I love Mallory more than anyone, and have touted her more than anyone. But when looking back, Mallory really should have gone to college. She would still be on the national team, but the 20-25 matches UCLA plays each year would have been GOLDEN for her development. She hasn't been all that effective in NWSL, and maybe things were rushed a little bit. Yes, I know, injuries and such. But 3 years of college ball would have been great for her, and she could have finished her degree with online classes afterwards. She could have played for UCLA in 2016, 2017, and 2018. 2016 would be a partial college season, since she was so busy with the Olympics and the U-20 WWC back then. Mallory would have been a junior this past fall at UCLA in 2018 (along with Jessie Fleming), and Pugh could have declared for the professional ranks right now at the end of the 2018 calendar year. And finish up her coursework in the next 12-18 months online, and obtain her college degree. She got a good gig for going pro, but financially, it really wasn't anything close to being set for life. I'm not saying that no female should ever go pro early. It worked out for Horan who was making 6 figures per year in Europe, and her development grew big time from being over there. Pugh will still be a GREAT player, but I'm thinking she should have gone on to college and played with Jessie Fleming for 3 years. A million young girls in the United States would still love to be in her shoes now. I'm not knocking Mallory here. Both options were quality choices to choose from.
She would not have played a lick in 2016 as all u20 World Cup participants had to forgo the ncaa season as a requirement from us soccer
I'm not sure Pugh will still be a "great" player. Maybe, but I have my doubts. I absolutely agree that she was rushed and seemed almost to have been handed a NT starting job based on her pace alone, which is a valuable asset on the wing, to be sure, but her game was limited and one-dimensional, given her youth. That she was relatively effective anyway is a testimony to her potential. She's developed her game in the last year or two but the injury set her back and she now seems to have lost her starting NT position to Heath, though I imagine she'll be brought in in the second half of games to torment tired defenders. It will be interesting to see how things go with her over the next two/three years.
Yeah, forgot about that since it was two years ago. Tons of players (including lots of Penn State players) had to forgo that year.
I feel like UCLA has done just fine without her. Ashley Sanchez is just as good of a player IMO and will continue to get better.
I don't think there is any evidence that playing NCAA soccer is a better development path than playing NWSL soccer. I would guess the NWSL is better because it is an order of magnitude better (if not several) in quality. You get better by playing higher competition, not dominating lower competition. Looking at the results of recent U20 teams in international competitions, college players are not developing as fast as pro players in other countries. In other words, Pugh has struggled because the competition is better. But that challenge will make her better faster than running around college defenders with ease. Oh, and she will make enough money in two years to more than pay to go to college if she wants. Although, since she was there one year, she might be guaranteed three more years of scholarship at UCLA.
Sorry, Sanchez is not close to the player Pugh is and never will be, and she was absolutely horrible in the World Cup.
Sanchez and Pugh are completely different kinds of players and fill different roles. I thought Sanchez was UCLA's main bright light in the College Cup.