Sermanni: NWSL a priceless tool in search for USWNT’s next crop

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – For Tom Sermanni, coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team, the National Women’s Soccer League is almost like a 22-week tryout. When the U.S. Soccer Federation founded the league, there was little question its creation was mostly to help develop the national team program.

But the announced roster for the USWNT’s international friendly on Sept. 3 – three days after the NWSL championship – still raised some eyebrows.

Based largely on their performance for FC Kansas City in the NWSL, newcomers Erika Tymrak and Leigh Ann Robinson may earn their first cap for the senior national team when the US host Mexico at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

Tymrak played for US youth national teams, but Robinson’s experience is purely from the pro level. She played for NWSL predecessor Women’s Professional Soccer until 2011 and didn’t play pro again until the NWSL started this year.

But it’s Tymrak who’s been the breakout story of the NWSL, winning Rookie of the Year in a vote by media, players and club officials. Sermanni had been rumored to be interested in the midfielder since June.

In a one-on-one conversation with SoccerWire.com last weekend, Sermanni said he is not finding new players for the sake of it – after all, the No. 1 FIFA-ranked team did manage to win an Olympic gold medal one year ago with almost all of those players still active.

But in observing the new league, he said the key is getting a sense of who may one day be able to transition to the next level and replace current national team players.

“If I’m looking at an opposition midfield player tonight, I’m looking at how they play against Carli Lloyd,” Sermanni said Saturday after the Western New York Flash beat Sky Blue 2-0. “If you’re looking at strikers, you’re saying, ‘Are they scoring as many goals as Syd Leroux, Alex [Morgan], Abby [Wambach], etcetera?’ So, it’s about performance.

“I’m not out there saying I need to find players because actually I don’t. We have a very strong team.”

Sermanni said he wants to give more players the opportunity to prove whether they can compete at the international level or not. For now, the U.S. will play two friendlies in October, one in November and host a camp in December. Next year, the team will compete to qualify for the 2015 World Cup.

Some national team staples aren’t on the roster for Tuesday’s one-off friendly against Mexico, but they have overseas commitments and may be available for friendlies later in the year.

“Down the track, we might be able to be more innovative with perhaps having a camp based on players from the league rather than national team players,” Sermanni said. “There are things maybe we can integrate as we go forward, but that takes a little bit of planning.”

However, league players have competition from the youth national system, too. Look no further than Crystal Dunn and Morgan Brian: Both play for their college teams and came up through the US youth system, but have received repeated call-ups from Sermanni since he took over as coach last year. Both are also on the roster for the friendly in D.C.

“Most other countries in the world with women’s soccer – and I had the same problem in Australia – you’re picking the one or two players you’ve got and hope nothing happens to them,” Sermanni said. “Here, we’ve got an opposite problem.

“Just look at the strikers on the team: [Lauren] Cheney, [Sydney] Leroux, [Alex] Morgan, [Abby] Wambach, [Christen] Press, Sarah Hagen in Germany, Lindsay Horan. Every one of them would walk into any other national team in the world.”

The league’s first year has gotten some mixed reviews, even with lenience granted due to the expedited timeline to get it up and running by April after its conception last fall.

In an interview published earlier this week, USWNT right back Ali Krieger, who played on NWSL’s last-place Washington Spirit, was critical of the American style of play prevalent throughout the league.

“In the U.S., it is mostly about running. We run too much,” Krieger told Our Game Magazine. “In Europe, it is more about keeping the ball, feeling comfortable with it and develop[ing] tactical skills. I think that is one of the reasons why there are so many American players who want to play in Europe.”

Sunil Gulati, speaking to SoccerWire.com on Saturday, called the first year “a good start.” But he said goals for next year will include increasing the level of play.

“The question is, how we continue to add to attendance? How do we make the level of play even better? How do we get a lot of the logistics around the league better?” he said. “I think with time, experience and additional resources we’ll be able to do all of that.”

NWSL Executive Cheryl Bailey too has admitted to “some hiccups” with league-wide live streaming of all games and said the allocation process of the Canadian and Mexican federations may need to be refined.

But as far as Sermanni is concerned, the league has been an absolute boon. An aggressive national team schedule with residency camps could never match what the league can do, which is have nearly 100 players compete in real games on a weekly basis, he said.

“Even if we had a residency, players still aren’t playing competitive games that mean things,” Sermanni said. “Even if you are playing a reasonable number of international games, there’s only 11 players that are playing. If you’ve got a squad of 24 or 26, there’s 12 or 13 players who still aren’t playing regularly.”

“From my perspective, it’s been fantastic.”

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