The USWNT’s experience and attacking pragmatism against Netherlands sends them to the Olympics semi-final – tactical analysis

USWNT qualified for the Olympics’ semi-final after beating the Netherlands on penalties in a long match that witnessed great performances from both sides. And although the Netherlands were the team that attacked best during this tournament with the highest number of goals scored, the USWNT’s collective determination and pragmatism prevailed at the end even though only penalties separated the two teams. This match could be the real starting point for the USWNT in the Olympics as they did not look as ready as needed in the group stage. But as the competition progresses, the USWNT will rely on their experience and talent to win the gold if they succeed in beating Canada in the semi-final.

In this tactical analysis article, we will explore what happened tactically in this match by analysing the USWNT’s performance, how they limited Netherlands’ attacks to a certain extent and what should they have done better especially in attack. At the same time, Netherlands’ weaknesses will be addressed without neglecting what went well for them in this match in terms of attacking tactics.

Line-ups

The USWNT started the game with a few changes compared to their group stage games as Vlatko Andonovski preferred to keep Alex Morgan and Christen Press and Rose Lavelle on the bench and sub them on in the course of the game hoping to create a difference, in addition to Megan Rapinoe, who is Andonovski’s usual second-half sub. The team played according to the 4-3-3 formation using Alyssa Naeher as a goalkeeper, Kelley OHara, Manchester City’s Abby Dahlkemper, Becky Sauerbrunn and Crystal Dunn in defence, Julie Ertz in front of the defence and Lindsey Horan and Sam Mewis as central midfielders while Tobin Heath and Lynn Williams played as wingers to support Carli Lloyd upfront, a striker who proved in the previous games that she can still be considered as the USWNT’s most dangerous one.

On the other hand, Sarina Wiegman opted for the 4-2-3-1 formation with Sari van Veenendaal as a goalkeeper, Lynn Wilms, Stefanie van der Gragt, Aniek Nouwen and Dominique Janssen in defence, a world-class midfield composed of Manchester United’s Jackie Groenen and Jill Roord behind three attacking players, Barcelona’s Lieke Martens as a left-winger, Daniëlle van de Donk as an advanced playmaker and Shanice van de Sanden on the left wing with Arsenal’s goalscorer Viviane Miedema playing as a striker.

Netherlands’ attacking performance and Miedema’s impact

In order to address Netherlands’ attacking performance, one cannot neglect the huge role played by Miedema in goal contribution, this includes goalscoring, playmaking and knowing exactly how to deal with the ball in complicated situations and especially when the decision’s duration is too short. Apart from her technical skills, Miedema excels in taking the right and unexpected decisions, especially when having the ball inside the box.

And since they are aware of that, Netherlands players often try to give their teammate passes in that position to provide her with scoring chances. Something that happened twice in this match and Miedema was able to score beautifully while being surrounded with defenders. Her decision to escape from O’Hara with one touch after it deflected from Mewis and then directly attempt to shoot with a half-volley without even seeing the goal beforehand made this goal look excellent.