One key player for every Super League club

The players driving all eight USL Super League teams, plus Brooklyn's addition of Moroccan international Salma Amani

With 10 weeks of Super League action in the books, we have a pretty good idea of how every team wants to play, but which players are making the systems work? I wanted to spotlight one standout from each club that’s been especially effective, with an added bonus analyzing Salma Amani’s introduction to Brooklyn.

Let’s dig in.

Sam Kroeger (CM, Brooklyn FC)

After a sterling four-year run at Rutgers, Sam Kroeger has crossed the Hudson and emerged as one of the best holding midfielders in the Super League with Brooklyn FC. Kroeger hasn’t missed a minute during her club’s first eight games; she’s the linchpin of Brooklyn’s aggressive 4-1-4-1 shape.

Kroeger entered the weekend putting up two tackles per game on a 74% win rate with just one yellow card to her name. She often drops to the level of the center backs in build, allowing Brooklyn to spread out and giving her more advanced teammates to breathe.

You see Kroeger’s subtle contributions play out above. Her game is defined by moments that won’t show up on the stat sheet, but all of them are critical to the Brooklyn gameplan.

As the opposition tries to counter after repelling a Brooklyn attack, #3 steps up against the first receiver. Carolina is thus denied the ability to quickly turn up the middle. When the Ascent then go wide, they still have the chance to quickly pass upfield.

Enter Kroeger. She makes a second closing run to that wide receiver, denying Carolina for a second time. The guests are forced to reset entirely, and Brooklyn can settle into their high pressing shape. If you want to understand why Sam Kroeger is so good, her ability to replicate that play a dozen times a game explains it.

Sydney Studer (CB, Carolina Ascent)

Carolina has allowed just four goals this year, and the pairing of Sydney Studer and Vicky Bruce in central defense is a major reason why. I could’ve written about either here, but Studer - a former United States youth international and Washington State standout - has been particularly good at anchoring the right side of the back four.

The Ascent aren’t a manic pressing team in their 4-4-2, but their shape does well to limit opponents toward the perimeter and encourage risky passes over the top. Whether by fending off long balls or rejecting crosses, Carolina expects their defenders to clean up. As such, no team requires more defensive actions per match out of their center backs. Studer, who leads the USL with 43 clearances, is built for that setup.

While good in box, Studer isn’t a one-trick pony. You see her stepping out in the clip when a Brooklyn forward drops for a touch, forcing that receiver to keep her back to goal. When the opposition resets, Studer hedges her bets in recovery; she’s halfway between that forward and a replacing winger to limit access to either player.

The end result? A through ball that #12 intercepts, allowing Carolina to reassert themselves. Studer brings steady defensive technique in spades, but her reactivity and her penchant for disruption are equally key - she’s got a very complete game.

Sam Meza (CM, Dallas Trinity)

I’ve already thrown the spotlight on Sam Meza a few times this year, but the plaudits deserve repeating: she’s awesome. Having seen Dallas in person with Meza out of the lineup, it’s clear that Trinity need her to fully meet their potential.

Meza accounts for 12% of Dallas’ total touches this year, a top-10 mark in the league. Only one other midfielder even places in the top 25, evidencing how the former UNC star’s all-encompassing impact goes well above her peers. Many of Meza’s touches come in the half spaces, where #15 serves as a progressive outlet that can receive on the turn.

You see the midfielder’s dribble attempts and takeaways from the latest Dallas match mapped above. The latter is a catch-all term for Meza’s tackles, interceptions, and recoveries, which there are a ton of. Against DC, Meza started the game on the right but later re-positioned on the left. She dominated in both spots.

Whether spraying right-footed switches to Julia Dorsey and Lucy Shepherd, looking like a magnet in second ball situations, or turning on the dribble with her low center of gravity, every one of Meza’s actions feels positive. She’s averaging a wildly high 3.6 successful dribbles per match this year, and that poise keeps Trinity afloat even amidst the most aggressive of presses. For my taste, Sam Meza is probably the standout player of the opening 10 weeks.

Katie Duong (CM, DC Power)

Whether DC, who sits in seventh place in the USL with a lowly 0.78 points per game, can step up into contention is an open question. If they manage to do it, Katie Duong’s exceptional two-way play in the central midfield will be a major reason why.

After being drafted by her hometown Portland Thorns, Duong ended up with the Minnesota Aurora in the USL W League. Her performances there and in the college ranks brought Frederic Brillant and the Power calling, and the returns have been terrific so far. With 15 successful tackles and 19 key passes this year, Duong is a textbook box-to-box type amidst Brillant’s phase-based system.

You get a sense for Duong’s game above. In the first example, she's stepping up from the pivot of the Power’s attacking 3-2-5, forcing the Dallas defense to dig low and thereby opening space for a teammate to shoot.

#9 stays deeper in the second case, reversing the example from the first play. This time around, she cuts in to serve a left-footed cross. That Duong has that pass in her toolbox is a differentiator given that she’s mostly right-footed. Indeed, Duong takes in-swinging corner kicks on her right foot, which is part of the reason why she leads the USL in chances created.

The final play above sees #9 initiate a take-and-go counter sequence. Duong tackles the ball away from a foe, charges into the open midfield, and keeps her head up to try and hit Jorian Baucom further ahead. The pass doesn’t connect, but it illustrates Duong’s progressivity; her average pass this year is a full 1.4 yards more vertically progressive than any other DC center mid.

I’ve not done enough to highlight Duong’s box-to-box game - so, so many recoveries! - but you get the picture. She’s doing it all at Audi Field.

Addie McCain (FW, Fort Lauderdale United)

Look, I’m mostly flying under the radar with these picks, but Addie McCain is undeniable. The former Texas A&M star and KC Current draftee leads the USL with six goals. Atop Fort Lauderdale’s 4-4-2-ish shape, she’s doing everything you’d want out of a No. 9.

Whether it’s a right-footed poke against her momentum, a driven drag across the face of goal, or something poached on the end of a goalmouth scramble, McCain is a natural and gritty finisher. She’s very much a striker’s striker when it comes to the goalscoring profile, and that’s what Fort Lauderdale needs.

Of course, her impact goes further than that. Tyrone Mears often sets this team up to build with McCain withdrawn in a deeper spot. Her ability to pick up the ball between the lines - or at least to make runs that drag defenders out - opens up Fort Lauderdale’s wingers over the top. Sh’nia Gordon has been a particular beneficiary of the wide space afforded by McCain’s dummy running.

Against Lexington, McCain scored a goal, but she also took 13 touches in zone 14. She made two recoveries in the final third and attempted two further tackles in that area. McCain won’t be the player to thread in a killer slide-rule pass, but she’s hard to displace and can keep an attack moving. Punctuate that skillset with elite finishing, and you’ve got one of the premier strikers in the Super League.

Nayeong Shin (FB, Lexington SC)

Two Madisons - Parsons and Perez - are the most visible players in the Lexington system. The former, attacker Madi Parsons, is never afraid to shoulder an opponent off the ball or power into the box. The latter, center back Madison Perez, distributes at the base of Lexington’s 4-2-3-1, takes set pieces, and is the backstop of a hard-pressing defense.

Amidst that system, Nayeong Shin constantly does the subtler work to hold the team together. The South Korean defender has played at left back, right back, and center mid - and often all three within a single match. Lexington has used a set of seven players as starters in every one of their matches (Shin included) but constantly changes those players around mid-match. #7 allows them to do so without blowing up their sense of structure.

Nowhere was that clearer than against Spokane two weeks back. Early on, with Shin at left back, Spokane dominated down the right side. When the defender moved right in the second half, that dynamic inverted. Though Spokane scored their goal off a diagonal to Shin’s side, she mostly denied danger and allowed her side to go on for the win.

Michael Dickey often wants his full backs to push up aggressively into the channels as a backstop for the high press. Shin is capable of doing the job - she’s got 14 interceptions this year with no other teammates in double digits - but also knows when to sit deeper if it’s a center back stepping ahead. She leads the team with 83 duel attempts, 50 duel wins, and a 22-for-30 mark on tackles.

It’s efficient stuff from Nayeong Shin across the board. She brings the exact sort of composure that an otherwise hectic Lexington team requires.

Haley Thomas (CB, Spokane Zephyr)

A native Washingtonian, Haley Thomas was on the bench for the first three weeks of the Spokane season but has quickly become a pillar at the back. Her gorgeous diagonal to Emina Ekic was a standout two weeks ago against Lexington, but Thomas’ defensive quality has been equally apparent since she took over in the lineup.

We’ll start with the distributive contributions. Syndey Cummings was the day-one starter on the right side of the center back pair, but her expected passing completion rate (87%) was the third-safest in the USL. There wasn’t quite enough verve, and it let defenses off the hook. Thomas’ mark (82%) is in line with the league par at her position, but the upside illustrated by those bold diagonals has been clear. Now, opponents need to adjust against Thomas as a passer from the back.

#18 is seen in one-on-one situations twice above, and she handles each play gracefully. In the first example, Thomas is under the gun on the break but backtracks and hip-turns perfectly to deny the opposing forward a good shooting angle.

In the second, Thomas needs to extend wide against an overlapping runner, but she waits to peel off her initial mark until support arrives. Thereafter, she does splendidly to deny a crossing angle, forcing the Lexington winger to turn tail and end the imminent danger.

When called upon, Haley Thomas has almost always done the job. Notably, she’s oh-for-seven in the air so far and taking 5% less touches than Clark. That seems like a problem on paper, but it’s the nature of the partnership. Thomas is doing the job one-on-one, and Clark is supplying the physicality. Thomas can spray a pass when needed, but she knows when to demure. Filling a role is an underrated skill, and Haley Thomas is doing it.

Sydny Nasello (AM, Tampa Bay Sun)

Denise Schilte-Brown leveraged her connections wisely in helping to build the Tampa Bay roster, and adding Sydny Nasello - an attacker that contributed to 52 goals in 71 appearances under Schilte-Brown at USF - may be the biggest coup of all. Nasello’s spark on the right wing has been crucial for the Sun so far.

Compared to her leaguewide peers, Nasello ranks in the 86th percentile for both key passes and her forward passing rate. She’s in the top quintile for fouls drawn, and she’s successfully beating opponents on the dribble 2.6 times per 90 minutes. Within the Sun’s 3-2-5ish attack, the winger is a source of progressivity and verve in spades.

All of those contributions have made Nasello essential for Tampa Bay. Coming into the weekend, #35 had been responsible for more than a third of her club’s expected assists. That’s a wildly high share, the second-highest in the USL, and it illustrates how Nasello has been the best (and sometimes only) attacker capable of hitting the final ball.

Though she’s only fifth on the team in minutes played, Nasello leads the Sun in duel attempts and duel wins. Never one to abdicate her defensive responsibilities, the winger is very good about getting back to support Natalia Staude on the right. No matter the phase, Sydny Nasello is doing the job.

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Brooklyn’s Salma Amani signing

When you think about the profile of a Brooklyn attacker under Jess Silva, you typically wouldn’t imagine a traditional No. 9. Jessica Garziano can do “classic striker” things, but she’s equally likely to link play on the edge of the box, or at least to feint low to open up a teammate. Luana Grabias has all the speed in the world, but she seems raw in some situations in front of goal.

Salma Amani won’t change that calculus, but she has the skill to make a difference in the Big Apple. Amani and Silva spent time together in Metz, and now they’re reunited in the USL. Though Amani has only played 45 minutes across two games and is due to miss time while away with the Moroccan national team, she projects as an extremely logical piece for this Brooklyn side to add.

Now, a warning: watching two sub appearances and one Saudi League match maaaaaaybe isn’t a sufficient sample size to assess a player. That said, Amani’s tape has flashes of “scoring by committee” potential and creative intelligence that justify a reunion with Silva.

Within Al Ittihad’s 3-5-2ish shape above, you see Amani (#17) receive between the lines to begin the play. She started as a forward in this game, but she drops lower here as teammates advance further ahead.

What stands out is the vision and spatial sense. Amani passes wide, and her first instinct thereafter is to burst upfield toward the near post. However, she looks ahead and sees two teammates already making that same run; becoming the third player to do so would be wasteful. Meanwhile, the right-side receiver Amani passed to is liable to be double-teamed.

The response? Amani supports wide, picks up the ball, and tries a bold dribbling move between multiple defenders to get to the endline. It doesn’t quite come off to create a chance, but it allows Al Ittihad to retain possession in the final third.

Same idea here from Amani’s debut at Rocco Commisso Stadium. The Moroccan international (#7 in the Diaza-designed Brooklyn kits) starts in the left half space, but she anticipates a hole opening up toward the right as two teammates draw opposing Carolina out. Amani cuts into space, rides out pressure on her back side, and plays a delicious through ball to split two defenders. The timing isn’t quite there, but the ideas are sublime.

If Brooklyn has lacked one thing, it’s a No. 8 that can make that exact pass and keep the offense ticking. Amani brings that skill on top of legitimate goalscoring instincts. She fluffed a very good chance on her debut after crashing the box to receive, and the Al Ittihad game I pulled that first clip from featured an Amani brace. Post-break, expect Salma Amani to slot into the lineup and help Brooklyn to break their recent slide.

Cover Photo Credit: USL Super League / Twitter