France win shows how USWNT’s talent can overcome their flaws

Less than a month after an embarrassing 2-0 loss to France in a friendly, the United States overcame Les Bleus by the same score on Wednesday to win the Algarve Cup. The way that they won it showed off just about everything there is to love about the USWNT -- they scored off a set piece and a blazing fast individual goal by Christen Press. It was also a win that showed no progression.

The U.S. didn’t look like a more cohesive unit in their win over France than they did in their prior loss, or in their 0-0 draw against Iceland. They just found ways to score while their opponent struggled to build attacks. It was a good performance, but not a different kind of performance. There were still plenty of poor turnovers and a lot of long balls that seem indicative of a lack of ideas.

It’s unfortunate that the USWNT is still a mess of a team that lacks an identity this close to a World Cup. There’s certainly an excellent chance that they could be sent out of the tournament in the Round of 16. But goals like Press’ and Julie Johnston’s are an excellent reminder that as bad as the U.S. women look, they’re always capable of beating anyone.

And France, of all the elite teams in the world, should be the United States’ bogey team. The USWNT’s biggest flaws are their over-reliance on long balls and their lack of a defensive midfielder. France’s biggest strength is their ability to keep the ball. Even if the U.S. was in good form, it’s a bit of a matchup nightmare for them. Yet they were able to come up with a decisive win in a final while seriously out of form, against a team that had beat them a month prior and was coming off an impressive victory over Japan.

That’s because the United States’ qualities are the kind that can bail out a team that’s playing very poorly. Even when Jill Ellis’ team selection is nonsensical and her team can’t keep the ball to save their lives, every set piece they win is a huge scoring opportunity. Lauren Holiday’s deliveries are consistently excellent, and the U.S. has an advantage in the air, so goals like Johnston’s are always a significant possibility.

And Press’ goal? She can do something like this to create a goal out of nothing at any time, against any team in the world.

The best part? She’s not the only one who can do this. Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux have shown an ability to score brilliant individual goals like this one against top teams, too. As good as Germany, Sweden, Brazil and France are, none of them have three forwards who make plays like this on a regular basis.

Ellis and the United States did not fix any of their problems on Wednesday, but their win served as a reminder that they don’t necessarily have to. The women’s game has evolved to the point where the U.S. are no longer favorites to win the World Cup based on their talent alone, but that doesn’t mean that a disjointed USWNT with no discernible plan can’t win the World Cup on talent alone.

Four years from now, the women’s footballing world is likely to be very different. The women’s game is much better than it was when the last World Cup was played, in every way, and it’ll probably improve at the same pace ahead of 2019. If it does, these U.S. women would have no shot to win the World Cup, so there’s no question that they need to get much better technically and more modern tactically between now and then.

But three months from now? The quality of Holiday, Press and co. is just barely enough to make the USWNT real contenders.