Now that Abby Wambach announced her retirement effective at the end of the year, I was just curious who you folks think will emerge as the defacto leader of the USWNT. IMO, the media face of the team and the player that leads and others follow may not be the same person. Carli Lloyd? Hope Solo? Alex Morgan?
I wonder if a dominant figure will emerge as the defacto leader. I don't think Solo wants to bother with that. I think it will be Carli Lloyd.
Never really thought of Solo as a leader except by her actions on the field. Id like to see Sauerbrunn be the leader.
It doesn't really happen by decree, although there are certainly coaches who think it should. And some seasons it doesn't happen at all. I can't help but note that just since the WC it seems like an ever increasing amount of stuff seems to hinge on JJ's judgment. If you get used to waiting to see what one player thinks is the right way to go up the field, you're likely to start to defer to their judgment on other things, on and off the field.
Hope is a great player, but she has too much baggage to be a true leader. Morgan will still be the face of the team as far as the media goes. On the field, I don't know if she'll ever be a leader. That role is split by Sauerbrunn and Lloyd now. But in a few years, I could see JJ in that role.
I don't know, on the field, in the heat of a game, I don't think Hope's baggage matters. Heck even getting the team ready, right before a game, I highly doubt Solo's personal matters really factor in. Vocally I don't really see anyone filling Wambach's shoes, but among the field players, I see Lloyd most apt to play that role.
Political leader / public speaker, yes she's one of the best public speakers on the team which was an area Abby excelled in as well. On field leader, I'm not so sure.
Rapinoe is just too inconsistent to be a true leader on the field. When she's having a bad game, she gets frustrated too easily.
Exactly. You have Sauerbrunn's calming influence in the back combined with Lloyd's energy up front. It's a deadly duo.
Exactly. For the first ten years of the USWNT, it was Akers' team. Then, it was Hamm's team. Then, it was Wambach's team. It's now Lloyd's team, until she retires, likely after 2019 or 2020. And then, it most likely will be Julie Johnston's and Morgan Brian's team, unless someone younger and better than them emerges between now and Lloyd's retirement.
Sauerbrunn seems like a solid rock around whom the team could coalesce. But after Vancouver, Lloyd seems like everybody's favorite superstar.
While Lloyd is a great leader by example she's never been a vocal leader on the field, which every team needs... JJ and Becky fit this role more naturally on the field.
On the field? Solo, Sauerbrunn & Lloyd. Off the field? In terms of speaking up for the team, if it were up to me, Sauerbrunn and Rapinoe.
Agreed. But Lloyd is much improved at the speaking up stuff, and it doesn't seem to be entirely a matter of her "learning her cliches, they're your friends."