A week before the U.S. women's national team opened camp for this month's friendlies against Spain, Emma Hayes spoke about the team's DNA. The four-time world champions are historically one of the game's elite counter-attacking sides; no matter the team's composition on the pitch or in the dugout, the players near the opposition goal always pull focus. That will not change in their back-to-back games against Spain, either, but a more pressing question awaits.
How exactly will the USWNT's understaffed defense cope with Spain's attack-oriented DNA?
Spain rank amongst the stiffest tests that await any team, such is the natural quality of a reigning World Cup-winning side, but also mark an outlier on the USWNT's schedule following the 2024 Olympics, when Hayes' work revamping the team truly began. Since winning Olympic gold in Paris weeks into Hayes' tenure, the U.S. team have conceded just 15 goals in 34 games and only average seven shots against per match, while their opponents have mustered up an average of just two shots on goal per game. It is not just that they outscore the opposition, no matter the challenger – the USWNT's back line has only had so much to do over the last two years. Spain will reveal whether or not it comes down to the hosts' ability to smother the opposition's attack or whether or not they have even had a chance to prove their worth yet.
USWNT schedule against Spain
All times U.S./Eastern
Oct. 10: USWNT vs. Spain, 2:30 p.m. (TBS)
Oct. 13: USWNT vs. Spain, 7 p.m. (TNT)
Much as she has with her wide-ranging attacking options, Hayes has spent the last two years rotating through her defensive options with the specific intent of building the player pool. Naomi Girma, who rightfully inherited Becky Sauerbrunn's spot at center back before the 2023 Women's World Cup, remains top choice and continues to live up to Hayes' billing as the best defender she's ever worked with. There's just one problem, though – Girma will be unavailable with the re-emergence of a calf injury, which has led Hayes to call on Chelsea to reevaluate their practices.
"This has happened too often and if we want her to be in a position to play games on a regular basis for club and country, I think we have to change some things," Hayes said Tuesday. "She's the last person who wants to be in this place, and she's worked really hard to get herself back to a good level. Obviously I'm not in control of that. I'm not the club. But we are working closely with Chelsea to think differently about creating the right solutions because the player suffers. And I know she's absolutely devastated."
There's another issue, too – Gotham FC's Emily Sonnett has often slotted into the back line, the veteran always a solid presence when called upon. She ruptured her patellar tendon in her left knee in July, though, an injury that ruled her out of the remainder of the NWSL season and one that could ultimately jeopardize her chances of playing at a third World Cup. Hayes is down to four options: Sonnett's club and country teammate Tierna Davidson, who started alongside Girma at the Olympics and is the presumptive starter in Brazil; the Washington Spirit's Tara Rudd, one of the early beneficiaries of Hayes' post-Olympics experimentation; the San Diego Wave's Kennedy Wesley, who has just seven caps; and the Utah Royals' Kate Del Fava, a respected NWSL veteran who could earn her first cap at the age of 28.
Davidson is the only one of the group with experience playing in major international competitions but perhaps more importantly, none of them have played a full half alongside each other. Davidson and Rudd at least have experience with the national team's rigors under Hayes' leadership, the center back conundrum alone enough to throw a wrench in her plans to play a full-strength lineup for both friendlies against Spain.
The USWNT may not have added cover at defensive midfielder, either. Olympics starter Sam Coffey will also miss the Spain friendlies with an injury she sustained over the weekend with Manchester City, Hayes losing her usual first choice in the process. Bay FC's Claire Hutton was a rival for Coffey's starting spot before the injury and may have earned the nod against Spain regardless but again, this is not a position where the USWNT is necessarily deep. Gotham's Jaelin Howell replaced Coffey on the roster and boasts just six caps, while captain Lindsey Heaps can play there in a pinch but the demands do not match her natural skillset. Hutton boasts plenty of promise on her own, the 20-year-old already poised to be a mainstay on the national team for years to come.
Spain is a tough enough challenge but for Hutton in particular, the USWNT's absences at center back mean the strength of the team's spine might rest solely on the midfielder's performances against the world champions.
Wrapped up in the questions of the USWNT's spine is how the team will prepare for Spain's well-documented stylistic preferences, specifically their desire to dominate possession. The U.S. team's schedule post-Olympics has offered them a variety of tests, including games against teams that pose physical challenges they have previously been ill-equipped for, but Spain is another test entirely. The USWNT usually dictate the tempo of the game but it is unclear if they will try to nick the ball off the visitors or simply cede possession to Spain, hoping to keep them out other ways. Hutton will likely play a key role in executing the strategy Hayes selects, whichever it may be.
Perhaps above all, though, Hayes' reputation as a tactical pragmatist could be tested over the course of the next week. The injuries to Girma, Coffey and Sonnett are obviously not her fault and her prudent player pool expansion project in the last two years will only lend a helping hand as she figures out how to outdo Spain. The mistakes will not exactly be costly – long before she took this job, the USWNT had used losses in the build-up to major tournaments to identify mistakes that allowed them to go on and collect winners' medals and the upcoming games could serve the same function, regardless of result. In the ultimate bellwether of both teams' ability to win another World Cup in Brazil, though, every decision could very well be a revealing one.
