Carli Lloyd admits U.S. has not played its best

OTTAWA, Ontario - Carli Lloyd isn't happy about how the U.S. women have been playing so far the World Cup, and she isn't afraid to say so publicly. As the United States began preparations for its quarterfinal matchup with China, the Delran native laid out her views in a frank exchange with reporters at Wednesday's practice session.

"I think in order for us to win this thing, and in order for us to show the world what we've got, we've got to take some risks at some point," she said. "We know that it's not our best. We know that we're capable of so much more."

As Lloyd started to get into why the team is struggling, she did not exempt herself from criticism.

"I know for me, I love to attack," she said. "I think I had a decent shot last game. I need more of that. I need to get the ball, I need to run at players, I need to create stuff, I need to find a way to impact the game no matter how it's going."

Lloyd insisted that the team's stuttering offense is not due to any lack of desire, or for any lack of not following the tactical orders laid out by coach Jill Ellis.

"We're just following the direction of our coaches, the coaching plan, doing everything they ask of us," Lloyd said. "At the end of the day I've got full faith and confidence in everyone that we'll find our rhythm. We're working, we're grinding, the effort's there."

But Lloyd also seemed to acknowledge that some of the criticism of Ellis' tactics may have some merit.

"I don't know if it's fear of making mistakes, just kind of - we are a bit deeper defensively [in midfield], so when we win the ball, we're in our defensive end, it's a long way to get to the goal," Lloyd said. "Different games in different eras, we would defend and press higher up on the field, therefore winning it higher up the field, and we'd just need a couple passes to break through to the goal."

It would likely help Lloyd's skill set if Ellis shifted her lineup to a three-midfielder, three-forward combination instead of the four-and-two setup the team has used for most of the tournament so far.

Deploying Shannon Boxx as a stopper would free up Lloyd to get more involved in the attack, instead of having to help break up opponents' forays.

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

Part of the problem could be mental, and Monday's round of 16 win over Colombia offered an example. Even though the Cafeteras didn't officially register a shot on goal until the 85th minute, their free-spirited style won praise even from Americans rooting against them.

"When you overthink too much, you can kind of be unsure of yourself," Lloyd said. "It's a game we've played our whole lives. When we step on the field, we've just got to let instincts take over."

Simply doing that would likely quiet some of the aforementioned critics. Among the most notable is someone who has been there before: 1999 U.S. captain Michelle Akers. Speaking on SiriusXM's satellite radio network after the Colombia game, she took direct aim at Ellis' claim of being satisfied with the result no matter the style.

"We don't have all our pieces together, we aren't performing at our best, some of our coaching decisions are unexplainable," Akers said. "If [Ellis] is pleased with the way we played tonight, then what the hell is she doing coaching our U.S. team? That's a scary comment - I would expect more out of my team if I want them to be the world champions."

Lloyd is a student of soccer as much as she is a player. She knows it's nothing new for American teams to grind out results in tournaments, whether the rabid fan base likes it or not.

"That's what's incredible about the history of this team - even the '99ers," she said. "There's games where it's not going to look pretty, but the history shows that we've always found that way."

Don't mistake Lloyd's honesty for a lack of optimism, though. She is still fully convinced that the U.S. will find its form in time to win women's soccer's biggest prize for the first time in 16 years.

"The best is yet to come," she said.