Future USWNT Players in Upcoming Cycle (2015-2019)

Lindsey Horan, forward, Paris Saint-Germain

 

Dunn, Rose, Horan, Kling, Brian, JJ, Ohai - are all very technical, great players. fantastic start.

 

Pugh, if she keeps improving.

 

I don't watch many college games, so can't judge there -- but among NWSL players the following impress me.

Dunn seems a no-brainer. What position? Maybe forward.

Ohai. Future left midfielder, or forward

Gilliland. Left back. Hasn't proved herself yet, but speedy on the offense.

Huerta. Forward. Leading the race to be rookie of the year at this point in the season.

Sam Mewis. Center mid. Not quite proven yet, but she may get there soon.

Winters. Defensive midfielder. Experienced.

 

I am pleased as a unc fan to see support, here and otherwise, for Ohai for the U.S. WNT. She was a forward mostly at unc and did not light up the scoreboard actually. I always thought she was amazing with her work rate and skills, but she just never put the ball in the net like the truly elite college forwards. I have never seen a forward play better defense though. Maybe the unc system the past few years, including lack of a true #10 playmaker , held her back.

Dunn is the best dribbler at any position I have ever seen. She won acc defender of the year as a freshman , a Herman trophy as a junior, and acc offensive player of the year as a senior. You cannot knock her down unless she play outright dirty. Her balance is unreal. She played attacking mid from junior year ncaa tourney through her senior year, but was rarely a playmaker for others. She did it mostly on her own. She will need to Improve tactically to be elite at the senior national level , but her potential is sky high.

 

some others who havent been mentioned to keep in mind: shea groom, sarah hagen, erika tymrak, caprice dydasco, christine nairn, vanessa dibenardo, sarah killion, chioma ubogagu, cari roccaro, maddie bauer, katie stengel

 

The position I'm most interested in developing is Defensive/holding mid.

Wistfully, I think of developing our own Amandine Henry. She is for me, by far, the best at this position in the world at the moment. She can literally take over matches. People focused a lot on the flank runs of Thomis in the match against the Germans. Most of those runs came off distribution from Henry. Her work rate is unbelievable and there's not a player in the world that wins more balls. She is an absolute tornado. Unlike many traditional players at this position she has speed, attacks space, and is wonderful with the ball at her feet. If only we could bottle that.

Winters can't come close to that but she seems like she may be a serviceable option in the meantime. Worth trying anyway. I think in order for us to develop a truly multifaceted and effective player at this position the youth programs need to develop it. It's probably too late for this next quad to develop an internationally elite player here. We can't be re-tooling and transplanting 20 somethings into this role and expect miracles. Taryn Torres is one that has potential further down the road. Not speedy but very good in several areas.

 

F - Lindsey Horan, Sarah Hagen, Sofia Huerta, Shea Groom, Makenzy Doniak, Summer Green, Steph McCaffrey
MF - Kealia Ohai, Mallory Pugh, Dani Colaprico, Rose Lavelle, Erika Tymrak, V. DiBernardo, Sarah Killion, Mewis
D - Crystal Dunn, Arin Gilliland, Maddie Bauer, Cari Roccaro, Stephanie Amack
GK - Jane Campbell

 

Dunn is must on this team going forward. But she's not best suited to be an outside back. She is wasted back there. I'd much rather have her as an attacking mid or even a forward.

 

I would agree, put her anywhere, but it's important to have an outside back that also has closing speed when getting back on defense.

 

Ohai needs to be running up and down the flanks, and patrolling the entire length of the field on her side.
She can get back and hound on defense, and can attack with ease.

 

But the next experimental idea needs to be Cheyna Williams.
She could be converted into a killer athletic defender in the Kadeisha Buchanan mold.
And if that doesn't work out, she can still be an Oshoala type (lite version) from Nigeria, as an attacker.
She's more athletic than Crystal Dunn and Sydney Leroux.

 

Ohai is not a prolific scorer and you are right part of it is her propensity to go back and play defense she wont sit up top, that's why she would make a great outside mid. With that said she has an amazing ability to score big time goals. Winning goal over defending NCAA champion Stanford, Opening goal over Penn State NCAA finals, Goal vs Nigeria in U20 semi finals, only goal given up in the entire tournament vs Germany U-20 world Cup. winning goal vs Japan u23's, Reminds me a little of Rapinoe in that category.

 

She's a complete player.
She can attack, patrol the flanks, win corners, send crosses, play-make at anywhere on the field, and she can score.
Not to mention, she can be a beast of a defender when she gets back on defense.
And she has foot accuracy on shots, crosses, through-balls, and any of her passes.

 

Cari Roccaro will be the DMid the US is missing right now, in my opinion. She is also versatile enough to come forward or play in the back. Also, don't forget her ND teammate Katie Naughton as a future defender.

 

Don't forget who assisted Ohai on several of,those important goals both at unc and u20- Dunn.
Dunn has 7 goals in 10 games in the NWSL this season. I'd like to see her get a shot at midfielder or even forward for the U.S. wnt

 

Dunn and Ohai were one of the most prolific duo's in Soccer the U20 world cup was not a fluke they repeated it two months later in the NCAA tournament. why not put that chemistry back together..

 

Glad to see Amandine Henry made the short list for the Golden Ball. She won't win because France didn't advance far enough. But she was the only French player to make the list. She was, for me, clearly France's most important player. Thomis got a lot of attention for her rocket runs up the flanks. But Henry essentially takes over matches in a way that isn't always appreciated because she plays DM.

 

I've always been impressed w/ Dunn.

Could Averbuch play 6 the way Holiday and Brian have?

 

after watching the spirit's last few games, i dont think there's even a slight chance dunn plays forward for the national team. it's clearly not her best position. neither creating a shot nor finishing are her strong suits. she operates much better on the wings as opposed to the middle. her dribbling ability with killer pace, give & go play and nice deliveries into the box is a defensive nightmare. i expect her and ohai to regularly patrol the wings by 2019. dunn's club teammate, christine nairn, is a young holding mid who looks solid and could hear from ellis in the near future.

 

I don't know if it's been linked in any other stories, but check out this profile on Rose Lavelle:

http://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/features/make-way-for-rose-lavelle/

It's fascinating, but there's also an hour-long audio on the page of the writer being interviewed about Rose and her family. It talks a lot about how hard the transition from losing in the U20 WC to almost immediately returning to campus and their college teams is.

 

Great article, very insightful and it's refreshing that National team members are playing close attention to her and not scared by her lack of weight. She has intangibles other's do not have.

She led the U20, U23 team and her summer league - I hope she gets a call up STAT. I'd love to see a central midfield of her and Brian. They would play some beautiful soccer. from the article:


While not blessed with exceptional speed, Heinrichs said, “Rose changes direction, with and without the ball, as well as anyone. Which is one of the more important physical attributes to be successful in the game today. A player like Rose is able to separate herself by her technical and tactical ability to solve problems, with both feet and with her head up. In many ways, she reminds me of Wayne Gretzky on ice. Gretzky was so fluid, he could transition from attacking to defending so effortlessly. His creativity was undeniably there, head and shoulders above everybody else. That’s how Rose is. Her ability to maneuver in and out of pressure, then do it again and play a simple ball, is unbelievable.”



according to Ryan Alexander, the physiologist for U.S. Women’s youth teams who had come from California to watch the Ohio State match as well.

She may be slight of frame, but, Alexander emphasizes, her fitness level is superb. “In my position, I get data on top of data, and Rose is at, or nearly at, the top of every single category,” he said. “And it’s effortless. She makes it look easy.” What most people don’t realize—and why would they?—is the “very high stress level she carries around” in her drive to be at the top of her game. “You don’t see many players like Rose in the women’s game,” Alexander told me. “From a purely physical standpoint, female players do not move in the way she moves. She is incredibly agile.”