“I’m paid to do this job. What I’m interested in is what we do in-house. I’ve been coaching football matches [for] a long time. I’ve said it from the beginning: connections help. I don’t believe we’d have gone through if we’d have made too many changes.”
These were the words of Emma Hayes on the eve of the Olympic semifinal against Germany in Lyon. With games scheduled every two days, it’s little wonder that fatigue has been a topic of interest in almost every game. Still, you’d be inclined to allow Hayes’ management some leniency given the way they’ve progressed to the gold medal match.
Notably, Hayes heeded warning signs from her players’ on-pitch performances and made relatively early substitutions to manage recovery and consistency. This was reflected in the game’s state, being both cagey and more open than first anticipated. After the 4-1 battering in the group stages, Germany would have been forgiven for looking to play a bit more conservatively, but they instead came out of the blocks with a different set of tactics to take the game to the Americans.
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Hayes was granted a fully fit squad to choose from and reverted to her preferred starting 11 with Sam Coffey returning from suspension and Tierna Davidson coming back from injury in place of Emily Sonnett. The rest of the team remained the same, but it would always be a test of their stamina and whether they could repeat the heroics of the previous encounter.
Germany learned from their last match against the U.S. and made several tactical changes, but injuries to their star players Alexandra Popp and Lea Schüller certainly made the task much harder. They adapted with their replacements: Nicole Anyomi replaced Schüller at center forward while Sydney Lohmann came in for Popp in central midfield in what looked like a 4-2-4 shape. Yet their primary concern was focusing on their out-of-possession work to counter the U.S. front three.
The Germans opted to use a narrow 4-4-2 out-of-possession shape for superiority and to stop the USWNT from utilizing numerical turnover counter-attacks. Given Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman’s effectiveness in this tournament, having a formation that was flexible in creating both wide and narrow congestions became crucial in stopping the attacks.
Hayes is always looking to create numerical superiority in midfield, so by using the 4-4-2, the Germans would look to at the very least match the Americans in midfield. The American midfield, for its part, has been a bone of contention for the majority of this tournament. They have been uncharacteristically loose in possession with misplaced passes and easy turnovers — especially by Horan — so packing the midfield was a wise move.
The Germans were cautious of the speed of Hayes’ dynamic front trio, who had overrun full-backs Guilia Gwinn and Felicitas Rauch in the first match. In response, interim head coach Horst Hrubesch deployed a 4-4-2 formation when out of possession. This setup aimed to prevent the American wingers from easily receiving the ball and attacking the full-backs, while also countering the USWNT’s 3-4-3 build-up with their own wide center-backs and an advanced left back.
Rodman’s 1 v 1 ability has been a key feature of the front line while the interchangeability of Swanson and Sophia Smith makes it hard to mark them sufficiently. The clip below shows one instance of Germany managing to win back possession from a United States build-up sequence.
There was, however, a slight variation to this 4-4-2. In reality, Lohmann played more of a ‘false right-winger’ role whereas winger Jule Brand was placed centrally. This tactic’s main use is out of possession to defend both the wide and internal spaces by playing someone capable of interchanging roles and covering ground.
The move paid off, as Rodman was unable to have the same influence in this game bar a couple of chances and as such the trio of Lavelle, Horan and Coffey were nullified. When the ball was played centrally, you had Lohmann inverting to help No. 10 Sjoeke Nüsken and central midfielder Janina Minge pressuring Horan and Lavelle from playing it forward.
They won a few transitions and countered through Anyomi’s and Brand’s combined pace. The example below shows how the Germans all moved inside once Emily Fox had played the ball into Swanson’s feet. The pass back to Lavelle then disrupted the flow and forced the U.S. to run it back. As for the USWNT, the backline was also superb in stopping the Germans from playing through but that only papers over some of the aforementioned midfield issues.
The U.S. faced significant challenges in creating opportunities and penetrating through the center against Germany. The German central defenders, alongside the full-backs, played a crucial role in limiting the space available to the U.S. attackers, particularly when they attempted to move through the half-spaces. Each time the U.S. managed to enter the box, the German defense quickly compressed the space, thus denying them shooting opportunities.
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This kept the USWNT at bay until extra time when Smith managed to break the deadlock and pull the Americans through to a guaranteed medal position. However, considering the impact of all that fatigue, it is likely that Rodman, Smith, and Swanson could have exerted more pressure on the German defense had they been less tired.
The game was a stark contrast to the previous match between the two sides, but Hayes remained confident in her tactics and starting eleven to foster team chemistry to pull them through to the final. The team’s form going into the final will be crucial as Brazil aims to frustrate them with mid-blocks and counter-attacks, and the onus will no doubt be on the front line to break down the Brazilian defense.
There is now only one match that stands between Hayes and her first major achievement with the national team, all in the span of just a few months.
