Emily Sonnett has spent the vast majority of her career operating as a utility defender, someone who can fill any role in the back line. This versatility is often cited as the primary reason for her inclusion in the United States national team at the last three major tournaments. When you can only pick 23 players, it always helps to have a few with the mindset to come in when needed, and the ability to cover multiple positions.

Last season, after joining the Seattle Reign, Sonnett was shuffled into defensive midfield. Her performances there paved the way for a surprise start in the same role in the 2023 World Cup second round, where the U.S. lost to Sweden on penalty kicks. Despite the end result, Sonnett handled herself well and made a strong case for keeping the shirt post-tournament.

Then, in January, Sonnett signed for reigning National Women’s Soccer League champions Gotham FC. At the time, the general assumption was that she would play defensive midfield, taking over from or rotating with Nealy Martin. However, so far, Sonnett has been playing in (drum roll) attacking midfield.

Feel free to re-read that last sentence. When I first saw Gotham’s line-up for their league opener away to the Portland Thorns, I guessed that head coach Juan Carlos Amoros had opted for a double pivot of Sonnett and Martin to match up man-for-man with Portland’s midfield. Instead, Martin kept her usual holding role, while Sonnett played further forward on the same line as Delanie Sheehan and the wingers.

Amoros himself alluded to the change in role after the match, mentioning: “Sonnett stepping into maybe a less natural position, a bit more of a No.8”. So, is this just another case of Amoros and his ‘organised chaos’. Or the latest edition of Sonnett Proves Us All Wrong. I’m inclined to go with the latter, because she hasn’t looked out of place.

Gotham under Amoros have always utilised more of a man-to-man defensive approach in midfield, with players staying close to their direct opponents to get quick pressure on the ball. In 2023, no team in the NWSL attempted more tackles in the final third than their 71, or in the middle third than their 184. They are a high-pressing team if ever there was one, so there’s something fitting about a ball-winning midfielder like Sonnett showing up in more advanced areas.

Sonnett is fast, fit, and unafraid to put her foot (or head) into a challenge. She combines those physical qualities and commitment with good reading of play to close down. All of this helps when looking to force turnovers, and Gotham like doing that in the opponent’s half. As we see in this video clip, good defence can lead to good offence. What we also see is that Sonnett can pass, and she can run, but we’ll get onto that in more detail later.

It’s worth mentioning that Gotham’s opening two league games have come against Portland and the North Carolina Courage, who (along with Gotham) were in the NWSL top three for average possession percentage last year. These are teams that like to play out from the back, have quality players in defensive areas, and often look to control games with the ball rather than without it.

If you are looking to nullify the opposition’s strengths, then playing Sonnett as an attack dog just behind the striker, applying non-stop pressure to reduce the influence of high-calibre deep playmakers like Sam Coffey, has some obvious benefits. Sonnett isn’t just an energetic role-player, though. She reads situations well, anticipating where the ball could go next.

In the past, this sort of role wouldn’t have much traction over a full NWSL season, because so few teams were interested in playing out from the back. But the league does seem to be changing, at least in the early stages of the 2024 campaign. Angel City, Houston Dash, Orlando Pride and Racing Louisville are teams who will see playoff qualification as a big accomplishment. They are not title contenders. Still, all of them appear to be showing greater interest in possession. We are also seeing more goalkeepers getting involved in build-up play, as Kailen Sheridan has done for San Diego Wave over the last two years.

This could be the beginning of an evolution in playing styles within the NWSL, which has traditionally been viewed as a transition-heavy league where teams press, counter, press, counter. Perhaps it is a response to American failure and Spanish success at last year’s World Cup? Time will tell on that front, but for now, Sonnett’s advanced ball-winning role is not something Gotham need to keep in the bag for specific games. They could feasibly deploy her in this same role on an almost weekly basis, and it would make some sense.

Sonnett can contribute offensively, too. And I don’t just mean by turning opponents over in their own half or hunting down loose balls to keep attacks going. She’s a better passer than given credit for. Check out this beautiful no-look volleyed flick to find Esther Gonzalez.

There is also what Sonnett brings to an attack off the ball. Good teams tend not to pack their line-ups with tricksters and playmakers. They need people moving to receive those passes, to create space for the dribblers, to get on the end of things and give breathing room to the team’s possession, rather than everything becoming clustered around the ball. We all know about Sonnett’s pace and durability, but she also demonstrates two other important skills in a good midfield ‘runner’: she is aware of the space around her, and she shows a desire to actually get into the box.

Rather than constantly being drawn to the ball, Sonnett made a number of good forward runs against Portland and North Carolina. In the process, she either got into position to receive behind an opponent, or created space inside for another teammate to receive. In the following video, we see her attacking space, challenging opposing midfielders to track her run, or pushing the defence back and opening space between the lines.

Is Sonnett going to open up defences like Rose Lavelle would, with a drop of the shoulder, a change of pace or a cutting through ball? Probably not. But she can make room for the Lavelles of this world with her unselfish work off the ball. Inside the box, will she hit double figures for goals? Again, highly unlikely. But she will at least give you an option to hit, and attack the ball with some commitment.

This sort of midfield role isn’t something we see a lot of in women’s football. If I had to compare Sonnett’s trajectory and current role, the first player that comes to mind is Arturo Vidal, a player of boundless energy who took on virtually every possible role in defence and midfield before becoming a roving box to box ball-winner with Juventus and earning the nickname, La Piranha. (Were you starting to worry about the title of this article, dear reader? Now you can rest.)

Gotham have lots of options for their attacking midfield spots. Lavelle, Dunn, Sheehan and Yazmeen Ryan are all more natural fits. Sonnett offers a completely different type of profile, but she has shown that she can be effective in a few different ways when playing further forward.

On that note…

Sonnett wasn’t the only re-positioned player in that Gotham v North Carolina game. Don’t forget that Amoros converted Jenna Nighswonger into a left full-back, where she looks set to play for the national team at this summer’s Olympics. There’s also Nealy Martin, a defender now playing in defensive midfield (and occasionally filling in as goalkeeper when required…).

Meanwhile, North Carolina fielded Brianna Pinto, a career midfielder, up front. They like their strikers to come back and get involved in play anyway, but Pinto has also made some great runs in the penalty box and scored the winning goal against Gotham. She was flanked on the right side by Bianca St-Georges, someone who emerged in the NWSL as a powerful wing-back and now plays as an out-and-out winger. She scored some goals for Chicago last year, and notched two on her North Carolina debut against Houston a few weeks ago.

Talent identification doesn’t stop when players become professionals. Good coaches should always be looking at different ways to get the best out of their talent. And Juan Carlos Amoros seems to have found yet another way to utilise Emily Sonnett’s qualities.