Quest for Five Stars: The USWNT’s World Cup Outlook After Losing Mallory Swanson
The quest for five stars will kick off this summer. And the question remains the same: will the USWNT repeat as World Cup Champions? Heading into the last two friendlies against Ireland, there have been plenty of doubters about how far this team can go. In the aftermath of those two friendlies, the number of doubters surely went up.
Mallory Swanson went down with a serious injury that has taken her out of playing in the World Cup. As a result, a key starter in the team’s offense will no longer be available, which is a tough adjustment for the USWNT. On the flip side, we did see Julie Ertz play for the first time since her pregnancy. This could be great news for the team’s midfield. Assuming there won’t be any more friendlies scheduled between now and the World Cup, here’s the overall outlook heading into the World Cup for the USWNT.
Rebuilding the Attack
The impact of losing a player like Mallory Swanson cannot be overstated. Swanson had arguably been the best player in a USWNT jersey all year. She scored seven times in the last five games before the Ireland matches. When the player scoring a majority of the team’s goals is gone, who will pick up that torch and score the goals needed to fulfill the USWNT’s World Cup hopes?
Naturally, the first person we’re going to look to is Alex Morgan. She’s still playing at a high level, as we’ve seen with the San Diego Wave. That said, Morgan needs service as the lead striker to create chances. Whereas Swanson was wreaking havoc down the wing and using her speed to get in behind defenses.
Alex Morgan can score bangers at any time, but it won’t be because she’s running past defenses with pure pace like Swanson can. Those days are behind Morgan. The key is going to come down to the two young stars who should enter the fold as a result of the injury. Those two stars would be Trinity Rodman and Alyssa Thompson. It’s pretty clear that Alex Morgan and Sophia Smith will be two of the three starters at the top of the 4-3-3 formation.
Coach Andonovski brought in Alyssa Thompson to replace Swanson for the second match. She started and played the full 90 minutes. Clearly, the USWNT staff wanted as much time as possible to evaluate what they have with Thompson to possibly replace Swanson as either a starter or super sub in the World Cup.
However, it all seems to be happening so fast for Thompson. There’s a big difference between an NWSL debut and a World Cup debut. Factoring in how young Thompson is, the slightly more experienced Trinity Rodman could be the x-factor for the USWNT.
Now Rodman is also just 20, and this will also be her first World Cup. But she’s already got 17 appearances under her belt at the international level. Seeing the top-flight competition will be huge for Rodman, and her ability to create and score could be the difference in a tight game when the USWNT needs a goal.
Refining the Midfield
Similar to the strikers, there’s also been the question mark over the last midfield spot. Again, there’s no question we’re going to see Lindsey Horan and Rose Lavelle as two of the three midfielders. But who will take that last spot?
The No. 6 role has been a hot topic in media and USWNT fan circles. Andi Sullivan might not be the answer. We can say that with confidence because we know the USWNT has tried converting Taylor Kornieck to that same role when she’s been more of an attacking player with Orlando and San Diego.
Why would the USWNT do this unless they had full confidence in Andi Sullivan to do the job? Unless there’s something behind the scenes that we don’t know about.
That’s what makes the return of Julie Ertz so crucial for this team. It will take her time to get back to full game shape. But seeing her in that first game back, watching her flying around and putting her body on the line, shows that nothing is holding her back mentally. Some players might take some time to get the rust off from a long layoff. But her mentality was to jump right back into the deep end. If the USWNT can get Ertz to play at least 60 minutes per game, that’s still far better than what they’ve tried up until now.
Trinity Rodman, Julie Ertz, and Alyssa Thompson are the three key names to focus on for this World Cup. If any of those three steps up in a big way at the World Cup, then there’s no reason why this team can’t repeat. However, if none of them is a factor at all, it could spell trouble for the USWNT in the quarterfinal stage or later.
Losing Mallory Swanson is a big blow. We all know that, but I’m not ready to count this team out yet. We have to stand with our team through thick and thin. If the USWNT can win their fifth star, this group will go down in history because of what they overcame to do it.
Featured images via @uswnt on Instagram and Getty Images
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