How Hope Solo's Return to USWNT Will Affect the Squad Ahead of the World Cup

With Hope Solo’s 30-day suspension coming to a close, the biggest question for the U.S. women’s national team is how to deal with Solo’s expected return.

According to reports from espnW's Julie Foudy, Solo is expected to be reinstated to the U.S. team Saturday and will be with the U.S. women for next month's Algarve Cup in Portugal.

Solo’s return is a double-edged sword for Jill Ellis and the coaching staff.

On the upside, Ellis’ side gains an experienced goalkeeper who has played the majority of matches for Team USA. She has starred for the U.S. in the last two Olympics and in the 2011 World Cup. Solo has been instrumental at times and has come up with big stops in big moments.

She broke Briana Scurry’s shutout record in a 4-0 win against Mexico on Sept. 18 and has extended that number to 78 shutouts in her career.

But Solo’s experience affects the team negatively as well.

In 2014, the U.S. women played 24 matches. Solo made 20 appearances and played the full 90 in 18 of those matches. The remaining U.S. keepers who saw time were Jill Loyden (three appearances, one start), Ashlyn Harris (two appearances, two starts) and Alyssa Naeher (one appearance, one start). Loyden has since retired from competition.

Both Harris and Naeher traveled to Europe with the U.S. team for a pair of friendlies earlier this month. Harris earned both starts for just her fifth and sixth caps.

Ellis and her predecessors at head coach (Tom Sermanni and Pia Sundhage) have relied heavily on Solo during her career. Longtime backup goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart has not appeared for the United States since October 27, 2013, in a 4-1 win over New Zealand.

Harris has been a longtime member of the player pool but was never quite able to break into the top three. Naeher had an impressive NWSL season last year for the Boston Breakers, despite her club’s struggles.

Neither of them was able to break into a starting spot, or even a sharing spot, during the majority of last year. With a pair of friendlies against Mexico in the fall and five World Cup qualifying matches in October, only Harris saw an appearance despite the U.S. women outscoring their opponents 33-0.

With Solo expected to return, Harris and Naeher both could see their chances of gaining significant time and experience dwindle. It would be doing a disservice to the USWNT in the future, but perhaps that may be something that can (and likely will) be overlooked if the team comes home with the elusive World Cup trophy this summer.

Solo’s off-field behavior may hinder her chances of being on the field in Canada, especially if new issues pop up between now and June.

Solo’s husband Jerramy Stevens was arrested for a DUI in January, which prompted this headline from TMZ Sports: "Hope Solo SUSPENDED BY U.S. SOCCER After 'Belligerent' Behavior During Hubby's DUI." The incident occurred just days after domestic violence charges against Solo were dropped.

Ellis and U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati told The Equalizer’s Jeff Kassouf on Jan. 26 that they would not discuss the specifics of the suspension. Said Ellis:

"

The situation warranted a consequence, and we thought it was reasonable. ... Obviously from the perspective of two very, very big games, this is important for us to be able to focus the players that we have on these games and allow Hope some time to reflect on some things. As far as the specifics, we’re not going to get into those. Hope and I had some very good conversations, and I’m optimistic about moving forward.

"

One of the stipulations was that Solo would have to meet with Ellis and the USSF staff to gain final approval of her reinstatement.

With the World Cup just over three months away, Ellis will need to make a decision on Solo sooner rather than later. If Solo is able to get her act together and stay out of trouble off the field, she could prove to be a vital piece of the puzzle for the U.S. women this summer.

If Solo's name is popping up in headlines that have nothing to do with her on-field play, then perhaps it will be time for Ellis to leave her and the off-field drama off the roster.