Not all midfielders are the same. There are the midfielders who purely midfield, patrolling the middle of the pitch, ensuring they aren’t too defensive, not too attack-minded, but a perfect goldilocks of splitting the difference. You have your attacking midfielders, the ones who patrol the middle of the pitch sure, but mostly find themselves up in the final third applying pressure to the goalkeeper. Then you have the type Angel City FC midfielder Madison Hammond, fits into. The defensive midfielders. The ones who spend most of the time doing the dirty work of helping out the defense. The ones who have to make sure they aren’t killed on a counter, while also doing their job of connecting the defense with the offense. With so many keen on scoring goals, the versatility of a player that can help out in attack while also being a stout defender from the middle of the park, is one that is vastly underrated. Which is what makes Hammond such an important piece to the squad.
Let’s give a round of applause to Madison Hammond for reaching her 50th career @NWSL regular season appearance! Drop a 👏👏👏 for @gohaamm ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/iJy5PApkFv
— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) June 8, 2024
Hammond had a pretty solid 2024 campaign for Angel City FC. She made 23 appearances with 14 of those being starts, while she tallied 1381 minutes throughout the NWSL season. Like several other players on the team this past season, she also enjoyed a milestone moment when she hit 50 career NWSL regular season appearances, in early June. Despite being a player that tends to focus on the defensive side of things, Hammond finished the year with 83% successful passing percentage with just under 700 passes.
While she was decent enough in attack, it was her defensive ability that really stood out a lot throughout this season. In 2024 Hammond won 58% of her tackles, coming away with 15 on the season. She also won 27 of her aerial duels and was able to rack up 16 interceptions. Not to mention the more than handful of occasions where we saw her serve as the last line of defense, putting her body on the line to keep the team from conceding goals.
This is the ACFC Save of the Match for #HOUvLA.
70’ | Madison Hammond#AngelCityFC | @PNCBank pic.twitter.com/WI2Eq6fxPy— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) June 16, 2024
It’s always hard to really tangibly quantify how important a player like Hammond is. So often in sports we glance at the basic stats like goals, assists, points, and sure we could sit here and have your eyes heavy as we dive into advanced analytics, but honestly, the easiest thing you can do is just watch. Look for number 99 on the pitch and watch how she moves off the ball. Watch as she puts herself in positions to stop a counter, watch as she always seems to be around the play. Madison may not be the player who fills up a stat sheet, but she is absolutely a player every team needs. One they can rely on, and watch develop into something special. After a couple really solid seasons in Los Angeles, 2025 could be the year Madison Hammond grows into one of the best DMs in the league.
Thoughts on the season Hammond had? Leave a comment below!