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The Best #10 in Women's Soccer

Posted by Team Chicago Soccer Club at May 27, 2015 10:33AM PDT ( 0 Comments )

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2014 edition of Our Game Magazine.

When the big honcho of OGM, Tiff Weimer, asked me to be involved in the summer #10 special edition, I eagerly agreed and immediately started thinking about that position and women’s soccer. My initial thought was that I wish we were developing more #10’s in America, on the men’s side and the women’s, and that needs to be a goal for US Soccer moving forward – fun, creative, technical players. But that’s a conversation for another day.

Most of my thoughts on women’s soccer start with the 1999 World Cup, but unlike most people, my first thought isn’t about Brandi and a sports bra. Instead it’s about a shaved head, Brazilian named Sissi who played with a smile, showed creativity with the ball, and seemed to always be the player that was having the most fun on the field. The #10 position is all those things – men or women – it’s about flair, it’s trying things other players wouldn’t, it’s about confidence, it’s about dribbling, about passing, about scoring, it’s about being dangerous, about having unbelievable technique, but maybe most of all it’s about having fun. In the summer of ’99 Sissi showed all those traits to the world, but even more unbelievable, is that 15 years later, at that age of 47 she is still playing at a high level with the California Storm in the WPSL. Now that is a player that is having fun.

In honor of the #10 position, I spoke with 9 other people to give their analysis and selections on the #10.

Tony Leighton (Women’s Soccer Journalist based in the United Kingdom):

Kelly Smith is the definitive #10: she is great on the ball, has uncanny spatial awareness and tremendous passing skills, she can score from any range (I’ve seen her hit the net from the half-way line), and never shirks a tackle.

She is also, importantly for enhancing the popularity of women’s soccer, a great crowd pleaser. I recall the excitement she generated in spectators at WUSA matches (remember them?) back in 2001 and have seen her likewise thrill crowds in England and around Europe before and since then.

I’ve seen lots of #10’s over the years, Marta included, and Kelly Smith is the best.

April Kater (US Soccer Head Development Coach):

The #10 player has vision, composure and awareness unlike most players on the field. They see options in a split second as the game unfolds and have the ability on the ball to take advantage of these opportunities with an incredible range of passing and dribbling skills. It’s as if they have a 6th sense just for soccer. And this combination of their brain and feet being on the same wavelength is consistently showcased by a skillset honed over years of relentless technical work.

Physically they are strong yet adept at alluding pressure in the smallest of spaces with great lateral quickness and bursts of speed. And since they love being on the ball, their fitness level usually matches this passion for creativity.

They are the player who can instill fear in an entire side, because they have the ability to change the game at any given moment. They always wear #10 as well, easily identifying them to fans and opponents before the whistle even blows.

Pele, Maradona, Messi and Zidane are all great examples of an elite #10 player on the men’s side.

But what about the female #10 – Michelle Akers is the best #10 I competed against and with as a player, and she was the elite #10 in the world for over a decade. Carli Lollyd while at Rutgers and Ann Cook while at William and Mary are the best #10’s I coached against. Thankfully it wasn’t often. The best #10 I’ve seen, Marta. She combines world-class speed with an in-depth level of skill that is unmatched on the female side. And, Marta has elevated the women’s game in a male dominated sport in Brazil, the most successful football playing country in the world. She is the best #10 I’ve seen wear the jersey.

Phil Nielsen (Team Chicago Soccer Club Director of Coaching):

The easy part of picking my favorite female #10 is that she is German. The hard part is choosing between Bettina Wiegmann and Maren Meinert. However, I would have to go with Wiegmann, and not simply because she actually wore the #10 jersey. As the women’s game at the international level was coming of age in the 1990s, Wiegmann was the first true #10. Her soccer IQ was light-years ahead of most other female midfielders (except for Meinert, and perhaps Norwegian Hege Riise), and watching her play reminded me of watching her male counterpart Lothar Matthaus captain the Nationalelf in his #10 jersey and role.

Wiegmann’s ability to play in-between the lines, keep possession, find incisive penetrating passes, and her ability to strike from the distance made her the type of modern-day attacking midfielder that the U.S. is still hoping to develop a decade-plus after Wiegmann’s retirement. In my opinion we need more Wiegmann’s in the women’s game in order to elevate both the technical and the tactical level of the game. A player who can slow the game down when necessary, but who can also speed it up with a perfect 50-yard cross-field pass, or with a perfectly bent through-ball with the outside of her foot. Bettina Wiegmann stands as the perfect prototype of a female #10 to me.

Charlie Naimo (WNY Flash Technical Director)

When I think of the #10 in the women’s game there is one that has no equal – Kelly Smith from England. In my opinion Kelly is not just the best 10, but in my all time top 3 for greatest player to ever put on the boots. She had an innate ability to make every single player a threat in the attack. Whether it is was playing them passes that forced them to do things they were not thinking about, absorbing all the pressure herself or finding a way to get them all involved in the attacking third – one way or another – every player that played with her was better for it. As an aside, she also had the ability to do it all by herself if need be. Kelly was a true team leader and one of the greatest players/people I have ever been blessed to work with.

Laura Harvey (Seattle Reign General Manger & Head Coach):

The number 10 – I have been lucky to work with two of the best number 10’s in Europe (potentially the world). Kelly Smith and Kim Little are the classic number 10 in my opinion. Have technical ability, can hold the ball up and join other players into the game. Have center forward instincts that when they get in and around the box they are a threat and often end up scoring numerous amount of goals. They would naturally call themselves a ‘midfielder’ so they have a appetite to defend so when matched against a 3 man midfield they have defensive responsibilities. The other player who stands out when I think about a number 10 is Lauren Holiday (Cheney), Holiday is probably the best number 10 I’ve seen live outside of the two mentioned before and I think her abilities in that position are underrated. Holiday proved in the league last year that when she’s given the opportunity to play as a true number 10 there are not many better (if any).

Another excellent number 10 who is quickly being spoken about across the women’s football circuit is Dzsenifer Marozsán, I saw her play for Germany U15’s squad in 2005 and knew that she had the potential to be a world class player. She proved in last years European championships that she a huge talent. Germany play a more orthodox 4-4-2 formation but she is a deep lying forward who can cause people problems due to excellent technical ability and passing range. Again she is a goal scorer who for both club and country has scored numerous goals from playing the number 10 position.

Shek Borkowski (Haiti Women’s National Team Head Coach)

To me the #10 connotes a playmaker, a player with superb technique, vision, and passing ability. In my opinion, at this moment, Louisa Necib is the best #10 in the world.

Sissi (Former Member of Brazil National Team; Currently plays in WSPL for the California Storm)

During my career there have been many players that I admired, but one definitely that I enjoyed watching and playing against her was always difficult. She was hard to beat and my #10 is Michelle Akers. Her technical skills were unbelievable, her presence on the field, her passion for the game. She definitely made players around her better, she was also very aggressive, even intimidating, and lastly had a great vision. Akers was one of the greatest female soccer players that I had a chance to compete against.

Lesle Gallimore (University of Washington Head Women’s Soccer Coach)

In the early and mid-80s I was fortunate enough to be at the forefront of the girls/women’s soccer revolution in America. A part of that fortune was meeting, becoming friends with, playing with and against the one and only Michelle Akers.

As an outside back or center back I often times found myself matched up against her. For anyone that saw the two of us compete it was a crazy spectacle of hair and headers.

Because I had an up close view of what she was all about, it has forever sat with me as a player and now coach what it means to be a true #10 and in the women’s game I think there have been a limited few. Because American women’s tactics have taken awhile to evolve there really wasn’t really much thought put to the role of the #10.

Carin Jennings Gabarra, a childhood friend and teammate and now head women’s coach at the U.S. Naval Academy, was probably the first true #10 I encountered. She had a flair and an innate ability with the ball at her feet, the likes and uniqueness of which I have not seen since…truly, have not seen since. You would only need ask her National Team teammates if they can compare anyone to Carin, I doubt they can. But Carin’s role was a primarily as a 1 v. 1 artist, while during Michelle’s career she played many other roles.

I’ve chosen Michelle Akers because I think most people think of her as the latter-day Abby Wambach: brawn and headers only. Not to say that Abby is entirely restricted to those qualities, but they’re a pretty significant part of her game. Michelle was different. Playing as a forward in the 91 “Triple-Edged Sword” in Anson Dorrance’s 3-front for the WC winning USWNT, Michelle could do it all. She could feed balls with range in behind, she could beat you on the dribble and in the air, and she could flat out finish. She has vision and a tactical understanding of the game that most women of her generation did not. I think her formidable size and strength made people look at her as a pure-athlete that simply dominated her opponents physically. That was absolutely NOT the case. Michelle eventually found herself in the midfield for the U.S. and there she was just as much a force to be reckoned with – a connector, a creative player who at times looked as those she had hands instead of feet on the ends of her legs. She was as polished and technical as they came. She was very, very good with a soccer ball and it was a near impossible task to get the ball off of her.

Michelle was a work-horse and a perfectionist at her craft. She looked like a lion and had the heart of one when she played. The #10 on her back to me was one of the most fitting I’ve seen on a top-players jersey because in her career, much like some of her male counterparts: Zidane, Pele, Ronaldinho, Cruyff, Maradona, Bergkamp, and Messi -Michelle Akers put that jersey on and “pulled it off”…in a big way.

Becky Burleigh (University of Florida Head Women’s Soccer Coach)

I would have to pick English international, Kelly Smith. I remember coaching Kelly in the Senior Bowl after her final year at Seton Hall and thinking that she was one of the best players I had ever seen. She was the total package…athletically dangerous, technical, and great vision. It’s too bad injuries cut her career in the USA short, as her dynamic play was a treat to watch!

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Team Chicago-Fortaleza (formerly Huskies) took home the 1st place trophy at the River City Invitational in Peoria over the weekend. The girls had a great weekend going undefeated in the round-robin tournament. The team only let up two goals total in the four games played. A solid team effort, congratulations!

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Team Chicago Academy-Vitoria has had a couple of very successful weeks. May 9th-10th the team traveled to Rockford for three MRL qualification games against Honor SC (3-0 win), Chicago Premier (3-0 win), and Chicago Fire Juniors West (5-0 win). With the impressive results Vitoria qualified for the U13 MRL this upcoming Fall.

Last night Vitoria faced Chicago Fire Juniors South in its final round-robin game of the IYSA U12 Girls State Cup. Needing a win to qualify for the Semi-final Vitoria found itself trailing 1-0 after 8 minutes in the first half and with a mountain to climb. But Lizzie Albert drew level mid-way through the 1st half from Olivia Guerri’s assist. With less than 2 minutes left in the half Lizzie dribbled past 3 defenders in the box and squared the ball to Olivia Guerri. Her shot was initially saved by the GK, but Sam Poglitsch was there to net the eventual game-winner off the rebound.

During the break the Vitoria girls committed to playing a better 2nd half, and this resulted in a fantastic goal 10 seconds into the 2nd half. Lizzie Albert found Kat Lemke on the left flank and she walked the ball in and calmly slotted it in for the 2-goal lead. Mid-way through the 2nd half Lizzie stole the ball from the CFJ South center-back and extended the Vitoria lead. Finally, on the very last play of the game Ava Hensley played a great slotted pass to Sam Poglitsch in the midfield, and Sam quickly toe-poked it forward for Lizzie to run onto and hammer home her 3rd goal of the game for the final 5-1 score.

With the win Vitoria earned a berth in the IYSA State Cup Semi-final this Saturday 5/30 at 8am at the Naperville Polo Grounds v. FC United.

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Team Chicago Academy-Bahia qualified for the IYSA U14 Girls State Cup Semi-Final with a 1-1 draw against Arlington Aces. Bahia will face Eclipse Elite Black this Saturday 5/30 at 2pm at the Naperville Polo Fields.

Only needing a tie to advance after two comprehensive 4-1 and 4-0 victories over Libertyville FC 1974 and Honor SC, Bahia did just enough to get the job done on Saturday. After conceding an early goal Emma Crosswait got the all-import tying goal with a great shot from 25 yards out mid-way through the 1st half.

Bahia Hosts Successful MRL Weekend!

Posted by Team Chicago Soccer Club at May 21, 2015 12:05PM PDT ( 0 Comments )
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Team Chicago Academy-Bahia hosted a very successful MRL Premier I Division weekend at the Commissioners Park turf field beating Ohio Premier North 4-0 on Saturday and Omaha FC 1-0 on Sunday to move into a tie for 4th place with two games to go. With these wins Bahia now controls its own destiny. Wins in both the final games would see Bahia finish as runners-up and earning a spot at the USYSA Region II Championships in Fox Cities, WI.

In Saturday’s game Sophia Majher put on a clinic netting a beautiful hat-trick before an OP North defender scored the own goal of the century on a diving header off a Mia Marconi corner kick. Abbie Brennan and Reagan Sanders earned the shutout in goal.

Sunday’s game against an undefeated Omaha FC team was much tighter. Bahia was the better team in terms of possession and play, and 10 minutes in Paige Miller got the eventual game-winner when she ran onto Sophia Majher’s through-ball and calmly slotted it home. Needing the win to stay in contention, Bahia played a disciplined 2nd half to hang onto the lead. Especially, after having lost starting center-back Erin McCarthy 5 minutes into the game through injury. Abbie Brennan earned the shutout in goal.

The final two MRL games are Wednesday 6/3 at Campton and Sunday 6/7 at Kalamazoo College v. MI Jaguars. Up next for Bahia is its third and final State Cup round-robin game against Arlington Aces at Gentile Field on Saturday at 2:30pm. Bahia needs a tie to secure a spot in the Semi-Final.

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