Players fly in from various clubs, you get a limited amount of time together, and then there's the expectation to go out and defeat some of the best teams in the world. That's the kind of puzzle that Emma Hayes has been brought in to solve, which she has done by pushing the United States women's national team to win the Olympics in 2024. Now she's once again looking to set her side up to defeat reigning world champions Spain.
These are the kind of matches that Hayes wants, as she invited the pressure in her pre-match press conference, saying, "If I'm here to merely protect a win's record, then I'll pick a lesser opponent." Date: Tuesday, Oct. 13 | Time: 7 p.m. ETLocation: Subaru Park -- Chester, Pa.TV: TNT | Live stream: HBO MaxOdds: USWNT +165; Draw +230; Spain +140 It's a match that feels like a tournament scenario, with only one day of training in between, but the team did have time to review video to make the adjustments needed after Saturday's 2-0 loss to Spain. From passing when players should shoot to a lack of cohesion in attack, the time apart showed for a squad that was last together in June to face Brazil.
Hayes wants to ensure her players are ready for the demands of national team soccer, which has a different flavor from club soccer. "This window I always think's quite tricky when you've been apart for five months as well. Cause it's, they come in with habits from their club, and then, oh we've got to break them habits in two sessions," Hayes said.
"And so if you're in your club, for example, largely player-for-player, and here we're largely zonal, that's really hard for players. Cause even the new players say, you know what, it's really difficult. I'm so used to marking a player in every situation.
And at the international level you, neither play zonal and as well as player to player. So sometimes it takes a little bit of time to get into that. It's far from ideal when you've had four or five months apart." Hayes then went on to discuss some of those differences, including how they impact Ashley Sanchez.
While this is the first time that Hayes has called in Sanchez during her tenure, the North Carolina Courage winger has been thriving in the NWSL, where she has 20 goals this season. In club play, Sanchez doesn't have to track back much, but with the national team, that's something Hayes wants to see, and Sanchez has been working on it. The need for a second finisher alongside Sophia Wilson was clear in the first match against Spain, and while Sanchez, off the bench, got a chance that she wasn't able to convert, she's someone who, if club form translates to the national team, will make this team a well-oiled machine.
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