After a relatively strong start against Vietnam, the U.S. women’s national team’s attack sputtered in a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in their second match of the 2023 World Cup group stage.

The U.S. is playing in a front-three system with the intention of creating havoc on the wings and dangerous situations centrally. But against the Dutch, they were containable for too many minutes, raising concerns as tougher competition lurks in the knockout rounds.

Sophia Smith, Alex Morgan and Trinity Rodman are still building chemistry, after Mallory Swanson’s knee injury in April forced head coach Vlatko Andonovski to adjust his plans for the forward line. There have been bright spots, but a lack of consistency still plagues the relationship between the wings and the central position.

So, heading into their final group-stage match against Portugal, does the U.S. need to re-think its attack? And is the solution as simple as personnel changes, or would the team also benefit from an adjustment in tactics?

The promise of using space

Morgan in 2023 is not quite the same “Baby Horse” forward fans might remember from 2011 and 2015, though her role is not drastically different than it was in 2019. Andonovski has been very clear about how he wants the longtime veteran to play in 2023, using her positioning to occupy the attention of the other team’s center-backs and create space for the wingers around her. It’s a facet of her game she’s been honing in recent years with a commendable amount of success.

“It’s not that she’s not capable of scoring goals or getting behind crosses, but we can also see her playing balls to both Trinity and Soph, but also getting closest for them as well,” he said after the team’s draw with the Netherlands.

Morgan has consequently spent much of the first two games of the World Cup trying to fill spaces left by her teammates. She’ll drop into the USWNT’s struggling midfield to try to get touches on the ball, and drift wide when Smith takes point in the middle.

The difficulty Morgan had influencing the match against the Dutch for long stretches had less to do with her own ability, and more to do with the attack as a whole. Neither Smith nor Rodman had their best performances, over-relying on dribbling sequences and failing to beat the Dutch defenders to 50/50 balls. As a result, rather than Morgan pulling defenders in so the wingers could get wider, the front three began occupying the same spaces. The narrow approach didn’t provide the dynamism the U.S. needed off the ball to force the Netherlands’ back three into making risky choices.

The lack of lateral movement became a problem when the U.S. had to chase the game after falling behind in the first half, but those lanes also opened back up after the team drew level. Morgan had a golden opportunity to take the lead with a vintage run in behind, but Rodman’s entry pass came a little too late, ruling Morgan’s goal offside. Later in the match, Smith finally had 1v1 isolation opportunities on the left wing to get to the endline and send dangerous balls in across the Dutch penalty area.

Those second-half combinations showed more of what the U.S. attack can look like when all three players are consistently looking to find one another and combine.

The sacrifice of the high press

The USWNT’s commitment to having Morgan drift into deeper positions to aid the midfield gives up significant ground in the USWNT’s off-the-ball defending. Morgan isn’t being asked to sit on the hip of the last line of defense anymore, keeping them honest and pressing to try to force turnovers. The approach theoretically gives her more flexibility as a passing outlet to then redistribute to the wings, but it also gave the Netherlands free rein to progress the ball up the spine of the USWNT midfield, resulting in sequences like the one that led to the Netherlands’ opening goal.

After falling behind in the first half, the U.S. press seemed to disappear, with Smith, Morgan and Rodman all sitting in prospective passing lanes rather than trying to regain possession. To the Netherlands’ credit, their dynamic movement in the midfield opened those passing lanes back up, and the U.S. couldn’t hold onto the ball for long enough to mount a comeback. Morgan was also forced into runs to overcome positional deficiencies rather than set the Netherlands on their heels.

If the U.S. is going to concede possession in the midfield, the frontline has to seize their moments off turnovers and transition play. It was only after Lindsey Horan inserted a spark of life into the USWNT that the frontline began successfully re-winning the ball. While the shift in intensity was admirable, it still felt like individual changes rather than the system working as planned.

Embracing the ability to adjust

Andonovski does have the personnel to try something different, but it would require a greater willingness to adjust the attacking approach than he has shown thus far. If combining with Morgan is Plan A, then a quick Plan B has to be to insert Lynn Williams for her pressing abilities, or Alyssa Thompson so that Smith can shift into the No. 9 role. Against the Netherlands, Andonovski partially relieved Morgan by subbing on Rose Lavelle as the primary playmaker, but no other changes were made.

Part of what made Andonovski’s unwillingness to bring Williams in against the Netherlands so baffling is that her skill set seemed tailor-made for the game. She has the ability to run in behind defenses and, with fresh legs, force a center-back into making a key mistake. She wouldn’t be asked to execute the center forward position in the same way as Morgan, but the defending champions should consider that a strength and not a weakness.

The frontline of Smith, Morgan and Rodman seems to favor a positive or neutral game-state, where all three players feel they have the freedom to try different movements in search of a goal. Williams is the player you bring on if you need to chase a result. And if Smith is ultimately more comfortable in a narrow attacking system, the team will need a more experienced player who can get wide and overlap with the young star so as not to sacrifice width in key moments during a match.

Andonovski let an opportunity to explore his attacking depth pass him by against the Netherlands, in a gambit that never relinquished the winning goal. Tuesday’s match against Portugal might be the next-best opportunity.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

The New York Liberty dominated Indiana on Thursday night, winning by a whopping 36 points in the Fever's home opener. 

A sold-out crowd of 17,274 was in attendance to watch as star rookie Caitlin Clark finished the 102-66 defeat with nine points, seven rebounds, and six assists. It’s the first time since January 2021 — her freshman season at Iowa — that Clark's been held to single-digit scoring. 

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"The physicality is definitely up there... I'm easily pushed off screens," she told reporters after the loss. "The game seems a little fast for me right now. The more I play and the more comfortable I get, it's going to slow down a little bit. It will be easier for me to make reads, see things develop."

The Fever were outscored by a combined margin of 57 points in their first two games — the largest two-game point deficit in WNBA season-opening history, according to @ESPNStatsInfo.

"We've got to get to a level of toughness," Fever coach Christie Sides in her own postgame remarks. "When things are going south on us, we're not stopping the bleeding."

"I have great perspective on everything that happens," Clark added. "It was the same in my college career. There were some moments that were absolutely amazing. And there were some moments I was not happy with how I played and how my team performed. That's just life, that's just basketball."

Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, who herself experienced a rocky rookie season following a much-hyped college career, offered up some insight on the matter.

"In this league, there are tough defenses all centered around not letting you get the ball, trapping, not letting you score," Ionescu said. "There were many factors that played into what was a tough first season for me in the league, but it helps you be able to figure it out. You have to have those experiences."

But it was reigning league MVP Breanna Stewart that truly stole the show, racking up 31 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks on the night.

"In general, I just wanted to come out more aggressive coming off of last game," Stewart said after putting up the 24th 30-point game in her career.

Stewart she also commended the fans inside Indianapolis's packed Gainbridge Fieldhouse, noting that she hopes that level of support to continue across the WNBA.

"This is how you want every game to be and when it's a sell-out crowd, it gives you a similar playoff atmosphere feel," she said. "People want to be a part of this and the thing now is to continue to sustain it, continue to take the momentum that we have and turn it into something more."

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert admitted to a "faulty rollout" of the new charter travel initiative on Thursday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Ahead of Tuesday's season opener, it was announced that the only teams flying private this week would be Indiana and Minnesota. The announcement came mere days after the league made a new charter flight program for all WNBA teams public. At the time, they said it would be implemented "as soon as we have the planes."

But as two teams out of 12 chartered to their first games of the season, others like the Atlanta Dream and Chicago Sky were forced to fly commercial.

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A town hall meeting between Engelbert and the players was held in response to the confusion. Everything from the league's new media rights deal to private travel was covered in the meeting, with players submitting their questions ahead of time. Sky center Elizabeth Williams told Sun-Times reporter Annie Costabile afterwards that cross-country flights were prioritized.

"Flights that are across the country like [the Lynx] going to Seattle, crossing multiple time zones, or flights that usually require a connection, those were the priorities," Williams said. "That’s why New York didn’t go to DC with a charter, but Minny goes to Seattle."

What’s unclear under that metric is that the Atlanta Dream played the Los Angeles Sparks on Wednesday, which could technically be classified as a cross-country flight. 

On Tuesday, rookie forward Angel Reese shared a photo on her Instagram story lamenting the league's use of commercial flights.

"Just praying that this is one of the last commercial flights the Sky has to fly," Reese posted. The team still has at least three commercial flights awaiting them in the near future.

"Obviously, I think all teams should be able to get chartered," Reese told the Sun-Times. "But I know moving forward... going in the right direction, being able to have some teams [chartering] is cool. Within the next weeks, everybody will be flying charter, which will be really good."

On Thursday, Lindsay Schnell of USAToday Sports confirmed that the league intends to have all teams on charter flights by May 21st.

Brazil has been named the host for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, with FIFA announced early Friday. 

The decision came after a vote at the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok, with Brazil earning 119 votes to the joint European bid’s 78. 

This will be Brazil’s first time hosting the Women’s World Cup, with the country having hosted the men’s World Cup twice before in 1950 and 2014. It will also be the first Women’s World Cup held in South America. The tournament will follow the same 32-team format as the 2023 WWC in Australia and New Zealand.

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Brazil winning the bid was not entirely surprising after FIFA issued a report just last week, stating that the Brazilian bid had pulled ahead as host following technical inspection. After evaluation, Brazil was given a score of 4.0 out of 5, compared to the 3.7 awarded to the Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Brazil ranked higher in a number of key areas, including stadiums, accommodations, fan zones, and transport infrastructure. Though considered to be a frontrunner, the US and Mexico withdrew their joint bid prior to the technical inspection period, saying they would instead focus their efforts on 2031.

On Friday, Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Ednaldo Rodrigues called it a "victory." 

"We knew we would be celebrating a victory for South American women's soccer and for women," he told reporters. "You can be sure, with no vanity, we will accomplish the best World Cup for women."

"We are working on a transformation, not only for the country but for the continent," added bid team operational manager Valesca Araujo.

Brazil intends to use 10 of the venues utilized at the 2014 men’s World Cup, including holding the final in Rio de Janeiro on July 25th. The CBF's proposal outlines that the 2027 tournament run from June 24th through the end of July. Last summer’s World Cup began at the end of July and concluded on August 19th.

Another notable element of Brazil's newly unveiled plan to grow of the women’s game is that "all [men’s] clubs wishing to take part in high-level national and continental competitions must now provide a structure for a women’s team." While the definition of "structure" was not specifically identified, the country has set targets with CONMEBOL to help increase the number of women’s club teams in the country.

In last week's inspection findings, FIFA noted that selecting Brazil as the next WWC host could "have a tremendous impact on women's football in the region."

Chelsea did what they needed to do on Wednesday in order to make Saturday's slate of season-ending WSL fixtures interesting: Beat Tottenham.

The Blues are now number one in the league, with an edge over Manchester City on goal differential thanks to an eight-goal outing against Bristol City last week. 

Yesterday's result tees up a league finale for the books as Chelsea looks to send coach Emma Hayes off with another trophy to add to her cabinet. The Blues will play FA Cup winner Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday, while City is away at Aston Villa.

"We will be leaving nothing on the pitch, we will be giving everything and no matter what the result is," Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert said after Wednesday's win. "At least we can look each other in the eye and say we gave everything."

It makes for a thrilling end to Chelsea's Emma Hayes era, as the decorated WSL coach will take over the USWNT in June. And it comes after Hayes all but conceded the title race early this month after Chelsea fell to Liverpool 4-3.

"I think the title is done," Hayes said at the time. "Of course, mathematically, it's not, but I think the title is done. Our job between now and the end of the season is to keep pushing until the end, but I think it will be very difficult.

"We will never give up. But the title is far from us; it's not in our hands. I think City are deserving, their consistency has put them in that position. Of course, we will go to the end, but I don't think the title will be going to us this year."

Be it mind games or Hayes truly thinking her team was that far off, her words lit something in Chelsea. Their following two performances showed the team’s determination to have a shot at some silverware.

As for Saturday's schedule, Hayes believes her team is facing the "tougher of the two games."

"It's a fitting finale for me, being my final game," she told BBC Sport. "As I said to the players if someone gives you a second chance in life, make sure you don't need a third one. We're in the position we want to be in, and we'll give it everything on Saturday no matter what."