Emma Hayes 'broadening' talent pool as USWNT looks ahead to 2027 World Cup
AUSTIN, Texas — There's a clear theme as the United States women's national team convenes for the first time since winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics. Yes, the squad wants to properly celebrate what it accomplished over the summer on home soil with thousands of fans, but it's also looking forward to what's next.
This October training camp — which features two matches against Iceland and one against Argentina — marks the start of a new cycle which will build through the 2027 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics. Manager Emma Hayes, who has only been on the job full-time since late May, is focused on further implementing her principles and layering in concepts between now and then. Though perhaps most of all, her biggest goal is "broadening" the player pool.
One of the first things she noticed even before joining U.S. Soccer was the gap in caps between veteran and inexperienced players. She vowed to give younger players more international experience because "going from the U-20s to the seniors is a huge jump," she said. Hayes did some of that ahead of the Olympics, but now in her first training camp after a whirlwind summer, she's practicing what she's preaching even more. Hayes called up 26 players, six of whom are uncapped. Fourteen players, which is more than half the team, have fewer than 20 caps. Only five players on this roster are in their thirties.
"The diversity, i.e. competition, will start to add variety to our game that I think is essential if you want to be at the very, very top," Hayes said.
The expectation for this window — and likely through the end of the year when the U.S. heads overseas to play England (Nov. 30) and The Netherlands (Dec. 3) — is that Hayes will try new things and play new players.
"There will be debuts over this block," Hayes said Wednesday. "This is the perfect window to give looks to players that will start to form a group, particularly after Christmas, that we will start to build around.
"I think this window, plus the January window, are the two big windows in the immediate plan to be able to assess what other players from outside the current player pool are going to be candidates to be involved with what we're looking to do."
The U.S. has three games over the next seven days, the first kicking off Thursday at Q2 Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET) vs. Iceland. Hayes said she's already informed the team that "in an ideal world, no one will play more than two full games" unless there's an injury or another unforeseen situation.
Within that, Hayes understands these matches won't always look pretty. That comes with the territory at the beginning of a cycle where she may throw out different formations or player combinations, among other things. It's crucial for the U.S. to tinker now vs. when there's a major tournament to qualify for later on.
"When we put together a [lineup] that has been playing together for a period of time, I think it's easy for us to evolve tactically," Hayes said. "Then when all of a sudden I make multiple changes to the lineup, that will make the games choppy in many ways because being able to apply everything I'm asking them to do in their first camps will be really, really challenging.
"So I'm not expecting everything to be perfect in this camp."
However, she does expect the players who were at the Olympics to look more cohesive. Even so, those veterans have to adapt and learn the tendencies of their younger teammates.
"Gotta learn them quick," captain Lindsay Horan said. "It's [having] conversations and communication on and off the field, making players feel comfortable, but also knowing that they are new, they have to figure out the level and the standard. It's different coming from a club environment to this team, and it's hard. We've all been there and we have to adjust and that's the reality of it.
"But they're all here for a reason and I'm sure they're gonna do great."
Hayes' six uncapped players are midfielder Hal Hershfelt, defenders Emily Sams, Eva Gaetino and Alyssa Malonson, and forwards Yazmeen Ryan and Emma Sears. Hershfelt and Sams were both alternates at the Olympics, but neither played in a match. Sams earned a medal though, since she was named to a game day roster as a replacement for a then-injured Tierna Davidson.
Additionally, forward Alyssa Thompson and midfielder Ashley Sanchez, who were both at the 2023 World Cup, return to the team for the first time since late last year. This is both of their first camps under Hayes.
Looking ahead, Hayes said she and her staff conducted an "extensive and comprehensive" report around the Olympics and found "where the missing gaps are" which will help develop the strategy ahead of the next World Cup. Those findings will be presented at a "Futures Camp" in January in Los Angeles where the senior team will play alongside up-and-coming national team prospects from youth national teams, the NWSL, college and potentially the fledgling USL Super League, Hayes said.
In the meantime, this camp aims to build on the team's strengths and evaluate talent with the next World Cup in the back of everyone's mind.
"I think there's going to be a huge evolution of this team," Horan said. "I think you saw bits and pieces of that in the Olympics with the little bit of time that Emma had with us. Now, she's got three years leading up to this next World Cup, so I think that is very exciting and I think there's so much work that can be done."
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.
