No Alex Morgan? USWNT's future on display with December camp roster that let's go of past

It’s not hard to imagine the future of the U.S. women’s team.

All you have to do is check out the roster for the December camp.

No Alex Morgan or Alyssa Naeher on the roster announced Monday. No Becky Sauerbrunn, Crystal Dunn or Kelley O’Hara, either. The team is firmly in the hands of the next generation, led by Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle, Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Naomi Girma, with first looks at NWSL Rookie of the Year Jenna Nighswonger and Korbin Albert, a 20-year-old who left college after two years to sign with Paris Saint-Germain.

Now, this doesn’t mean new coach Emma Hayes has decided to turn the page on the veteran stars. (She’s not even in place yet, though interim coach Twila Kilgore is getting her input.) But one thing became abundantly clear during the World Cup debacle, and that was that the expiration date for the Golden Generation – World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, and Olympic gold in 2012 – was nearing, and no matter how many youngsters former coach Vlatko Andonovski brought in, it wasn’t enough.

The USWNT needs to expand its player pool, both for next summer’s Paris Olympics and beyond. With a limited number of roster spots at every camp, something had to give.

“We need more opportunities to see players from our pool in our unique National Team environment, in both training and games, so we can evaluate if and how they might contribute moving forward to the Olympics,” Kilgore said.

Kilgore had already begun doing this in camps earlier this fall. Teenagers Jaedyn Shaw and Olivia Moultrie got their first call-ups, as did Chelsea’s Mia Fishel. The idea was to introduce them to the USWNT environment in low-pressure situations, Kilgore said, but also to do it in time for the new coach to have as much intel as possible on the player pool.

Again, this doesn’t mean Hayes is going to field a roster of young 20-somethings in Paris. Naeher is still one of the best keepers in the international game and, even at 38, Sauerbrunn is as good a center back as there is.

But Morgan, who will be 35 in Paris, has struggled to find the net lately. She has scored just three goals since she converted the penalty that lifted the USWNT to the Concacaf W Championship over Canada in July 2022, qualifying the Americans both for the World Cup and Olympics.

She could still regain the form that made her one of the world’s most dangerous players for the better part of a decade. It wasn’t even a year ago she finished second to Spain’s Alexia Putellas in voting for FIFA’s Best Women’s Player. Or maybe she’s better suited to a substitute role now, as Carli Lloyd and Abby Wambach eventually were.

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The trickiest balance in sports is getting the most out of top players for as long as possible but recognizing when it’s time to move on. Or time for them to have different roles. Making the calculation even harder is when players are beloved or have made such significant impacts, as the USWNT veterans have.

But that’s why Hayes is going to be the highest-paid coach in the women’s game. To make tough decisions like these. And to do so, she’s going to need all the information she can get, on both the current players and their eventual replacements.

Hayes will not take over the USWNT until after Chelsea’s season ends in late May, giving her just two camps with the U.S. women before Paris. Neither she, nor the USWNT, have the luxury of testing people out at that late date.

At some point, generational turnover will occur. This is a glimpse at what the USWNT might look like after it happens.

Here's the full USWNT roster for December camp

GOALKEEPERS: Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage)

DEFENDERS: Alana Cook (OL Reign), Abby Dahlkemper (San Diego Wave FC), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars), Emily Fox (North Carolina Courage), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Casey Krueger (Chicago Red Stars), M.A. Vignola (Angel City FC)

MIDFIELDERS: Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Savannah DeMelo (Racing Louisville FC), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC), Jenna Nighswonger (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Emily Sonnett (OL Reign)

FORWARDS: Mia Fishel (Chelsea FC, ENG), Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Midge Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC)

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.