Speaking of tipping caps ... I owe one to Jill Ellis. Again. I'm certainly not alone in having been critical of the US coach, who often seems to struggle to get her best 11 in their best positions and often has set tactics that don't work only to double down when it's time to adjust. Over the course of the last two USWNT games, against basically equal opposition in terms of starting 11 quality, she has not only set effective game plans, but she's used her depth ... the one remaining talent advantage that the US still has over the rest of the women's game ... to make those game plans work. AND she's been absolutely nailing the shifts she sets during the games to adjust to issues.
And as much as the press ballyhoos Phil Neville, he got out-managed yesterday. His decision to move Parris central and break up the one combination that the US was always going to struggle to contain (Parris and Bronze combining on the right flank) was dumb, but correctable. Except he never really corrected it and I think it only served to frustrate two of his key attacking players. Bronze was stuck playing a very static fullback role and she got pressured into bad defensive decisions on both of the US goals. Parris meanwhile never really asserted herself in attack and grew increasingly frustrated to the point of completely losing her composure in the last ten minutes as England chased the goal to tie it up. Daly, the fullback he shifted to the right wing to replace Parris added virtually nothing and the US' Crystal Dunn probably had her easiest game of the tournament since the Thailand game. Instead they tried to pressure and out-number the US up the middle and it clicked enough for the goal, the offsides goal and the penalty kick ... but the final score is the thing, and two of those positives only came after Neville partially adjusted for his mistake by bringing Kirby off the bench to give them another passer in midfield.
Ellis meanwhile adjusted for Rapinoe being dinged up by not only inserting Press ... who was terrific, again ... but by adjusting the shape when the US was defending. She went with a 4-4-2 diamond, with the two high forwards being the wingers Press and Heath while Morgan slid back to the point of the diamond midfield. I've NEVER seen this shape from the US with Morgan in the game. It's a thing they've sometimes done when Lloyd has been the lone striker, but not Morgan. That allowed the US to use Press' legs to full advantage to get the ball away from Bronze and force England to start their buildup elsewhere. Really, really sharp tactical idea and the US executed it well. Between Neville's decisions and the US's changes, Bronze was basically a non-factor and that's a BIG advantage to the US. Since that shape requires more running out of the two wider midfielders, she went with Horan instead of Mewis to pair with Levelle and that was a nod to Horan's better mobility and versatility. It also went against the run of form for the tournament because Mewis had been the US' most consistently effective midfielder. That kind of thing take cohones. That midfield diamond also set Levelle up to have two built in passing options every time she gained the ball in defense and she responded with by far her best game of the tournament.
In the end you have to execute and adjust and the players have to make plays, but tactics matter and Ellis got them right while Neville really didn't.