Photo Copyright Yukihito Taguchi for USA TODAY Sports

Emma Hayes and the U.S. women’s national team have come away with gold from the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning all six contests. They went to extra time just twice and have kept four clean sheets with some astute defensive work. They beat Germany (twice), Zambia, Australia, Japan, and Brazil to win the gold and though some of these encounters had exposed some of their underlying weaknesses, they still found a way through.The spotlight often shines on the star-studded front three attackers, while the midfield by contrast has faced criticism. However, it’s the defense deserves more recognition, particularly for the key role it played in securing a USWNT victory during the tournament. The back four delivered solid performances, with left-back Crystal Dunn and right-back Emily Fox standing out for their adaptability and effectiveness.

Historically, the U.S. has relied on traditional full-backs who tend to focus on primarily defending the flanks, but Hayes began experimenting with a more modern, inverted full-back system in the lead-up to the tournament, notably during the doubleheader against South Korea. Hayes changed the way she’s utilized her full-backs here, a tactic she hadn’t previously employed at Chelsea.

So how did Hayes use Dunn and Fox and what made them so integral to the U.S. gold medal win?

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Hayes’ System

Coach Emma Hayes began her first major tournament with a unique tactical approach, deploying a lop-sided 4-3-3 formation. This setup transitioned into a 3-4-1-2 or 3-box-3 during build-up play, where the right-back, Emily Fox, tucked in to become a third center-back while the left-back, Dunn, pushed forward to function as a nominal left-winger, thus providing width to the side. 

The system emphasized rotations, particularly in the front-line attackers, with the midfielders adjusting their positions according to the game’s demands. This aimed to give the USWNT greater fluidity and structure in their build-up play. During offensive phases, the second No. 6 would advance to play alongside the No. 10 or alternatively, stay deeper when necessary.

Crystal Dunn — Attacking Space & 1 v 1 Defending

The dynamics of the forward line meant that it was easier to allow the left-winger to occupy the half-spaces and play closer to the central striker alongside the attacking No. 8s, to create central overloads and leave the wide spaces a bit more open for the other wide players to receive freely.Smith and Swanson would interchange positions that would result in a void in the left wide space because they preferred to play closer to the goal, which opened up the space for Dunn to assume the role of a left-winger.Hayes’ vision of build-up play was patient as the center-backs would pass it to each other until passing lanes opened up but if none presented themselves, then they’d look to find the midfielders and wingers more directly. The idea was to entice the opposition to step forward once the ball went into midfield before playing a quick long diagonal pass into the wide areas, namely to Dunn. Given their preference to build out of the left from the back, Dunn would be the widest player where she’d be hugging the touchline and taking on her players in 1 v 1 positions. Similarly, she would use her speed to try and latch onto any quick through balls made by her teammates.

Dunn’s attacking contributions went beyond her ability to stretch the field with wide play. She also excelled in close-quarter situations, acting as a key reference point for intricate passing combinations. The U.S. attack frequently revolved around the rotations and fluid movement of Mallory Swanson, Sophia Smith, and Trinity Rodman, with Swanson and Smith often swapping positions and engaging in quick one-twos. Dunn’s role was to support these movements, serving as the third player in passing sequences when needed. This allowed her to help progress the ball into the box, creating space for the forwards to evade defenders.Hayes kept Dunn high up the pitch to create the illusion of width but also to move the focus away from the right flank. Having the focus on Dunn and Co. allowed Rodman to drift in and out of position to receive any switches of play or even just in build-up without being overloaded.

Defensively, Dunn shifted to her natural left-back role in a 4-4-2 setup. When the ball went wide, the winger initiated the press, with Dunn stepping up to pressure the opposing winger. The strategy aimed to force early turnovers by pressing high. Dunn’s positional intelligence and timing were crucial in disrupting attacks, and her speed allowed her to excel in 1v1 situations. Defensive midfielder Sam Coffey supported her forward runs, covering the half-spaces defensively so the back line was outnumbered and the rest-defense shape and numbers were maintained.

The only point of contention in Dunn’s defending (though this was a collective tactical issue overall) was if she was dragged out of position, the U.S. would give up a lot of space out wide that allowed teams to break with their pace. Japan, Brazil, and Zambia all caused serious problems with their pace and movement to bring their full-backs inside to then later use their pace out wide. Zambia had the pace of Barbara Banda and Japan used wing-backs to overload the wide areas to good effect. The U.S. ultimately defended most of these counter-attacks well, thanks to the combined positioning and dueling efforts of Naomi Girma and Tierna Davidson, but despite this, Dunn was still able to drop back and defend despite Swanson’s lack of defending from the front.

Emily Fox — Inverted right-back

The most improved player for the USWNT during the Olympics was certainly Emily Fox. Naturally a left-back, the Arsenal defender has recently transitioned into a right-sided full-back and under Emma Hayes, Fox earned the right-back spot, generally playing in a more inverted role.

Fox’s inverted right-back role had her operate as the right-sided central defender in build-up and in organized defending situations, focusing on defending the right half-space and at times providing underlapping runs to support Trinity Rodman on the right flank. While she occasionally drove forward between the center-back and full-back in attack, her primary responsibility was to defend.

In build-up possession sequences, Fox would stay in line with the center-backs and move forward as the ball made its way to the right flank. In possession, her task was simply to just recycle possession and keep being spatially aware of her position to keep a 3-1 / 3-2 rest-defense structure. This was to prevent any turnovers because of how high the USWNT play, partly due to their high line, but also because of their opposition’s deeper blocks.

When out of possession, Fox would hold her line alongside the center-backs and only step up if the opposition player was within a certain range of her position. While it was a collective tactic to press players that were closest to them, Fox had the responsibility to set the trigger to either initiate the press from the right half-space or to start dropping back to defend the space in behind and delay the counter-attack. Even if the U.S. were caught in overloads (2 v 1 or 3 v 2s), their positioning was good enough for cover to arrive.

If the press was triggered, Fox looked to shut down the player to create another turnover and put the U.S. back on the attack from a favorable position. As a result, if the opposition did manage to win back possession in key areas and try to exploit the wide spaces, Fox would jump forward to protect the right half-space through this quick press or retreat into a lower block. Davidson, the left-sided center-back, carried out a similar task on the left.

With Horan being the right-sided No. 8, there was even less protection from the midfielders to be disciplined enough to drop in to cover and protect the overload. Instead, Hayes instructed Rodman to drop deep and help out defensively. The Washington Spirit forward carried out her defensive duties diligently and helped Fox from being overrun, which made it much more difficult for any team to advance down that right wing.

The role in itself has been made quite simple for Fox. Since Hayes had simplified her role to defend the right half-space and make underlapping runs to support the attacking players without necessarily contributing anything extra, it has resulted in a significantly improved Fox.Offensively, her task wasn’t as pronounced as Dunn’s, with her primary responsibility centered more on defending than attacking. When she did, she would prove to be a decoy with her inside channel runs to give Rodman the space to move the ball to her left foot and shoot from outside the box.Defense wins matches and with the aforementioned four clean sheets in six games, this was a collective defensive effort that gave Hayes the foundation for her attacking unit to function at their full capacity. Without the defensive arrangements and pressing structure, the USWNT would have been even more exposed and likely crashed out in one of the games that went to extra time. Dunn and Fox look to have cemented their places as Hayes’ first-choice full-backs for the foreseeable future and it will be crucial to see how and if Hayes sticks with these full-back roles. Giving them more natural roles and playing to their strengths has proved to be a masterstroke that’s given the players the confidence to shine in this tournament.



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