SoccerWise - NWSL Edition: Yazmeen Ryan (HOU) Interview + Midge Back To Gotham & NWSL Restitution Fund

Episode Date: February 5, 2025

Jordan Angeli is back on Soccerwise. It is finally time to breakdown all things NWSL offseason together. First David & Jordan dig into Houston's offseason after talking to their new star Yazmeen Ryan. They then discuss the current news with Midge Purce returning to Gotham & the groundbreaking settlement in the NWSL case against the players who experienced abuse.Jordan’s Kiwi Adventures9:48 Yasmeen Ryan Interview31:05 Houston Dash Rebuild Update43:10 Midge Purce Returns54:30 Savy King Traded to Angel City1:01:30 Bernal Heading to The Spirit1:06:10 NWSL Fund To Compensate Abused Former Players1:11:00 Jordan’s Offseason Musings Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

The Bobble Hub partners are back. Soccer Wise is here, ready to break down some NWSL with David Goss. And yes, you know her name very well, Jordan Angeli, back in the saddle. Jordan, it has been a while. Does it feel good? Did the theme song hit? It did. It did very much so. And it feels good. Gosh, it's been over a month, like almost two months. I think since we last recorded a full episode together. So yeah, it feels good to be back. I assume you listen. I assumed you listen to the theme song every morning when you woke up in New Zealand.

Yeah, it is my alarm clock. It is called Winners Only. So it's like a good inspirational wake up song for everyone, for everyone out there, not just us. We have a huge show coming up today. We have an interview with Yasmeen Ryan, one of the big moves so far of the offseason. If you're listening to the podcast, you will hear that in a moment.

If you're watching on YouTube later, it is a separate video that you have to go watch there. We will dig into all of the current news, obviously the huge breaking news around the case against NWSL from the players who have experienced abuse and some big news coming out around that, as well as some moves and transfers around NWSL. And then we'll dig into the offseason a little bit for the first time together and talk about what you've noticed and what interests you.

But I got to ask, how was the trip? How was the Southern Hemisphere, New Zealand versus Australia? You have to pick one now and anger the other one. Well, that's, I mean, for this trip, it feels easy because I went to so many places in New Zealand and just one place in Australia. So I didn't really get to, like, dip around the country in Australia like I did New Zealand.

So I'll go New Zealand. It was a bucket list trip. It is absolutely gorgeous gorgeous I think one of the things that is most wild is how quickly the terrain changes there it goes from like pristine beautiful beaches to like rainforest jungle to like grassy knolls to high peaking mountains all within like 20 minutes of each other. You could have all of those different things. And that to me is wild. It was just extremely beautiful. And I had the time of my life with one of my best friends. So can't, can't beat that. Now that you can do all those in a 20 minute span, you're a Coloradan. Is mountains first or are you a beach person? Like what's the preference? I love the mountains.

But if you give me a beach, I'm going to the beach, especially when you're on vacation. Like to me, going on vacation and not seeing a beach is a real hard thing for me. I want to see a beach when I'm on vacation. I love that. So we got to go to a couple of beaches, which were really nice. One on the North Island and a national park called Abel Tasman on the South Island, where you have to hike along the coast. You don't have to, but we did a two-day hike along the coast, where you go to these little coves that no one else is in.

You're just all by yourself. You can only get there by hiking or getting there by boat. It was awesome. It was beautiful. A two-day hike means you sleep in a tent? Well, yes, but we signed up a little late. So we actually got water taxied back to an Airbnb and then water taxied. But we, there are like tents that, and huts that you can book ahead of time and stay in. We just didn't book quite ahead of time.

Cause that's like busy season january everybody's off work and off school so within australia and new zealand so everyone's traveling so we just didn't realize how busy it was going to be yeah you didn't realize it was holiday as they like to say they were on holiday which makes a ton of sense so when we put together our elite auckland women's professional team, you're already volunteering to go be a part of it? Oh, yeah. I'll go there for sure.

For sure. One other thing that was funny about my trip is when I was in Australia, I was in Melbourne, which is where the Australian Open is. And so we went to a night. I think it was we went to the fourth round. Love that. Yeah, it was so much fun. But what was cracking me up is the the aussies just call it the tennis so oh are you going to the

tennis yeah oh i went to the tennis last week so i just i had to bring that up and um it's it's nice to be back and talking about the soccer yeah 100 i uh i have been to that site but not during the australian open so it's a bucket list of mine to go. I've heard it's more party than tennis, which I don't mind. Yeah, it was very party. Very party. But we got tickets to watch a match. So we got to see Coco Gauff, which was so cool.

She beat a Canadian. I can't remember the Canadian's name. Sorry. In two sets to nothing. So that was a pretty quick game. That was just an hour for that match. And then the next match we saw was Jack Draper, who's an English guy against an Australian.

And I always forget the Australian's name. But it was five sets, two tiebreakers. The last set was a tiebreaker. It went all the way to 10 10 i think it was 10 to 8 in the tiebreaker incredible match for they played for four it's wild hours yeah it's the most grueling sport i think there is like mentally grueling how can one person play four hours and still smack them all as hard as they do i don't know but it was one of the coolest sporting events i've ever been to in my life yeah i want to go so bad i've been to that downtown melbourne area but not while it was

going on and i was i growing up where i grew up i go to the u.s open every year which is my favorite um and everyone's like oh you gotta try australia you have to go and be around it and australians love sports that's how they say that too instead of the tennis they'll just be like oh do you like sports and you're like what do you just mean like anything with athleticism like and they're like no any excuse for us to eat and drink on the side while someone else does something is what they mean so i'm not shocked by the tennis the tennis and all of that i will say this um i talked to an academy director one time for like one of the big academies. And I was like, do you guys have your kids play other sports? Like specifically?

And they said they do. It was fencing, jujitsu, and tennis. Because they're all one-on-one mental battle sports. That's interesting. It is way too much. I was like, this is, we we've now we've kind of jumped the shark on this but the tennis part makes sense as you said it is like an insane individual challenge experience like the guy that ended up winning jack draper ended up winning the

the match in the second set he slammed his tennis racket and was like mentally so out of it and somehow he finds a way to muster not only that much energy to play for that long but to come back from that i just i i was cheering so loud for him because i was like how did you just do that most people would just crumble and he didn't so it was cool we uh are officially an australian open podcast now so we look forward to the french open we will see everyone in paris for that open. We will see everyone in Paris for that. And then we will see everyone on the, the great lawn or whatever it's called for Wimbledon. And then in flushing at the end of the year,

and then we'll take off and we'll come back around. This is now a tennis podcast. It is. I'm glad to hear you had a good time. I missed you heavily. We, we did some shows with some guests, but no one can replace the great Jordan Angeli.

So now we're ready to get back into the run of things. And first we have to say, if you haven't listened yet, go back to last Friday where I interviewed a special guest named Jordan Angeli about her new NWSL team that she helped put together in Denver, which has now set the record for the fastest NWSL expansion team to reach 5,000 season ticket deposits. Although you more specifically like to say 5,280. Yeah. This is the Mile High City. Yep. 5,280. Exactly. You got it. Mile high city, that is the amount of feet we are above sea level. So, yeah, first to 5280. I like it. I like what I'm seeing so far, Denver. We just got to keep rolling from there.

Do you have a deposit? Oh, yeah. Definitely. I was really, there's two different deposits. There's like for general seating and then one for premium seating. And I'm like, how fancy do I want to be? If you're ever going to do it. I know.

Now is the time. Yeah, but those season ticket deposits are still up there. Go to DenverNWSL.com. Get yours today. That's my pitch. And maybe we'll sit next to each other at the stadium. I don't know. I was going to say, I'm already telling everyone like, oh, are you going to the football? Are you going to the soccer? And then when people say it, I'll be like,

oh, I'm going to be in Anjali's suite. I'm just going to say Anjali's suite. I'll be in the suite. If I'm ever going to do it, that would be the game that I do it for as well. As we get excited for the first ever game. So let's dig into our show now. We start with our interview with Yasmeen Ryan. I reached out to the Houston Dash a few weeks ago because this trade kind of broke my brain a little bit. And I was very excited about it. Understandably, Yasmeen had to move, which takes a lot of time and a lot of energy. But we were lucky enough to sit down with her.

Let's go to that interview right now. Well, we are very lucky here on SoccerWise to be joined by a very special guest, the newest member of the Houston Dash and one of the biggest traits in NWSL history, Yasmeen Ryan, joining us here on the show. Yasmeen, thanks for joining us. Thank you for having me. We appreciate you taking the time. Obviously very excited because the offseason has been,

as we were talking about before, somewhat chaotic all over the place. And one of the biggest things that happened that maybe shocked all of us was your move from Gotham to Houston. I'm curious from your point of view, when you were first thought about this trade or approached about this trade, what went through your head? Just that I thought it was a really good opportunity

for myself to step out of my comfort zone and to really challenge my abilities and like what I bring. And I think being on a team that is looking to rebuild and bringing in new staff and like, just there's also so much potential here already that I think that this is like a great space for me to take my game to the next level and challenge myself with just like, yeah, like just getting out of my comfort zone. So I was so excited that Houston was interested and always being closer to home, of course, is a bonus.

But yeah, there's so much potential here and I'm just really happy to be a part of it. I definitely think we want to key in on that potential and the reason why you left Gotham to come to Houston. But one of my biggest questions is, you've been traded before in NWSL, but now with this new CBA, the way trades happen is a lot different. Can you explain as a player how different this felt than the last time you got traded from Portland to Gotham?

Yeah, I think last time it felt unsure on whether or not that would happen or what it would look like. I was also pretty new to the league, so I didn't understand really the process or the fact that I might not even have a choice if things didn't work out. But this time it felt very open to what I wanted and just like what I asked for. And I think I was, when asking for that trade, I was pretty comfortable and like confident and that my move would would happen. And so which is, you know, credit to Gotham as well for for helping me in this process. But, yeah, I definitely felt more confident in it and that what I wanted. And so I think that helps a lot when you have like a move like this. It's a lot of what we've all talked about as the new CBA has been signed is that confidence and

that ability for the players to influence and control situations. And you mentioned then Houston being an interest of you and being exciting and stepping outside your comfort zone. So what was it about Houston that interested you? What is sort of the pitch that Houston's giving to sort of say, come be a part of this? Yeah, I mean, like I said before, Houston has so much potential. And I think for me as a player and kind of like looking at the history of my overall career I've kind of always been on teams that aren't right out the out the gate top seen as top teams or being considered as a top contender so I love the challenge of starting from the bottom and building and being in working your way to a top team and I think this team has

everything that we need to be successful and adding the new staff and players and and you can really see the intent to want to grow and surround these players and with a good environment and the things that we need and so I think it's really just, to me, I was just kind of like, why not Houston? Like, it's such a cool place. And I think this is a real opportunity to put Houston on the map as a top team, but also consistently as well. And so I think, yeah, I mean, I was just kind of like, why not? Like, they have everything to gain. And um yeah I was just like why not yeah and where you are at your in your career too it kind of puts you in a place where you can in some ways become a veteran leader in this group you've done this before you took a team like Gotham and as you

grew the team grew as well what would you, Yasmeen, you learned in that experience that you can take from that Gotham team into this Houston team when you talk about, hey, we're starting here and I know we have potential and we're going to grow. Maybe some specifics from what you learned in these last couple of years. Yeah, what I really learned is the buy-in from the group from day one. Whatever coach coach comes in whatever coach that might have still been there whatever they have presented for the team and their plan for the team I think a plan in general is very key on what the style of play and kind of like our identity and so I that's also really important but the group's buy-in and how we come together to

execute that plan is so important and it starts day out and um day in and day out in training and knowing that no spot is given and every spot is earned and you really have to like just be on it every training and and really give all that you can because that just helps development and something that Fabrice actually said in one of our meetings was that our training space is sacred and I really like that and how it's really key to create an environment where you are learning and growing or else that is going to hinder like your development your individual development as a player and so something that I really learned even being at Portland and then now, and then to Gotham, like it was really like the trainings were so sharp every day and every day was,

was a moment in chance to get better. So, and that's something that's stepping into this group. I mean, from day one has been high intensity, everybody's focused, everybody's willing to learn the new ideas and things that we're doing and the style of play. And I think we're gaining a pretty good foundation and culture really early on, which is so exciting to walk into and be a part of. So yeah, I would just say definitely like the training and the buy-in from the group. And this group definitely has that. You said getting outside your comfort zone and sort of developing. Have you become more vocal since you've gotten here or give people an idea?

Because this is one of the rosters that has changed the most. Who are the leaders in the group and who is sort of setting that culture? Yeah, I think we actually have a lot of good voices on the pitch. It's actually like everybody's talking always. Encouragement, feedback, talking on the side about, oh, what did you see there? Or this is what I see, things like that. And it's kind of coming from everybody, which is so powerful

because I think it gives a voice to those who might be younger that maybe not have as much experience yet, or even a trialist that's just coming in that they're able to also communicate. And it just helps the environment and like your development grows so much faster when that's happening. But yeah, I mean, Jane Campbell is an amazing leader. She's been on the team the longest. I think I'm pretty sure I don't want to get that wrong. Yes, you're right. You're right. Yeah. And so I think she's been amazing always and also has a very good balance to where like we can speak through her to the staff as well. And like kind of helping us connect in that way as well. But it really does come from everybody. I mean, there's always voices, there's always people talking. And I think that's really key.

And then of course Katie Naughton as well. She's a huge leader for this team. And so we have like a core of like veterans and people that connect us, I think, to like the staff and stuff like that. But as far as on the field, I think everybody has kind of taken on their own leadership role in their own way, whether that's through example or talking or encouragement and things like that. So yeah, I think it's just kind of come from like everywhere, which is really cool. It's a nice balance and it's good to have. I think everybody's excited to hear Katie Naughton being in a leadership role again after she comes back from her pregnancy last year.

This is a group with a lot of veteran experience. But one of the things that we have not seen yet is Fabrice Couture lead a team in NWSL. I think everybody that has watched him over the last few years be a key piece in the North Carolina Courage is really interested to know what is the type of team that he's going to build. So you don't have to give away all of the sacred secrets that happened at training and your meetings, but can you give us a little taste about what Fabrice has brought to this group and why people should be excited to watch the dash this year? Yeah, I think we're going to be a team that keeps the ball and, um, really looks to exploit certain spaces. Um, and

then it's key to punish in those areas as well. But yeah, I mean, I think we're going to be, we're going to be a team that keeps the ball and, um, but, but with a purpose and with intent to go forward. And yeah, and then just being dangerous in the attack. So I like it. That's enough. She was very careful on that, Goss, to only give us a certain amount, but I like what I'm hearing. Yes, I like it.

Yasmeen's a veteran. She knows. She knows. But she knows how to sell it to the fans and obviously coming out of North Carolina, as we expected, I think that possession would be a huge part of it. I have I'm proud of myself that I've waited 10 plus minutes just to ask this, though. You know, I do our depth charts here at SoccerWise and I said all of last year you were a starter on Gotham, but I didn't know where and it didn't matter because you knew you were going to start.

But we didn't always know what position and we saw we've seen your success in a lot of different roles in that possession in that houston setup do you have one role you prefer to play or do you have one that you expect to play um no i think um but the way that we are looking to play the the kind of goal is to be fluid in certain positions and um to never stay stagnant or or just be stuck in one and so I think that's the beauty about the way that we're looking to play um is that you know I've been and I'll say for it I've been a midfielder I've been you know and then different roles within those like groups but um. But with this group, it's kind of more fluid, and, like, I could be a 7-1 game and then really play the 10 role, or I could be the 10 and rotate wide.

It's kind of just, like, it's very fluid, which I really, really love, and it's very unpredictable. That is something that a attacking player loves to hear is to have some fluidity to really be able to, I think we see the best players in the world, be able to see where the space is and exploit the space. And you have been so good at that during your time in NWSL. So it'll be interesting to see how you do it on this team with these players. And it makes me think, Yasmeen, who are you, who's it clicking with? Who are you excited to play with on this Dash squad?

Yeah, I mean, I think a person that is probably the obvious is Delaney Sheehan because, I mean, we had a head start with two years at Gotham. And we've always connected so well. I know where she's at. She knows where I'm at. We really respect each other's game and what we're looking for and each other's game and, and what we're looking for in each other's strengths. So of course a player like her, um,

Meech, Michelle Alozi, Alozi, uh, yeah, sorry, I get her name wrong, last name wrong every time. So let's not show her last name. Okay. Um, but Michelle, we, um, she's such a dynamic nine and, um, a player that can is so strong and aggressive and can hold up play as well.

So I think connecting with her is also great. I love that Messiah Bright is now a part of the Houston Dash and getting that college connection back. So training with her is always lovely and getting in the groove with her again. But yeah, I mean, there's honestly a lot of different players that I've been able to connect with no matter where I am on the field, which is, which is honestly really great with especially the way that we're trying to play,

like everybody needs to be connected. And so yeah. You mentioned the college connection. You are a TCU alum. You are an Oklahoma native. Is this a homecoming for you? Like, is that what it feels like? Yeah, it really does. It feels like the squad's getting back together again, even though it's just two of us. But it still feels so, like, everything here feels so natural and not forced and just just like go with the flow what is the game calling for um and things like that and so yeah it definitely feels so natural here and i feel

right at home is there oklahoma barbecue that's rivalry with texas like what's the rivalry basis in that those cultures wait between oklahoma and houston yeah probably barbecue maybe steak i think oklahoma is good at steak i honestly haven't lived in oklahoma since high school so i kind of forget a little bit sometimes so you're a texan now i feel more texan a little bit but i but oklahoma is always still there like i it's always still my home of course um but yeah it's been so long that i've actually lived there so um made probably barbecue like burgers and stuff like that um i think barbecue is probably the main main one but yeah i don't know i think going back to the tCU connection, Goss, we're going to have to go back and look at some highlights

from Messiah and Yasmeen back in college because I know a few goals were scored between the two of you. This is just, it's been a revamp of this Houston team, one that I think everybody in NWSL is really excited to see how it turns out when you guys hit the field. You've talked about the team, you've talked about the coach, but if you could describe what the culture, the new culture in this group is, how would you describe that? I would describe it as very fun. Like, I mean, all the girls have been so welcoming and to everybody that's new that has been here.

So nice and fun. And just like when it when that's created, it's so easy to make a mistake and then bounce right back and to feel that support from your teammates. So I feel like the culture is just like we work hard and it's intense on the field, but it's also light enough. Like it's not so intense where you feel suffocated or like if you make a mistake, you're like, oh, my God, that's it. Like I'm done. Like everybody hates me or anything like that, which is kind of funny. But sometimes that can happen. But yeah, this group is just so I think has the perfect balance of like energy and intensity, but then also, yeah, just fun and light and the support and the respect for one another is off the charts and is always there.

And I think that's something that is so key and it really brings a group together just as quick. So yeah yeah, I mean, I think our culture is just, like, really fun. Yeah, it's important to have that. The best teams I ever played with, there is an intensity to get better, but there's also a freedom to make mistakes. And if those two things can live together, it actually can build something really special. And it feels like that is what you've been describing as what preseason with this new Houston Dash team has looked like.

Yeah, and it's really, it can get scary. I think when you combine those things and players feel that freedom within themselves and if everybody on the field is feeling that at the same time, I mean, the sky's the limit. Like the things that we are going to be able to create and have already created is going to be scary. So like I'm so excited for this group. As part of the move to get to Houston, I mentioned it at the top, you are technically the record trade in NWSL history,

and then you signed a new contract does that register in your experience at all is that something that affects you or is that something that goes into a headline and and you don't really pay attention to i'm not gonna lie i don't really pay attention to it i love that houston did what they could to get me here and um it shows like their belief in me um and that's kind of all that I really think about it as. I don't, yeah, I don't really think about like record. When I see it, I guess if I had to think about it, it would be like that number and like women's soccer,

just the fact that it's in the same sentence and like that's what our league is doing and that's what we're able to do. It shows like the growth in the league and so um yeah so i i think i would maybe think about it more in that way but um no i don't really think about it too much now one of the other big things when we sort of figured out that we were going to interview and you talk to gotham fans who want to know there has been a lot of movement out of that team. You sort of coming out of the championship team and the success you had last year chose to move on.

Do you have any thoughts on sort of all of the roster churn that's happened and your experience of why it was the time to sort of leave? Yeah. I mean, if you look at or if you talk to every player that left, we're all going to have a different answer we everybody's player everybody's experience was um was different and has their own perspective so yeah I mean it would be different across the board but I just was me ready to to develop in in an area and around a environment like this and to just continue elsewhere. Not, you know, that's just kind of where I was at and what I felt like I wanted to do and going forward.

But everybody's everybody's perspective would be completely different. So I did a quick roster search. I don't think anyone wears the number 10. Is that in your future? did you announce a number yet um no i think it's been kind of posted on instagram i i think it's maybe at some point but i am not the number 10 okay you might be the number 10 but you are not the number 10 i like the number 10 but i don't i don't think about the number 10 okay you don't hold on to it like you don't need that number 10 to know that you're still Yasmeen Ryan yeah I I think I have that with like other numbers okay interesting one other thing that I've really noticed is you go

from a team with Gotham who like you guys had some good fits but this Houston team man they bring the game day looks to I feel like a whole nother level you mentioned Michelle Deanna also is up there do you feel like a little bit of pressure to like help have Michelle help you with some of the game day fits or do you feel good about your your game day style well I'm honestly glad that there's like so many that can show up and show out because then I can just kind of like choose a day or two to kind of do that myself since I don't have like outfits just ready to go

like the way that I'm sure that they're able to do. But being with a player like Mandy Freeman and her outfits were like crazy. It deterred me forever wanting to do it because it just could never be that. But now, I mean, coming to a team that, again, has like amazing walk-in outfits and such amazing style. Like, I feel like I feel more just like comfortable now because I'm like, OK, I've had a time to just kind of assess what I want to do and stuff like that. So I'm excited that they can potentially help me. There has been a lot of thought that's gone into this. This clearly is a big part of this. Yeah, it's a big deal. We want to look good.

Yeah. Look good, feel good, play good. We are very excited to watch this team this year. There has been a lot of excitement on this show and I know from fans a lot of moves a lot of change and we are hoping it's all going to go in the right direction. We cannot wait to watch you do your thing all across midfield in the front line for this Houston squad and then we'll have you back on as things are going well at some point in the season to tell us all about it. So thank you for taking the time. We appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Jordan, we did this together. So you know what happened and you know how it went down. I think for starters, one of those people just I was drawn in you're charmed by to hear her, I think be very honest and open about her desire to move.

And it's one of those things that we talk about in abstracts, right? Especially in soccer of like, challenge yourself, push yourself, take risks. It was interesting to me to hear her say it. Why Houston? And it was because it was time for me to take my next challenge, for me to grow. And I think it should be really exciting for Houston fans to hear a lot of that from her. Leaving that Gotham team with so many big names and big stars,

I think, yes, Yasmeen Ryan helped them in what they were trying to do on the field. But I think she has star power to her name and star power herself. And one of the things that she has learned through the two different teams that she's been on is how to be a leader. And that is what struck me, Goss, is that she took this as that next step that she wanted to do that. But it does seem to me that now in her career, even though it's a young career still, she feels like she can have an impact as a leader. And there was a quiet confidence about her leadership. Like she's never going to be that

person that's, you know, you look, yeah, you look on a, you turn on a game and you see her like yelling at her teammates, but there is something cerebral about how she plays the game that I think is going to help the team around her. And she can lead in that way, how she performs on the field, little things that she's learned in really building, helping build Gotham from where they were to where they are now. She can bring that now to this Houston teams. So I really, I enjoyed chatting with her in that aspect of thinking of herself as a leader within this group and how she wants to set the culture because it seems like there is a new culture, a new, a new season in Houston. Yeah, we're going to talk about a lot of the moves, because it seems like there is a new culture, a new season in Houston. Yeah, we're going to talk about a lot of the moves, but you said it for her.

She has gone from a championship in Portland to moving to Gotham to a championship at Gotham, now moving to Houston. There's a little bit, and I know this because I have friends who are like this, there's a bit of a startup mentality in her head of like working for an establishment is too boring. You need the risk of like it could fail, but it won't fail. And you really get your hands dirty in some of that. And I'm sure many listeners here have that in their lives. It seems like that's something that Yasmeen Ryan enjoys and maybe is looking for again.

But last year when we started this show, I think our first episode I talked about how much I love watching Yasmeen Ryan play soccer and I love the way she plays the game. And there are so many things about her game that allowed her to play at every position. Technical ability, soccer IQ, athleticism. They fit everywhere, right? There's no player, there's no position on the field

where you're like, you know what would be better if you had a worse first touch and you weren't able to cover ground and you couldn't read the game. But coming out of this year, I wasn't surprised to see her on a national team roster because those are really useful attributes to have on a national team roster. But as I have said, I couldn't tell you what position she would start it. And even with Gotham, that's the case. It feels like this is her chance to put her mark down and say, I'm going to be the best in the league at this, or I'm going to be the best on my team at this. And it's going to be built around me.

And there aren't a ton of players in NWSL right now that I would say that player hasn't gotten there yet. And if they went to the right team, they'd get there. Like Yasmeen Ryan is on that list of could be this person in a year or two and isn't hasn't been given that opportunity now so i think it's really special that houston recognized that obviously with the new contract and the amount they gave up to trade for her they believe in that and so we're going to get a chance to see it out there on the field and the expectation isn't trying to win a championship this year, but like Yasmeen Ryan will be the best player on the field.

And we're going to get to see how good a team with her as the star can be. I feel like if I were Yasmeen and at the place I was, that she's at in her career, the thing that I would be focusing on most this season would be consistency that every single game I have an impact in how the game, how the result is happening, you know, doesn't always have an impact in how the game, how the result is happening. You know, it doesn't always have to be on the score sheet, but I think that that is the place in her game where she can level up.

It's just consistency, game in and game out. And when you are a leader on the team, that is expected of you. And when you're a veteran in this league, that is expected of you. So if Yasmine is consistent this year, this is going to be a difficult Houston team to play, which I think everybody is, you know, as a viewer, you're really excited to watch a Houston team really, truly compete in this league because that just makes everybody else better. And for her to accomplish that, it's going to be the hardest it's ever been because of the responsibility, because of the talent around her being different,

also because of the focus from the other team. She's going to be top of the opposition scouting chart. It's going to be how do we shut her down. So now that's a new experience for her to deal with. She mentioned the culture. She mentioned, as you said, sort of the change in the locker rooms. Let's go through some of it with Houston before we move on into some of our breaking news. They sold Tarseon to Lyon for the second highest fee in NWSL history. So right off

the back of Naomi Gurma breaking the international transfer record, which we all talked about. Oh, and it's for a defender. Tarsia follows it up. We think the number is at 800,000 to go to Leon. This is for a young, super high ceiling player. But for Houston, it's a no brainer of this is a massive amount of money for a player who maybe wasn't a starter game in game out this year if no one came along. And so for this club, this is an opportunity to use this to help build for the future while really not taking a step back on the field right now. It was a no-brainer, right?

You have to sell when you're offered that much money. And I do think Tarciani, there is so much potential in who she's going to be as a player and if you can really tap into that and commit years to help her get to that potential I think she'll be there she has all the attributes that you want from a center back good pace good recovery good aerial threat nice in a challenge but she needs to read the game a little bit better so i think if you are houston and you know that you have natalie jacobs page nielsen and katie lind who i gotta say i called her katie not in when we were talking to uh yasmine katie lind back that's

a good core of center backs that can compete there with nwsl experience and it would have probably been difficult for tarciani so you take money, use that to continue to strengthen this squad, and I think it was the right move for Houston because one of the things that they were inconsistent in their back line all season last year, if they have some consistency with Jane Campbell behind two really quality center backs who know this league, I feel like they're going to start off on a much better foot just with some consistency in that key triangle on the field. And the consistency then comes from the profile of players they've chosen to – they've chose to brought in.

We bring in – I don't know what words are coming out of my mouth. That's fine. The last show we did, I think we talked about Delaney Sheehan coming to Houston. We didn't know about Yasmeen Ryan yet. And what we talked about was raise the floor, bring in experience, stabilize this thing. They have taken that and run with it. They have now traded for Messiah Bright, which Yasmeen talked about. Her former college team had a chance to play with her once again.

Danielle Colaprico has come in. They've traded for Kristen Westfall. They've also traded for Abby Smith, who won't be the starter. But you're talking about a backup goalkeeper with 15 starts last year who played in that atmosphere in Gotham. It is wholesale changes, not maybe the sparkling names you'd always expect to see. It's not, you know, bringing in Shawinga to reset things like Kansas City did. But this raises the floor.

It gives you a lot of options in the starting lineup. And I think it really sets you in. We are not going to beat ourselves. And now we can sort of figure out what we can be great at. It feels to me, too, that those players are just hungry. If you take away Yasmeen Ryan and Delaney Sheehan, they haven't won championships. So I think those players, veterans coming in, knowing that they could build a culture, perhaps that's different than they've experienced within NWSL, but they can be here at a change of the tide, right?

Be here with Fabrice Couture, who's leading now this team. He knows this league so well, having coached for a number of years, and knows where the potential lies and where he could take these types of pieces and utilize them maybe at a different level and get more out of them. So I think these moves are really intriguing. I feel like what Houston has done in the offseason is intriguing. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a big name signing from them. And I think they might need just a little bit of that. You know, you mentioned Shawinga. Can you get someone with a little bit of pizzazz that comes in and adds some flair to this group. But what I see right now is consistency, good footballers who,

from what we heard from Yasmeen, is this team's going to want the ball. And so you need those types of players who are comfortable under pressure, who know the league, the style of play of different teams, how much pressure you get on the ball, how quickly it comes. All those things are already coming with them as they come to this Houston squad. Although you do have to ask Messiah Bright, not massive, but a pretty big trade to bring her in. Ordonez is still there, is still an option in those attacking spots. And then I thought it was interesting that Yasmeen Ryan michelle alozy as a forward very specifically

because we saw her play as a wingback at times over the last year under a number of coaches in chaotic formations and all of that that seems to sort of fill up a lot of that attacking those attacking roles um for where you sit and you know i think there should be some excitement at least i know for myself of if they play heavier possession i think that fits Ordonez's game better. She wants to be around teammates. She wants to be able to connect, play off pieces, use decoy runs, those types of things. I think spread out and in transition is not her ideal way to play. Gives her more time to get in the box, too, in those situations.

Right. So I think that's a situation where okay can you get more from this player messiah bright had a tough year but you know how good she is how dominant of a finisher she can be in the box so i i think there's some unearthed gems inside of all of this that can help them improve and i do wonder if this is one of those teams where for the work they've done you say all right let's see what it looks like for three months and as you talked about the back line will be more stable you'll have a better base to be able to defend from can you get to the midway point of this season when all the other leagues sort of open up and look around and then say okay what do we want to go spend big on now that we've assessed

who we are um and they probably would be in a playoff run still at that point at a minimum and if it starts really hot can you convince ownership to go a little bit bigger and maybe who we are, and they probably would be in a playoff run still at that point at a minimum. And if it starts really hot, can you convince ownership to go a little bit bigger and maybe bring in a bigger star player to add to all of this? Either way, I think we've had Houston fans who have been excited in our Discord. And if you're not a part of it, you can subscribe to the Patreon. It gets you into the Discord. We're talking NWSL there all the time. And I think we've seen it now all over social media. And the hope is that a lot of it lands. And Yasmeen

Ryan, I think, is going to be a very big part of all of that. Let's talk about her former team for a second on a little bit of breaking news. We get the news today that Midge Purse is returning to Gotham on a one-year deal coming off of course a fully missed season because of the injury she comes back now to a club that looks a lot different than the one she left for the injury but also looks a lot different than the one that she was watching all of last year and this was sort of I think under the radar the radar, the biggest story. As we talked about Crystal Dunn and all the other moves, Yasmeen Ryan, all of this going on of what was Gotham doing, there was the reality that maybe the best player on the field

in the NWSL Championship two years ago was or wasn't going to play for this group. And so some pretty big news for Gotham fans to hear that she's decided to stay. And well played by Midge Purse, because I think as you started to see what was happening with Gotham in this offseason, by just holding out and waiting, she probably got what she felt like she deserved the whole time. And I'm really interested to see how she comes back from this ACL, because we've seen a number of players do this, and it can change you.

It can change your mentality. It can change the way you view the field it can change just the way you are as a teammate and I am I'm excited to see how Midge Purse comes back from this and it's not always perfect at first right nobody's perfect but it's not always as you wish it's going to be at first but I think giving her this amount of time to kind of get back into the groove with her team during preseason, it'll be exciting to see Midge Purse back on this Gotham team and how impactful she can be. Because, you know, come a couple months into the year,

as she's back into her flow, she's going to be back to where everybody expects her to be, which is a game-changing forward for this Gotham squad. And this is where, when you look at this Gotham team this year, I think Ella Stevens, in pen, starter, game-changer, can break down a defense, can create chances for you. Your hope is Rose Lavelle's fully healthy. And the question was like the right wing, who was going to fill in there? They have made signings to fill that spot.

Portillo, you know, is expected to be a high level starter. Jessica Silva brought back on a short term contract. And I think part of that short term contract is, like you said, in May and June. Now you get the full experience with Mitch Person and she probably should be a starter so for a team where everyone's worried about every piece that's leaving there might be five elite attackers for four positions there might be six once you get this season going and so it shows the depth I think it shows a little bit to what Yael Averbush-West put in her letter of like we think we are still extremely competitive and we think this roster is still a dangerous one.

Which is what you want. You want that decision as a coach, but it also gives you flexibility depending on who you're playing. Maybe an outside back is better at defending the line than they are defending the space inside towards the box. Well, then you put a player who plays a little bit more like a pocket winger on the right side and can come in to the left and shoot with their left. Or you can utilize Midge Purse if the person isn't good in the space and beyond. Well, let Midge Purse cook and go at that defender and say, you're

going to have to defend me all day long trying to get to the end line and getting a service off. I think that is one of the things that makes the best teams in this league dangerous is that competition on every single line of the field and Gotham did a good job especially towards the end of the year finding a result with more goals but they were lacking that for the majority of the year winning one to nothing games slipping by when it comes to hey hey, they could score so many more goals and make this really a show. And I think that is one of the things that Midge Purse loves is making it a show.

And so you bring her back and you add some different variety to your front line. If you're Gotham as well, you wanted Midge Purse to come back. She's on the sort of revenge tour, the return tour. She's also on a one-year deal. So she's got everything to play for. And you're going to get a player who, when she plays with Edge, is a championship-winning player.

I think let's talk about the letter for a second because we hadn't actually planned for it. But we both talked about it a little bit on Monday. And a little unorthodox to have a general manager put a letter out publicly. I think it comes from just the total uproar we have sort of seen, at least online, about what's going on with Gotham. And we had Party Bon last week. She talked about this a little bit. She was at Gotham Media Day. We talked with Taylor Vincent the week before that about what's going on with Gotham. It has been an endless conversation.

Part of what I think has been a little confusing to me is it felt like they, you know, tooled up into this super team last year. And it seems quite clear now that that just wasn't fully sustainable. And so there seems to be a level of frustration of why are so many players leaving? And it's like because not everyone had enough minutes and their salary cap has its limits. And it feels like now Gotham is settling into like the way a team probably should be built. And yet still, when fully healthy last year is down about one starter.

Like you could say, Mandy Freeman won the job last year that whatever role it was that, you know at right mid I would say is the one opening that is now has to be replaced and Mitch Purse can be a big part of that that this team hasn't really taken a step back when it comes to top end probably depth is where the real conversation goes what did you make of of the letter um and the the need to write it and what you've seen from Gotham last year at this time we were leaving the NWSL draft seeing some of the moves that Gotham was making within the draft and then apart from it and there were a lot of eyes on Gotham about what are they building and oh my goodness this looks like a super team. And I think, so there was just as much conversation

about them last year as there is now this year, which is interesting, but it is the opposite, right? Because players are leaving and it seems from an outside perspective, why are all these players leaving? I think that is what everybody's curious about. But I think with success comes opportunities. You know, Jenna Neiswanger, that's an opportunity

that I think pretty much anybody would take. If you could go play for Arsenal in England, that is a really cool opportunity. For Yasmeen Ryan and Delaney Sheehan, it's a time to start something new and build something where maybe you feel like you've built up enough to be a leader on a team. So I think the conversation or the letter from Yael Averbush is interesting because it almost

feels like, you know, sometimes you get this from GMs, like it's the start of a new year and this is what's going on. But it felt like it was a little bit of an explanation of like, hey, everybody stick with us. We got this. And I have no reason to not trust you Elle Averbush and what she's building there because what she has done so far has been excellent is the team going to look different than it did last year yes but it looked very different from the year before when they won a championship so I think one of the things about NWSL especially when we go into this area of free agency that we're seeing now, it's going to look different in off seasons.

And people are going to ask these questions and, you know, might as well just throw it out there and say, hey, this is what we're doing. So you feel like there's a little bit more of communication between the front office and the fans. I think that's what the thought maybe was behind it. There was a couple of phrases in the letter, and I don't know who they were directed at or if I'm reading it wrong, which did feel like a commentary on minutes aren't guaranteed here. And you go back to last offseason, you look at some of the names that came in, and there are players who probably expected to play and they're probably players in that that expected to play if they performed at the right level and trained at the right level and then what you ended up with was like 18 of those and so you could only start 11

and I think there was sort of a con it felt like there was commentary in the letter of like and we're not going to step away from that so we're not going to guarantee any one minute and i think the other thing to to think about here and unfortunately we don't have the full numbers we can't fully break this down but what it feels like from the outside is they took a risk last year on building a super team that normally has very low short shelf life and it was sort of like we can do it let's do it and the idea is to win there and winning then quells all problems they didn't and now this is the reality the reality is if you're going to spend big money on the rose lavelles and the estheres of the world you probably need to supplement it with some college players who are on you know smaller deals that

are first breaking in new players to the league who are looking for opportunities, as well as some veterans who maybe are willing to take a different type of deal because they want to stay where they want to be. This is a more logical build for a roster. It's just so odd to see because in the middle, you have this super team all of a sudden. And, you know, and then on the flip flip side Matian and Sam Hyatt and Delaney Sheehan they look at it and say we're starters why are we here and and that's all correct like all of it is right and the reality is that that's just the situation they got stuck in and like you said they still come into this year as a really dangerous team they still come into this year I think with a ton of expectations right And I just is very curious to me, too, because you go into a team with this knowledge,

hey, we're building this team. Also, it's a coach in Juan Carlos Amoros who switches up his lineup every single game. He's done that since he's been in this league. So you had to go in, I would think, as a player thinking, it doesn't matter really how I performed last week. How am I performing right now to make sure that I have a spot? It doesn't even matter who I used to be. It's like day-to-day with Juan Carlos, how he sees the chess game playing out that weekend. So we'll see. It'll be interesting as this season develops for Gotham, they still have really good pieces. And I'm excited to see Gabby Portillo play and purse come back. And some of the leaders that are now going to have the more majority of the minutes, because maybe you have a little bit more solid of a lineup that you can go

to week in and week out. But then again, I just said that. So I don't know if Juan Carlos will continue his switching everything up all the time. We're going to talk about the players are most excited to watch the moves. We are most interested by this isn't one of them, but I mentioned her name already. Ella Stevens game in and game out. That's going to be fun. I think as she settles and has the confidence, that's when she's at her best.

And so knowing she'll be in the lineup a little bit and knowing maybe there's responsibility on her shoulders. Cause remember when we saw her at her best last year was during Olympic breaks. It was in moments where she felt like she had to carry the team in ways or she couldn't rely on the other stars. And so I'm excited to see that this season. Let's go into the second biggest story of the week, which is the trade of Savvy King to Angel City from Bay FC overall it is some combination of $300,000 in transfer fund and allocation fund and all of that put together plus a 10% sell-on fee for Bay FC if Angel City does go on to sell who you know what

is a very young player and that's sort of the one way to protect yourself against giving up this asset and then it ends up being this huge deal further down the road it is a tough move i think for bay fc it is sort of swallowing the medicine early here of the fact that in their expansion year they kind of blew one of their biggest assets. It ends up not being a major part of their team, and yet they're able to salvage something out of it. And for Angel City, they continue their rebuild under Mark Parsons, still without a full-time head coach. Let's start with Angel City here.

What's your view on this addition to this roster right now? I would be surprised if this wasn't a trade asked for by Savvy King. She's from Santa Monica, and she played 18 games last year but didn't really, as you said, get that starting role within this group. This is a player who has all the potential in the world to be one of the best defenders, not just in this league, but with the U.S. Women's National Team too. She has a lot of good qualities.

So I think for Angel City, they pick her up. But this is a young back line for Angel City. They have her, they have Giselle Thompson. Those two, if you think about those two playing outside back, because no more Jasmine Spencer with Angel City, there could be some major playing time for those two. I am curious, and this is the biggest thing that I think as this league develops and it does go to more of a youth movement is how are you going to develop

these youth players, right? Sally King's 19 years old. She played one year of college, now one year as the pros she is still in a key critical developmental phase so can can angel city utilize these players that they have at this key phase because it's still alissa thompson's in that mix giselle they have kennedy fuller they Savvy King. You have to give these players an environment to develop, which means you have to trust them. You have to put confidence in them. And you have to allow them to make mistakes.

They have to make mistakes. And that's the only way that they're going to grow if you create this really nice environment for them. But on the flip side of that, Goss, you're playing professional soccer. You have to perform and winning matters and championships are talked about all the time. That's a hard place to develop what you need to for these young players. So maybe it'll be better at Angel City because they have a bigger group of youth players. I think it'll be important who they choose as a head coach, but I think it's a good pickup.

Like I said, I think Savvy King could be a really key outside back, a left-footed player who plays on the left side, has good endurance to get up and down, but she's going to need developed, and you have to put time into players like that, and you have to give them the right has to you have to put time into players like that and you have to give them the right resources to be able to get better it's one of the things and I'm jumping right to the bay side because it's just one of these things that's running through my head

which is why it was kind of an odd pick for an expansion team that had spent so much money to be good day one and it just I know hindsight's 20-20. But when you look back and you look at Corey Bethune taking third, and then Hal Hershfeld taking fifth, right behind Savvy King, it is, I think, very hard for Bay to look at that. And I think it will be for a while. This probably compensation for her gets you close to like, this is a huge, I mean, this is just behind what Yasmeen Ryan earned and the 10%,

if she gets sold eventually for the numbers we're looking at now, it probably equals out to 400, 500,000. That's a lot of money. So it's not nothing, but like you look at this team, what would they have been last year? If they had one of those two players,

I just mentioned who not just that they're good, but they were four year college vets, five year college vets and there are injury question marks and all of that but it was just a different position and Savvy King as a defender coming in were they going to let her make mistakes right were they really set up in a way to allow that to happen and so maybe it was just we couldn't look past this talent and the hope was that they were good enough year one or two that they could let her come along slowly and maybe all of a sudden it hits year three where you're getting basically a first round draft or you know number one draft pick talent later on

when you don't have a high draft pick which maybe they didn't know the draft was going away so that's also a reasonable issue but I think that's some of the frustration was drafting a player who you knew needed this without thinking about how you were going to give her that opportunity and now she comes to an Angel City team where as you said there's a cohort of this group they are in a rebuild so there is probably some minutes this year to say yeah you can make mistakes like we're going to take risks we're not trying to turn it on and win at this exact moment. We are building towards something bigger going forward. And I do think stylistically it fits a little bit better because what we saw from Bay was

a team when they were at their best that sat in a deeper block and there's just not room to do what she does well. Right. And so if you're looking at a team now in Angel City who are going to have more possession, so there are moments that she can pick and choose to get into the attack and then use her counter-pressing ability and then use her endurance to get back and recover.

Those are the things that maybe can take her to the next level. And I think this should be exciting. This goes along with the move for Alana Kennedy to come into this back line. We don't know what's happening with Jillis. Originally, she said she wanted to come back. Now it sounds We don't know what's happening with Jillis. Originally, she said she wanted to come back. Now it sounds like she wants to stay in Europe,

but you still have Sarah Gordon on that back line. And so you've kind of retooled that position, which needed it for Angel City. You've done it while still having an eye towards the future and bringing in young pieces. Yeah, absolutely. And I think they just need to get the head coach position right, which is maybe why we haven't heard an announcement yet. Because this is a team who I think we've seen go up and down so much where you have one of the best environments in NWSL. You should be winning your home games at least, right? You should be dominant at home.

And that is one of the areas where they haven't been good enough so can they bring in a coach who demands the right mentality out of this group but also plays to the style and the benefit of so many of the players that they already have and I think the leadership of Alana Kennedy will be really crucial in that back line to help lead this team too let's go to our last big piece of news for today. Rebecca Bernal leaving Liga MX Feminal and then heading north and heading to a place that a lot of people like to go to, which is the Washington Spirit. They've already brought in Narumi this offseason. Obviously, Andy Sullivan expected to be out for the full season, but Bernal comes in now to just

add another option to this squad. What do you make of this move? And were you surprised maybe that it was Washington? Surprised a little bit that we don't, we don't see a ton of Mexican internationals come back to NWSL after the first few years where we saw, you know, the, the work together with Canada and Mexico and the United States to send their players to NWSL. Now, in these past, I don't know, few years, we really haven't seen that. We have Diana O'Donoghue, we have Maria Sanchez, but that's it, I think. So I think that was a big surprise to me, especially Bernal has been with Monterey for

seven, eight years. She has been consistent for them. But I like it. I think that it would be good. A strong central player, pretty sure she can play as a holding mid, but she can play as a center back as well. So she gives you a little bit of versatility, if need be, which I think maybe lacked a little for this spirit squad in in that push when they

lost Andy they had to shuffle some things and maybe they're thinking all right how can we get players who can fit multiple pieces which I think you might get from Narumi you get from Bernal strong defensive midfielder right she'll win balls win balls. She'll, she'll deny space. This is a player that I think is interesting. And I'm, I'm intrigued to see how she truly fits into Geraldo's system and what he's trying to do there. Yeah. It feels like a combination of a replacement for Butel, as well as a fill in for Sullivan, right? That that flexibility it gives you both ways it also feels along with the Esme Morgan addition of Yonatan Geraldo's wants good passers out of the back and so if she is playing at that center back position you have confidence with her ability at

with her the ball at her feet and you then can fill in in that central midfield role if you want something a little bit more of a destroyer my assumption being that narumi's getting the starts out the gate and that's maybe a little light in midfield against some other teams where i think we saw how hirschfeld's limitations as a pure defensive midfielder without andy sullivan out there last year so now you get some of those elements in this player but also have that flexibility to have a third center back if you need so or switch formations which gives you the option I would not be shocked if Johan Tanneral does has an offseason to work and is like can I build a few different concepts in here that I can swap in and out of whether it's during the game

or around game so it is I think makes a ton of sense as a move as you said it's during the game or around games. So it is, I think, makes a ton of sense as a move. As you said, it's a little surprising because in Liga MX, I mean, all there's money and the money is spent first on Mexican internationals to keep them home and keep them a part of it. And then we are starting to see Abby Erceg, I believe, just announcing that she will head down to Mexico. We saw Henry go down there last year.

There are big names and big stars as well. There's normally more value there for the player than coming to NWSL. I do think there is a little element, though, of Geraldez and Michelle Kang of like this is a really cool project. And if they approach you, you have to at least consider it in a way in which maybe a player like this wouldn't have even thought about it a year or two ago and i think bernal is i looked this up but i i want to say she's 27 she's in this prime of her career where if that was me too i would and i had been at a

club for a long time i'm thinking all right how can i challenge myself a little bit more seeing success that she's had in last year, thinking about Mexico beating the United States, right? Tapping into that and say, okay, that was a challenging game, and I love that. How can I get that week in and week out? Okay, I want to go to NWSL and try my fair there. And what a place to land, because if you're going to develop,

you're going to do it under one of the best coaches in the world. Yep, absolutely. And again, I think more excitement for Washington fans as they look to try and get over the hump that was last year the final, but trying to win the whole thing for the first time under Michelle Kang. Let's close up with our final story of the day. It is one of the biggest stories and one we are still learning a lot about. But the official news coming out that the NWSL is going to be forced to pay restitution for players who experienced abuse in a $5 million fund that was created and to be monitored, I believe, by the attorneys general of the three states filing the case in New York,

Washington, D.C., and Illinois. This $5 million restitution fund is not a gift, nor is it justice. This fund exists because players refused to be silenced, and we found the courage to stand together as a collective, said Tori Hooster of the NWSLPA. This fund is an acknowledgment of unique failures and the harm suffered by players. It's a testament to the players' courage and a necessary step toward accountability. If the NWSL is safer today, it's because of players fought to make it that way.

So alongside the fund, part of the ruling that came down is the need for NWSL to continue to update the three attorney general's offices about the way they are carrying out the safeguards that were put into place coming out of the Yates report. So it says among the safeguards that are mandated to continue to include comprehensive vetting of certain team personnel, mechanisms for players to report abuse, player access to free and unlimited counseling, access to a league safety officer,

and policies that prevent teams from investigating themselves. We are not legal experts, so we don't fully understand what we're talking about, which is why we're sort of waiting for the legal experts to weigh in. On the one hand, I think a really powerful statement from Tori Hooster about, first of all, the fight that was necessary to get to this point, and then I think it's really incredible that the work and focus is being done to make sure that this never happens again.

And it's not just, I want revenge and I want to see what already occurred be changed, but to ensure the fact that this does not occur again in the future. And really brave from some of those players that stood up to do that. So yeah, it just just it feels weird talking about that there's money in this right it's rightfully theirs they they were injured in this

that mentally the emotional injuries that they it feels like a little bit of a kind of way to put the past behind us and um you know I wasn't aware that this was still ongoing. So I think when this news came out today, it kind of was like, oh, well, this feels like something that is rightful to these women who stood up and are a part of those lawsuits that happened. So, yeah, it just feels one step at a time, like we can close chapters and hopefully these

women feel like they too can close that and continue to move on in the right way because of all the things that they have done to stand up for this. Yeah, absolutely. We owe a lot to those players. Unfortunately, it was their burden to carry. And we hope that this brings a little bit of closure but also the fact that coming out of a year in which we had the reports out of San Diego to have a conversation consistently and a focus on how do we make sure this doesn't happen because

any time you sort of let up there seems to be a backslide and there can't be that and it has to be discussed and discussed and discussed so that it doesn't occur again, because that would be the worst way for all of this to end is for us to have a conversation for us to have all of these investigations, all of these policies put in place. And if you don't follow them correctly, then they can't work.

And so the hope is, and I think that goes as well with the new CBA, more power for players, which can get them in situ, get them out of situations, more influence from players as well. And I think we have seen now some clubs that have started to be take over by former players. And that has changed the experience as well, because those players have an understanding of what the current players are going through. Let's finish off here and let's talk about our offseason reactions.

It has been news after news after news. I didn't text you about it because you were on the side of mountains and I didn't want to get in your face. I have been freaking out. I've been trying to update some depth charts. I will clean them up again over the course of this week. If you want access to them, subscribe to our Patreon. You get those as a subscriber to SoccerWise. Also get want access to them, subscribe to our Patreon. You get those as a subscriber to

SoccerWise. Also get you access to our Discord. We were hanging out and talking about NWSL all the time. Let's start here. There are a lot that have happened. Do you have one favorite move, whether it's for the player's point of view or the team's point of view, or something bigger about the sport that you have seen so far in the offseason? I wrote two moves really that I am excited about. Two different teams, I would say. First off, I am excited, which is interesting because so many people are leaving San Diego. I'm excited Kenza Dali is playing for the San Diego Wave team because when we were talking about the Wave over the last few years, it did feel like they were missing a piece centrally that could help them connect

and be that connection from the really good wingers that they have in Sanchez and Cascarino now to their back line and some of the good defensive work that they have had over the number of years. Now that is changing and how they're going to build under Jonas Eidevall. I think we're all really excited to see that. But this is a coach who wants the ball and he wants to play through his key players. And I think having Dali there changes Savannah McCaskill's role and allows her to be a little bit more free in what she does. And it allows Dolly to be the connector, the 10, the final passer to players like Cascarino, who if you remember last year, I'm thinking this girl has the potential to be MVP in NWSL in 2025.

So I like that move because I think it really helps them in their midfield. They also signed two other midfielders, Gia Corley and Nigerian favor Emmanuel, who sound like they could be a six and an eight or an eight and a six respectively, and can really help hold down the center of midfield as they progress the ball and use Dolly and some of her vision, some of her experience as a French international. I'm interested. I'm really interested to see how that move works out.

I did not think excitement would start with San Diego. I know, right? Incoming transfers. So you did a good job to get there. I think what you said makes a lot of sense. We talked about Cascarino last year. I am also very excited about what she could be when she has settled. And this is a team looking for like a face and a star because Jaden Shaw has

left. Naomi Gurma has left. Alex Morgan has retired. A lot of other pieces are gone. Yeah. Like who is going to be the one that carries this team through tough moments. And I think you were talking about sort of having that set up to allow those players to have that platform. I'm surprised by that.

I think it's really interesting. It also shows how nerdy this show is because mine, and I don't know why, mine is Matihan. I think Chicago, they had a great start to the year. You were waiting for the attacking support to come. Ludmilla comes in. You get Grosso over the line, and then you lose Sam Staab. And so I think Matian has the ability to be a starting center back for this team. And if Staab does come back faster than we expect,

which Pardip said she was happy and excited at media day, then you can bring her into midfield and probably not the same level of passer. But like, I think about what Zornoza brought to Utah last year, as she came into the team and was able to just settle things and be a consistent force in that central midfield. This is just another player, not the same as Ryan,

but another piece where she's clearly a starter in this league. I think she's a high level starter. And I think you're going to a team where you can see all of her attributes and all of her abilities. And then that can affect the rest of this team. Because last year, once they finally got the attacking talent in the door, they could not stop anyone. And so it wasn't what can Mal Swanson and Luna Mila do? It's is Chicago even close by the time they're able to get opportunities and a chance, you know, a time to get opportunities and get chances. So that was one that really interested me and I think kind of went under

the radar. I think Waitane is going to be great in Chicago, but I put Chicago under my list of like, I don't think they've done enough. I don't think they've done enough in this off season to bolster a team who needed help last year. And, and I think that she will help because then you can, you know, whether you build off of her and Carrie Recaro, um, who has a new last name and I am, it's escaping me right now at this moment, or you push her into the midfield, there's options there. But it feels like there's still maybe a couple of moves away. And I would have liked to see maybe another move. There's also questions of Mal Swanson and what's going on.

She didn't report to preseason. So I think question marks about Chicago. I want them to do more. But another team that I thought I'm really interested in, and you know, I've been tooting their horn at the end of season, and I thought that they were going to make the playoffs is Utah. Utah is a squad who I think really did a good job. They bring in Alex Soweta, which she is an elite talent in this league coming off an ACL, but they don't have to demand a lot of her right away with Tejada in the

midfield as well. But they bring in not just a right back in Ana Maria Guzman, the Colombian international. Remember her from the world cup? Gosh, she didn't play at all. And then she played in the knockout round and like crushed it. She,

no, okay. She's coming from Bayern Munich. She's a right back. And then they bring in a Spanish left back And these two players Are known for getting into the attack And one of the things

That Oh my gosh, why am I thinking Jimmy Kunratz Kunratz talked about so much last year Is timing, when can you get in I think this is going to up the level Significantly of this Utah team Yeah, Jimmy Kunatz talked about so much last year is timing. When can you get in? When can you get in? I think this is going to up the level significantly of this Utah team, who was arguably one of

the top three teams in the last couple months of season and how they were performing, how difficult it was to play against them. I think that they are going to hit the ground running with some really good additions there, centrally with Luella, but also Guzman and Rubano that um right and left back carry on Wualo it took me that whole time to find it yes so uh I've been working on that but I was listening as well I agree with you I like that for starters you went around the world came back in the utah love stayed the entire time uh i think it is like you said it it feels like they have taken a development a step on from where they were let me just throw this out about chicago before we move on okay okay the mel swanson stuff is like that's you that's the nuclear button if that doesn't go right

there's nothing about this team. I think that the hope is that you barely saw what you could get from Grosso and Ludmilla. And the work was done last year. And that is like, that's the offseason. The offseason was last July. And that those players are able to bring another level this year now that they're settled. That's my only argument there. For Utah, I think it's great. I think there's some really interesting moves similar. I think we could see a lot more

from Chloe Lacoste this year than what we saw last year now that she settled. No, she tore her ACL. Oh, she tore her ACL? Yeah. Where did I miss this? At the end of the season. It was against Angel City. A really hard challenge. Yeah, it was terrible. Well, then I won't talk about that, and then that won't be a thing that I'm excited about this year, which is terrible. I was going to ask next, who are you most excited to see from a team point of view? Feels like Utah's pretty high up there for you.

Utah's high up there. We talked about it before the offseason happened, that we were all looking at Houston and what they were going to do. I'm interested. Yeah. I'm interested to see what Houston is going to do with the new head coach. So many of these veteran players coming in, they have the most potential of growth.

And I think everybody is like looking about what's going to happen in Texas. So I would say, oh, those two teams probably excite me the most just because I think I'm excited to see how Utah uses these pieces to take the next step. But Houston, I'm excited just to see what it's going to look like in general. Yeah. I think Houston is definitely first two weeks of the year. Must watch,

you know, live game up on TV. If they're on that the same time as, as other people to see like, what is this and how invested should you be and how much can we learn from it and how stable is it all? I think that one makes a ton of sense for me. It's North Carolina.

They have the most returning minutes of any team and so there's a lot of talk about loss with them because caroline has left and that's such a big name and nairumi has left and that's a huge name and like there's a lot of loss in there but you take a ton of stability and you add jayden shaw to that and like that could be really really fun i have spent months on this show talking about how much i love watching ashley sanchez play with this group now add jayden shaw to the mix there i think the versatility across the front line is really really exciting for this group that is not a new element but it's a different element with the with the attributes

these players have i'm excited to see see what position Shaw plays most of the time or where on the field she finds herself most of the time. And if you look at the top five from last year, and I think it felt pretty clear coming into the playoffs, it was the top four, it was a bottom sort of four, and North Carolina sat in the middle in their own little space. They have made the moves to try and make the jump and I'm just curious to see if it happens yeah I will add to they add Hannah Betford from Utah

which if you're going to look at the numbers of Hannah Betford it's not going to tell the whole story until she scored her first goal last year she had the the biggest range of goals to expected goals. She had like five XG. She was right there. And I just imagine this player with those pieces around it that you just mentioned where she can just almost be a dummy player at times, a player to pull defenders away. And then you create space for somebody else. She is one of the most unselfish nines in the league and how Sean Nahas and his creative mind utilizes

her presence. It might not be always 90 minutes, but which games he uses her, how he uses her, and then how she can be a presence in the box. I like that move for them and I think it's going to really pay off with the creative minds they have surrounding her. I think it's a lot like the role Ashley Hatch played last year. When she was on the field, a lot of what she did was creativity or drawing pressure from that central area to allow attacking 10s or the best winger in the league to find themselves in dangerous spaces. And I think Betford could do a lot of that. And as you said, there's more finishing in there.

Plus, you're going to a North Carolina team that it is more predictable the chances that you will get. And so I think it makes it a little easier for a center forward to sort of practice those finishes, practice those chances, and have confidence when they get into those final areas. Last one here, and then we'll get out of here. Fantastic show once again. Thank you to Yasmeen Ryan for taking the time to join us.

Thank you to Houston Dash for setting that one up. We still got a lot to talk about in NWSL over the course of this preseason. Who are you waiting for? Who, when your alerts go off, whatever you choose to subscribe to, however you get your news, are you saying, like, it has to be this team? I need this team to do more i feel like there's a couple of teams that are a little bit more quiet i feel like i just voiced that i i think chicago could be one of those teams i think the pacific northwest has been a little quiet yeah seattle's been quiet portland have been quiet um and those are really big clubs right i think they're building at least in the seattle it looks like they're building a little bit more youth

into their group but yeah i would say maybe that's where my mind goes right away yeah um i think portland is probably further along because from the outside, I think Portland is saying we weren't that far off last year. Like we had Sophia Smith, now Sophia Wilson had crazy injuries. You know, if we're healthy and all of the Olivia Moultrie, like if we're healthy, we have all these pieces together. Weaver, all of that. We're probably not that far off. I think they've solidified at center back. I think Seattle is is interesting because we don't know like how serious are they trying to build for this year i think chicago is a fair one the other one for me is louisville it feels like everything's been a loss out they brought in some college pieces and some younger

players to the point they were not that far off i know we said this every year ninth place it is the worst place to be in but like we saw a lot of positive positive things especially in central midfield there is some really interesting combinations this team can put together in central midfield but it has to be better defensively and they need depth so they are one of those teams that i would have liked to see be in for some of these pieces houston has brought in yeah where it's a Westfall or, you know, bringing in more depth at center back or whatever it is. And so I'm still waiting to see what they do and how they sort of find their feet in the modern NWSL as teams are starting to stretch things higher on the top.

And Louisville's in a unique market. I think it's sustainable. I think there's very clear ways to make it something that players want to be a part of and that can be competitive. But they kind of have to find that road and start to really hammer what makes them different that allows them to compete with the other teams in this league. Orlando is making moves. They set a transfer record. We saw Shawinga sign a contract extension. That's a huge move as well. All of that sort of on the top end. Washington continues to put pieces together. Gotham continues to shift things.

We don't have a coach still in Angel City. Becky Tweed just got hired as an assistant coach in San Diego. So there's always something to talk about. There's always something to do. And now we've got Jordan Angeli back with us for us to do it every single week so jordan will be back next week to help us uh cover all things nwsl on wednesday live on youtube or you can just listen to it wherever you get your podcast so thank you to all of you for listening thank you to uh henry in the chat i think we had a san diego fan as well calling them the san diego french because of the French connection that we are setting up out there.

So we will talk to all of you again very, very soon. Thank you.