Julie Ertz is US Soccer’s female player of the year

The US Soccer female player of the year for 2019 is midfielder Julie Ertz, and thank you soccer gods for that. The full list of nominees was:

• Julie Ertz
• Rose Lavelle
• Carli Lloyd
• Alex Morgan
• Megan Rapinoe
• Alyssa Naeher

Out of this list, it’s really hard to argue that any one of them deserved recognition more than Ertz. They all had their moments - who can forget Lavelle popping off in the World Cup final, or Alyssa Naeher’s penalty stop - but Ertz was the consistent, ballwinning, even keel that kept them all upright. She was a bit like the USWNT’s teddy bear, particularly during the World Cup, in that she made them feel safe and then Jill Ellis dragged her around everywhere no matter what even when it made a lot of sense to let her just stay in bed. She ended up starting 22 of the 24 USWNT games played this year and 14 of 24 NWSL games, keeping in mind that World Cup players were, of course, gone for the middle of the season.

Given that this award includes club performance, it’s also hard to say that any of those players was more important to their clubs than Ertz. Perhaps Lloyd, who did her damndest this season to try and drag Sky Blue to some respectable results, but Ertz was one of the keys to Chicago’s playoff run. She truly did it all this year, to the point that fans were hoping she would stop doing it all and rest for a little while.

Ertz won the award previously in 2017, and was Young Player of the Year in 2012. She was in this year’s FIFPRO World XI and she seems to be powered by whatever makes terminators run. Congratulations to Julie Ertz for another hardworking year. Please get some rest.