The United States women are probably going to win their group in CONCACAF Women's World Cup qualifying, no matter what happens against Haiti on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1). And more likely than not, they're going to play Mexico in the semifinal for a trip to the World Cup. The outcomes of the previous two rounds in both groups have rendered this match fairly inconsequential for the Americans, which could lead to a very weird, experimental team against Haiti.
3 questions for the USWNT ahead of Monday’s World Cup qualifier against Haiti
Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports
But because the USWNT don’t get to play many competitive games before the World Cup, they could take Monday’s game very seriously, so we’re going to ask some very serious questions, as if Monday’s lineup will have more thought put into it than pulling 11 names out of a hat.
1. Who replaces Alex Morgan?
Due to a pretty badly sprained left ankle, the United States women will be without the services of star striker Alex Morgan for the remainder of the tournament. She was replaced by Christen Press after she went down against Guatemala, but that doesn’t mean Jill Ellis won’t try something new on Monday.
Press started the first game out wide, while Sydney Leroux has played on the wing in both her cameo appearance and her start. Meanwhile, Amy Rodriguez and Abby Wambach sat on the bench for most of the match, with Rodriguez later getting a shift out wide. When Wambach played, she was a forward, despite being listed as a midfielder in pre-match lineups.
2. Will someone else get a shift underneath that striker?
While Megan Rapinoe had some excellent moments against Guatemala, she didn’t look terribly comfortable as an attacking central midfielder, and drifted wide quite often. Meanwhile, natural central attacking midfielder Tobin Heath had a great game out wide, and looked comfortable both coming inside and taking on her opposing fullback to set herself up for a cross.
But even though Friday’s game went well, swapping Rapinoe and Heath appears to make a lot of sense. Maybe it’ll result in the U.S. finally looking comfortable and putting up the kind of ridiculous scoreline that fans are used to seeing against this level of opposition.
3. Will the U.S. change how they attack?
Which one of Press, Leroux, Wambach or Rodriguez is going to start in Morgan’s place isn’t clear, and whoever does get that job could tell us a lot about what Ellis wants to do. Press is closest to like-for-like, while Leroux isn’t much different either, and is probably the American forward in the best form. Wambach offers more of a target striker option, while Rodriguez is more of a pure poacher.
Even though Morgan wasn’t great in front of goal, most of the Americans’ most dangerous attacks in their first two games came from getting the defense to step up, then running Morgan on to long balls or through balls. Wambach isn’t suited to that style and Leroux and Press, while quick enough to beat Haiti’s defenders, aren’t quite speedy poachers in the same way that Morgan is. The U.S. might have to switch the way they attack without Morgan, unless Rodriguez gets the nod. Then they’ll just play nothing but through balls.
The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. from RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. You can watch it on Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports Go or Fox Soccer 2 Go.
