Alabama Athletics
Sword and Shield: Alabama's Freshmen Midfielders Key Both Attack and Defense
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — In the same way that football games can be won and lost in the trenches, the same is true for a midfield in soccer. The most successful teams all have dynamic midfields that possess two essential qualities: stability and creativity.
The Alabama soccer has both of these traits in the form of freshmen midfield duo Macy Clem and Carlee Giammona.
Clem, from Conifer, Colorado, began playing at the age of three. Inspired by her mother who was her first coach, Clem fell in love with the beautiful game and eventually found her way into bigger club programs such as Colorado Rush.
She plays as a holding midfielder, an anchor in the center of the field. With the ball, she can resemble an American quarterback in a spread offense, arrowing passes all over the field. Without the ball, her role shifts to that of a middle linebacker, reading the opponents’ attacks and diagnosing dangers.
“A holding midfielder’s biggest job is finding the ball from the defense and trying to connect it to the forwards,” Clem said. “You’re in the center of the field and you’re the closest to the defense so finding either the forwards or finding out wide and switching the ball from side to side. Just keeping the ball moving and going in and out through the field.
"You also want to try and help the defense as much as you can so they don’t have to get in any positions you don’t want them in.”
Though Clem’s main priority is stabilizing Alabama in the midfield and protecting the back line, she has still found opportunities to get forward and made the most of them. She finds pockets of space to get forward and has notched three goals herself this season.
For this Alabama midfield, where Clem is the shield, Giammona is the sword.
Giammona also began playing at the age of three, though it wasn’t until she was nine or ten that she really began committing herself and developing her passion for it.
Raised in a soccer household where her sister, parents, and friends were all big supporters of the game, Giammona grew up watching her sister play and felt that she was next in line.
Giammona plays as an attacking midfielder. The maestro of the midfield that, while also tasked with spreading the ball around with her passes, is asked to take on players off the dribble to create scoring opportunities for her team.
“She’s a great dribbler,” Clem said. “I’m not a good dribbler myself so seeing her dribble, I think it’s really impressive.
"She does a lot of cut backs, turns, and fakes people out a lot which I think is really good for her position because she’s typically getting the balls from me or the defenders. She’s able to turn really well and take people on. She’s a great playmaker.”
Giammona is a student of the game. Whether it be watching her older sister or watching professionals like Barcelona, Real Madrid, or the U.S. Women’s National team, Giammona is always looking to add new weapons to her arsenal.
“There’s so many great players and so many great teams you can watch and learn from,” Giammona said. “Being able to look at what they do and try to input it into my game, I try to do as much as I can.”
Giammona is a consistent threat going forward. She has registered 43 shots through 15 games this season, placing 23 on target. Her ability to open up a defense with a pass or off the dribble has been on display for Alabama throughout the season and have made her a mainstay in Crimson Tide coach Wes Hart’s plans, starting 13 matches so far.
The partnership forged between these two has been impactful for Alabama throughout the season with both players feeling like they bring out the best in one another.
“We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses so we kind of feed off each other,” Giammona said. “We play different roles but we both know what we’re trying to do. We just work really well together.”
Though they might play different roles, Giammona and Clem are talented enough to play across the midfield and interchange depending on what the game is giving them.
“We’re good together because when I do go up and get in the box she does a really good job of tucking in and filling the space that I was in,” Clem said. “That’s really important in the midfield, not leaving a big gap in the midfield. We both kind of figured that out pretty well together.”
With the pair in just the beginning of their careers at Alabama, transitioning off the pitch to collegiate life is just as important as transitioning to the speed of play on it.
“I loved the team here and everyone on the team wants you to be a better person,” Clem said. “We have a reputation to uphold as a student athlete, you’re held to very high standards, so it makes you a little more thoughtful and mature.
"At the beginning, I wasn’t as confident just because coming in as a freshman it’s a big difference. But they really do a great job of making you feel very welcome on the team, the coaches especially. I feel like my confidence has gone up a lot on the field. I’m taking a lot more chances.”
With the Crimson Tide winding down regular season play as the SEC Tournament approaches, Alabama will look to lean on the creativity of Giammona and the stability of Clem as the team looks to put itself in better position for an NCAA tournament berth.
