USWNT Roster, Details for Early 2015 Revealed

The USWNT roster for the first senior camp of 2015 was released Friday afternoon, and for longtime fans of the US, there are few new names. Head coach Jill Ellis has called back all 24 participants in last month’s International Tournament of Brasilia, including longtime national team persona non grata Lori Chalupny (Chicago Red Stars) and the now-rehabbed Alex Morgan (Portland Thorns) and Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit).

There are not many non-rotation players included in the mix. The Carson, CA camp will feature some rather familiar faces, including longtime number-two US keeper Nicole Barnhart (FC Kansas City). Defender Kristie Mewis (Boston Breakers) and Rachel Van Hollebeke (Portland Thorns) have been recalled from their stints playing for Japan’s Iga FC Kunoich, though Van Hollebeke is reportedly still working through a calf injury. Longtime US fixture Shannon Boxx (Chicago Red Stars) and midfielder Allie Long (Portland Thorns) have also been summoned to the National Training Center for the twenty-one day evaluation.

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Much of this roster makes for a perplexing picture of what to expect out of the 23-woman roster for Canada in July. The addition of Barnie is somewhat odd, as her absence from the Brazil tournament seemed to show that the goalkeeping contingent was looking to skew towards younger talent. Ashlyn Harris (Washington Spirit) and Alyssa Naeher (Boston Breakers), who are arguably the two best healthy American keepers not named Hope Solo, are both under 30, but stay capped in the single digits (Naeher played her first match in Brazil against Guatemala, while Harris earned her fourth cap and first clean sheet in October against Haiti). Allie Long and Kristie Mewis have both been solid midfielders, both for club and country, but each has also seen considerably fewer opportunities to suit up for the US since the ousting of former US head coach Tom Sermanni last April.

Defensively, the inclusion of Van Hollebeke isn’t that surprising, nor is Boxx. The tactical decision to play Lauren Holiday (a fantastic playmaker whose many upsides are mostly offensively oriented) as a de-facto defensive mid has yielded mixed results, leading to widespread speculation about who might be better suited to such a role.

There probably is no better defensive midfielder in the current US player pool than the 37-year-old Boxx, who had her first child early last year, but she hasn’t played for the US in over 20 months. Outside, maybe, of the excellent and versatile Morgan Brian, the US staff seems to be struggling to find an alternative to Holiday or Boxx. A possible solution might be Boxx’s club teammate Julie Johnston, who was also the 2014 NWSL Rookie of the Year, but she is listed on the roster as a straight defender and has received tragically little playing time under Ellis.

It should be noted that there is a concurrent U-23 camp also being held at the NTC from January 3-10, and will feature a dozen current NWSL players, including several who are overage. The camp will feature defenders Lauren Barnes (Seattle Reign), Kassey Kallman (Boston Breakers), and Merritt Mathias (Seattle Reign); midfielders Vanessa DiBernardo (Chicago Red Stars), Tori Huster (Washington Spirit), 2013 NWSL Rookie of the Year Erika Tymrak (FC Kansas City), and Keelin Winters (Seattle Reign); and forwards Sarah Hagen (FC Kansas City) and Kealia Ohai (Houston Dash). Given the overlap of the two camps and their proximity to one another, it can be expected that the US senior team will be evaluating at least the overage players, perhaps even subjecting them to a scrimmage or two.

We obviously can’t know Ellis’ plans for appraising the players, but we can take a look at who isn’t going to get a look, at least not this month. Most notably absent from either roster is 20-year-old forward Lindsay Horan (Paris-St. Germain), who was the subject of a recent New York Times piece that essentially predicted her omission. Another forward who apparently can’t get a look is Beverly Goebel (Seattle Reign, INAC Kobe Leonessa), who appeared in all 24 games for the Reign in 2014.

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Even if these women had been called to Southern California this month, there would likely be little opportunity for them to see the pitch anytime soon, given the bizarre pattern of continuing to start a worn, aging Abby Wambach up top with an ever-rotating cadre of strike partners. If an NWSL standout and longtime senior team member like 2014 NWSL champion Amy Rodriguez struggles for starts and minutes, relative outsiders have little hope, though that’s another article altogether.

While the highly insular structure and fairly consistent player pool that has characterized the USWNT for the past several decades has yielded a high degree of tournament success, there is pervasive concern over the long-term evolution of US Soccer. The organization announced plans last year to release new development plans for both the men and the women (though their exact intentions for the latter have yet to be determined). In the wake of this roster announcement, such disquiet feels all the more justified.

As the team heads into camp, one wonders what other weird surprises Ellis might have up her sleeve. Might she return to the once-effective 4-4-2 formation, and start playing some of this talented group in their natural positions? Might she begin calling some of these younger or uncapped players into camps with regularity? Might we see more top-tier competition in the ramp-up to the World Cup in addition to the February away matches against England and France?

I’m not certain that any of these ideas coming to fruition will fix anything. My personal worry is that Jill Ellis has no other tricks left in her bag, and that the kitchen-sink tactical approach might be something we all wish for as the World Cup draws nearer. I hope I’m wrong, but recent history suggests that any optimism in this regard is severely misplaced.

The US will play its first match of 2015 in Lorient, France against the French on February 8, and will follow that up with a game against England in Milton Keynes on the 13th.

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