IT HAS BEEN A BIZARRE WEEK for the United States women’s national team.

It started with a 3-2 loss last Sunday to Brazil, as the No. 1-ranked Americans were beaten nearly singlehandedly by Marta, FIFA’s five-time World Player of the Year.

Still reeling from Sunday’s loss, the United States on Thursday pulled off a near-miracle, advancing to the final of the International Tournament of Brasilia on the final day of group play by making up a three-point deficit on China and reversing a minus-seven goal differential.

On Friday, the U.S. suffered another blow, this time to its psyche, as it lost the No. 1 world ranking to Germany. It marked the first time the U.S. wasn’t ranked No. 1 since 2007—a total of 2,464 days in the top spot.

And then yesterday the United States played Brazil to a scoreless tie in the International Tournament of Brasilia final, ultimately taking second place on criteria.

As the team heads back to the United States for some time off before opening up another camp in January to continue its preparations ahead of next summer’s World Cup, it’s tough to know what head coach Jill Ellis and the team will be thinking and what lessons can be taken forward into the New Year.

On the one hand, the U.S. did look significantly better in the final and avoided losing to the Brazilians again. On the other hand, the team finished 1-1-2 in the tournament and many questions remain.

Against the Brazilians the second time around, Ellis gave American fans another set of head-scratchers when the starting lineup was released on Sunday. With several stars out—Christen Press left the team because of a death in the family, Alex Morgan is still out injured, and Sydney Leroux was ineligible to play after picking up a red card against Argentina—lineup changes were expected. But no one would have predicted the changes that Ellis made.

Kelley O’Hara earned a surprise start, but not at left back—where she earned a name for herself in the 2012 Olympics. Instead, O’Hara was listed as the starter at right forward in Ellis’ 4-3-3. Besides being a surprise move because of the position O’Hara was playing, it was surprising that Ellis would choose her there over normal starter Megan Rapinoe and over Heather O’Reilly, who is often the first sub off the bench on the wing for the U.S.

Here are tonight's #USWNT starters and subs vs. Brazil here in Brasilia: pic.twitter.com/aUIyK3i0Xp

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) December 21, 2014

Lori Chalupny also found herself in the starting lineup for the third game in a row—despite the fact that this was her first U.S. camp since 2009.

Finally, Abby Wambach was given her third start in eight days, a bit of a surprise considering she had not played particularly well in the tournament thus far, and the fact that Amy Rodriguez—who scored 13 goals in the 2014 NWSL season—hadn’t seen a minute of playing time headed into the tournament final.

However, the biggest surprise of the day came when the U.S. actually stepped out onto the field and began playing. After spending the last nine months grooming the U.S. into a 4-3-3 system, it became obvious fairly early that Ellis had put the Americans back into a 4-4-2 for the match against Brazil.

Lauren Holiday, who has normally played as the U.S.’s No. 6 under Ellis, was pushed all the way to forward to partner Wambach up top and O’Hara was used as a traditional outside midfielder to help Meghan Klingenberg keep the Brazilian attack in check down the U.S.’s right side.

It was clear from the opening whistle that the U.S. was content to allow Brazil to control possession, sitting back in two highly organized blocks of four. And despite conceding control of the game, the Americans' defensive discipline was impressive as it limited Brazil to very few good looks on goal.

Wambach was involved on both of the best chances of the game—one for Brazil and one for the U.S. In the 38th minute of play, Wambach failed to challenge Monica on a set piece, resulting in a wide open header from only six yards out that missed the mark.

Then, in the 58th minute, Wambach missed the U.S.’s best chance of the match, skying a header over the crossbar after Meghan Klingenberg and Tobin Heath had combined on the wing to create the chance.

The poor overall performance from Wambach certainly won’t do much to alleviate fears that her continued starts are holding the U.S. back. The American legend—and all-time international goal-scoring leader—doesn’t have pace. She also isn’t an especially technical player. Her value lies in being a blunt-force instrument in the box, especially in the air. Perhaps Sunday’s match was just a fluke, but if Wambach’s ability in the air is waning, it is going to be more and more difficult for Ellis to justify her continued inclusion in the lineup.

Abby Wambach is … struggling :-(

— Stars and Stripes FC (@StarsStripesFC) December 21, 2014

The Chalupny selection will also raise some interesting questions going forward. Three starts in a row is a pretty clear indication that Ellis thinks she deserves to be on the squad. The same would have to be said of Ellis’ other outside back options, World Cup veteran Ali Krieger and Klingenberg—who put together an outstanding tournament during World Cup qualifying.

That likely means that either Kelley O’Hara or Crystal Dunn won’t be on the World Cup squad next summer as it’s hard to imagine Ellis will have the luxury of bringing five outside backs to Canada.

IN TERMS OF TACTICS, soccer purists might not be happy with Ellis’ defensive posture on Sunday. But for many fans, it was refreshing to see the American coach employ a more pragmatic strategy. Like it or not, the U.S.’s advantage still lies in its athleticism and ability to counterattack effectively. Trying to dominate possession against teams like Germany, France or Japan—all of whom do it better than the U.S.—is a losing proposition.

Critics might point to the fact that the U.S. was held scoreless on Sunday—which is true—but that argument misses two important details. One is that the U.S. was missing four of its most potent attackers in Morgan, Press, Rapinoe, and Leroux. The second is that the U.S. defense—which has been leaky far too often over the past year—earned the shutout.

There were other positives for the U.S. as well. Morgan Brian looked extremely comfortable in the middle, even against the high-pressing Brazilians. Though continuing to start Brian may give Ellis a locker room headache, one fact is undeniable: the kid can play.

Morgan Brian was named #USWNT @Budweiser Woman of the Match for #USAvBRA

— Sarah Gehrke (@Sarah_Gehrke) December 22, 2014

Heath also showed a tremendous amount of grit with her defensive work rate, something not always evident in the 26-year-old midfielder. Heath contributed some of the best attacking moments of the night with some pinpoint passes to unlock the Brazilian back line.

Hope Solo did well when called into action, especially in handling several dangerous services into the area.

And finally, Becky Sauerbrunn was fantastic, sniffing out a number of dangerous Brazilian attacks on the night. Sauerbrunn did her job preventing breakdowns through some perfectly timed steps into the midfield, cleaned up the messes when the U.S. defense did give way, and even did well when defending Marta 1 v. 1 in the penalty area.

The big question moving forward will be regarding the formation. Has Ellis finally abandoned the 4-3-3? Former coach Pia Sundhage tried to force the U.S. into a 4-2-3-1 between the 2011 World Cup and the 2012 Olympics before finally abandoning the project. Maybe Ellis has finally reached her breaking point.

Or perhaps the coach was just showing a considerable amount of tactical flexibility in the move, putting the U.S. into a 4-4-2 specifically to combat the Brazilian attack.

Until the U.S. steps on the field for its high-profile friendlies against France and England in early February, no one will really know.

John D. Halloran is an American Soccer Now columnist. Follow him on Twitter.