The Americans had a slow start in this Women’s World Cup.
Possession was sloppy, the midfield disjointed, and chances were wasted. USA were winning games, but in ways where it always seemed like the team could crumble at any moment.
But the USA coach, Jill Ellis, it appears, was playing the long game. The team’s motto is to “peak at the right time” and USA certainly peaked against a fierce and talented Germany to secure a spot in the final.
“This was our best game so far,” striker Alex Morgan said after Tuesday’s semi-final. “We’ve been playing better and better each game. I think people were pretty critical of us early on, but today proved just how good we can be.”
The Americans were indeed good enough to knock out the No1-ranked team in the world and, at least for neutral or American supporters, they were fun to watch for perhaps the first time in the tournament.
A lot of that comes down to the woman who has faced the brunt of the criticism early in this World Cup: Ellis, who has shown her tactical mind is far less rigid than many thought.
Shifting Xs and Os
Call it a 4-2-3-1 or call it a 4-4-1-1, but Ellis’s against Germany was a stroke of genius.
Throughout this tournament, Ellis went with a 4-4-2 that looked disjointed and ill-fitted for her personnel. It didn’t seem viable for the latter stages of the tournament, but it looked like USA would live and die by the formation.
Ellis, however, seemed to see everything critics had been pointing out and then some. Perhaps she was just waiting to surprise everyone with a new system, or maybe midfielder Carli Lloyd gave Ellis no choice.
“Carli scored some goals and it just seemed like a natural fit,” Ellis said when asked if she had been holding onto that formation, which USA did use last year, but sparingly.
Indeed, Lloyd proved in the quarter-final against China that Ellis had been using her all wrong, and forcing Lloyd to defend was an exercise in frustration.
Throughout the group stage and the round of 16, Ellis placed Lloyd and Lauren Holiday as tandem central midfielders who split attacking and defensive duties. But that led to gaping holes in the midfield and trouble finding reliable paths to connect lines up the field with passes. Against China, Ellis finally gave Lloyd free rein to attack – and she scored the game-winner.
With Tuesday’s top-of-the-world semi-final clash looming, Ellis freed up Lloyd even more. She tasked Holiday and youngster Morgan Brian with hanging back and fending off Germany’s efforts to go at goal. Lloyd roamed around the 18-yard box and Morgan was the only dedicated forward on the field, but Ellis said Lloyd became a de facto striker.
“I wouldn’t say we played with a lone forward. We played with two central 6s to stabilize us,” Ellis said, referring to her holding midfielders. “That way we could get our wide players up and we could afford to release Carli.”
The frustration Lloyd had been experiencing in the group stages was palpable. Talking to reporters and answering for an attack that was struggling to score goals looked like the last thing Lloyd wanted to do.
Lloyd said on Tuesday that she met with Ellis when the group stage wrapped up to talk about getting in the game more.
“[Ellis] was like, ‘Don’t stress it. We’re going to find a way to get you going.’ As a player, you want to have an impact, but I knew my time was going to come,” Lloyd said.
Holiday and Brian played less glamorous but key roles against Germany. They swept up German attacks and acted as an important connecting piece in moving the ball through the midfield in possession.
For Brian, it’s not the sort of attacking work she is used to, but as the youngest player of the squad, she has stepped up. “It’s not a natural role for her, but she makes it look natural,” Ellis said.
Working the flanks
Brian and Christen Press are talented, impressive players. But they are players who know the center of the park and feel comfortable there. That’s why it never made much sense when Ellis forced them to play as wide midfielders.
Ellis went with the strengths of her squad on Tuesday and used players who feel comfortable working along the sidelines and stretching defenses. Megan Rapinoe and Tobin Heath played well in those wide roles, but perhaps Ellis’ most impressive decision was substituting Kelley O’Hara for Heath.
O’Hara, a former forward, was groomed into a left-back for the 2012 Olympics and has played there since. But Ellis, not needing to change an ironclad defense that has now gone 513 minutes without conceding a goal, found a different spot for her: wide midfielder.
The position was perfect for O’Hara, a speedy player who always seems to have a second wind. She was directed to race up along the flanks and provide service into the box, which she could focus on entirely in her new midfield role Tuesday.
“I thought today would be decided based on the substitutes that were made, and I was right,” veteran forward Abby Wambach said. “I said that to Kelley. I told her I think that this result will be decided based on the subs, either from [Germany’s] coaching staff or ours. I was right because Kelley came in and made the difference.”
O’Hara’s goal was an audacious, almost desperate attempt to get something on the ball. “Kelley was full-steam coming,” said Lloyd, who got the assist. “That was an unbelievable goal with the commitment on her end.”
An awful miss
Celia Sasic has been a star of this tournament.
There was no reason going into it to think she wouldn’t be. She came into Canada with 42 goals in two seasons in the Bundesliga and 57 international goals at the age of 26.
Going into the semi-final, she was tied with her team-mate Anja Mittag for the tournament’s top-scorer. She had been dominant and confident.
But that miss – oh, that miss. Sasic sent her penalty wide, even as goalkeeper Hope Solo guessed the wrong way. It was a wasted chance for her side to get ahead and the Germans never seemed to recover.
To hear the Americans tell it, it wasn’t just that Sasic messed up – Solo psyched Sasic out. “You do what you can,” Solo said. “I did the stall tactic. It worked.”
Wambach noticed the same thing.
“Hope did take quite a bit of time, to get their penalty kick shooter, who is very good at going both ways, to think more about it,” Wambach said. “It’s very difficult to make a penalty kick if a ‘keeper stalls, right?”
A dash of luck (or controversial refereeing)
There is no question that the Americans were the better side on the day. They held more possession, they moved the ball better, they had more dangerous chances and they outlasted Germany with plenty left in the tank.
But it has to be said: The biggest refereeing decisions probably did go the way of USA.
The first time was when center-back Julie Johnston wasn’t shown a red card for her takedown of Alexandra Popp. If a player fouls to deny another player a goal-scoring opportunity, it should result in a sending-off. Johnston earned yellow and stayed on the pitch instead.
Germany coach Silvia Neid was asked if Johnston should’ve been given a red card, and her response was brief: “The rule says yes, but she didn’t get a red card.”
The second error that went in USA’s favor came when Annike Krahn stepped in front of Morgan and brought her to the ground. The Americans got a penalty but replays showed the foul occurred outside the area.
Ellis was asked if the bad calls would tarnish her team’s win, but she said she thought USA looked like a winning team.
“It’s just a part of the game, in terms of officials,” she said. “So whether I’m on the receiving end [of a beneficial call] or the other end of it, it’s not something I comment on or criticize. I thought we were very good inside the 18s.”
