As the 2008 Olympics in Beijing loom on the horizon, new US National Women’s team coach, Pia Sundhage knows that she still has work to do to complete the re-orientation of her talented players. She has moved to a somewhat conventional 4-4-2 formation and added an emphasis on flexibility in attacking play.

My interview with her revealed a surprising dimension to that attack. I asked her whether the demands on wide midfielders that result from their advancing strongly into attack, were a cause of the high counterattack goals scored against the US in recent matches.

By its nature, soccer places a heavy burden on players who overlap into attack. As the coach put it, “If you have a flank player going up and down, she has to be fit of course. But instead of talking about being dispossessed, we talk about how to keep the ball in (the attacking third) a little bit longer. How can you actually get a shot? Because as long as we get a shot, we get something at the end line, we have time to organize.”

She emphasizes possession and variety in attack, “You have to pick and choose and find the right time to penetrate. That is the key.” By concentrating on patience, she hopes to keep any turnovers to a minimum and force counters to come from a deeper opponent’s position.

Put simply, “If we are too eager to find the final pass, then you have the counterattack.” Thus, “We talk even more about keeping possession in order not to expose that space.” This does not mean that she wants her players to be timid. They are to pressure opponents throughout the field.

She was clear that, “This team is very aggressive, which is great in defending. You should be aggressive in defending, but I don’t want to be aggressive in the attack. I don’t like that feeling. I’d rather say that in attack you have to be sly. You have to be clever, smart. Change, and change the speed.

“If we can be aggressive in the defending, we will win the ball pretty high….Instead of just pushing everything forward, find the right moment to go forward.’

She expressed her own ambivalence about training players in this form of discipline, “Of course, that’s the tricky part because, ‘She didn’t do it. She was wide open’.” It is difficult to pass up the immediate good opportunity.

It takes restraint in practice and preparatory matches to internalize the discipline to wait for a really superior chance, “Now the team is thinking to keep possession. We have to emphasize to keep possession, because that’s what we want to do in the Olympics. Dare to do that, because then it matters.”

She agrees that the team is still in transition, “Still, we have a couple of weeks to get prepared for the Olympics. Then, when it matters, you need to find the right moment to penetrate.”

Against Australia, the US scored often but also yielded a host of scoring chances and goals. As Coach Sundhage continues to infuse her players with the habits she expects, we should see continued defensive improvement.

Her style is reminiscent of Bruce Arena’s. He advocated strong pressure at all points to win possession and then the discipline to maintain possession until the attack was “on”. His teams would then move rapidly into attack.

Sundhage’s approach is similar, but slightly more restrained. She wants to hold up play to maintain organization and create the sterling striking option. So far, the strategy has yielded plenty of US scoring, but also plenty for the Aussies.

Against Canada at RFK on Saturday (7:00PM), we will see whether, with growing comfort in a new system, her players can withstand a strong opponent’s counterattacks more effectively than in the last two games.