SoccerWise - NWSL Soccerwise | Esther González Leaves Gotham FC + Updated NWSL Predictions

Episode Date: July 28, 2026

Breaking news hits just before recording as Esther González and Gotham FC mutually agree to part ways. What does Esther's departure mean for Gotham FC's NWSL title hopes, and who steps up in her absence? David Gass and Jordan Angeli break it all down.Plus, Racing Louisville stuns Angel City FC, Washington Spirit climb to the top of the NWSL standings, Gotham FC and the Portland Thorns battle to an entertaining draw, Seattle Reign earn an impressive road win over San Diego Wave, and David and Jordan revisit their preseason predictions and update their outlook for the rest of the NWSL season.0:00 David Gass Returns from World Cup Duty4:47 BREAKING: Esther González Leaves Gotham FC15:24 Gotham FC vs. Portland Thorns Draw 2-227:02 Washington Edges Denver Summit Late33:07 Racing Louisville Stuns Angel City FC39:16 Seattle Reign Shut Out San Diego Wave41:49 Updated NWSL Predictions1:00:55 Midweek NWSL Matches

Welcome everybody back to Soccer Wise, David Goss and Jordan Angeley with you once again. In the legendary words that haven't been said in a while, we are back to talk NWSL and everything else in between. Jordan, I missed you. I know, I missed you too, Goss. How many naps have you taken since the World Cup ended? Yeah, a couple little cat naps here and there. You know, it's like microdosing. You got to get seven minutes here and six minutes there.

But I had a blast listening to you guys. guys keep me like up to date on NWSL. I was at the Gotham spirit game last week at this point. Wow. It's only a week ago. That feels like a century ago. It does feel like a century ago. Wait, wait. Was it just a, no, it was two weeks ago. Okay. That makes more sense. Because they played the Randall's Island game after that. Yeah. I'm like, wait a second. That feels like too long. But yeah, it's, it was an experience. I am beyond excited about 2027. I'm probably two in. 2027 now for how far away it is. Like for me, it's like, yeah, I'm ready to roll. Like, let's do team previews. Let's talk about the World Cup. It's just the best thing that happens. It really is. And you guys did such a good job on the first touch daily and doing the podcast

every single day. And it really was a good preview of what's to come for maybe some people that only listen to us on the women's soccer side, knowing that this is the stuff we're going to do, going into 2027 World Cup, Brazil. It's less than a year away. I think they said the final would have been this last weekend. Amazing. Which we're in it. You know, this is going to be, it's going to be so exciting.

And I can't wait to cover everything because now I feel like everyone's just eager and ready to go for the next World Cup. There's the connectivity of it all, right? It's the one time that the whole world's watching one thing. There's also just the stakes of it. There's just these moments in a world. Cup where you score a goal, you get a red card. And it's like, this is a defining moment for this country's like culture and sporting history and for many of these players.

And so as great as champions leagues and playoffs are the stakes, which creates the tension, which creates the tension, which creates the emotion, which creates the connectivity of all of it. It's just like one of one. And the U.S. and Canada and Mexico was a great host. Brazil's like probably the country you'd pick to host a soccer tournament in the world. Rio, Sanpalo, all of that. So it's going to be absolutely insane. The women's Afcon has kicked off.

I know you guys talked about it a little bit. 10 NWSL players are in that. All of them are huge factors on their end of the ESL teams. All of them are leaders for their national teams as well. This delayed tournament finally kicks off. So you can watch that on BNsport. You can watch that on BNsport Connect or on Fuba, which is what I have. to watch that tournament.

So national team stuff, and those stakes are still there. And you can get into it. Obviously, the Asian Cup, we know, delayed some players coming into. NWSL to start the season, that doubled as World Cup qualifying. So we know all the teams out of Asia who directly qualified who will be there. And obviously, we know about some of the South American teams, including Brazil, who will be a part of it. So we're very excited.

But we've got a lot of NWSL to talk about. We have upsets across the weekend, including our bottom place team, Louisville, getting a big victory on the road. Washington jumps to the top of the table, so we will talk about that. We are also, depending on where you are right now, at the midway point of the NWSL season, some teams not yet, some teams are past it, but overall we're right there in the middle. And so we are going to reset the mistakes we made in the preseason. We're going to reset ourselves up.

Portland, we're talking to you. We're going to make the same mistakes here at the midseason point as we predict, forward, but trying to sort of do a rehash of where we stand. There is midweek NWSL, so there's three games on Wednesday night, which we'll talk a little bit about. And of course, we've got another big weekend of coverage coming up. If you're listening via Sirius Radio, welcome. Thanks for being here.

There's a pretty good chance that chatty Kathy's, as Jordan likes to call us, are going to run a little bit over. So if that's the case, we will, you can find the full show on the on-demand player, or you can search soccer-wise anywhere that you find your podcast. And of course, please follow us on social media. We have our fully dedicated women's soccer page that is putting out all the content and coverage around NWSL, around some of these big international tournaments, as well as player signings and news. Which gets us into our start. You make a rundown. You build a show. All the things. Do we need the do-do-do-do-do-do-do. Because this is breaking news.

Was that your news? That didn't sound like the news update. I get your point. It's like the ticker. It's like Walter Chonkite style. But what would you do? Well, now I can't. Okay. Yeah.

We'll work on this one. Do do do do do. It's sports. It's sports. So there we go. And the news is that Esther is parting ways with Gotham FC. So the news coming out right as we prepared to record. this. We are recording this, yes, a little bit in advance of it coming out. So the magic of

television on that one. But Esther, of course, star player for Gotham. And the report is that it is a mutual agreement to terminate the contract. Esther will temporarily step away from soccer to attend to personal matters in Spain. The club announced on Monday. So the club wishing her all the best. Esther's comments, quote, Gotham FC will always hold a very special place in my heart. From the moment I arrived, I felt something unique about this club, the people, the environment, the way everyone works together every single day. I am grateful for each and every moment shared with my teammates, the coaches, and every single member of this club. So this is obviously massive news for the league.

It's massive news for our preseason predictions. It's massive news for a lot of stuff. But I think let's start with Esther. Because in my mind, she is like kind of a starting point for this error of Gotham. to come from the Spanish national team and the level they were at when she joined and she helps lead Gotham to that first championship three years ago at this point before they had become a super team on top of a super team on top of a super team. To me, she is not the lone piece, but it feels like she's a huge signifier of sort of a statement of intent as Gotham shifted who they were and obviously a huge error of success. Yeah, she signed with them right off the heels of winning a World Cup. In 2023.

And if you look at this Gotham team over the last three years, because she was almost here three years, not quite. I think she started in late August of 23, maybe were her first appearances. So not quite three years. And they win two championships. They totally change. The entire team feels like it's turned over with the likes of. They get Rose Lavelle. They get Jalen Howell, Savannah McCaskill.

Tirna Davidson in the back line, they just keep adding, Jess Carter, AKB, all these players are coming over, and it really does feel like that was one of the marquee signings of Gotham back in the day to say, all right,

we're not just going to squeak into the playoffs, but if we do, we are going to win championships because our roster is so deep. And Esther came and gave this Gotham team a little bit. I wouldn't say heartbeat, but she gave them color and just this savviness to the way that they played, no matter how she was scoring goals because she can score them in a variety of different ways.

What a joy to watch Astaire play in NWSL. And I think it really shows, I hope the world with all of these quality players who are trying to find a place to play, that this is a good landing spot, that you can be a foreign player from Europe and play in NWSL and be, super successful and win championships and enjoy the competition. And I just feel like she was maybe before we're going to see a wave of players come in. She was like one of the first ones to say, I'm going to hedge my bets and go to NWSL. She was the only one from that 20, 23 Spanish team that came over.

Some other pieces of the Spanish national team have come over since. But I think widely considered the best team in the world, she was the one. to come to NWSL. She scores the winner in that NWSL championship immediately that first year. And I think color is a great way to phrase it. It felt like she brought a lot of the soul into the game for them. I think Rose Lavelle does a lot of that now, and the team has shifted as she's been there.

But I feel like, and last year was a huge example of this, that early stretch of the season before some players had come back from injury, before they made some summer signings, she carried this team. Like she was the MVP. halfway through the year last year. And it felt like she played her best soccer when Gotham had their backs against the wall.

And maybe the question we had now was fitting in with all the other stars, where would it be? But it felt like she really embraced the star turn when it was necessary. And you could play through her, but she could also be the finisher for you. And I think her adaptability made this team possible

in terms of you built one team, then Jaden Shaw comes in the middle of the year. Now you're basically rebuilding your attack. And it's the same from 2024 and all the stars they had and the shifts that they had to make as those players came in and out of the side. So she was everything for this team. She leaves as one of the all-time leading goal scorers. She was second in the Golden Boot Race in 2025. And she is going to be probably in a ring of honor or whatever Gotham chooses to do with it going forward.

But it starts to make the Sam Kerr move make a little more sense now. that this team probably knew that this was potentially happening or 100% happening. Yeah. And they go out and get one of the biggest names. Do you feel like with the way that it was stated, it feels like urgent and immediate to me, which we don't know, right? And maybe we'll never know what the, what it is. But I also do think current Esther could have been on the same team together because they

are so different in the way that they occupy space and where they want to find the ball. And yes, both goal scores at heart. but I think it makes it make more sense because they're like, thank goodness we have Sam Cair now. And I think this is the argument Gotham would make every time we ask, oh, you signed Denise O'Sullivan, where are all these players going to play? I think they would say historically, unfortunately, you see that injuries come up, you see that sometimes players want to move, you see that life changes happen.

I would say that's their thing. Again, we have no idea. She has been back and forth. They had, you know, she had a kid. She was out for materially. So there's all these things that. have happened with her. And maybe there was an inkling of, I don't know what my long-term future looks like. And maybe that was the nod from her to the club to say, yes, go be aggressive about

pursuing a big name forward as well. But we will learn more about that. But Sam Kerb becomes now much more influential in what she has to bring. She scored a goal her first for Gotham since 2017 in the game this weekend. I think it makes Dudley's future make more sense as well. And she's played well out on the wing. She has a future at Center Foote. forward. She might have a future with a suspension for a game or two after the battle with Jane Perry. I was going to say, how did you see that? It was wild. There was a couple wild moments this weekend. Hopkins standing on Cano's hair for like a full minute and a half was also one of them that felt like it went under the radar. And maybe Jane Perry picking up the actual

red card causes a lot of these to go under the radar. But like the one thing with Gotham is there's still talent there. It's just now you have. this like veteran central force that's come out of the team and I guess more now than ever, it's Rose Lavelle's squad. Yeah. And maybe more than ever, she needs to stay healthy because of that. Because I think when you talk about Esther versus Rose Lavelle and who drives this team, Esther was available every game. Right. And always on the field. And when Rose Lavelle is available, she is right up there with one of the best players in this league, right? If not the best player in this league. And so can they keep her and manage her the way that allows this Gotham team to continue to

be pushed the limits and try to continue to be a team that is top of the table because they're right up there now, which they haven't done in what over over a year. I don't remember the last time they were top of the table. I think it was like 19 months or something. Yeah. So the other thing about that I think with this as Sarah in just the time that she has been there, one of the things that Gotham has done really well is, yes, they've built depth, but also they understand that it is a buying. Like they can be,

they're not strictly a buying team and they're not strictly a selling team. Like I do think that they can, you know, it's unfortunate they can't sell a stare and get something to, money to replace her, but also that they're building, just think of the depth of their midfield. Like if you have a Shippansky and a team needs her,

you can sell her. And you still have depth in that. area. And they've done a really good job of creating that depth to not only sustain a 30 game season plus Champions Cup and all the other things, but also, okay, there are times that we're going to have to sell players to get the money we need to go buy the player we want. And they have built a really solid team around that. And now their depth is really going to have to pay off, especially after this weekend. Yeah, there's this acknowledgement, which is if you enter this level of the market, you're in that space. The players you acquire are the same players, the

Chelsea's, the Leones, they're going to want to acquire. And so while sometimes it feels so big from the outside, you make this record transfer, you bring in this big name, there is actually that, like, fluidity there of, okay, if it doesn't work out, someone else in this band of teams, they are also all aggressive moving teams. We could shift pieces around. And I think that's what you see in the, like, speed at which Lynn Biondolo goes out the door and eventually Jane Shaw comes back in.

And it feels like some of the moves they make have been these, like, earth-shattering moves but like three of them at the same time. And I think it's an acknowledgement inside the team of like, okay, we sit in this space. We are talking to the other teams and players in this space as well. And we can go out and we can make moves. But to your point about Esther, by the way, 30 appearances in 2024, 29 in 2025. 16 already this year, 12 of them starts in NWSL. So a consistent option for a team that has a lot of pieces that are really important that have struggled with consistency and struggled with health. And that's unfortunately a part of the conversation coming out of the game this weekend. So a two-two draw on Friday night for Gotham to start a three-game road trip in one week.

One of the games of the year, end-to-end, I mean, the energy at Providence Park is always a leap, but it may have been as good as we'll see it. We'll talk about Morgan Weaver's return and the energy when she was around the field at any moment, whether it was warm-ups or in the game. Obviously, some big names, former Thorns returning to the stadium. But unfortunately, the big note of the opening few minutes was Emily Sonnet going down with a non-contact injury subbed off in the seventh minute with a left knee injury. So she was stretchered off the field, immediately went to receive medical attention, and then the club announced that she has headed home immediately to the New Jersey area to be assessed.

and for them to figure out what the injury level is and what the future looks like. And this is, if you're talking about Esther being a leader in the attack, right, this is the vocal, emotional leader of the defense, if not the whole team. And really unfortunate moment for, you know, a great player and a great personality. Yeah. And we don't know the quite yet the extent. And maybe by the time we're listening to this, that will be revealed. But it, you just can tell.

That Sonnet knew that something was severely wrong. It comes on a week where we saw Trinity Armstrong and Jordan Hida, both tearing their ACLs, both out for the rest of the year. And you just wonder if it's a little bit of like coming off of that summer break where everybody was using it for, you know, it was a little bit of like a second preseason. And then you go straight into games. And there were multiple games and three game weeks and a lot of stuff happening, cross country travel.

And it kind of goes back to, you know, whatever the injury is with Sonnet. It just this league is super demanding. It's not just there's 30 games. It's there's 30 games with six hours of flights across three time zones that it's difficult as a player to sustain excellence week in and week out, game in and game out. And I think just for Sonnet, you watch it happen and you immediately your heart sinks because you think about not just what she's been able to do this year. I think I had her for Defender of the Year.

I knew that she was going to have a big role in this Gotham team if they were to do well, but also her role within the national team and how she has become this really counted on player, someone that Emma Hayes is always trying to find a spot for in her starting lineup. And you think about the timeline for a year from now and what that would mean. So continuing to wish all the best. but in a game that, you know, was setting up and really already in those first few minutes after the Gotham goal, which was magnifique, right? It was beautiful the way they score that first goal. You just are like, no, we don't need any, we don't want this day to be ruined by something like this and injury to a big player.

And a one of one personality in NWSL in sports. One in life. Like we're going to go through our predictions. and I have Gotham, Washington high up in terms of the potential to face off in big games. Still, maybe my favorite moment in NWSA history was the fight between Sonny and Rodman. And you see even this game, Sophia Wilson stepped on Emily Sonnet's foot, like the opening 40 seconds by accident. And she's like doing comedy bits with Olivia Moultrie and just like, and she's moving pieces around. And even in her injury, she's like directing the medical staff of what's wrong with her, how to handle it.

And then of course, former Thorne, like the crowd. just on their feet for an opponent coming off the field. And her recognition to the crowd just shows what she is and the way she stands for. But you talked about the game. Gurra Wrighton down the left creates the opening goal, Midge Purse with the finish second minute goal for Gotham officially. And Wrighton was bawling to open this game up. And it's like, oh, right.

She is like a borderline WSL game-changing winger who's like playing left back. for this team. And in that direction, she is going to be a factor in every game. And she looks to be getting more comfortable. And especially against Portland, who there are weaknesses in their outside backs defensively. Their outside backs can get forward and attack and add to that. But in 1v1 defense, you can see they're a little susceptible in those areas. It's not just right in getting into the attack. It's the whole way. I believe it starts at AKB and it just works through every layer of the field. They move it all the way out to the left. They bring it centrally. They find Shaw in the pocket who draws a player in to allow Wrighton to have the space. I love the way they're utilizing

Shaw and right in on that left side because Shaw is playing as a winger, but she's a 10. She wants to play in the pocket. So it's giving this runway of space for Wrighton to get higher up on the field as much as possible to almost look like a winger is what she thrives in those situations. Like she megged the girl before she gets into the box and finds the cross to to purse on the back post. So just such a beautiful goal from Gotham. And I think, gosh, these are the moments why we are so hard on Gotham. And we say, why are you scoring more goals? Because you can do that.

You can do that. She had a moment after that where she gets like she picks up the ball just past midfield. She also dances around the first offender and then hits a blind floating. floating ball to the far post that Kerr gets on the end of, which is like elite game creation stuff, and that's your left back. So yes, to your point, that's where the expectations stand.

When Sonnet went out. Some of these players have played for Chelsea for a number of years together too, right? Like Kerr and Wright and are like, they just gave each other the eyes and they know exactly what's going to happen. Jess Carter, AKB. So on the injury, Mandy Freeman came on, and Jess Carter slid from right back to center. back where I based off the interview she did on this show as well as everything else you've heard she's

actually more comfortable at the center back position she's a different player than son it and i'm sure we'll talk about that over the weeks to come freeman stepped in at right back and then after and then got got taken off at half time um and there were the um comment from sean harris who was acting head coach for this game was that mandy freeman was on a minute's limit coming into the game so um they had to take her off and i think quickly they didn't know what else to do in the opening moment So they put her on the field. Also a steady presence, a club legend, a veteran helps you manage sort of the emotions of that. And then it ended up being Jordan Dudley coming on and midge Purst dropping to that right back position where she's played a lot of minutes this year. The comment you made about Portland is the reality, though, with Gotham.

Where Gotham at centerback, if Tiena Davidson can stay healthy with Jess Carter, they will be okay if Emily Sonnet is out. But they are playing two wingers at fullback. It hasn't really bit them yet. But at some point, the game plan has to be you have to attack those spots if you want to beat Gotham. Yeah. And that's the issue that Gotham creates is their high press is so suffocating that teams oftentimes turn over the ball before they can even get into the channels to go at those outside backs or they regain the ball within their own half. Because they may not get it for their first pressure at the 18. They're attacking 18, but they win it back at half field. And so then they're just back down in possession trying to create. So yes.

And I would think in there were moments. And I think that that is what Portland did when they were successful is they switched the point of attack and they found players in the channels either through their outside backs or through their wingers or that little half space where Moultrie likes to occupy the space to then drive at the back line when they do get a little too stretched. and there are susceptibilities in the channel. But it ended up being a fun game because it's multiple goals back and forth, exactly what you would have expected from these two teams where they're standing right now.

And I did think Portland looked as best as good as they've looked since they lost. Why am I blanking now? Oh, Turner. After Turner's injury a few weeks ago, it didn't seem like the cohesion was there. and they looked pretty good in the attack in moments during this game. Yeah. Renee Lyle scores the opening goal. It was a combination of the Schross that has become the greatest threat in soccer over the last two weeks.

Why have there been so many goals like that? I have yourself. I have no idea. I could give you some whole theory about heat and like, you know, speed of the ball and all this stuff. I don't know what it is. This is like five now in the last week. she was endearing at a half time about it. One, she was like overwhelmed by how she was like,

it's just exciting to score for the greatest team in the world. And you're like, you are having the best day of your life right now. Like you scored your first ever career goal. The energy is crazy. Lori in her second question was like, congrats on the goal. And then started talking. She goes, thank you so much.

And it was like, she felt like she's like, I have to be polite in this moment. But showed the threat, right? Of you can attack Gotham at the fullback position. she gets there. She gets the goal. And then Sam Kerr scores. So her first goal since 2017 for the team. And then Jane Perry was sent off on what looked like it was going to be a breakaway for Sam Kerr to potentially make it a three to lead. And yet after that, I think you could argue Portland looked as likely, if not more likely, to win the game. And Morgan Weaver coming off the bench for this team. A huge moment for her. We have tracked, you know, how unfortunate it's been for her trying to come back from injury.

but you see what she means to Portland as a city. Yeah. What a roar. And I hope she, she remembers that. And can, everybody would have been waiting. And I feel like I got to talk to her a couple weeks ago when she was at, Portland was playing Denver because I was working in that day. And I got to talk to her after the game.

And she's like, I'm close. I'm going to play soon. And she was just so, she looked like herself. And I would say there were moments here that she did look like herself. And this, the way that Portland's playing right now, fits Morgan Weaver really well because Robert Villaham is trying to go as quickly forward as possible. And that's what Weaver wants. She wants to be in the channel, going 1 v1 with a defender, cooking and getting past them and finding the right option. So it's not going to be probably success

right away, but I do think as she just grasped herself in, she's going to look like she fits in with this style really easily. And hopefully she can add to that attacking line. And it feels like a Portland team that might not be done with the work they want to do. Like it feels like they're trying to be aggressive and they're trying to fill some of these holes to continue to grow going forward. But, you know, we've spent half this show already on this game plus Esther. It was huge news.

The quality of this game, if you haven't watched it, at least go watch the highlights, if not the full replay. on Amazon. It was that good on top of the fact that there is a lot of news around these two teams, but especially around Gotham. Let's think into some of the other games from the weekend. Let's start with Washington, who are now top of the table. They jump over Gotham and San Diego with the results they had. They hang on late at home versus Denver. I have in my notes could be the best weekend of Douglas's life. DC United played at home on Saturday in one-to-one and had a late penalty that VAR upheld for them.

And then he went to the stadium the next day at Audi Field and the spirit were able to hang on to a one zero win. And the VAR in the last moments turned over a penalty that could have tied it for this Denver team. But Washington, I mean, they are the team. They're missing four players at the women's AFCON. And they are three difference makers and a big addition who has not appeared for the team yet.

And you see it in, I think, the rotations. from Adrian Gonzalez, trying to protect Lacey Santos, trying to move, I think, everyone around so that no one gets too much work on them. And then at the same time, the lack of maybe the game changers off the bench that you'd expect in missing a Rosecoasi and missing a Gift Monday that they can't put into the rotation. I think, though, what worked out for Adrian Gonzalez and you saw it with not just those players being gone, but also the midfield in this game was just workhorses, right? Like a little bit more steady. You have Sullivan, Hirschfeld, and Bernal as the three in the midfield for a lot of this game. And it just felt

like, all right, we're going to hold it down and make sure that Denver is not playing through their midfield. They're not finding those passes. And the work of those three centrally really stifled Denver's attack. And it wasn't as if Denver didn't have the ball, but they, they weren't creating very many chances. I think they didn't have a shot in the second half until late in the second half. And I don't believe they had a shot on goal the entire game. Not good. I'm just going to say hard to score when you don't have any shots on goal. But I do think that is one of the things when we talk about, you know, we just come off Gotham and talk about the depth of Gotham and the depth of the spirit team is one of the other

things is you have to be able to win games like this. When you don't have players who are game changers like Rose Quasi and what she has added to that front three, she just helps gives space to everybody else around her. And when you don't have that, okay, well, how do you win differently? And yes, it's a one-nothing win, but you have to win games one to nothing, especially when it comes to playoff times,

be able to hold on. And the fact that they sifled Denver's attack didn't let them really get any chances on goal. I still am curious about the, not the overcome called PK. I think that was probably the right decision. I think keeps already had left her feet, but she's trying to make a play

there. I think it's the other one after that where she just gets taken out by Bernal and she's not even looking at the ball. I understand a bump, but like you got to at least try to go for the ball. That was too obvious for me. And that one was the big question mark. There was multiple question marks in officiating this weekend. We just talked about Portland and potentially a Dudley red card that didn't get called and maybe she'll get suspended looking back on it. But I think although when you watch the replay, Perry's also holding on. So Perry might get an added suspension. like there's a lot going in there. Yeah, yeah.

That's true. It was a little back and forth there. So it was an interesting game. And I think for Washington, they've had a couple of games like that this year. I would say the Seattle game was another one where they won two to one, where it was just not, not beautiful.

And they found a way to win. But would you say that this is, like, is this the curveball for them, which is we can play into feet and we can be flowing. and aggressive with Rose Quasi and Giff Monday and Lacey Santos at the points of the attack. But then this flip side, which is Hal Herschelt's a pressing 10 and will beat you in transition. And maybe it doesn't happen if Lacey Santos doesn't come off the bench.

So maybe I'm wrong in all of that. But it just feels like we're going to do our standings predictions. It just feels like this is where the trust with Washington comes from is they can win games this way and the other way. And there's enough depth in there. that no matter what game they get to, they have either side that they can know. I talked to Adrian Gonzalez a few weeks ago. It might have even been before,

maybe right coming off the break. And he just said, he must have said unpredictable 12 times in the conversation. He wants his team to be unpredictable and the way that they attack. And you just said exactly that, right? You can be direct, you can play through the thirds, you can pull a team out,

and then go, go quickly in the other direction. You have to be unpredictable because you, if you're, as we're seeing, Kansas City, if you, if the other team knows what you're going to try to do, Orlando, they can adapt and they can take away that space. And then if you don't have another answer, you don't have another answer. Yeah. And for Washington, they're going to play home games in the playoffs.

Like, I feel fairly safe saying that. NWSL teams are fine on the road, letting the other teams dictate or changing the way they play because getting the result is what matters. Teams not sticking to their identity. And that means you're going to have to have that optionality and be able to win in different ways. Sophia Cantore only scores from outside the box.

This one, slight deflection, but incredible shot, incredible moment. Now, I will say, for all of the struggles for Denver, in the attack, I think you heard the comments from multiple Washington players post game about how difficult it was to break them down. Yeah. There is a reason that this is not a team that feels lifeless or lifeless, rudderless, lifeless, lifeless.

You choose a phrase, and if it's the right one, use it in your own heads. Insert here. We'll talk about them a little bit more coming up. I wanted to get to the big win to close out the weekend, Louisville, 2-1 winners in L.A., Maya Lardner, her first two career goals, both of them in this game. So a two zero lead for this team, Jan's daughter with a gorgeous goal late on to make it two to one. But this was a huge moment for a Louisville team that's been struggling. They get a victory on the road three points. And I think you could see the emotional reaction from them afterwards.

Really interesting from Bevienez playing in a 532. And I don't know how long, I can't say. I can't say how long they've been playing this way. But I thought it was smart against Angel City who wants to occupy the channels, but also those half spaces. So then you always had a third center back to be able to step to Centaur or step into the pocket to break up the space there. And then playing Lauren Malay as a midfielder and a central midfielder was really interesting. And at times it looked like one holding midfield and two attacking midfielder. So those two attacking midfields along with, I think it was Fisher and Lardner up front,

they're oftentimes narrow in the same pocket. And so once a defender engaged with one of them, they would just pull the player out and they created space for one another in those two half spaces on either side. I thought there were some really smart things that Louisville did. And these, I'm not saying that Louisville has been in every game, right? But they have competed. they just haven't found, they haven't found wins.

For this to be the win that you get against Angel City, a team that has been on the up and up and hadn't lost since they had an interim coach away at Angel City, their first win for May since May. That, what a performance from Louisville. And for a club that is thin on their roster, they know that. They've struggled with injuries from the moment the season started. Macy Hodge goes down seven minutes into this game in a chance for her to return back to California. And yet they're able to find their feet and get the win.

And as you said, you look back through the games. They drew in the last game. They lost two zero to bay, got blown out by Portland. Outside of that, it was a one zero loss, a two one loss, and a two one loss. Back to back one zero losses against Washington and Gotham before that. So it's a team that's battled. It's a team that's been in games. And I think you saw a game here.

here where Angel City had no intensity. And if that's the case, Louisville will go and take the game. And it felt like Angel City played the way you'd expect Louisville to play of, okay, we don't know where this season's going. We don't know who we are. And Louisville was first to every 50-50 for the opening 75 minutes. They were aggressive in their 1v-1s. They won them defensively.

But then offensively, I mean, we were texting as that second goal went in. Cherry just doesn't challenge on the cross. And so it's great composure from Weber to realize she's got time to pick her head up and pick her pass rather than just play a blind ball into space because you're under pressure and good connection to find a teammate. But you're in the attacking third. How is there that much time and space for your team? I think it will be really frustrating for Angel City. But yeah. Yeah.

one more comment about Angel City before I think, I think you wanted to move on. But just it feels like for them, they, you know, you bring in Allie Centaur and we've seen this a couple of times with Centaur. And so it's crazy thing to be able to say. Yeah. To me, it's now, how do you adapt?

If I'm that player, I'm thinking, okay, I know I can add XYZ to a team, but I'm not able to do that. So I have to get better at these things. And I think during the game, someone said, like she's, she's a really good decision maker in these moments. And I actually, I actually would push back on that and say, I think Allie Settinor oftentimes holds on to the ball a little too long. And especially with this way this Angel City team wants to play, if you do that,

you're losing the pass or you're getting closed down for your shot, which sentinor was taking from distance, which she can score those from distance. To me, she has to speed up her not the way at which like the intensity she is on the ball, but it's oftentimes one, two touches too many. So then the pass is not on anymore. The defender has recovered. How can she continue to fill in that spot, but progress the ball a little bit quicker?

Because if you watch this game back, they find her. It's not as if they're not finding her. It's, is she finding Yon Stodder? Is she finding Emsley? Is she finding that final pass? Or is she getting herself? Like, if she would take two less passes,

she could one two with Yon Stodder and find herself beyond the back line. But those passing lanes are closing. too quickly because that's especially against at Louisville. Like they are going to try as hard as they can defensively. And you have to know that. You have to play quicker and think quicker. And I just feel like she in moments, she's picking the wrong decision. Taking nine shots in a game and having five of them blocked is just like a wild statistic.

You're holding onto the ball too long, right? And I think the other piece of it is I think some of it's predetermined. I think when you watch her play, you see moments where she, before she gets the ball is like, I'm going to shoot here. And the other team can sense that and close down and close down the moment. And I do think game states is a part of this because Angel City was pushing. I thought when Riley Tiernan came in, she dropped in in the central area and they played into her feet a couple times.

And all of a sudden it shifts Louisville shape because now their lines are broken centrally. And now everyone's scrambling. And now Jan's daughter can get over the top in a foot race 1 v1 rather than 2 v1 because a centerback has to drop in and that's where Centaur doesn't occupy that space and pull a player in that area. So yeah, I think there should be some frustration with Angel

City and obviously a big loss for them. You mentioned Claire Emsley her second straight start. So back to back starts first two of the season is nice for her. Let's go to one of the other big I'd say upsets of the weekend Seattle, 2-0 win at San Diego. The hits keep

coming for San Diego. Unfortunately, the injury bug has been big. Ken's Dolly misses this game. We don't have official confirmation on what it was. She was questionable coming in. So the hope is it was just something small and it's just for the one game. But I noted in this one that Seattle scores early and early ball to the far post, Sandra Pagos gets the start in this one. The big goalkeeping signing you've been asking for. And I think in a header on the edge of the six, you have to expect a goalkeeper to come off their line. And it just feels like San Diego can't get this right. Yeah. It's been a little rough for San Diego, especially, you have to know this,

playing against Seattle. If they get an early goal, two early goals in this one, almost like, the second one was a corner kick, right? Seattle's just going to sit in and it slowed the game down so much. And it was like, oh, they were missing Kensadali in there because there was no experience to speed the game up because Seattle wanted to slow it down. And there were moments where I was like, this is watching paint dry in this second half. And San Diego could not find their rhythm. So that if I'm that team this week after that a game like that, you have to start to figure out how you can continue to set the pace when the game is not going your way. Because it just felt like the Seattle team, now they're figuring out ways to score goals. I think there's still

conversation about me official, not scoring, but I thought she was better in this game as a target player and holding the ball up and finding the players underneath her. But yeah, San Diego, it's not good. And yeah, it's tough. And they're still struggling to figure out what they're going to do in that front line without DeGienia. I think Byers has been a bright spot. And the way she occupies the spaces between the centerbacks or just right to the shoulder of the centerbacks is really interesting. and has given them something different. But yeah, not the time that you need to lose your captain.

And they're so talented, but they're so young. And that's where you don't, you don't, you know, you believe in the talent to replace the pieces that are going out. It's just can they handle that responsibility without a Doudinia or a Kenzadali alongside him if it ends up being a long injury? Like that's the real question mark, I think, for this group. Okay. we are going to dig in for a little bit on our preseason standings, predictions,

some of the mistakes we made into our postseason standings and predictions as well. We are going to also preview the midweek games to come. There were some other big results from the weekend. We didn't hit Utah, a 4-1 win out in North Carolina, three of the goals offset pieces, which is not what you'd love to see. Yeah, good. As the home team, Houston went and got a 1-0 win on Friday night, Orlando, a 1-0 win in one of the weirdest soccer games you will ever see played. Basically zero chances created and Orlando dominated.

And then they finally got the late victory. So a lot to talk about still. If you're listening via Sirius Radio, you can go to the on-demand player to get the full show. Let's dig into, should we start with our preseason and talk about how wrong we were? Yeah, I think that would be good. So in preseason, for goalkeeper of the year, we're not going to do the individual awards today, but just to set the stage a little, I picked Anna Moorehouse, which does not feel like that's going to happen. I think she's statistically been the worst goalkeeper, starting goalkeeper in NWSL and the underlying numbers. For defensive player of the year, I picked Emily Sams, which doesn't feel like it's going to happen as well.

Unfortunately, you picked Emily Sonnet. So that didn't go well for Emily or for you on that side of thing. Rookie of the year we were, I guess, okay on. I mean, that one was a little bit more possible. Mine was, yeah, mine got injured. That one's the hardest, I think, to do. Midfielder of the year is probably our best one. I picked Rose LaVelle, you picked Kenza Dali.

And there's a scenario where both of them still win that. And then on MVP, I picked Barbara Banda, you pick Trini Rodman. That one's not that far off, right? No. Okay. I think they both are still in the running for that. Yeah. They are both content.

vendors. Banda, it's going to be harder because I don't know where Orlando is going to sit. Which we could win Golden Boot, but Orlando could not make the playoffs. But also I voted Monaca last year. So the opportunity to still be considered in my mind valuable. True. Because the team is so bad. And we may actually see it on display with the women's AFCON because we might see three, four

games here where we see what they look like without her. And then we see what they look like with Barbanda and Trini Rodman on a 10. right now. And then on the Golden Boot side of things, it's the only award we agreed on. And we both picked Esther. So that's probably not going to happen, considering she's not the current golden boot leader. And she just left NWSL. Yeah. The list of players we had in here wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. Doesn't have Sanchez in it. I'll just tell you that. No. It does have shawing on it. So we're not that bad. It doesn't actually have Rodman, which is a life decision that we made.

It does have Sophia Cantore and then some other pieces, including a Boston slash Denver, which I think is just who's the starter on the teams. And it turns out no one in that we shouldn't worry about it. But for today, we're going to focus on the standing. So as I said, we're roughly at the midway point for every team in NWSL. We're a little bit past it for the most part. No, we're at 15 to 17 games. So we're there.

Has everyone played 15? Yeah. Okay. So I probably did. some of this before every team played this weekend, and I thought some teams were still on 14, which is why I keep talking about the line. From the preseason, we fortunately didn't write our names down next to these, but we're fairly confident that we know.

Your top eight was Washington, Gotham, Kansas City, Orlando, Angel City, San Diego, Bay, and Denver. So that was your top eight teams. Overall, how do you feel about that? I actually don't feel. It's not bad. It's really not bad. I think the one that sits 12, Portland will be not happy that they weren't in that top

eight. But besides Portland, I don't feel like, I feel like all those other teams could make the playoffs. I fully agree with you. And I think most of them are going to be in the group I'm going to say. Mine was worse than yours. So you can feel good about that. I had San Diego at 12th. and Portland at 14th.

Remember, it was like Sam Coffee had just left. I think they still didn't have a coach. Didn't have a coach. Yeah. And I was fully out on it. And we didn't know Wilson's timeline. Yeah. So I was wrong.

And I'm about to be wrong for a second time because now we're going to go back and redo some of this. So let's start with championship and shield winners. And that will take us into our standings. Who do you have at the midway point as your prediction for the 2026? champion. So this is after the playoffs. I have, oh, Gotham or Washington. I have one of those two, Gotham or Washington. I can't decide.

I have them both for both of them. I have Washington for the championship. Okay. It's just, if it's going to happen, it's going to happen this year. That's true. Actually, you're going to push me over and say Washington because if they make it there, it's at home. It's a home game. So all they have to do is finish top two to be home for the entire playoff run. Okay. They've also been to back-to-back championships.

The other thing I would say is I think there's a decent chance I should pick Monique Angok for MVP because every midseason international acquisition from Washington ends up being like the best player. So it would be like three straight years. We always talk about where are they going to fit in? How are they going to play? Rose Colossi, Sophia Cantore. What is this player? What are they going to add? Lacey Santos, and then it's like, oh, that's like the most important player on the team.

Yeah. So my other piece on this is for some reason, historically, Gotham, the better they finish in the standings, the worst they do in the playoffs. And it's inverse. But Douglas would like us to know that the spirit have also never won the Shield. So there is a focus there, and Adrian Gonzalez has talked about it. Yeah. So I have these same two teams in the Shield Convo. Do you have anyone else that you feel good about in the Shield conversation?

I don't. Okay. Do you have a pick between the two? You don't. I will pick one. Okay. I will pick one. And I think with, you know, it just comes on maybe, maybe an hour ago, Goss, I would have said Gotham.

I know. That's how I feel. And I am going to say Washington. I'm going to do the same. So I have Washington winning both things, both the champion and the shield winner. And as I looked at the standings, it just feels like it's theirs to lose. I mean, the Emily Sonet injury is massive. The Esther news is massive.

It's also just as good as Gotham is when things seem harder. It just feels like they've got stuff to figure out on the fly now, where Washington has everything sort of going in the right direction and becoming more cohesive. And there is not really another team outside of this group that I feel is legitimately in this conversation. I don't think so. The one thing that I, why I keep. going back to Gotham is just AKB keeps them in games.

And that shield, like she's going to probably get called on more now just with, and maybe not that much more because you have Jess Carter and Tierna Davidson. You still have really good central back pairing. But then you're switching things back. Outside back. I don't know. I just, I do feel like to win the shield, you have to have the best goalkeeper in the league most of the time.

and I think McKeever's done really well. I just, I think she's still like, we're still learning all of her capabilities. So that would be my one thing. So Washington and Gotham, top two for both of us. Now let's go through the standings. Let's say three and four.

So I have Portland and Kansas City in third and fourth. I have San Diego in Utah. Okay. Utah is. a tough one for me. I love what I'm seeing from them. I have a lot of belief in who they are. And like, I think I'm going to like them in a probable playoff matchup. There's just not a ton of depth there to manage a full half of the season. And I think they struggle, they did struggle when they had those depth pieces out. Wow, I had a little lisp there. But Kaylee Real is back.

They just got Paige Cronin is back. And so it really depends on the health of this team. And honestly, probably a week ago, Goss, I wouldn't have said, I probably would have said the same thing. But then they go and beat North Carolina four to one. And I'm like, what is going on? This league is so whack. And so I don't know. In San Diego, I still have a lot of questions. We just talked about that. But Portland, I don't feel, I feel like they're still figuring out there, at times, their backline, their goalkeeper. I think Arnold is susceptible in moments to just, decision making. But San Diego, Utah, Portland, those are the three I have from third to fifth.

Yeah. So you have San Diego, what you said? I have San Diego, Utah, Portland. Yeah. And so you don't have Kansas City even in that grouping. I have them right underneath that. Okay. I just am not, if their goalkeeper situation right now, I think is.

Yeah. Now, Vanessa Di Bernardo coming back into the team, I think is a pretty big, lift. They will miss Shiawinga for whatever segment of time. She's with Malawi, which any game they miss her for is a huge loss. And I think you saw it this weekend. This was a game they should have gotten at least one point out of, if not three. With the turnovers that Boston gave them, I didn't think Boston played poorly, but there was three big opportunities, including Corey Bethune's chance at the end of the first half that just came out of nowhere, where you expect them to put those away. You expect it. Yeah. And I do think.

I think Bithoon looks the best she's looked so far in Casey. And that is a factor or a game-changing piece that few teams in this conversation have. And if Corey Buthun goes on a run, that could be nine points right there. But I understand the question marks along the back line. I understand the question marks with Michelle Cooper. You don't know when she's going to come back. So this team's not as threatening. It feels like DeBinio is really trying to figure stuff out where.

It felt like for a year and a half, everything in the attack was in a flow. And it just happened. Muscle memory, past, movement into space. And right now it doesn't feel that way at all. So I have Kansas City 4th. I've got a lot of belief in Portland. I like the idea of the addition now of Knightsden as well in Central Midfield, where I think if they can clean things up a little,

Fleming's been asked to do a lot. She's been really good. Did get magged on that right and goal. But has been really, really good. I think just needs more support and help. and Borgieri for all the talent I see there is still figuring out this league and that role and that responsibility

and I think if that can solidify things centrally for them, I think the attacking pieces are still there to feel confident about and there just feels like a collective group with Portland. From me saying they're 14th to where they sit right now, I think there's a lot of internal belief in that squad and I think a lot of young players are getting chances

and so they feel like super positive. They feel like they're going out and attacking games. So I have much, more belief in them than these other groups. So I had Portland three, Kansas City fourth, and then Utah fifth. You had that swapped and then San Diego up in third on your side. And then this is the hardest part. Like I think those six teams we both had as the top six. So whatever jumble it is, I think we feel fairly confident that they're going to be in it. The question now is like the rest of the lead. You could tell me anyone else makes the playoffs.

And I would not be surprised. Yeah. I thought I was going to do a weird thing. Then we wrote down our things and we did the same weird thing at the same time. So maybe it's not a weird thing. Maybe we both galaxy brained it based off the Esther pick. We're probably both going to be wrong. Who do you have in seventh and eight?

This is so hard. I had seventh I had Bay and eighth I had Denver. But I also have a, I also could. push for Seattle or Angel City. I just don't. I think those four will, and it's wild, I don't know if Orlando is in that mix for me. Yeah.

Orlando, even with the struck. Okay, they should be in that mix. They should be in that mix. Yeah, because they're not going to give up goals, right? They are a team that will technically be in every game because they don't concede goals. Last three games, they won one zero, lost one zero, and lost one zero. If band is around, they're even better. And I think the hope would be if Banda comes back.

It's the healthiest they've been and the most cohesive they've been across the attack. So Orlando has to be in the conversation. True. Yeah. Whether they can maintain over it, I think that's the big question mark. The interesting part about this is when you look on form, Boston, Bay, and Angel City are the three best teams outside of the top six that we talked about. I don't know how much you want to read into that. It's kind of both sides of a break.

It is an odd time before some of the transfer window stuff opened. Moves are being made. Players are coming in and out. So I don't know how much to believe in that. I believe in the Bay stuff. I think for me, the baseline with Bay is they've got a super active midfield that can cover a ton of ground. And they have really good young attacking talent. And while that will be inconsistent, it also makes me believe in the streak a little more of like,

Lerma is on confidence. And I think young attacking players on confidence, as long as that continues, you're going to ride that. And it feels like there's a couple pieces in this group that are playing that way. So I'm choosing to sort of believe that this Bay Run is for real and it can continue. Yeah. I would say that. And I think the same would go probably for Denver, right?

Because I think you chose Denver. I did choose Denver as eighth as well. this Denver team are tough to break down. You just talked about the spirit saying how difficult it was for them to find any kind of space and solution against Denver. And you bring that in with heaps being in. And I do feel like as they start to find the connections and the last half of the season for Denver is going to be majority at home. I don't know off the top of my head, but maybe 10 of the last 15 games are. going to be out of the stadium last year. Yeah, for Denver. So just knowing this league and

knowing how Denver has performed at home for the majority of this season, actually, that's not true because they've had two really bad losses at home, but out of like five or six games, you know, I just think that that sets up for Denver to gain as many points as possible, playing at home, trying to entertain the home fan. So, and they look, they look, they look, like a team that's always in it and maybe is missing a little one little piece. So I would say I'm Bay 7th, Denver 8th. So that's where I ended up to. I think the home games, even the struggles they've had, home games are hard and they play at

altitude and the majority of them being there like it's going to hurt their opponents. Adding Lindsay Heaps has to be a huge factor. She's captain of the U.S. women's national team. She is clearly a game changer coming into this team. They've also been fairly aggressive and fluid in adding pieces. So I think there might be more in there for this Denver group, which I do think there needs to be a wide attacking player that comes in or some sort of reshuffle to find, whether it's Sonis or Bresi or whatever it is, a little bit more space or opportunity in that attack. Or how do you get Custler on the field at the same time with Thomas? I don't know.

that. But for me, if I worked in NWSL and I don't have a center forward, I'm calling every single day. Because if she's not starting, I want her in my team. Yeah. I think Prasnikar is in there as well because I really like her game. But like, for me, Custler is a good starter at the center forward position. A lot of talent around.

I mean, I think obviously injuries have changed stuff. Gotham's got to be one of those teams, as we saw with the Lilly Real Deal, where as they signed talent, you mentioned Sarah Shepansky, like other teams have. have to be sniffing around. I think that's where this becomes really hard is. There's space for a lot of these teams to get better. There's space for a lot of these teams to get in a run of form and feel really confident. You mentioned Seattle.

Angel City has to be talked about here. Orlando has to be talked about here. But as I said, like I would not be surprised if literally anyone that's left was to make the playoffs. Boston are on a run. Yeah, I think the way they played against Kansas City, I was impressed. It was more of four through three. And I thought they looked as most comfortable.

that they've looked. I think we might have, like, a true decision day. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. You know what I could have done is I could have checked what the games are on Decision Day. Should I do that?

Yeah, let's just do it for fun. Let's see if I can get there. Okay. So Decision Day is November 1st. Gotham, Utah could be a race at the top. Houston, Portland, Washington, Chicago. Angel City, Boston. Bay, San Diego, North Carolina, Denver, Seattle, Orlando, and then Louisville, Casey.

So that's the slate of games. Angel City, Boston feels like it could be a playoff game. Bay, San Diego, maybe, North Carolina, Denver, for sure. Those could be some really fun Decision Day games. That will come after a week in which San Diego plays Boston. Casey plays Washington. Orlando plays Gotham, Denver, Louisville. Angel City Bay, the second week of the season.

So second weekend of the season. So it's going to be fun. We are excited for the end of the season. We will do our awards again next week to refresh and get some more stuff wrong. Reminder, midweek action in NWSL, Casey against Louisville. M.S.eer has returned in that last game, so could get a start. Macy Hodge, though, of course, as I said, went off with the injury. So something to note for Louisville.

Utah, Washington. I mean, it's a top four game. And yet it feels like they always play at weird times. I think it was Friday night last time. Now it's a midweek game. So for Washington, they will go from that Denver game. They go out and then they go and they play San Diego on the weekend. So a week on the road, Jordan, and a really good chance for Utah to steal a win off

of Washington and try and jump back to the top. Yeah. There's some interesting midweek games. And I think teams that like this one, Utah, Washington, is interesting. Louisville, Kansas City will be interesting because Louisville feels like, okay, now we got something. We just beat a team that was playing really well. Now we are playing a Kansas City team who just lost a game. They shouldn't have lost. This league, I think I told you this weekend, I was like, you just never know what's going to happen.

Like, it's so whack. You have to watch all of it because otherwise you're missing out. Bay Gotham, Bay won two of their last three and have scored seven goals since the return from the break. hence why I was pretty high on them. And it's the middle of this road trip for Gotham. Yet last time they did this, they smoked everyone. And it was the best soccer they played. So it really is a you never know situation. You never know who's in the house.

You never know what's going on. You never know who's going to get a win. A real chaotic moment behind the scenes there for me in this one. But I am so excited to be back. It was a great weekend of action. Midweek makes it fun to be able to keep up on things. We are going to continue rolling out our. NWSL shows. We've got U.S. women's national team coverage. We're going to be ramping up on our new U.S.

Soccer-Wise show every Wednesday, including an interview this week with the C.O. of U.S. soccer, Dan Helfrich, talking about what they learned at the 2026 World Cup that can transfer to the 27 World Cup, all of the work that Emma Hayes is doing, how they want to grow the grassroots nature of the game, and keep the women's national team towards the top of the global standing. So I think you'll really enjoy that interview coming out Wednesday morning. myself and Jordan will be back next week. We've got more interviews on tap as well. So thank you for being here, Jordan.

Huge thank you to Douglas for stepping in and helping out on this show now and being a permanent fixture with us, Katie as well. And we'll talk to you all again very, very soon.