Jill Ellis still tinkering with USWNT midfield as World Cup approaches

With the Women’s World Cup now roughly three months away, it seems that the time for tinkering on the U.S. women’s national team should be over. Instead of testing out new tactical wrinkles and asking players to try new positions, the team ought to instead be drilling down on its core principles and getting reps on the basics.

But that’s not quite what is happening. In both of the squad’s 2-2 draws in the SheBelieves Cup, coach Jill Ellis has surprised and bewildered by continuing to experiment with game plans that seem unlikely to be used by the U.S. women in France this summer.

For fans and analysts who want tangible proof that the Americans are ready to defend their World Cup title, there’s a growing sense of urgency to see the U.S. at its best. But Ellis clearly feels she has some tinkering left to do. The question for observers then becomes: why is Ellis still experimenting, and will it help or hurt the team in France?

After two draws in two games the SheBelieves Cup, those tests have focused primarily on the central midfield. Likely starter Lindsey Horan is out with a quad injury, and Ellis could have easily made the swap for the most similar central midfielder in the squad: Samantha Mewis. Like Horan, Mewis is a good passer from deep positions. She also has a strong aerial presence and brings physicality to the defensive side of the game. But Mewis didn’t fill Horan’s spot.

Instead, Ellis turned to Mallory Pugh, who has almost exclusively played as a wide forward for the U.S. Putting Pugh in the central midfield against Japan and England meant that usual starters Julie Ertz and Rose Lavelle had to work in coordination with someone who isn’t quite used to the role or well-drilled in its nuances. It also meant the central midfield’s strengths slanted toward creative attacking but not so much defensive enforcement.

Predictably, the central midfield has looked disjointed for the U.S. in this SheBelieves Cup. It hasn’t won the 50-50 balls the Americans need in transition, nor has it provided defensive cover for a backline that clearly needs it without former goalkeeper Hope Solo in net.

Megan Rapinoe, who continues to be in excellent form on the left wing, was asked why the U.S. conceded four goals in the first two matches of the tournament, and she answered by hinting at the softness in midfield.

“A few more tactical fouls in the middle of the field on some turnovers might be a good idea,” she told FOX Sports. “I don’t know why everyone is so hesitant to hack someone down. You either win the ball on a turnover or you foul, especially when you get into these tight games where counterattacks are going to be huge.”

Later in the mixed zone, Rapinoe reiterated there was “a lack of toughness” and “too many turnovers” before adding: “If they score a worldie, that’s one thing but these aren’t worldies that are getting scored against us.”

The backline has also let the U.S. down, to be sure. Communication and cohesive timing have both been concerns, exemplified by the unusual indirect free kick conceded that directly led to England’s first goal. Notably, that back-pass in midfield came from Pugh.

One of the centerbacks needed to get that ball or Franch needed to use her feet. Dahlkemper is clearly saying something, whether she was telling Ertz to pass it to Franch or to let the ball go to Franch. pic.twitter.com/jsAHYPUzJ3

— Caitlin Murray (@caitlinmurr) March 2, 2019

One reason Ellis might be asking Pugh to play in midfield is that it’s simply the best way to get her onto the field at all. With Rapinoe and Tobin Heath looking like the starters on the wing, and the sensational Christen Press nipping at their heels, Ellis may see a possibility that Pugh can be an option elsewhere, given her attacking skill set.

But there could also be a broader reason: Ellis must sense that something is missing from her central midfield depth chart. After all, it’s not just Pugh who has gotten a run-out in the spot lately. In January, Ellis asked Crystal Dunn to play as a central midfielder, despite Dunn having never played there before for the U.S. and primarily being a left back over the past two years. And later in the game against England on Saturday, it was Heath who surprisingly slotted into the central midfield to make room for Press to take over her spot on the wing. Heath is a winger—not a central midfielder.

It’s a surprising development, not least because the U.S. pool has more depth in the central midfield than anywhere else. In addition to Lavelle, Ertz, Horan and Mewis, there’s also McCall Zerboni, Andi Sullivan, Carli Lloyd, Morgan Brian and Allie Long. Brian and Long have fallen out of favor and Lloyd is a backup No. 9 these days, but it seems any of them might be more comfortable there than other players who have been shoehorned into the role.

The defensive inadequacy of the central midfield is a big talking point because the U.S. isn’t used to conceding as many goals as it has. In fact, the 2-2 draws against Japan and England in this SheBelieves Cup represent the first time the U.S. has conceded multiple goals in back-to-back games since 2011. But the middle of the park also wasn’t exactly the engine of the U.S. attack, either.

By the second half on Saturday, England seemed to realize the American midfield wasn’t generating much centrally. The English players turned their focus primarily to defending the flanks, leaving the center of the field open. Neutralizing players like Rapinoe and later Press was the obvious solution to stop the U.S. attack in its tracks.

The U.S. women have had midfield struggles before. Through the first four matches of the 2015 World Cup, which the U.S. eventually won, the central midfield was a bit of a mess. The team played a different formation then—rather than the team’s current 4-3-3 with a three-woman midfield, it was a 4-4-2 where Carli Lloyd and Lauren Holiday shared responsibilities in a pair that Ellis described as “double No. 6s.”

The result of that ill-defined Lloyd-Holiday tandem wasn’t all that dissimilar from what we’ve seen through the SheBelieves Cup so far: it was disorganized and left far too many gaps on the field, and the Americans were very lucky that their opponents didn’t play well enough to punish them for it. The midfield wasn’t fixed until Holiday was suspended due to yellow cards and Morgan Brian was told to play as an actual No. 6 while Lloyd played as an attacking central midfielder. Suddenly, the unburdened Lloyd became a superstar, scoring goals and creating dangerous chances for her teammates. Meanwhile, the less heralded Brian shored up the midfield, mopping up incoming attacks and serving as a valuable outlet going forward.

Back then, it was a relatively simple change that allowed the central midfield to go from a weakness to a strength by eliminating confusion—better defined roles was all it took. In 2019, a similar revelation could be coming after Ellis has tested all she wants to test.

If the last World Cup taught us anything, it’s that sometimes simpler is better. From that standpoint, asking players to learn a new position this close to the World Cup doesn’t make a lot of sense. Pugh doesn’t look like she ought to be in the central midfield, nor should Dunn or Heath.

But Ellis may also just be testing the limits of her squad: if push comes to shove, what can players handle and who can take on the biggest burden? Of all the possible reasons Ellis has been tinkering with her central midfield, this one should worry fans and pundits the least. After all, Ellis does have a ton of depth in the central midfield but she can’t bring her entire depth chart to the World Cup. She may simply want to know what her options are if she’s forced into an unlikely and undesirable scenario.

Experimenting and tinkering this close to a World Cup doesn’t need to raise alarm bells. Ellis surely has her reasons, whatever they are. But for the players, they need to be able to weather them without growing so frustrated that they don’t improve on the pieces they can control. If there’s a reason to worry, this could be it.

Asked if the result against England would “bring a bit of a knock to the confidence” of the team, Rapinoe demurred.

“I don’t think so,” Rapinoe said. “I think you just need to keep driving home to everyone that it is there, that we need to keep pushing. We were really close at the end of this game but it’s not going to just show up—you actually have to make it happen. So, it’s continuing to tell those younger players to keep with it and stay in the game to the very end.”

The Women’s World Cup in France is now 95 days away.