From the onset of the 2023 Women's World Cup, it was clear the U.S. Women's National Team was not playing up to its potential. And when it left the tournament after a 5-4 shootout loss to Sweden in the Round of 16, there were plenty of fingers to be pointed.
USWNT co-captain Lindsey Horan said part of the reason for the team's early elimination was that the team was just not totally ready for the tournament by the time it started.
"When a coach comes in, it's like, 'Hey, how do we get the best out of every single individual player, putting the most simple — not simple tactics but simplicity into a 10-day camp every few weeks, every few months and getting the best out of your team and without over-complicating everything,'" Horan said on RE-INC with former U.S. players Tobin Heath and Christen Press.
"I could talk about the last four-year cycle and we don't need to get into every single thing, but that's not what we did. We did not get the best out of every single individual. I don't think everyone was fully prepared and that's on us as well."
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The USWNT's defeat to Sweden, following a disappointing second-place group stage finish, led to the resignation of head coach Vlatko Andonovski, who was hired back in 2019 to be at the helm of the team. The team he led was widely regarded as having posted the United States' worst World Cup in the history of the four-time champions, who were eliminated before the semifinals for the first time.
When Horan thinks about winning a World Cup, she thinks about a team winning it in different moments. During the USWNT's 2019 championship run, during which she won her first title with the team, she felt the squad "won every single one of those big moments."
"I think we were put in a place to be prepared for those," Horan said. "And I'm like, how does the coaching staff do that? That's such a hard thing for me, but I think we actually were fully prepared for that back in 2019."
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The team's disappointing run, which began with what many considered to be a lackluster 3-0 win against Vietnam in the group stage, led to a lack of excitement around the team.
"The first game, there were bits and pieces of joy, but we still weren't at our best and it was looking at those three group-stage games and it was just like you felt it in the team, you felt like this tense feeling and people were just not enjoying their football or they weren't enjoying individually playing and there's just so much going on in their head," Horan said.
The USWNT won't have long before getting back into action. The team has friendlies against South Africa in September as it continues to ramp up for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. It will then look to redeem itself in the World Cup in 2027.