sonnys_bun

This is Part 2 to Lover. Also not really chaotic, but I think it is pretty cute.

prompt: I absolutely loved Lover! Is there any chance for a follow up with USWNT chaos & a wedding?

warnings: none

words: 2531

“Where’s Alyssa??!” Also, Rose’s laugh lol

Slim Thick Sonnet

Lindsey and Sophia discuss each other!

Let’s be real honest: a good 80-85% of the shit I say is just me being biased, and I am fully aware of that. But sometimes - like when I’m ranting about Lindsey Horan being under-appreciated and under-valued in the media - that’s not me being biased anymore. That’s the more-than-half-my-life spent in this sport at multiple levels in various capacities talking. So I’m going to assume you want my unbiased opinion of Emily Sonnett.

100% she’s on that roster. She’s versatile on that back line (and I will argue to the death with the person who *cough* never coached the sport and tried to tell me that CBs and OBs cannot be interchangeable, because they can be and they are). She can play outside back if Kelley gets hurt or if Dunny (cross your fingers, because without a lot of luck, it’s never going to happen for her, but we can hope) gets moved into the mid. She can step in at CB FOR SURE. And realistically, she can easily slot into the 6. We don’t have a natural replacement for JJ. Lindsey can do it. And Jae will end up being perfect there. But in an emergency, before Jae is on that roster full time, if you don’t want to sacrifice Horan’s offensive prowess even more than it is, look no further than Emily Sonnett.

Moving on. She is offensive-minded, which fits into our transitional game. Y’all realize she’s fast, too, right? And she’s got great ups. She’s fit. She’s resilient. She’s been injury-free, which is vv important. She’s aggressive, and Vlatko got her a lot of minutes before the shutdown in March, which calmed her down in all the right ways. And, she spent her time in Sweden becoming much more patient and comfortable on the ball. Go back and watch those games. Her vision is so far superior to her teammates. She’s looking for runs they aren’t even aware need to be made. Her first touch is incredible, and her passing accuracy is up there, too. But seriously, watch that first touch sometime. Impressive af. Anyway... her slide-tackles are on point, but her positioning is getting better so she can deploy them less-frequently. She is a damn solid defender when she settles in.

Also, for comparison’s sake, go back and watch Kelley when she first got into that Backline. Scary af. Like nail-biting omg are we going to get scored on scary. People were patient with her, but they don’t give Sonnett that same grace. And honestly, I think Sonnett is ahead of her in her development if you look at them at similar points in their careers. Kelley’s what? 32? She still gives up stupid fouls in dangerous areas because of her aggression. Not saying that a bad thing at all, but don’t praise Kelley for it and criticize Sonnett for the same thing.

Sit back and watch the kid play - like really watch her as if she were any other defender - and she deserves to be on that roster of 18 for her soccer ability alone. But then add in the intangibles. All signs point to her being highly coachable, highly motivated, and having a great soccer IQ. And then there’s the obvious. Any coach will tell you that you need a personality like Emily Sonnett in a tournament as stressful as the World Cup or the Olympics, because the mental aspect of those grueling weeks is as important as everything else.

Now that that’s all over, can we talk about fish sauce, because it is an underrated condiment.