MLess than three months after their last match, the US women's national team returned to the field in October, playing three games with varying results. First, impressive Portugal broke the Americans in the visitors' victory with a score of 2:1. Emma Hayes played in an almost completely different, much younger lineup in the rematch, and the Americans responded in kind – 3-1. Somehow an even younger lineup in the third game swept through limp New Zealand6-0. The games in Portugal taught many lessons; The Football Ferns were less scary than the 11 Jack-O-Lanterns, so the third match was more of a fun game than a real challenge.
Here are some shots from the window:
The youth are already ready
The USWNT, which played its opening match against Portugal, lacked the qualities that characterized the team at its best: scrappy determination, physical dominance and relentless ball progression. This was all much more evident in the second match, where the young starters played with a more traditional mentality than the more experienced players who played in the first.
This contrast was especially noticeable in the center of the field. In the first match, the combination of Sam Coffey, Lindsay Heaps and Rose Lavelle were unable to compete with Quique Nazareth and the rest of the Portuguese team. Instead of playing with tenacity and dynamism, they were porous and uncreative (with the exception of some promising combinations between Lavelle and attacking players Alyssa Thompson and Catarina Macario).
Lily Johannes, Claire Hutton and Jaedyn Shaw (18, 19 and 20 years old respectively) were fantastic in the second match. The trio handled the pressure and moved the ball quickly to speed up the attack. They each had memorable plays – Johannes split four defenders with precision, Hutton calmly dodging a defender to make a change, Shaw backheeling to set up Olivia Moultrie for her second goal – but the most remarkable aspect of the performance was more mundane. Simple passes regularly broke the Portuguese lines, stopping counter-attacks before they could even begin.
Against New Zealand, it was green attack forwards Michelle Cooper and Emma Sears who made the biggest impression. Cooper took up space and dished out two assists to help Sears on her way to a hat trick.
The former pillars are invaluable in their experience and leadership, but it is clear that sentimentality should not be an obstacle to their decentralization. If Alex Morgan and Alyssa Naeher's exit celebrations before the first game didn't get the message across, the performances make it clear: a new generation is ready to compete for spots on this team.
Naomi Girma is bored
Portugal's high press exposed defensive disorganization in both matches, highlighting the absence of injured centre-back Naomi Girma. The Chelsea ace was capped just four times in 2025 as injuries plagued her in her first year in the WSL. Hayes said that once Girma gets more playing time for the club, she will be called up to the national team, and that day may not come soon enough.
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A strong centre-back pairing and a strong stopper in front of them allows the full-backs to move forward and provide width in attack. We saw glimpses of this in the second game, where the combination of Jordyn Bugg, Emily Sonnett and Hutton was strong enough to free up Avery Patterson (this time on her favored right wing) and Lilly Reale to push deep into Portugal's defensive third. However, the defensive play left much to be desired; The US was lucky enough to lose only once. (Given that the ultra-inexperienced back line in Game 3 would have been apples and oranges here; Bugg and Emily Sams, playing in the unusual full-back position, were fantastic in their progression but had nothing to defend.) Girma's return would bring much-needed stability and a fluid connection to the back line.
Constantly questioning the goal doesn't help matters. Fallon Tullis-Joyce, in stunning form for Manchester United, looked shaky in the first leg despite making some impressive saves. Claudia Dickie was fine in games two and three, but was tested far less than Tallis-Joyce. Neither goalkeeper has cemented his name between the posts and even if they do, they will need time to gain national team experience before they can truly re-establish leadership at the back.
Aerial abilities are a weakness
The US lacked air presence in the first two games. The Portuguese scored all three goals thanks to high crosses: two from corners and one from Beatrice Fonseca. On the other hand, crosses led to just one of the U.S. goals against Portugal: a low corner from Ellie Centnor that bounced once before Coffey scored. In the New Zealand match, the United States scored two set-piece goals, but neither came in the air: a short corner played around the edges of the box led to Macario's goal, and Coffey fired a free kick into the box that was tipped off the post by New Zealand defender Sears, who sealed her hat-trick with a goal. In all three games, too many quality balls in the air went unanswered.
Hayes told reporters that flying prowess was more a function of time than altitude, so this could indicate future efforts to improve the unit's aerial capabilities. If they can't figure out how to be an effective target in attack, they'll have to reduce the number of crosses they send and find alternative routes to goal. However, on defense, failure to strengthen their air presence will only force opponents to try to exploit this glaring weakness.
The team needs time, but that's no excuse
After the first disastrous match, Hayes emphasized that most of the team's shutdowns could be attributed to the long period of time that had passed since the last training camp. That's fair enough, and it's safe to assume that if she had fielded the same lineup for the second game, they would have improved. But the second lineup didn't need to play a whole game to create great chemistry against a tough opponent.
Everyone on the team needs time to gel with each other, but this cannot and should not be an excuse for poor performance over a long period of time. Hayes doesn't need to keep pushing combinations that don't work when there are better options that have natural chemistry.
After the young players' strong performance in the second game, Hayes told reporters she saw them as “the present and future of the program,” but she was hesitant to throw very young players into a senior international game without proper preparation. This consideration is respectable, but it shouldn't stop her from building her lineups to be the best they can be. With the 2027 World Cup getting closer, it's time to start building the squad she will take to Brazil.
