USWNT coach: ‘Time is coming’ for young players

U.S. women ‘s national team interim manager Twila Kilgore said the “time is coming” for some of the younger players on the roster to get more playing time.

The USWNT will face Colombia on Sunday in the second of two matches. In the first encounter, a 0-0 tie played on Thursday in Sandy, Utah, Kilgore opted to go with almost all World Cup veterans.

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Of the 17 players that got playing time, only four didn’t take part in last summer’s tournament. Of those, only 18-year-old Jaedyn Shaw could be classified as a new addition, making her international debut with a three-minute stint late in the match.

That led to some criticism of Kilgore, that in the wake of the World Cup disappointment — the USWNT exited in the round of 16, its worst showing at a World Cup in the program’s history — she should have given more playing time to younger players like Shaw, Portland Thorns midfielder Olivia Moultrie, and Angel City midfielder Alyssa Thompson.

But Kilgore stressed there has to be a process for introducing new players.

“We want to put players in a position where they understand everything that’s going to be asked of them tactically, that they’ve had some sort of opportunity, when possible, to practice that,” she said. “That they know their role and what their individual role is within the context of the team.

“I do believe time is coming for some of those players to get more minutes, which is exciting, but I feel that way because I’m confident that they’re prepared.”

Sunday’s match will likely be Kilgore’s last in charge, as the U.S. Soccer Federation is expected to name the next manager before the next training camp in December.

That said, Kilgore still favors a slower progression of introducing players to the USWNT program, and gradually ramping up their exposure. This usually starts with bringing a player into camp, but not playing them, followed by suiting them up for a game, and then giving them smaller chunks of playing time.

“[It’s] just a little bit of a slower progression with those players so that when they come in, they are prepared and it’s happening slowly over time,” said Kilgore. “They’re not learning everything at once.”

Kilgore’s considerations also have to include preparations for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris next July. That means still giving time to veterans who figure to play a prominent role going forward. Kilgore has also had to contend with send-off games for Julie Ertz and Megan Rapinoe, who retired from international play in September.

“So time, place, people … all those things are really important,” she said. “So we’ve come back from World Cup — this is a group that needed to regroup after the World Cup. We’ve had some players that were there that are going to be important to the future of this program, and the [next] coach is going to need to see [players] that didn’t play in the World Cup that needed minutes.

“We needed to send off some really special human beings while we’re onboarding players. And then we also need to get some of these new players minutes. And I think we’re in a good place to be able to do that.”