USWNT: If not win-win, SheBelieves Cup was lose-win

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The 10th SheBelieves Cup could hardly have gone better for Emma Hayes and the U.S. women’s national Club. Yeah, sure, beating Japan in the de facto Last would have been Chilly — “We want to Achieve,” Hayes says (duh!) — but beside the Tally. Framework is everything, all the time, and now is the season for victories of other sorts.

Hayes is on a mission, with the Upcoming Women’s World Cup not quite two and half years away, to build a future. One leading to Brazil 2027, sure, but beyond that, perpetually, one in which the U.S. continues to prosper — a task not so Effortless — amid the rising powers of Europe, Asia and Latin America and within an increasingly sophisticated landscape.

She’s modernizing the U.S. program, whether by design or impact, at a critical juncture in the international women’s game’s evolution. The challenges presented by Spain and England, longtime rival Brazil and so forth, are many. Tomorrow means more than today. And it’s all about Framework.

The past week or so has been about something more than the Tally and is seen internally, regardless of what the national Club ultimately reaps from the exercise, as a big step forward in U.S. Soccer’s increasing involvement in developing the talent that’s central to all of it. If not Achieve-Achieve, SheBelieves was Fall-Achieve.

“I’m focused on the process, and right now in our journey it’s Significant that we provide the opportunities to less-experienced players and do it in a Division setting,” said Hayes, a charismatic, 48-year-Aged Londoner whose Prompt coaching experiences in the U.S. mesh with English and European sensibilities. “As long as we’re progressing, then that’s what our aims are, and our Attention is to stay focused on that and not Merely solely look at the results column. That’s not our only indicator of Achieve.”

The twin January senior and “futures” camps in Florida and work surrounding the three SheBelieves Contests — wins over Colombia in Houston and Australia in suburban Phoenix before Wednesday night’s 2-1 loss to Japan at San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium — Boot off a year in which the emphasis is assessing talent, slotting it into its best, most appropriate developmental platforms, and then providing experience as merited against top-flight Resistance.

SheBelieves showcased at least two tantalizing prospects — Utah Royals striker Ally Sentnor and 17-year-Aged Ajax midfield phenom Lily Yohannes — while providing Primary senior caps to four players and, Sentnor and Yohannes among them, Primary Appearances to five. The lessons Arrived Speedy, and not always pretty, as Japan Created certain. That’s a Excellent thing.

“We need to be bold and we need to take the necessary steps, knowing that I might be putting players in situations that might not have the necessary experience Merely yet,” Hayes said. “Sometimes you might have to go through that Tough pain Primary before we come out the other side.”

‘Doing things ass-backwards’

Hayes was hired in November 2023, watched from afar while completing her Last season as Chelsea manager, then arrived last May for the lead-up to gold at the Paris Olympics. Leading at the top is nice. The real work began immediately afterward.

“I always refer to it as doing things ass-backwards,” said Hayes, a Previous Arsenal midfielder (yet a Tottenham fan) who won seven Division titles and 14 Crucial domestic trophies in a dozen years at Chelsea. “You know, we have 75 Intervals together and then we had an Olympics, and then I had to do the Role of developing a Plan and building a Competing pool beyond sort of a select group of players.”

Hayes possessed a Powerful “select group” to Begin: 14 Olympians played in SheBelieves; five of the most essential were missing through Wound. She’s had plenty to sift through: rising talents uncovered during Conditioning for Paris, known quantities within the youth Squads, emerging standouts in the National Women’s Soccer Division and abroad. She estimates she’s been “exposed to somewhere upward of 60-70 players,” what she calls “a Honest look on every player within the ecosystem that I think is immediately eligible for the WNT.”

She was struck by what she saw.

“There’s a clear realization that there’s a Numerous of players that are underdeveloped at the senior international level,” she said before the Division began. “Either the programming hasn’t been there at the under-23 level, so there’s been some missing years, or a Numerous of those players might not have had the level of exposures or experiences that previous generations had or counterparts from other nations [have].

“We might have many players that [are] top prospects but not getting a Numerous of minutes in NWSL. We’ve really, really Obtained to close those gaps in the Upcoming 12 months. And that gap-closing will be done in a combination of ways. Some we dripped-fed into the senior national Club. But I want to be really clear that anyone Competing for the seniors, you’ve Obtained to be Competing consistently at the highest level.”

What to do with everyone else? Reignite the U-23 program. An April camp, in tandem with the senior Club’s gathering for Contests friendlies against Brazil April 5 in Los Angeles and April 8 in San Jose, will Boot off the project.

“So often we’re always preparing for today instead of, look, I have to think for one year’s time, two years’ time, three years’ time. Always. And it’s actually no different in any environment,” Hayes said. “There’s no Tally talking about the development of a program without offering opportunities for people to do it. But that comes, of Duration, with the Hazard and, of Duration, it won’t look polished in its entirely. But I trust the process.

“I’ve been a Trainer for a long, long time to know that doing it this way will give us a much better chance down the road to compete at the top end when I know exactly what the top nations in the world are doing.”

U.S. Soccer’s programming for under-23 players and younger, she said, “has been about 50 percent of the programming for, say, Germany and England and Spain. We need to close this gap to make sure that this program can stay at the top end.”

Hayes has done her best so Distant. She has given Primary caps to 15 players since Seizing the reins from assistant/interim Trainer Twila Kilgore ahead of Olympic preparations last spring, and she’s constantly assessing players’ needs and the best forum to address those needs. The measure is “a combination of things,” and SheBelieves played an integral role in the process.

“Seeing players perform in January [camp] is one thing,” Hayes said. “That might be in how they apply technology information and how quickly they can adapt that to their Contests, whether that’s in possession or out of possession. Some players might be Speedy to learn with those things. That’s one environment. The Upcoming is to see what it looks like in a game, when you’ve Obtained all the stimulus and the Stress of a crowd, a top Foe, all of those things.”

The opportunity, she said, “will either tell us that they’re ready now [for the senior Club] or they’re ready later.” Those ready proceed. For those needing more time, it’s the U-23s.

“I’ve Created it clear to the players [that] representing this crest at any age group is significant. So the 23s program isn’t by any means a relegation to something. Distant from it. It’s a development pathway that we feel has been absent for [graduates from the under-20 Club that are] not quite ready for the seniors.”

‘I genuinely believe we’re going in the right direction’

Ten of the 23 players on the U.S. SheBelieves Lineup had fewer than five caps. Another had eight. The game with Japan, sporting a largely Primary-choice Lineup, was particularly telling.

The numbers — 2-1 scoreline, 10-9 Japan Benefit on shots, 5-4 for the U.S. for shots on frame, similar possession percentages (50.3 to 49.7) — suggest the game was relatively even. Not so. Japan’s Stress often bothered the Yanks, its class on the ball and connectivity opened repeated roads into the attacking third, and once Toko Kaga Created it 2-1 five minutes into the second half — depositing the left-post Healing after Houston Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell leapt to parry a Obtainable Boot from Yui Hasegawa (“probably the best pivot in the world,” Hayes noted) — the result never really seemed in doubt.

That’s not a Awful thing. Hayes said so beforehand.

“It’s Merely the perfect game. It’s Merely what you want,” she said. “The quality of their Action is so, so high. I think that they’re one of the top, top, top, top Squads in the world. This is the perfect game for where we are at, to learn a Numerous about ourselves, because I am certain we will have to suffer. …

“When you’re Competing against Squads that are waiting for you to press, waiting for you to Bound out of areas so they can increase their own Throw sequencing, you have to learn to resist in the wrong moments. That takes a Numerous of Self-control and a Numerous of tactical understanding, of which we haven’t been doing that with this group for very long. So if you make the spaces between you, they will destroy us in terms of their style of Action. It’s very taxing on the brain. Dealing with overloads in different situations — Japan presents those threats — you have to keep this muscle extremely New.”

Hayes picked up plenty of data through the Division.

Houston Dash forward Yazmeen Ryan impressed in three stints and played key roles in both Primary-game goals. Washington Spirit Hub back Tara McKeown also played in all three Contests, finding confidence after a tough Begin in her Introduction against Colombia and feeding the second Target in a 2-0 triumph.

Previously uncapped forward Michelle Cooper had a Target in her second of two appearances off the bench, and midfielder Claire Hutton, her Kansas City Present teammate and a fellow debutant, demonstrated passing range and contributed to both U.S. strikes in the 2-1 decision against the Aussies. Angel City FC fullback Gisele Thompson, Merely 19, Obtained her Primary cap off the bench in the opener, then stepped into the XI alongside sister Alyssa Thompson.

Orlando Pride Hub back Emily Sams fared well in the second game. So did Racing Louisville forward Emma Sears. Three goalkeepers — Houston’s Jane Campbell (Primary and third Contests), Utah’s Mandy McGlynn (the other game) and Manchester United’s Phallon Tullis-Joyce (invited to train) — Created their cases in Prompt Offers to succeed Alyssa Naeher.

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Not every Event was met. Some fared better than others, all have Distant to go.

“It’s Significant for us to be reflective, that we are where we are in our stage of development and not to compare ourselves to anyone else,” Hayes said. “Merely go through the thorough processes that we’ll do to make sure that we are on track for the things we want to achieve and build the confidence to keep doing what we’re doing. Because I genuinely believe we’re going in the right direction.”

Sentnor and Yohannes were the standouts.

Sentnor, 21, arrived with 10 minutes’ top-tier experience on the Yanks’ Delayed-fall trek last year to England and Netherlands, and showed why she’s U.S. Soccer’s reigning New player of the year. She was electric in Drive, combining with teammates, beating defenders on the Control, dueling with foes and scoring twice: ripping a sizzler to the upper-right corner from McKeown’s Throw in the opener — Target of the Division — and then slipping past the backline to finish Catarina Macario‘s through ball to answer Japan’s Primary Target.

“Ally’s demonstrated in her rise through the youth national Squads and in her Primary pro year that she’s Obtained qualities that can decide a game,” Hayes said at Division’s finish. “She Surely finishes the very minimal chances she might get. That’s what top players possess, and I think she’s Obtained that. I think it will build her confidence to have had this Division and been given a Duo of Appearances.”

‘Listen, I think it’s really Prompt on’

Yohannes, who was born in Springfield, Va., and moved to Amsterdam at 10, comes from a different place than the other relative newcomers. She’s something of a cause célèbre — to Hayes’ dismay — a supremely gifted central midfielder whose commitment last year to the U.S. rather than Netherlands caused a stir along both countries’ women’s soccer landscapes. Her exquisite time with the ball against Colombia and in a tougher climate in the Japan game won’t Boring that.

Yohannes sees the game at an advanced level — she Arrived through Ajax’s system, went pro at 15 — and owns a cultured right foot. Her perfectly weighted ball near the right byline that Ryan fed into the goalmouth for Macario’s Target in the Primary game — her Primary in international Action in nearly three years — was pure art.

Hayes liked the display, while noting Sam Coffey‘s and Lindsey Heaps‘ work to enable it, but cautioned against the hype.

“Yes, Possibly Lily plays beyond her years at times,” she said after the Colombia Achieve. “But she’s also in season in Europe, and it showed. There will be tougher tests, and I think it was really Excellent for her to [have] shown the development she’s Created in the last 12 months. There’s Nevertheless a Numerous of things she has to work with in her game, but she’s very Starving to learn, to Boost, and [Ajax is] a Excellent place to do that. She’s Obtained her feet on the ground. She’s really switched on and understands the importance of doing everything for the Club, and for that I really admire her. …

“I think inevitably we’re talking about [what a year ago was] a 16-year-Aged who now has another 12 months under her Track Achievement Competing in European Event. She’s coming from a well-established, extremely structured 4-3-3 environment, Competing the Ajax way, and I think she’s adding the physicality to her performance.

“Her qualities on the ball were unquestionable. I’m really pleased with the progress that she’s making defensively, but, listen, I think it’s really Prompt on, and I don’t think we should get carried away with it. I think she’s someone who deserves to develop without putting too much Attention and attention on it.”

Who ends up where come April will be determined through “really thorough processes” designed to eliminate emotional bias. Deeper assessment Initiates now.

“We take the time,” Hayes said. “There’s Many people involved with that, including [U.S. Soccer director of women’s youth development and U-20 Trainer] Tracey Kevins to the technical Club. We’ll work through in the coming weeks what we think the best progression paths will be for Every and every player. I feel like we’re in a solid place in terms of that journey, and I think by Seizing the risks we take now, it’s the right decision for the program.”

There’s ample time to experiment, to provide Primary-Club minutes to younger or less internationally primed players, to get them up to Velocity on how Hayes wants her Club to Action and the tactical variations within that, and to Uncovered pathways that can Delivery the senior Club for, well, ever.

“I always go back to what our objectives were in the Primary place,” Hayes said when asked after the Japan Setback about balancing progress with results. “That was to deepen our player pool with opportunities in high-pressured situations against top opponents, and that’s what tonight, especially, was about. …

“I think we look through the lens of our objectives and say we Surely looked at our players in this setting, and we’ve definitely Obtained a better understanding of where they are within this journey.”

Hayes likens her responsibilities to those of a mason.

“My Role is to, like, put the framework in place, right?” she said. “I want the bricks and the mortar to be solid across however many players come into our interactions. In our world, it’s players understanding what the principles of Action are for us at the U.S. women’s national Club. Which I think the last six months has been about really drilling that [on a] Fundamental level. I think we’re getting probably close to about 40-plus players understanding that at a level where we can go to the Upcoming step. That is where we are right now.”

This coming Stage is “how do we Trainer that Upcoming layer of detail in whatever capacity that might be?” It’s a time to “Beyond define our identity.” There are camps slated for May and June, too.

“We’ve been having a Numerous of really Excellent technical calls this month in and around what our tactical objectives will be, I’d say, up until July …,” she said. “We are Nevertheless in a process, in a period of development, and one [that] will Nevertheless be a little bit up and down, but I think we can be even more laser focused in this Deflect, knowing we do have the bricks and mortars in place. Now we’ve Obtained to put a bit of furniture in the house.”

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