The US team is going to hurt without the presence of star striker Mallory Swanson.
Swanson has been in phenomenal form this season. She’s scored in almost every game that has been played, becoming a consistent and dependable player. The most special thing is her pace. I have consistently seen defenses misjudge her, as even when she’s behind, she capitalizes on one mistake, or even just their misjudgment of her positioning. She also has the physicality to battle for the ball–deadly when put in conjunction with pace. That’s why she’s broken way past her peers to an average 1.3 goals per 90 minutes—a level she’s consistently maintained since January 2022.
The 2023 season featuring the She Believes Cup and a variety of pre-world cup friendlies continued to feature her special abilities. Her quality especially shined through in both the Japan She Believes Cup game and in the games against New Zealand early in the year, giving us a small insight into the power she might have had if put on the world stage.
The US had big World Cup hopes for Swanson. She was at the perfect age, 25, where this would be her World Cup: the combination of physical excellence and experience. At the last World Cup, she was 21, and a rising star at the time. But now, it was her time to claim her role as one of the main faces of the US.
The composition of the frontline would have been lethal. With Swanson, Sophia Smith, and possibly Alex Morgan who would make up the middle, the frontline power was insane. Smith, a rising star and MVP herself has been a prolific goal scorer for her club the Portland Thorns and with Swanson gone, all eyes are on her. But, its pretty obvious that Swanson cannot be fully replaced and Smith’s role in the front might have to adapt to accommodate the changing frontline that Coach Vlatko Andonovski must work with.
Yet, Swanson’s injury is worrying as well because of the lack of chemistry demonstrated in the rematch against Ireland, the game after Swanson’s injury. Other than defender Alana Cook’s first goal for the team, which was a low percentage shot, the team looked out of sorts, and definitely lacking that clinical finishing skill in the front. If that was a preview of what the team looks like without Swanson, Vlatko is going to need to do some work in training camp to build that new frontline and their chemistry, even with such short notice.
So, in the next piece we’re going to take a look at who’s replacing Swanson, and how the role of our seven selected forwards will have to change.
