL draft is superior to her friends in one-on-one defending and he or she can be probably the most offensively adept among the many present choices on the place. Already in her quick time with San Diego Wave FC, Girma displays each the flexibility to dribble out of excessive stress and pick forwards with lengthy, correct diagonal balls (an indicator trait of Dahlkemper — her San Diego teammate — at her greatest). She put that on show towards Jamaica, aiding Sophia Smith’s opening objective.

Two begins throughout qualifying makes not an apparent starter, however mix the potential Girma has with the progress she has already proven this yr — plus the wants the U.S. has within the place — and it units the scene for her as a possible starter on the World Cup subsequent yr.

---

Do we actually know who ought to begin at full-back?

Even the left full-back place, ostensibly probably the most settled on the again line, comes with an asterisk when discussing the potential beginning 11 for the U.S. ladies’s nationwide crew. Fox is the clear starter proper now. She was recognized by Andonovski final yr as a participant already able to competing on the senior worldwide stage, however who wants extra expertise in prime video games earlier than the World Cup.

“She’s probably the most comfy defenders that I’ve ever seen beneath stress,” Andonovski stated final yr. “Stress would not faze her in any respect.”

The context wanted for Fox’s arrival is that Crystal Dunn was the incumbent left-back and an integral a part of the USWNT’s 2019 World Cup triumph. She gave beginning to her first youngster in Could and is predicted to return in some unspecified time in the future. Dunn at her greatest is a transparent starter.

Might that imply — granting some assumptions right here — Fox on the left and Dunn on the suitable? It will be an especially attack-minded full-back duo whereas equally giving the U.S. loads of restoration pace in large areas, which may very well be obligatory relying on central partnerships.

O’Hara and Sofia Huerta largely shared the load at proper full-back on the CONCACAF W Championship, with Sonnett additionally rotating in and including essential offensive contributions towards Mexico and Costa Rica. O’Hara is the incumbent right-back — and a two-time World Cup champion — who seems to nonetheless be the primary alternative there, however Huerta continues to make her case as a stable possibility who is likely to be the crew’s greatest pure crosser.

Huerta began the ultimate towards Canada, settling into the match after Nichelle Prince focused her early in a pair one-on-one duels. Huerta, 29, is the marginally youthful choice to O’Hara, who turns 34 subsequent week, however O’Hara hardly seems to have misplaced a step when absolutely wholesome.

Proper-back — particularly if that may be a consideration for Dunn upon her return — will probably be an ongoing battle.

---

A veteran or a beginner as goalkeeper?

Most complicated throughout the again presently is the goalkeeping scenario.

Alyssa Naeher began the ultimate towards Canada. In a vacuum, that’s the established order. However Naeher and Murphy break up time all through the event, and Murphy was a part of that 11 within the opener that Andonovski indicated was his most well-liked squad.

He stated afterward that Naeher would begin the second sport, towards Jamaica, as a part of a predetermined rotation, after which the workers would resolve from there. Murphy then began the group-stage finale towards Mexico and, crucially, the semifinal towards Costa Rica (a sport with a few moments of temporary uncertainty displayed between goalkeeper and again line).

Naeher getting the nod within the closing, then, was a small shock. She handled some early probes from Canada earlier than the U.S. again line largely shut down its regional rivals till the ultimate moments when Canada pressed for an equalizer. Even then, Girma was inserted alongside Prepare dinner and Sauerbrunn to shut out the match in a five-back. Canada ended the match with 0.53 anticipated objectives.

Whether or not or not there’s a new No. 1 in objective is unclear. However the choice to offer significant minutes to Murphy stems from a lesson Andonovski discovered eventually yr’s Olympics — and a problem which has existed for the U.S. over a number of cycles: not sufficient expertise for backup goalkeepers.

“She’s an unimaginable goalkeeper,” Andonovski stated of Naeher earlier than the group-stage sport towards Jamaica. “We’re very properly conscious of her qualities. However we felt prefer it’s essential for Casey to get a sport in. A part of the explanation why can be as a result of, trying again on our Olympic Video games, Alyssa acquired injured and we needed to play a goalkeeper [Adrianna Franch] in two of our most essential video games who didn’t play one second earlier than. This fashion, we all know we’re going to have two goalkeepers prepared after these two video games, after which we’ll resolve how we’ll transfer ahead.”

Andonovski stated throughout the event that his crew isn’t prepared for the World Cup proper now, however will probably be when the time comes. A lot of that promise changing into actuality — and whether or not the U.S. wins a 3rd straight World Cup — will depend upon the suitable selections being made for defensive personnel choice.