How Emma Hayes is fortifying the pathway from the under-23s to the senior USWNT squad

New York Times

6 hours ago

During an under-23 U.S. women's national team game against Germany on May 30, 18-year-old center-back Jordyn Bugg launched a long shot of a cross in the waning seconds of stoppage time. The ball landed just in time for Evelyn Shores to run onto and score past Germany's goalkeeper, giving the U.S. a 2-1 lead and dramatic victory in a small stadium just outside of Stuttgart.
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Less than one month later, in Commerce City, Colorado, Bugg found herself replacing Naomi Girma as a substitute in the senior USWNT's meeting with the Republic of Ireland. By the time she entered the field in the 73rd minute, the U.S. held a commanding 3-0 lead; Bugg's assignment was to maintain the U.S.'s grip on the game.
'Honestly, I was a little nervous coming into the game, but I came in a time where it was really calm in the game and the information they gave me was just be calm, be yourself, just keep the game in the flow it is in,' Bugg told the media following Thursday's match, which ended 4-0. 'I think I did a really good job and I think they prepared me very well.'
Under USWNT head coach Emma Hayes, life can come fast at a deserving player. Since stepping into her role just over a year ago, the former Chelsea manager has reorganized and fortified the talent pipeline of the women's national team — not only the senior side, but the under-23s — with a militancy never before seen on the women's side of U.S. soccer's ranks.
Hayes has said repeatedly that everything players do counts toward their invitations to camp, from club play to international performances at any given level. Joining Bugg in senior camp during this window are 21-year-old defender Lilly Reale, 23-year-old midfielder Sam Meza, and 24-year-old goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, who recorded a shutout on Sunday — all of whom were on the field for that under-23 win over Germany. (Per an agreement between U.S. Soccer and the German federation, each team was allowed to bring five over-age players to camp.)
The intention behind Hayes' strategy is to shrink the gaps she's identified between age groups within the national team setup, and also those that exist between those who typically start on the senior team and those who come off the bench. When Hayes first took the helm of the program, she admittedly pumped players with information in order to prepare them for Olympic competition. With that gold medal secured, she turned her sights to development and preparation for the World Cup, two different yet interrelated mandates. With the information logged and dispensed through both teams, Hayes is now focused on exposing players to a range of experiences.
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In Colorado, the under-23s and senior team trained side by side. Ahead of Thursday night's game, Hayes reflected on how much the programs have changed with her new approach.
'Everything is earned, and the beautiful thing about where we are is I stood on the field yesterday with our team and thought, 'We've got top quality out here. We've got top quality at home, and there are too many to name. We've got top quality on the field next to us, who are watching and aspiring up, and we've got all of our players looking back and saying, 'Gosh, I've got such great memories,'' she said of the dual training groups. 'But also, our senior players talk about how important the under-23s program is. They felt it was a missing gap for lots of them.'
Hayes was always obliged to strengthen her bench of senior players, if only to be able to respond to the inevitable absences that affect any elite athlete, from injuries to pregnancies to retirement. Triple Espresso, the superlative attacking trio of Mallory Swanson, Sophia Wilson, and Trinity Rodman, have collectively been missing in action since the start of this calendar year: Swanson and Wilson are pregnant and Rodman has taken an extended break to manage issues with her back. On the other side of the pitch, USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher announced her retirement from international soccer last November, throwing open the gates to the team's next No. 1 and exposing the lack of a clear pathway for qualified goalkeepers.
The first definitive step took place in January when Hayes selected 24 players for the inaugural Futures Camp run by her and her staff, along with all U.S. Youth National Team head coaches. The roster consisted of 14 professional players — including Bugg and Reale, along with Gisele Thompson, Claire Hutton, Michelle Cooper, and Avery Patterson, who also made the current senior team squad — and was described by Hayes as an opportunity to take a look at some newer faces who will soon by vying for spots on the senior team.
'It's a significant jump from college to the pro game and an even bigger jump to the elite international level, but we will be patient with all these players as we understand the process and want to help all of them reach their maximum potential,' she said at the time.
Another international window opened three months later and U.S. Soccer announced a 24-player roster for the under-23 camp, who trained alongside the senior team in Southern California as the latter geared up for a pair of matches against Brazil. Of the players named, 11 participated in Futures Camp, with Patterson, Hutton, and Cooper making their way straight onto the senior team. The U.S. split results across two legs against the 2024 Summer Olympic silver medalists in April.
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Patterson's foray onto the senior team began with a bizarre elevator incident in which she got stuck between floors with defenders Alanna Cook and Becky Sauerbrunn during their time in LA. She's since earned five caps and scored a goal for the U.S.
'It's been a whirlwind,' Patterson said of her ascent on the USWNT following the team's first match against Ireland. 'That elevator incident seems like it was a year ago, like how much I've grown as a player and person. I'm speechless, honestly, because it's crazy how much has happened in the past couple of months and has had such a positive impact on my life.'
And while the linear nature of the under-23 and senior USWNT teams suggests a unidirectional pathway, Hayes has again usurped the norm. She's shown that she sees the two groups as fluid spheres, which grants her the flexibility, wherever possible, to respond to changes in real time when a player experiences a dip in form or another is playing beyond their age and could benefit from time with a different team in camp, for example. That was how Hayes explained the absences of forwards Jaedyn Shaw and Mia Fishel, and midfielder Korbin Albert, all of whom have USWNT caps, from senior camp, and their inclusion on the under-23 roster that was announced on May 21 ahead of their two games against Germany.
'Yes, (Fishel) could come in and sit on the bench for (the senior team), but it's much better for her to go and play in Germany and get the experiences so that these players are tracking to compete in the place that we want them come 2027,' Hayes said following the announcement. 'I think the trip to Germany for her, plus Jaedyn, plus Korbin, will be, again, another step in their development.'
That three senior-capped players teamed up with uncapped players and Hayes selected the latter for the current camp speaks volumes about the relatively blank slate with which she assesses players; senior caps alone aren't enough to justify a new invitation under her strategy. And because the under-23 camps are run in concert with the senior team, younger players are now receiving guidance they say has eased the transition from one team to another.
'The system that Emma's pushing right now is definitely one that takes some time to learn and feel comfortable in,' said Reale, who earned her first cap and start for the USWNT on Thursday against Ireland and assisted Alyssa Thompson for the team's fourth goal of the night.
'That time with the under-23s was an awesome opportunity to establish myself and try to figure out where I fit into that system, not only get some games and just play against some high level competition, but also just apply some of the things that Emma has been teaching us and wants to see more of so that we can fit into that system at the higher level,' Reale added.
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Between the presence of Hayes and her coaching staff at previous under-23 camps and their close communication with the under-23 coaches about the team's standards and expectations, 'we were able to coordinate and learn and grow throughout that camp,' she explained.
Hayes has continually emphasized the importance of international experience against top-ranked opponents to a successful national team career, which typically happens at the youth level. But given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and its unprecedented setbacks, she appears to also be accounting for that stolen time when granting younger or inexperienced players looks at the senior level.
Meza, who started in the second USWNT match against Ireland on Sunday, has won Concacaf titles at the under-15, under-17, and under-20 levels. Her journey on the national team was cut short during the pandemic, which saw the cancellation of the Under-20 Women's World Cup that year, a tournament in which Meza was likely to play. But after establishing herself as a pro, first with the Dallas Trinity in the USL-W (where she was playing on loan from the Seattle Reign) and then back with her home club, she caught Hayes' eye and worked her way back into camps.
'I've grown up in the U.S. youth system, and my cycle of under-23s kind of got canceled a little bit, so I hadn't been to camp in a while,' Meza said on Thursday. She called the pair of Germany games 'really good exposure, and then, as we know, the under-23s are being used in a great way. I think it's going to benefit the U.S. in general. We have so many talented players, and to be able to harness and use those players in the right way is just going to be so beautiful.'
It also helps that each of the previously uncapped under-23 players in this window — Bugg, Meza, Reale, and Anderson — have all had strong starts to their NWSL seasons, which Hayes says she follows closely. Bugg has started each of Seattle Reign's 13 games, notched two goals, and intercepted an average of 1.73 passes per 90 minutes; Meza has recorded two assists for the same club and averages 4.7 tackles and 2.7 blocks per game; and Reale has shone at NJ/NY Gotham FC with a goal and an assist, with an average of 3.1 tackles each game. Anderson, meanwhile, has a 67.7 per cent save percentage and has an average of 1.54 actions taken outside the penalty area each game, per FBref.
As Hayes continues to fold younger and less experienced players into the USWNT, though, she is steadfast about her other values for individual player development: pacing and timing.
She described Bugg, who played the entirety of the second U.S. match against Ireland on Sunday, a 'superb football player,' but was also candid about her path and the possibilities for her growth.
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'I don't know whether she will be a candidate for 2027,' Hayes said, referring to the roster for the next Women's World Cup in Brazil. 'But she will be for (the) 2028 (Olympics) and 2031 (World Cup), so a call up to the national team now, maybe a move back to under-23s in October, ideally a World Cup for the under-20s next September, this is the type of individual player development you have to get right.'