GOAL sat down with the U.S. captain and self-confessed soccer junkie to discuss the team's new era, and her role in leading it
There are times on the field in which all Lindsey Horan can do is laugh.
A self-confessed soccer junkie, the U.S. women's national team captain is in disbelief almost every time she picks her head up with the ball at her feet. She looks up at the talent in front of her and the options begin streaming through her mind. Mal, Sophia, Trinity, Jaedyn… no matter where she plays that ball next, she's going to have a front-row seat to something special.
"It's stupid," Horan tells GOAL with a laugh. "It's like, this is so nice."
For Horan, this is what it's like to have your dreams come true. The USWNT captain has always seen the game through a specific lens. She's always believed that soccer doesn't need to just be played – it needs to be played beautifully. And, when you can look up the field and see arguably the best attack in the world unfolding in front of you, beautiful soccer can be on the menu at just about any moment.
And therein lies the problem. Over the past few years, the USWNT – despite an abundance of talent, and with someone as skilled as Horan to orchestrate the attack – has struggled to play beautiful soccer. It's a team loaded with performers, but one that has produced far too little music. That's why this group is rebuilding. That's why this past year has brought so much change. That's why this team is beginning a new era, one that begins this week with the Paris Olympics.
Now 30, Horan knows this is her last USWNT era. She's one of the group's most experienced veterans, one of the few who has been there, and done that. She has admitted in the past that she hasn't always been the perfect leader but, even at this point in her career, she's still learning.
As she prepares for the Olympics – the U.S. open the group stage against Zambia Thursday in Nice – Horan has taken those lessons to heart. She can both lead this young group, and be its conductor.
"So, so, so many different lessons," she says. "So many experiences. I can list so many, but I think one of the biggest things is, with me stepping into this role, there's Lindsey as the footballer and then there's Lindsey as the captain. Part of me has always stuck with just the footballer, and not like thinking of Lindsey first in a sense. But thinking of my game first and how I see football and whatever.
"I've had to transition away where I'm just like, 'I'm the captain and I'm a leader on this team and I represent this team.' What I say, what I do, so many conversations… if I'm representing this team and I'm a voice for this team – not saying my voice isn't the same as every single player – but I am an outlet for this team. That was a really cool lesson to me because I always just thought of football."
With the USWNT seeking to reestablish their elite status on the world's stage – starting with the Olympics – Horan sat down with GOAL to discuss her first year as captain, what it's like under Emma Hayes and what goes through her head when she looks up with the ball at her feet.
Getty ImagesThe pressures and lessons of being captain
It was approximately one year ago that Horan was named captain, and suffice it to say, it wasn't the year she imagined. Truth be told, almost everything that could go wrong did.
The USWNT crashed out of last summer's World Cup early, with the team settling for its worst-ever exit in that tournament. Vlatko Andonovski was gone and Hayes was ultimately in as coach, albeit nearly a year later. Before Hayes arrived, the U.S. had to navigate the Korbin Albert controversy, one that threatened many of the foundational ideals of this team. And Horan herself was no stranger to controversy, as she was forced to apologize after questioning the soccer knowledge of average American fans who still don't fully understand what happens between the lines.
As captain, Horan has had to navigate just about every controversy imaginable. As someone who so often has been determined to lead simply by playing, Horan has discovered that isn't always an option.
"I feel like I've grown a lot, especially over the past few months," Horan says. "Just dealing with losses and certain things that have come up within our national team that upset me, but I have a team that I need to help. I need to set an example. I need to be the best person that I can be and make sure that I show up for them."
That, of course, can be a weight. In the captaincy role, Horan now faces challenges she didn't a few years ago. As one of the faces of this team, Horan is under increased pressure. The microscope is always trained on both her performances and her words.
"The thing that's been really special is that, when you're in a role like this, it is a lot of pressure… a lot," she says. "I think my message to the team and my message to myself which I learned from my sports psych – is that pressure is an absolute privilege, and not a lot of people get that kind of pressure. Not a lot of people get that kind of feeling.
"Even before the World Cup games, I think the first game, one of my speeches to the team was saying that pressure is a privilege. We are so lucky to feel this, to feel the stress and anxiety and nerves for a football game. It's an honor to go and play for all these people. It's a lot of pressure and like, for me as a captain, for me as a leader, it's an honor to have that kind of pressure. When I look at it like that, I think it's such a cool example to the rest of the group, and I hopefully made that known to them. But it is such a privilege to have this role and hopefully continue in this role."
AdvertisementGettyLearning from Hayes
The only thing that Horan loves as much as playing soccer is talking about it. You could argue she may even love it more. To Horan, the sport is about so much more than kicking a ball – it's about theory, execution, process, and personality. It's a simple game that, when the right people get talking about it, can become so much more complex.
Prompt Horan to explain her ideas about how the game should be played, and it's hard to get her to stop – and she knows it.
"Sorry if I'm rambling too much," she says at one point with a laugh.
Over the last few months, she's found a new conversation partner, a new kindred spirit: Emma Hayes. The former Chelsea boss finally arrived, and from the moment her hiring by US Soccer was announced, Horan couldn't wait to pick her brain.
"She obviously has so much experience and has won so many trophies and done incredible things with Chelsea," Horan said of the new USWNT coach. "I'm really excited for a different leader, a different manager, and what she can bring to this national team – because we need to change."
Hayes certainly is implementing that change, although it'll take some time. She's been on the job for just a few months ahead of these Olympics. This is a process, one that is just getting started.
Horan is excited to play a leadership role. She's excited to help Hayes execute her vision, both on the field and for this program as a whole. Most important, she's excited to sit down and talk soccer with new coaches and new teammates. There's nothing better, is there?
"I'm 30 years old," Horan began. "I'm an experienced player and a veteran on the team. And I'm such a footballer and I just want to learn and I want to grow more and I know I still can. I know there are coaches and managers out there who can get that out of me, and get that out of our team.
"That was like the most exciting thing to me because, like, the way she speaks, the way she teaches the meetings, the culture, the questions she asks, the advice, the speeches – you can learn and you can take so much from all that. I'm just so excited for myself but also for this team. We need that and, especially in this time period, new cycle and everything, it's really, really special. I can't wait to see what she does with our team moving forward."
GettyAdjusting to the new vision
Under the previous regime, the USWNT had a predictable method of play. Andonovski rolled out a 4-3-3 and stuck to his principles. Hayes, in contrast, rarely keeps things so simple.
At Chelsea, Hayes emerged as a tactical wizard. She's a coach who changes things on the fly at times, as long as the game calls for it. She seems like a coach perfectly designed for Horan – and vice-versa.
Horan can play as a six, eight or as a 10. She can drift out wide or stay centrally. She can serve as a creator or a tone-setter. She can score goals, make them or prevent them. Horan's biggest strength is her versatility, and Hayes will cook up many different ways to use her in the coming months and years.
"It's another learning curve for me," Horan says. "Even with the experience that I have, I know I can be the player that I am in her systems and can be adaptable like I want to be. I feel like I'm always a coachable player and person and I want to help in that aspect, as well. Whenever I'm on the field, I know I can help in that sense where, if there is a tactical adjustment mid-game or halftime or whatever, that she can ask that of me and I can help in that way.
"I think it is very, very cool thing for our team to see because maybe before we weren't as tactically adjustable or maybe we weren't asked to be. And now this is a really big ask of us. For me, I'm going to have to work my mind. If it's mid-game and things aren't going well, what do I need to do? What changes do we have to make? I'm thinking it, but to have a manager that is so intelligent and knows from just seeing maybe the first 15 minutes or whatever that we need to do this now, she can tell me 'Lindsey, get it done' and then it's 'Let's get it done' and make that actually happen and make sure everyone's in a good place. That's my job."
GettyPlaying with that attack
In any number of ways, Horan is very much enjoying life with the USWNT these days. In terms of her own role, it's entirely flexible. She's asked to do different things every game. She loves that. She loves being challenged in new ways on the highest level.
She's also enjoying the team around her and the weapons at her disposal. Last summer, Horan was the USWNT's joint-leading goalscorer at the World Cup. In the upcoming Olympics, that almost certainly won't happen. There are simply too many sharpshooters around her.
Up first? Mallory Swanson, who missed the World Cup due to the untimeliest of injuries. She's back and in form, giving the U.S. a presence that this team lacked last year.
"I'm so so happy Mal is back, that's my first thing," Horan says. "She is just a different player and she's grown so much as a person and a player. To have her out on the field is incredible. She's good out wide. You can play her through as the nine. She's back to getting gold. She's doing her thing and she's just like such a spark."
The USWNT's other joint-leading scorer last year was Sophia Smith, who actually disappointed as the tournament wore on. The Portland Thorns striker is a star, but didn't quite show it at the World Cup. The hope and expectation is that that changes this year.
"You have Soph, who is so confident and so consistent," Horan says. "She's just another young player where you're just like, 'How do you have this ability and mentality?' She has such a special game. The goals that she scores, the things that she does. She's a very, very unique player."
And, finally, there's Trinity Rodman, a player that Horan is particularly impressed with. The two have worked closely together both on and off the field – both are brand ambassadors for adidas, strengthening their bond.
Rodman got an introduction at the World Cup but it felt like just that: an introduction. In the year since, Rodman looks like an entirely new player, one that has the confidence to stare down anyone in her path.
"She has so much talent," Horan says of Rodman. "She has her physical ability, as do the other two, but Trin? I don't think people see this, but she is a very, very coachable person and works really, really hard. The things that have been asked of her, she's put right into her game. She does so many of the little things where I'm just like, 'This does not get appreciated as much'.
"People are going to talk about her nutmegs but she's like, really worked on the defensive side of her game as well, where she's tracking back like 60 yards to go make a tackle. She's such a well-rounded player now. I'm really really proud of her."