With the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup still a few years away, U.S. women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes has ample time to experiment and test her lineup with different solutions to various scenarios. One scenario she’ll undoubtedly want to find solutions to is breaking down low- to mid-block defenses.
The tried-and-tested trio of Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson has been successful against most opposition sides but from what we saw in the Olympics, there were still games where the three struggled and were marked out of the game. Japan and Germany in particular exploited these deficiencies in the U.S. team’s system by ensuring they held their positions defensively and blocking the counter-attack.
Hayes has tried a few variations of attacking lineups — with Yazmeen Ryan, Lynn Williams, Emma Sears, and Alyssa Thompson all featuring — but one individual that has stood out from the bunch is Jaedyn Shaw. The San Diego Wave player is primarily an attacking midfielder but Hayes seems to have identified traits in Shaw that have made her the experimental false nine option. Shaw even started in the position against the Netherlands during the December international break.
The USWNT has many players capable of playing intricate passes and moving between the lines, interchanging with forwards to manufacture chances on goal. The way they currently play includes the left-winger — usually Mallory Swanson — drifting inwards to create a faux front-two alongside Sophia Smith, with the left-back pushing forward to maintain width on the left. This works within Hayes’ preference for a 4-3-3 formation that relies on a three-player build-up with a single pivot and two No. 10s accessing the space between the lines. The balanced, three-person midfield suits this team well given how effective the front three are in their movement and interchangeability.
