With the emphasis placed by the Houston Dash on securing high impact international players this season and the late autumn European scouting trip planned by head coach Randy Waldrum, Orange in the Oven will be scouting teams in England and Germany over the next several months to identify players who may be ideal targets for the Dash.

We know from previous interviews that the Dash have placed a priority on forwards, attacking midfielders and adding a center back. For their two available international slots, however, we assume they will go striker or attacking midfielder and emphasize those positions. We look at players without regards for salary and availability. This is a wish list of sorts. We start by looking at England.

The top flight of soccer in England is the FA Women’s Super League or FA-WSL. The FA-WSL season runs from April to October; by the time the Dash have the opportunity to make a scouting trip the top two tiers of England will have already completed their season.

The FA Women’s Premier League (level 3 and 4 of the pyramid) plays a winter schedule similar to the men. Therefore, an England trip in late Autumn means the Dash may mean checking out clubs at this level.

Nevertheless, impact players in NWSL have come from FA-WSL – for example Kim Little from Arsenal or Jodie Taylor from Birmingham City – and therefore we start our scouting at that level. First up: Chelsea Ladies F.C.

After struggling through the first few years of FA-WSL, the 2014 version of Chelsea is remarkably improved with mid-season 2013 reinforcements and off-season signings having a major impact. With two matches remaining in the season, Chelsea sits top of the table one point clear of Liverpool, the reigning champions. Chelsea boast a number of players who could be ideal targets for the Dash.

Ji So-Yun

The 23-year old Korean international is one of our favorites and a big reason behind Chelsea’s resurgence this year. Nicknamed the “Korean Messi”, Ji pulls all the strings as an attacking midfielder with tremendous vision and technical skills.

Ji would fill the big void at attacking midfielder quite well for the Dash. Her vision and passing would open up the pitch for teammates. Ji would also solve Houston’s set piece issues, an area where the Dash struggled last season. Perhaps just as importantly, Ji would fit the character mold that the Dash set last season. As typical for Korean players, Ji is a hard working and never say die type of player.

In addition to creating goals, she is a proven goal scorer herself. Ji has 30 goals in 62 appearances for the Korean national team. Prior to joining Chelsea, Ji was a core part of the INAC Kobe Leonessa club that has dominated Japan since 2011. In 48 league appearances with Leonessa, she scored 21 goals. She has 9 goals in 17 appearances across all competitions for Chelsea this year.

The barrier: Ji joined Chelsea for the 2014 season under a two year contract. Securing her may be difficult, therefore, but she is perhaps one to keep an eye on for 2016.

The three clips below provides some sense of Ji’s set piece abilities and passing skills. It also provides a look at Eniola Aluko and Yuki Ogimi who we discuss below.

Eniola Aluko

The 27-year old Nigerian born English international is in the midst of a terrific season at both club and international level. She was the joint-leading scorer for England during their successful World Cup Qualifying campaign with 13 goals in 10 matches. At club level, she is part of a striker corps that has propelled Chelsea to the top of the table, tied for third in the league in goals with 3 in 12 appearances plus another 4 goals in cup play.

Aluko is fast, powerful and technically skilled. The main knock against her throughout her career has been that she doesn’t score as often as she is capable of, although in recent years her track record has improved.

Aluko has played in the United States previously when she signed for Saint Louis Athletic in WPS from Chelsea in 2009. She was voted to the all-star team for the 2009 season. After the club folded during 2010, Aluko signed with the Atlanta Beat but was then traded to Sky Blue FC. Following the season, she returned to England in search of greater stability.

Aluko might be a tough get at this stage. She has rapidly become the face of women’s soccer in England. Recently, she even became the first female pundit on Match of the Day. Not long ago, Aluko was featured by BT Sport in a “Day of the Life of….” piece which can be seen below.

Yuki Ogimi

The 27-year old Japanese star is a proven goal scorer at the club and international level, just what the Dash need. Ogimi has scored goals everywhere she has gone.

She began her career with NTV Beleza in Japan where she scored 88 goals in 133 appearances. From there, she went to FFC Turbine Potsdam in the German Women’s Bundesliga and scored 80 goals in 109 appearances.

She joined Chelsea mid-way through 2013 and is their leading goal scorer in league play this year with 5 goals in 11 appearances (joint leader in FA-WSL).

On top of her goal scoring at the club level, Ogimi has added 50 goals in 110 national team appearances.

Ogimi flat out has a nose for goal and a knack for finding the space to create good goal scoring opportunities. The clip below provides some sense of Ogimi’s positioning and finishing skills as she nearly nets a hat trick against Bristol Academy. We also get another glimpse of Ji So-Yun and Eniola Aluko.

One for the Future: Jackie Groenen

After a year of managing a team that was practically a 5th year senior team, Waldrum is unlikely to be enthused about the idea of adding a teenager to his squad. However, a Chelsea player to keep an eye on for the future is 19-year old Dutch midfielder Jackie Groenen.

In her debut season with Chelsea, Groenen has lived up to the promise she showed with Duisburg in Germany. She has added four goals in all competitions including the winner against Manchester City in the clip below (which also features more Ji, Aluko and Ogimi).