The tactical failures behind the USWNT's World Cup underperformance

The U.S. Women's National Team advanced to the knockout stages of the World Cup on Tuesday thanks to a stilted, embarrassing 0-0 draw with Portugal. The team started off its World Cup campaign with a slow but respectable 3-0 victory over Vietnam before putting in a gritty and aggressive performance to draw with the Netherlands. Three games, three lackluster showings: The USWNT managed to move on, but it did so by the skin of its teeth.

The world rankings aren't a fluke; the USWNT is the strongest side on the planet, no questions asked. So why has it been unable to break down teams like Portugal, Vietnam and the Netherlands? The answer lies not in the individuals on the field, but rather in the individuals on the sidelines: coach Vlatko Andonovski and his associates. They've settled on a specific tactical formation and refused to budge — and if they do the same thing in the knockout rounds, it could lead to an early tournament end for the USWNT.

But what's the story behind those tactics? What moves has Andonovski made and how did they cripple the USWNT?

The formation. Andonovski insists upon playing a 4-3-3 formation with the USWNT — that's four defenders, three midfielders and three attackers. It's a formation that can be fluid, flexible and attack-minded when done right, but it's easily exploited. With just three true midfielders, any opposing team can simply play four — or, in the case of the Netherlands, five — against the USWNT and overrun it in the center of the park.

Tactically astute coaches who love the 4-3-3 get around this weakness by "pivoting" some players when out of possession. Just look at Italian men's coach Roberto Mancini: His team won the 2021 European Championships by charging forward in a 4-3-3 with the ball and sinking back into a conservative, defensive 3-5-2 without it. Andonovski, though, makes no such concessions. It's 4-3-3 or bust, all game, regardless of the opposition.

The problem. If you want to maintain ball possession in soccer, you need to think angularly. Possession requires passes, after all, and if you think of each player as the base point of a shape, then each player needs at least two other open players to pass to in order to keep that shape alive. Much has been written about midfield "triangles" and "diamonds"; in essence, these shapes are simply tactical passing structures through which players keep ball possession.

Portugal played a four-person diamond of its own against the USWNT, and you can see how effective it was by taking a look at this graph of its midfield passing lanes: