The change U.S. coach Jill Ellis should make to jumpstart the American attack

OTTAWA, Ontario – It's time for United States head coach Jill Ellis to try something new.

Her U.S. women's national team is winning, but it is not thriving. The offense looks stale, and everyone knows it.

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"We all know we're not playing our best football," said Carli Lloyd on Wednesday. "We're still finding ways to win. I think that's the history of this team. No matter if it's good, bad, we still find a way to get it done."

"Find a way" shouldn't be the solution for a team this loaded with talent. The defense and goalkeeping have been stellar, but every match without a vibrant offense carries the risk that the U.S. will fall behind and not be able to punch back.

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So the time is now to change things up, and the opportunity is here.

With Megan Rapinoe and Lauren Holiday suspended for Friday's quarterfinal against China, Ellis can make changes without making them look like a panic move (or even a response to pressure). Bring in Morgan Brian as a holding midfielder – or move Julie Johnston up from the defense – and allow Lloyd to attack.

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It's Lloyd who has looked the most lost since the start of the tournament, it's Lloyd who needs to get going the most and it's Lloyd who can benefit from a bigger role offensively.

"In order for us to win this thing, in order to show the world what we've got, we've got to take some risks at some point," Lloyd said. "For me, I love to attack. I had a decent shot last game. I need more of that."

Lloyd wasn't expressly asking for a change, but it's pretty clear she could use it. She seems torn between moving up the field to be more of an offensive threat, which she wants to do, and moving back, which she has to do in the current system. That dual role should be a single role: attack. Let Brian or Johnston provide defensive cover so Lloyd, along with Rapinoe's replacement – let's say Christen Press – can go forward and force some turnovers.

"While the team is attacking, they are worrying about where they need to be defensively," said Jerry Smith, longtime coach at Santa Clara. "There is not this dynamic, unshackled movement from the midfielders."

One possibility would be to move from a formation with four midfielders to one with three, which would allow for a third forward. Lloyd was asked about this possibility on Wednesday and she didn't sidestep it.

"Whenever you have three in the midfield, it definitely helps push on the attack a little bit," she said. "We're a bit deeper with our defensive pressure, so it's a way to get up and link up with those forwards."

This is the issue with the U.S. attack. It's static and predictable. There is not much movement, not much to rattle a defense despite all the talent and power. With the way the defense has played, and with the way Hope Solo has played, the Americans can afford to be more aggressive up front without worrying about getting exposed in the back.

"A lot of people would think the U.S. team would do more damage," Smith said. "Press the heck out of you, turn the ball over and capitalize on that."

That's been largely absent. Abby Wambach is a legend in the sport as a target striker but not outstanding at off-the-ball movement, so opponents haven't seemed disrupted or even bothered. With Rapinoe out, this problem worsens.

Yet that provides an opportunity for Ellis. Adding Brian as a holding midfielder and allowing Lloyd and perhaps Press to move up will not only excite those players, it will disrupt China's game plan as well. The old saying is "Never let a good crisis go to waste," and here's a minor crisis that can inject some energy into this dilapidated attack without a complete overhaul. China is not exactly a scoring machine, either, so an offensive gamble has less downside than it otherwise would in a quarterfinal.

Beyond Friday, there's the advantage of throwing off either Germany or France in those teams' preparation for the U.S. in a possible semifinal. With Rapinoe and Holiday back and rested should the Americans advance, it won't be clear to the next opponent exactly what they will bring. That's an advantage few teams have late in a tournament.

"We're playing a little more of a direct style, which has been working, but we need to continue to search for our form and rhythm," Lloyd said. "Because the deeper we get, the harder it's going to get."

Winning solves everything, but the U.S.'s offensive issues linger. Ellis has a chance to turn a personnel deficit into a new weapon, and put the remainder of the Americans' opponents where they belong – back on their heels.

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