As OKC Energy head into a yearlong hiatus, I wanted to profile a few of the players from their 2021 roster who could make an impact across the league in 2022. Playing with a defensive posture in Leigh Veidman's 3-4-3 system, this season's Energy earned points at a playoff pace after their coaching change. They'd miss out in the end, but a number of their pieces stood out. In this breakdown, I'll be touching on:
Villyan Bijev, FW
Aidan Daniels, AM
Mitch Osmond, CB
Conor Donovan, CB
Before I launch in on that group, I wanted to shout out a few more guys. Charlie Ward can do a job as a holding midfielder for any team in this league, and I've warmed to Hiroki Kurimoto's ability to eat minutes in a box-to-box role. CJ Cochran was in the top quarter or so in basically every goalkeeping metric, Jaime Chavez is always good for a goal, and Zach Ellis-Hayden is a rock-solid wingback at the USL level. I don't know if any of them are game-breakers, but they can contribute. With that said, let's dig in to my favorite four.
Villyan Bijev
The first player I want to deep-dive into is Villyan Bijev, a forward with more than forty USL goals to his name. Positionally, OKC's #21 operated as something of a winger or wide forward, but he's more than capable working as a striker in his own right. At age twenty-eight, the former Sacramento man still has years of peak production left to give. Bijev's 2021 numbers illustrate his high levels of production. His Goals Above Replacement rate him as a top-ten-percentile player, and he led the league by scoring or assisting on 46% of his team's goals. If anyone made OKC tick, it was Bijev.
The above clip shows off a lot of the aspects of the forward's game, and there's certainly a lot to like. Three skills set Bijev apart as a unique wide player in this league: his movement, his hold-up play, and his tight control. #21 is one of the best off-ball runners you'll see, always probing into open space to find the ball and draw opponents out of position. From here, his other strengths come into play. Bijev won't blow you away with pace or tricky dribbling, but he keeps the ball very tight to his feet and leverages a good frame to shold possession. He lacks dynamite passing vision, and his defensive work rate, while solid, won't blow you away, so I do fancy him in more of a forward position than a midfield role. Of course, the biggest reason for this preference is Bijev's scoring and shot creation. His finishing is good, but that ball control and movement turn the player into a final-third monster that generates shots with the best of 'em.
Where might Bijev fit in 2022? Two teams pop for me as especially good options. The Oakland Roots are yet to announce any forward retentions, and their system relies on a hold-up striker to bring teammates in with simple layoffs. There's the Northern California familiarity factor to consider as well. Looking east, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds stand out for me. Like Oakland, they haven't signed any forwards for next season, but their midfield-trap pressure system and the option of having Bijev play off of Cicerone and Dixon make this a tantalizing team-up.
Aidan Daniels
Next up, I want to hit on Canadian youth international Aidan Daniels. Sporting #13, he took on a deeper-seated, centrally-focused attacking midfield role while nominally serving as Bijev's opposite winger. He's just twenty-three years old, but he already has experience with Colorado Springs in addition to his one-year stint in Oklahoma. Daniels' numbers don't really pop, but he generated upper-two-thirds value in each of the last two years and is on the right side of the aging curve. As a sort of #10, I also think he suffered from a direct, long-ball OKC style that could lack for ball progression into the middle.
For me, Daniels is set apart by his forward passing out of the midfield. He's solid enough as a winger, but a creative role in the middle of the park maximizes #13's high-level ability to thread passes into tight windows. Daniels lacks the speed or power to blow by you out wide, but his slaloming dribbling can beat less agile defensive midfielders in a way that doesn't fly against fullbacks. He's also two-footed, so that central spot opens up the full angular range of his passing.
Daniels could be a solid piece in a lot of USL sides, but I'll posit two destinations that I'd like for 2022. I'll start with the Charleston Battery, who just lost their outside-in creative engine with Zeiko Lewis' westward switch. In a side that struggled for offense but featured strong overlapping fullback play, Daniels could be a good fit on the wing or in front of a strong Crawford/Kelly-Rosales pivot. My other shout here is Orange County SC. I'm on the record loving Eric Calvillo's ball progression, so moving him deeper and slotting Daniels into that midfield could spark OCSC's buildup without sacrificing the Chaplow defensive identity.
Mitch Osmond
Now let's hit up the back line, starting with Mitch Osmond. The Australian central defender was a reserve for Indy Eleven for a few years but showed himself to be a real force in defense for Oklahoma City in 2021. He played every single minute for the Energy last year, sporting high-caliber defensive statistics across the board. Admittedly, his side was often under siege and spent a lot of time caught in their own third, but the twenty-seven-year-old accounted well for himself by the eye test. He usually slotted in on the right side of the back three, supported by a deep but mobile wingback.
As is clear in the highlight video, Osmond excels when he's actively intervening as a defender. He has a good sense of when to stand his ground versus drifting out, and I love his fit in a back three in that sense. His awareness and precision immediately make #4 a valuable defensive piece. At the same time, there are some limitations to Osmond's game. He's solid as a passer, but I think he lacks the verve or technique to really drive play. I wouldn't label Osmond weak in the air, but he's more confident with a towering partner in my estimation, and I think he can lack recovery pace against quicker forwards. Still, that league-leading ability to step in for a tackle or a clearance are the big thing to take away here.
Playing matchmaker, FC Tulsa is my pick for Osmond. By my statistical reckoning, their centerbacks ranked 29th for performance last year, so the need is clear. At the same time, I see a real stylistic fit. Tulsa builds through deep-lying midfielders rather than precise-passing defenders, lightening Osmond's potential load. They also play a relatively low line and don't ask for a ton of pace from their central defenders, matching the Aussie's profile.
Conor Donovan
One final player to hit here, and that's Conor Donovan. Sporting #20, the central defender tended to sit in the middle of the Oklahoma City back three. Like Osmond, he played every minute in the 2021 season, signifying his consistency. At twenty-five years old, Donovan is something of a journeyman with multiple USL stops already, but he's impressed me in most every situation. His numbers pop less than some of his teammates' stats, but that's partially due to his central role. The middle of the pitch is naturally harder for opponents to penetrate, making interventions rarer but that much more important.
When thinking about Donovan's game, his positioning is the first thing that pops. He's very good at tracking runners and cutting off passing lanes. At the same time, he's a strong and accurate header of the ball, and I think he gives you a decent level of athleticism from the back. The numbers somewhat belie my take here, but I also fancy Donovan as a passer in the central defender role. He can play a very accurate switch, and he's also willing to dribble up a bit and create an overload against a more passive opponent. Donovan gives you a little bit of everything at a high caliber, and he captained OKC all season to boot.
Given the holistic skillset that Donovan brings to the table, he could fit comfortably in most every USL defensive system. One possible option is Memphis 901. With the recent departures of Kyle Murphy and Mark Segbers, this team is lacking an identity, and they're also losing Niall Logue, a sharp-passing central defender, after a season-long loan. Donovan is a slightly worse creator than Logue, but he can fill the role capably and is a better intervenor, and he also brings a level of leadership that Memphis might need as they spend another offseason in rebuild mode.
That's all for now. I hope everyone's having a happy holiday season, and I'll be back soon enough with some more free agent scouting reports and team fits as well as the usual transaction reactions, mailbags, and breakdowns.