Aaron Molloy is as big a pick-up as you can imagine in the USL, bar none. An MVP finalist in the Championship and League One alike, Molloy adds class and creativity like no other midfielder in the lower leagues. That Charleston Battery, the defending Eastern Conference champs, added such a player is a major statement of intent.
The numbers make the impact clear. Molloy has 18 assists over the last two seasons on 148 chances created. In his great write-up of the move, Nicholas Murray noted that the Irish midfielder led the USL with 492 recoveries and placed second among all players with 103 tackles during that same span. Molloy gives you quality in attack, control of the ball in the midfield, and a safety net in front of your defense.
Still, the small things that the midfielder does without the ball at his feet are what set him apart as a truly spectacular player.
Think about those recoveries. Molloy has a sixth sense for glomming on to loose balls and keeping his team in control. It’s a skillset that ties back to his prodigious awareness and vision on the pitch, and it pays off for his team time and again.
Consider the play seen above from Memphis’ playoff match against Louisville this October. Though Molloy and 901 would lose the game, the star midfielder had a barnburner. In the clip, #6 has advanced between the lines when a teammate’s pass is intercepted. The break is seemingly on.
Enter Molloy, who recovers at the first hint of a counter. You don’t see the midfielder dive into the tackle, however. Instead, he hedges into the passing lane, denying a natural pass towards the right side and forcing a change of momentum upfield.
The denial forces LouCity into a turnover of their own, and Molloy stays alert all the while. He reads bounce of the ball, beats an opponent to the touch, and makes clean contact. Not only does #6 recover possession, but he advances play and launches a Memphis winger into the opposing half. Most defensive midfielders would knock the ball into row Z, but Molloy turns a pinball sequence into progress.
Defensive reactiveness and considerate positioning are hallmarks of the Irishman’s game. He’s very good about subtle body movements and deft head or shoulder fakes that unsettle opponents in key situations.
The example above how Molloy uses his defensive runs to support his team’s shape and influence the game. Paired with a pressing winger in the clip, #6 slides into the center of the pitch and shows ever so slightly towards the Louisville half, driving the opponent towards a group of for 901 players near the sideline.
All the while, as mapped out, Molloy never overcommits and is quickly able to press towards the receiver when the pass is played. The LouCity attacker who gets the ball is presented two options as by Molloy’s one-step-ahead positioning: turn into that four-man trap, or pass backwards and restart the entire cycle.
Nothing about the play from Molloy is sexy or world-beating, but his constant ability to read the game in such a manner is exceptional. There’s a measured aspect to Aaron Molloy that the top-of-the-line stats can’t fully capture.
Charleston is a team that doesn’t lack for talent in the center of the pitch, but they aren’t perfectly balanced or flawless in their execution. Take the example above from the title game, a match in which the Battery blew a lead and lost on penalty kicks.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with the behavior of Emilio Ycaza and Chris Allan in the pivot in that clip. There’s a slight disconnect between midfield lines that gives Phoenix too much time for a switch initially, and you’d like a more aggressive rotation against Rising’s attackers in the half space, but no damage is ultimately done.
Still, what might Molloy add there? The league-best tackler could’ve pressed up aggressively to shut down the diagonal ball. Maybe he’d have sat deep and never let Phoenix cross in. Charleston ultimately clears their box, but they do so without control; what if they could find Molloy’s feet and break with style?
You add a player like Aaron Molloy because of those “what if” plays. The Irishman is consistently in the right place, and he has the skill to make good on the opportunities he forges.
Charleston has a lot of those difference-makers already, and they’re spoilt for choice in the midfield. Molloy is going to be etched into the stone tablet of Ben Pirmann’s 4-2-3-1, having started 66 of the last 68 matches for which he was eligible.
Assuming that much, you still have ample flexibility if you’re Pirmann. There are seven players for five spots on the current roster, and there’s plenty of optionality and talent in equal measure. Ycaza and Allan are a proven partnership, but Ycaza can play higher if need be, and Molloy has the skill to play at various heights within the basic “central midfielder” mold.
Musing on the rotation for the Battery is ultimately academic for now. There’s four months of offseason machinations and leaguewide wheeling and dealing to come, and the balance will inevitably change in the stretch to come. Still, it feels like Charleston has already cemented one of the best moves of the entire winter.
Soccer games are decided on the margins. Small battles snowball into big sweeps of momentum, and the team that masters the subtle aspects gives themselves the best chance to win. No one in the USL owns the marginal moments quite like Aaron Molloy.