Commentary
USA-Japan SheBelieves Cup Player Ratings
- by Arlo Moore-Bloom @ArloMBloom, Feb 20, 2023
Feb. 19 in Nashville, Tenn.
USA 1 Japan 0. Goals: Swanson 45.
Att.: 25,471.
The sole goalscorer, Mallory Swanson, said it best postgame: "I just think the level needs to be higher." Coming off a 2-0 win in its SheBelieves Cup opener against Canada on Thursday, the USA ground out a 1-0 win over Japan on Sunday. The USA started sloppily and Japan looked like the team more interested in winning. But Alex Morgan and Mallory Swanson combined on a counterattack a minute before halftime to put the Americans up 1-0. The goal made up for 44 minutes of mediocrity in all phases of the field. Remarkably, Swanson has scored on six of her 11 shots in 2023. The host settled into the game and began outmuscling Japan by the hour mark. Japan’s spells of possession failed to produce quality scoring chances despite unleashing 15 shots while the USA mustered five.
USA Player Ratings
(1=low; 5=middle; 10=high.)
GOALKEEPER
Casey Murphy’s two saves came in the last 10 minutes and were both excellent reaction stops that rebounded conveniently to a teammate. As Japan piled on numbers chasing the game, Murphy’s calmness and defensive organizing showed. She maintained focus for the whole game and had no serious errors
Player (Club) caps/goals (age)
7
Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage 13/0 (26)
DEFENDERS
On the bright side, the USA did not concede many clear chances to Japan and dominated the air game. Emily Fox displayed good 1-on-1 attacking ability on the left flank and versatility when she switched sides with a subbed-off Sofia Huerta at halftime. When the ball was in Japan’s half, the Alana Cook-Naomi Girma center back duo mopped up second balls and restarted attacks well. But for a team going to a World Cup in four months, the U.S. back four — glaringly Huerta and Cook — looked sluggish and gave up far too many balls in their own buildups, often succumbing to Japan’s high press. Thanks to a poor shooting effort from the Japanese, they weren’t punished. Huerta got the hockey assist on the USA’s first half goal.
Player (Club) caps/goals (age)
4
Sofia Huerta (OL Reign) 28/0 (30)
4
Alana Cook (OL Reign) 23/0 (25)
5
Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC) 13/0 (22)
7
Emily Fox (NC Courage) 25/0 (24)
MIDFIELDERS
Lindsey Horan popped up often in channels and batted around .500 on her layoffs or nod-on headers. She, as well as Kristie Mewis, played much better when the ball was on the ground. The trio couldn’t find a consistent rhythm in the first half but showed flashes of promise when a forward latched onto hopeful long balls. In general, this midfield couldn’t, or just didn’t want to enter a higher gear in possession until it found itself in front of Japan’s box in the first half. Ashley Sanchez was mostly a passenger. In the second half, the midfield exerted more will on the game but still didn’t pass that cleanly.
Player (Club) caps/goals (age)
5
Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit) 21/3 (23)
6
Kristie Mewis (Gotham FC) 49/7 (31)
7
Lindsey Horan (Lyon, FRA) 125/26 (28)
FORWARDS
Starved of service for stretches of the first half, only Mallory Swanson created one of the USA’s two chances when she fired a low cross to a late-arriving Alex Morgan. U.S. forwards were called offside four times in the first half and played too slowly, but for Swanson who consistently put the Japanese under pressure. In vintage USWNT style, it went ahead on speed. It was Huerta, who, in one of her few positive first-half contributions, found Morgan on a long release pass. Morgan controlled perfectly and flung a through ball down the channel. Swanson unleashed her devastating combination of pace and tight control — five touches in about three seconds at top speed — and the ball ended up in the back of the net. On the U.S. right flank, Lynn Williams failed to pose problems for the Japanese defense.
Player (Club) caps/goals (age)
5
Lynn Williams (Gotham FC) 51/15 (29)
6
Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave) 203/120 (33)
8
Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars) 86/31 (24)
SUBSTITUTES
Regarding one of Coach Vlatko Andonovski’s bigger World Cup roster decisions, Emily Sonnett looked faster and more comfortable than Huerta on both sides of the ball. Neither Ashley Hatch nor Trinity Rodman looked sharp on the night. Megan Rapinoe and Rodman both acted selfishly in front of goal.
Player (Club) caps/goals (age)
6
Emily Sonnett (OL Reign) 72/1 (29)
4
Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit) 14/2 (20)
6
Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit) 41/3 (27)
5
Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit) 17/5 (27)
4
Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign) 198/63 (37)
NR
Taylor Kornieck (San Diego Wave) 11/2 (24)
NOTABLE: Mallory Swanson, who scored both goals in Thursday's 2-0 win over Canada, has now scored in five straight games, a total of seven goals.
NEXT UP: USA-Brazil in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET.
Feb. 19 in Nashville, Tenn.
USA 1 Japan 0. Goals: Swanson 45.
USA — Murphy; Huerta (Sonnett, 46), Cook, Girma, Fox; Sanchez (Sullivan, 65), K.Mewis, Horan (Kornieck, 85); Williams (Rodman, 65), Morgan (Hatch, 71), Swanson (Rapinoe, 71).
Japan — Yamashita; Shimizu, Miyake (Takarada, 74), Kumagi, Minami, Sugita (Endo, 67); Fujino, Hasegawa, Nagano, Iwabuchi (Miyazawa, 74); Ueki (Hamano, 67).
Yellow cards: USA — Kornieck 85. Japan — none. Red Cards: none.
Referee: Myriam Marcotte (Canada). ARs: Mijensa Rensch (Suriname), Gabrielle Lemieux (Canada). 4th official: Alyssa Nichols (USA).
Att.: 25,471.
Stats:
USA / Japan
Shots: 5 / 15
Shots on target: 2 / 2
Saves: 2 / 1
Corner Kicks: 1 / 7
Fouls: 6 / 4
Offside: 4 / 3
Possession: 51% / 49%
Photo: Photo: Erin Chang/ISI Photos
Concur that Huerta was having issues on defense, she was the one who upon gaining control of the ball near or in the PK area, looked up and pinpoited the pass to Morgan ....... I realize that 1/2 points are not used in SA's ratings, but that pass was deserved recognition.
"The goal made up for 44 minutes of mediocrity in all phases of the field. " Disagree. And how did we end up with the majority of possession? By all other reported metrics, Japan should have gotten a result. Wonder what xG was for both teams? A single counterattack goal does not give me confidence. Aren't the USWNT rated #1 in the world? Shouldn't we be imposing ourselves on every other team?
How many more times do we have to see Alyssa Naehr and her frenetic, spastic, almost out of control, jumpy routine. She instills ZERO confidence with her awful body language. Yea I saw her make a nice save against Canada but it is her lack of presence that to me should eliminate any eligibility for further games. Vladko displayed his lack of focus on team cohesion by hinting she was #1. I suspect she is one player in practice, a freaked out, not big enough for the situation under the lights. Meanwhile, we have options. Murphy has presence and is a very good keeper. French should get a shot. Can't remember the last time she got some time. I truly believe there may be something wrong with Naehr. I've never really seen an athlete, except maybe Frankie Hejduk, behave like this on any athletic field. They just seem out of place, like they're going to self iimmolate at any minute. I don't know. Besides all their stupid political stuff, this is like the icing on the cake to NOT watch them.
Ho hum. The coach deserves a lot of the blame for the first half. This side did not build on anything. Basically he was experimenting rather than reinforcing success. And the disjointed play was a predictable result.
You really are not giving players a chance to show what they can do when you replace so many starters. It would have been a much better test if Horan was left high and Sullivan was at the 6. And the back line...was a bigger mixup. This way simply wasted Swanson and Morgan. And really didn't give the reserve players a chance to play with the starters.
Ugly football.
Frank ..... This was not just about Morgan's pass to Swanson .... Huerta's looping pass was deliberate (watch it on video and you'll see that she looked up and then made the decision). Morgan, prior to receiving the ball recognized the situation and executed it well (as you said). Guarantee you would harping on that had she failed to do so.
Also, the goal sequence was also a clear example of how to take advantage of the empty spaces behind a formation of a back 3, which is what Brazil employed in their match agains Japan.
Michael, I saw the Huerta's pass where she looked. But that is to be expected when positioned that far back with opponent's nearby , for the first thing is to look up and move the ball further upfield away from pressure.
Huerta's passing distance that she was able to execute, stationary, and flatfooted was 6 1/2 field stripes. She was at her limit and if Morgan was 2 meters further downfield that ball would not have reached like that.
You can tell that Huerta's body was off-balance after the pass. Her passing leg crossed over her left after the pass. It was a go for broke pass, all or nothing which, fortunately ended up being successful.
Note, Her right leg crossed over her left which I see so many girls do, leaving their body off-balance. Just look at the Japanese player #10 trying to make a pass ,just before, hitting our girl in the head. The way she passed the ball lacked lift, which is also a problem with girls soccer. In sum lack the touch...
I would often in private lessons try to teach how to pass the ball with body balance, employing flags, a must in this exercise ,distance an correct height....Players today lack that feel for distance interpretation.
Michael, I saw the Huerta's pass where she looked. But that is to be expected when positioned that far back with opponent's nearby , for the first thing is to look up and move the ball further upfield away from pressure.
Huerta's passing distance that she was able to execute, stationary, and flatfooted was 6 1/2 field stripes. She was at her limit and if Morgan was 2 meters further downfield that ball would not have reached like that.
You can tell that Huerta's body was off-balance after the pass. Her passing leg crossed over her left after the pass. It was a go for broke pass, all or nothing which, fortunately ended up being successful.
Note, Her right leg crossed over her left which I see so many girls do, leaving their body off-balance. Just look at the Japanese player #10 trying to make a pass ,just before, hitting our girl in the head. The way she passed the ball lacked lift, which is also a problem with girls soccer. In sum lack the touch...
I would often in private lessons try to teach how to pass the ball with body balance, employing flags, a must in this exercise ,distance an correct height....Players today lack that feel for distance interpretation.
Rapinoe has no business being out there. Too slow. Coach, time to move on! Huerta, wake up, the game has started. Sanchez, you are lost. Watch the game on video and figure out why you were called a passenger today. Morgan, you are almost done and you go down too easily, toughen up. The team is lucky Swanson continues to excel. Go Mal Go!
No Rose, no flow.
I don't know where to begin. I fully agree with R2's sentiments. Trying to watch the game again this morning, then all of a sudden I stopped when they showed our coaching staff , all 3 of the geniuses looking at the real- time video of what's happening on he field. With all this new technology and training aids, the coaching hasn't gotten any better. What I mean by coaching is THE SEEING OF DETAILS, that only great coaches are aware off, and that is why the 'peanut gallery level' coaches employ the new technologies in order to help 'see' the game better, which they are not going to achieve. I mean, it is pointing right at their and they can't see, even with the technology.
Let me give you small example of the imbalance of our team, at midfield. You can't have similar style players at midfield. #22 Mewis and #10 Horan, are too similar. To understand it better ,lets first go to worse case scenario, having 3 good midfielders who play very similar. All 3 want the ball to their feet. I just created a 'nightmare' scenario for a team with 3 of the best midfielders who have similar style.
Fortunately we don't have 3 midfielders who are similar but only 2, which is just as bad. Just think of all the technical and tactical implications . By wanting the ball to their feet, both come back towards the backline for the ball, giving away space behind them thus drawing more Japanese attackers into their own third. With their back facing downfield ,they see no attacking options further downfield. Furthermore, #22Mewis and #10 Horan have little or no connection to each other or to the other side of the field.
Forget about any of the centerbacks taking initiative to go forwards by filling any extra space opening up around the midfield. You know why we don't see that because we don't have A-license coaches teaching that, for they have all been programmed and chipped to play with 2 centerbacks as stiffs. Eversince, we don't play with a libero type anymore, coaches prefer to have passes able to go backward to 2 square centerbacks....So forget about any offensive movement going forwards initiating from the centerlane.
NEXT POST
With both Horan and Mewis going backwards and there is noone from the centerback position to go forwards creates a huge gap to our frontline. That gap is sometimes filled by Morgan going back to around midfield line, an area that's not where her strenght lies, which reduces her functionality... Morgan gets an assist, to a player who beats a Japanese defender on speed, which is our bread butter, TURBO run. Wouldn't been nice if we scored because one of two talented midfielders gave a nice pass, into space for one of our attackers to run into and score.
So here are the implications of Horan and Mewis playing their natural selves, you create players on the wing who are better at running than ball handling. And until we begin to understand the implications the players have for each other and to the team functioning as a whole in the manner that the befits the players best, than we're are just playing with "legos' out there.
I"m not going to directly blame the coach ,for he's just symptom of what is going on in our overal picture of development of our players. There is only player, right now on the women's that doesn't rely on speed or fight and that is Horan. Did you see the little chip pass by Horan over the japanese defenders in the penalty area. You notice, the Japanese don't come at her, and respond to fake motions of Horan does with the ball. Horan is the first US player on the women's team who is comfortable with her own body, which you can't say about the other US players who are basicly developed all these years and still on Turbo methods. There is not one US player who has a feel for the ball when passing. The problem is that our women are not developed but are 'programmed' through standard exercises. It is too bad we can't send our girls for the summer to Brazil and let them play on the beaches ONLY, to acquire more feel and touch on the ball.
The Japanese lost this game because of stupid mistakes and errors. But they also have to realize their culture does not produce scorers for requires more individuality. Their culture does not produce individualism which they frown upon. In other words ,there is a saying in their culture, you can't have a nail sticking further than the other nails. They don't breed individuality which I missed seeing on the Japanese team. The Chinese have problem in scoring because a shot on goal can look bad and therefore don't want to lose face..
I did like their #10, who has possibilities of becoming a good attacking wing, but she needs to go to Europe
The poositives were the goal and the alert interceptions from behind. The negatives were sloppy pasisng and disorganization in the defensive third.
Morgan has facilitated all three goals scored USA: two assists and defensive pressure causing defender to make poor pass, intercepted by Swanson. Her assist against Japan was noteworthy demonstrating her ability to read the game and skill in making a difficult pass. BTW she and Swanson are playing well together in spite of VA ridicullus rotations. Probably because they have paired up previously, all in spite of VA foolish theories
Charles, " Her assist against Japan demonstrates her ability to read the game and skill in making a difficult pass". Please!.... The only credit I would give to Morgan was the chest trap to her right for it was from her rightside she saw Swanson in full view the whole time making a run downfield and all she had to do was pass the ball in front of Swanson to make the run. That does not require great ability to read the game and skill making.
Furthermore it was the Japanese player #5 who rightfooted trying to keep up could not do anything to Swanson due her to best leg was nearest to Swanson. That was the real success of Swanson being able to score.....