What to watch for as USWNT finish strong year with high-profile friendlies at England, Netherlands

The U.S. women’s national team will cap off a year of accomplishments amid transition in Europe, an appropriate venue as they build for the future. Their year-end friendlies at England on Saturday and the Netherlands on Tuesday will be the toughest games on the calendar since winning Olympic gold in August, though the group that made the trip does not look exactly like the one that competed in Paris over the summer. Hayes left some, like Olympics stars Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson at home to offer a chance to some rising talents and try out new ideas. A total of 10 players have 10 or fewer caps, while two and several others are less than 30 games into their international careers, allowing Hayes to use these high-profile friendlies as another chance to develop younger players.

“Of course, we’re coming to win at the weekend, but it’s not my overarching goal. I want to win the World Cup,” Hayes said during a press conference in her native London on Monday. “I’m not going to put out a completely experimental team. There have to be connections and relationships but I also want to give opportunities so getting that balance in these two games is critical because there is going to come a moment. I want a player who’s got one or two caps to experience what it’s like to play in front of 80,000 people and it feels a bit hostile and a little bit cold.”

Here’s what to watch for ahead of the USWNT’s last games of the year.

Continued expansion of player pool

Though the Olympics were Hayes’ initial focus when she finally took charge of her first training session at the end of May, she was truly hired with the purpose of refreshing the program in an increasingly competitive women’s soccer landscape. Hayes has wasted little time beginning that mission, rewarding seven players with their debuts last month. All of those players are back this time around, while two others could also earn their first caps before the year’s up. The roster selections offer Hayes a chance to address a long-standing problem she’s identified with the development of USWNT players.

“The rock and hard place at international level is, in order with such limited games, you got to stick with the same group because they’ve got to develop the playing style,” Hayes said. “I know, but you don’t develop opportunities and what I realized when I took this job is that we had a lot of players that had less than 25 caps … We have to develop a broader pool so when you develop strategies to win, you can’t just always zoom in.”

Among the group of rising talents is 17-year-old Lily Yohannes, who officially chose to play for the USWNT earlier this month despite interest from the Netherlands, where she’s lived since the age of 10. Yohannes was in the process of obtaining a Dutch passport but already made her debut – and scored her first goal – for the USWNT in June, with Hayes giving her space to reach her own decision.

“You have to play a long game with those things and nobody wants someone who’s putting them under pressure,” Hayes said. “I think our success at the Olympics might’ve helped with that decision, plus the camp she was in. I think she really enjoyed that but the real work for that now really begins because the expectations start to grow on such a young talent and she is young and there’s still a lot of areas for her to grow and develop physically so we have to nurture her without the expectation that we always place.”

Options in attack

While most of the starters during the USWNT’s gold medal-winning run are on the roster, Hayes’ choice to leave the “triple espresso” of Rodman, Smith and Swanson home means the head coach has minutes to give in attack, making for fascinating competition in the months to come.

Lynn Williams is the only veteran amongst the forwards, with 20-year-old Jaedyn Shaw serving as the next most experienced player with 19 caps. Experimentation seems just about guaranteed as a result – Emma Sears and Yazmeen Ryan have a chance to build upon strong first games a month ago, especially after Sears nabbed a goal and an assist on her debut. Alyssa Thompson, meanwhile, also has an opportunity after scoring in her return to the USWNT in October while NWSL Rookie of the Year contender Ally Sentnor is amongst those who could earn their first cap.

The newness of the group could also offer another glimpse at Hayes’ new tactical ideas since she’s only had a short amount of time to experiment on the job so far. So far, Hayes has relied on a three-person front line, a system her predecessor Vlatko Andonovski also preferred and one that suited the “triple espresso” at the Olympics. Hayes is a pragmatist at heart and likely will not want her team to be one-dimensional in the long run, so expect her to unleash some new formations sooner rather than later, especially with different personnel in the mix.

Alyssa Naeher’s sendoff

While much of the focus will be on the USWNT’s future, the final games of the year will also serve as a farewell to goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, who announced on Monday that she will retire from the national team following the game against the Netherlands.

The USA’s longtime first choice in goal will likely play a big role in the USWNT’s final games of the year before the battle to win her role in time for the 2027 Women’s World Cup officially begins. It will be a fitting tribute for Naeher, who was the last member of the 2015 World Cup-winning team that was still in the USWNT’s player pool and is one of only seven players from that roster who has not retired. Though she was Hope Solo’s backup nine years ago, she soon became the first choice in the spot and quietly became one of the team’s most consistent performers for the better part of a decade. She was one of a handful of players who took part in the USWNT’s 2019 World Cup win and their gold medal win at the Paris Olympics over the summer, playing a key role in both competitions.

It is currently unclear who Naeher’s successor might be, though Hayes is making sure she has not limited her options. NWSL-based goalkeepers Casey Murphy, Jane Campbell and Aubrey Kingsbury – all of whom have years of experience in national team camps – were left at home for the final international break of the year, with Utah Royals’ Mandy Haught and Manchester United’s Phallon Tullis-Joyce making the trip instead. Haught earned her first cap last month while Tullis-Joyce is one of two players who could make her debut in the next week, giving Hayes much food for thought as she starts to figure out who will be the USWNT’s next starting goalkeeper.