The United States men’s national team and women’s national team will each have a star elected Player of the Year, but the similarities end there.
The USWNT won the World Cup and choosing its top performer for 2019 is an improbably difficult task. The USMNT spent much of the calendar driving its supporters crazy.
Women’s nominees
Julie Ertz
Rose Lavelle
Megan Rapinoe
Alex Morgan
Alyssa Naeher
Carli Lloyd
It’s hard to find too much fault with the half-dozen World Cup winners chosen as finalists, though arguments for Kelley O’Hara and Tobin Heath would be well heard by the writer of this post.
It seems likely Rapinoe will claim the award, considering she’s yet to win it and was probably the most visible athlete in the world this summer.
Ertz, Morgan and Lloyd have all won the honor.
Men’s nominees
Christian Pulisic
Jordan Morris
Weston McKennie
Aaron Long
Tim Ream
Gyasi Zardes
As for the men, is there a scenario in which Christian Pulisic doesn’t win the honor? Reasonably? Yes.
Some will argue that Weston McKennie might get a look over Pulisic on the balance of their seasons, but there’s a strong argument to be made for Morris given his incredible comeback from injury and standout seasons for both Seattle and the USMNT.
Pulisic had three goals and three assists at the Gold Cup, and added goals against Chile and Cuba.
Morris bagged five goals and seven assists, including four and four in the CONCACAF Nations League group stage.
Three of the six men’s finalists ply their trade in MLS, while one is in the Premier League, another in the Football League Championship, and a sixth in the Bundesliga.
Pulisic won in 2017, while Zack Steffen nabbed the award in 2018. The other four nominees have not claimed one.