Rose Lavelle is back and scoring: Superstar midfielder can have a huge impact on USWNT's Olympic hopes and Gotham FC's faltering NWSL title defense

There were a myriad of reasons that the U.S. women's national team fell short at the World Cup last summer, so there's no use earmarking one as THE reason. Bad luck, an aging roster, bad tactics, a lack of attacking flow... go on and pick one and, while you're at it, add a few more to the list because it doesn't stop there.

Still, it's hard not to wonder about one particular reason: Rose Lavelle. What if she was healthy? What if the USWNT had the real Lavelle in the XI? What kind of holes could she have covered up simply by being there?

We'll never know, of course. The World Cup is done and dusted. The USWNT lost and there's no going back.

There is going forward, though, to the Olympics. Under the new Emma Hayes regime, what will the USWNT look like? And, more specifically to this story, what will the USWNT look like with a healthy Lavelle?

We can't get ahead of ourselves. Lavelle is only just returning from a new injury, one that kept her out of the SheBelieves Cup. She's returning at a big time for the USWNT, but also for Gotham FC, her new club that is dealing with USWNT-sized expectations.

So what can Lavelle add for club and for country? How big of an impact can she make this summer if she can stay fit? We're about to find out.