Algarve Cup 2015: What USWNT Needs to Prove in Portugal Ahead of the World Cup

The U.S. women’s national team kicks off the Algarve Cup on March 4 coming off a pair of European friendlies earlier this month. Head coach Jill Ellis named her roster Feb. 21, which includes veterans Megan Rapinoe and Christie Rampone, who missed the friendlies with minor injuries, and reinstated goalkeeper Hope Solo.

After a lackluster match against France and a moderately better match against England, the U.S. women head into Portugal with plenty to prove and improve upon ahead of this summer’s Women’s World Cup in Canada.

The midfield:

In both matches, the U.S. midfield lacked cohesion and did not seem to mesh.

Midfield lineup vs. France: Tobin Heath-Lauren Holiday-Morgan Brian-Carli Lloyd

Midfield lineup vs. England: Christen Press-Lauren Holiday-Morgan Brian-Carli Lloyd

In both matches, Ellis lined up four attacking-minded midfield players and pushed Carli Lloyd into a wide-left position. The experiment of Lloyd playing on the outside did not go well, as both French goals came down the left side, where defender Lori Chalupny was ultimately beaten. Lloyd is better served as a central midfield player.

Morgan Brian struggled against France with giveaways, and she looked a bit lost. She had a far better match against England, when she and Holiday connected to set up Alex Morgan’s goal.

Holiday has looked out of sorts in both matches with Ellis opting to play her in a deeper and more defensive role. Holiday had a breakout year in 2013, so it isn't clear as to why Ellis has chosen to play her as a deeper center midfielder as opposed to allowing her to attack.

The return of Rapinoe will give Ellis an option as a wing midfielder, but she needs to sort out her second wing midfielder rather than experiment with Lloyd on the outside. Heather O'Reilly and Kelley O'Hara both have experience as wide players and could prove to be that fit, or Heath could step into that role versus playing up top.

Roster management:

Ellis has come under fire for a number of reasons in recent months, notably in regard to the situation in goal. But the roster management has stretched beyond that scope.

The substitutions in both matches were bizarre at times in terms of the timing, which was especially questionable in the England match, when Ellis waited until the 79th minute of play to bring on Crystal Dunn and then brought on Amy Rodriguez and O'Hara in stoppage time.

The stoppage-time substitutes did not allow for either player to really get a good look from Ellis. O'Hara has not seen nearly as much of the field in recent matches as she once did. Rodriguez has also struggled to get on the pitch despite having been the second-leading scorer in NWSL play in 2014 behind Scottish midfielder Kim Little.

On the whole, the U.S. women need to step up and gain some momentum to take into the rest of the World Cup build up. But, if there are mistakes that are going to be made, the Algarve Cup will give Ellis and her side another opportunity to iron out the issues in the midfield.