USA coach Jill Ellis looking toward the future at Tournament of Nations

When the US women’s national team hosts the Tournament of Nations starting this week against some of the world’s top teams, manager Jill Ellis could stick with what she knows has worked before. Veteran superstars like Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd could be the focus of the American attack and, if she wanted, Ellis could start all the same defenders that went 513 minutes without conceding a goal in the Women’s World Cup two years ago, a tournament the USA won.

But don’t bet on that happening. In a team that was once leery of too much change and slow to fold in new talent in favor of veteran experience, a radical transformation is taking place. Ellis is reshaping the player pool in preparation of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, and in the process, she may be reshaping the culture around the team, too.

Ellis called in eight players with 10 caps or less for this tournament, which includes a pair making their debuts at a national team camp. For these youngsters to get playing time, however, that means veterans accustomed to being marquee pieces will play somewhat smaller roles, at least for now. Morgan, for instance, is undoubtedly a first-choice striker at the moment, but she was left off a roster late last year, even though she was healthy, and she hasn’t played a full 90-minute shift since last September.

“We’re all competitive and we all want to be on the field,” said Morgan, who plays for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride. “For me, it’s about finding that balance between still feeling like you’re doing as much as you can for the team, regardless of how much you play, and being completely supportive of the coach’s decisions and of the team that’s put on the field.”

“That’s been something I really worked on in the last year after the Olympics because I’ve been through the cycle before and I understand that (new) players need chances to show themselves.”

Indeed, the Americans are in a down-year of the cycle and, with their next major tournament not for another two years, now is the time for Ellis to look at any players she’s thinks could be useful down the line. Though the US won the World Cup only two years ago, they were the oldest team at the tournament and already eight of those players have left the team, with more turnover looking likely before the next World Cup. A worst-ever finish at the Olympics last year has only hastened the need to evaluate incoming talent.

But the pace Ellis has thrown youngsters into the mix and asked them to start matches is unlike anything the US team has experienced in recent years. Morgan, under coach Pia Sundhage, had to wait two years to get her first start for the national team in 2012, even as she proved to be a potent option off the bench at the 2011 Women’s World Cup. Ellis, meanwhile, has given first call-ups to 34 players since the 2015 Women’s World Cup and asked eight of them to start already.

“Rather than giving young players 10 minutes here and there at the end of games, I’ve decided the best way we can prepare our future players for a World Cup is to give them significant minutes and let them experience everything about a game,” Ellis said. “The struggles, the ebbs the flows of the game and finding ways to win. We have to deepen the pool and vet players.”

She added: “What I think people have to understand is, I would be failing if I wasn’t looking to evolve the team. Sometimes that means a fan isn’t seeing their favorite player on the pitch. Well, my priority is making sure we are continuing to find new players, see if they can help us and gain experience for those players.”

Ellis is not only rapidly expanding the player pool, but she has emphasized something new for the US women’s national team: calling up players based on club form.

The national team’s collective bargaining agreement previously limited how many bubble players – those not contracted by US Soccer – could be called in per camp, but sources tell the Guardian those limits no longer exist in the new CBA approved earlier this year. Fewer core members of the team will have contracts to make room for players earning repeated call-ups based on their form. That gives Ellis new flexibility to change the culture of the US team and expand the player pool, which she has taken advantage of.

In continuing her trend of bringing in new players from the National Women’s Soccer League and college programs, Ellis admits she is making veterans on the team uncomfortable. But she is determined to take a hard look during an off-year in the cycle at any players who could emerge as options for 2019.

“What I said to players at the end of last year was, you’re going into a period where you’re going to be uncomfortable,” Ellis said. “It’s not a guarantee that you’ll get called up. It’s not a guarantee that you’ll get playing time. It’s about understanding where we are in the process.”

Ellis has taken inspiration from other managers, like Joachim Loew, who was criticized for bringing a young, inexperienced German squad to the Confederations Cup this summer. Loew, a World Cup-winning manager like Ellis, argued that the Confederations Cup experience could prove crucial to those players down the road, whether at next year’s World Cup or a European Championship in three years. Ellis said: “It’s no different for me in terms of what I’m trying to do.”

For the veterans of the US team, though, the focus becomes proving they belong on the team – not just for what they’ve done in the past, but for what they can do now. Players like Lloyd, the reigning best player in the world as determined by Fifa, will still get minutes, and the veterans need to show new talent can’t displace them.

“It’s easy to come in as a youngster and have some good camps and some good appearances, but can they sustain that?” said Lloyd, a midfield for the Houston Dash. “That’s the biggest thing: consistency. I think Jill and the coaching staff are looking for players who can do that.”

“I’ve been through loads of off years and we’ve been doing the same thing – there’s been experiments going on to get a sense of how we want to play and the personnel,” Lloyd added. “Jill obviously has some decisions to make about bringing people in and keeping people. It’s just one of those journeys where you have to ride the wave and adapt.”

Ellis may again dip into uncharted waters and give more players first caps when the USA faces Japan, Australia and Brazil in the Tournament of Nations, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t see value in players like Morgan or Lloyd. Rather, she said, she already knows what she has in players with 125 and 239 caps respectively and she needs to see what other players can do.

In a team with a lack of fullback depth, Ellis hinted she will continue looking for players she can convert to that role. Up top, new recruits like Lynn Williams will continue to be evaluated while Lindsey Horan, who has traditionally played as a midfielder in recent years, will also be considered to find a balanced striker pairing. The midfield will see shifting roles too as less established players will have a chance to make their cases.

“Your teammates are the best players in the world and you want to perform your best because you want to stay there,” said midfielder Samantha Mewis, who plays for the North Carolina Courage and is trying to break through the national team. “Wanting to be part of it and wanting to perform for the team has some innate pressure, but I think my teammates and the coaching staff have been supportive and want me to grow.”

Even though the Americans are the No1-ranked team in the world, a rocky string of results since the 2015 Women’s World Cup, including a quarterfinal exit in last summer’s Olympics, show there’s room for growth. Ellis is betting that more youth, a deeper player pool and roster competition will foster it. With two years until the Women’s World Cup, it’s a strategy that will take time to bloom, but now is the time to do it.