SoccerWise - USWNT Olympics + NWSL Edition

Episode Date: June 26, 2024

Emma Hayes just named her 18-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games earlier today, so you can join Jordan and Gass as they discuss the surprises (Alex Morgan out?! Korbin Albert in?!) and how this group of players will fare against Zambia, Germany, and Australia next month. They also recap the latest front office movement in NWSL, including Casey Stoney's dismissal and Lucy Rushton's resignation. Jordan also delivers some timely coverage of the Portland/Kansas City clash on Sunday.Be sure to catch Soccerwise live on YouTube and Twitch at 2pm ET every Tuesday (with Gass and Tom), Wednesday (with Gass and Jordan), and Thursday (with Gass and Tom). 3:45 USWNT Postion Group Roster Breakdown21:40 Alex Morgan & Roster Snubs41:30 KC Current Tactical Talk47:30 San Diego Wave Fire Manager Casey Stone56:02 Bay FC Future After GM Lucy Rushton Resigns Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

what's up everybody welcome back to soccer wise boy do we have an episode for all of you we are here every single tuesday wednesday thursday talking soccer, talking MLS, NWSL, U.S. Women's National Team, USMNT. We've got all of it to talk about right now. David Goss and Jordan Angeli with you for this one. Jordan, this is why we made this show. So we could react to things and talk about things. And the U.S. Olympic roster dropped about two hours ago. And I've been furiously putting together notes since then.

And this is exactly what we wanted to do was to have a place to hang out and chat about it. We should thank them for dropping it on a Wednesday. The timing was nice. When we do our podcast live on Wednesday afternoon. So that was really beneficial. And exactly, we get to talk about this team that is going to the Olympics and our first reactions, which will be really fun to dig into. It will be part of our post-season end-of-year awards, U.S. Soccer,

one of the most timely and convenient of the organizations that we all cover. So, yes, we do very much appreciate that. We obviously have a lot to talk about with the Olympic team, 18 players on the roster, some big names left off, including one, Alex Morgan, that everyone wants to discuss very heavily. July 25th, the Olympics starts on the women's side, U.S. kicking off against Zambia in that opening group stage match. But we don't just have Olympic match but we don't just have

olympic talk we don't just have national team talk because to start the week one team fired their head coach and then another team had their gm resign within like eight hours of each other both on the west coast san diego letting casey stoney go their shield winning head coach and then lucy rushton resigning from Bay FC so that was already whiplash then you get the Olympic roster dropping this morning and Jordan I'm getting the text people are saying we need two three episodes this week and I understand it there's a lot going on there is I feel like with everything that happened usually NWSL performs after dark and that's when we start to see the wild, wacky things.

But we got this in broad daylight this week, and there was a lot of interesting, I would say, news coming out of the West Coast. And over the weekend, just a lot of goals and really fun play in NWSL. So there's a lot to talk about there, too. Yeah, fighting through the heat throughout the weekend. The players were as were all of us. And somehow we are all still here and we are ready to roll on and we're ready to dig into it. And then we've got some of our recurring segments that we've done so far in our two episodes, I believe, that we are excited to get back to and it is going to be a lot of fun.

Let's get into it and let's start, I think, in that pretty obvious place. The U.S. Women's National Team announcing their official roster for the Olympics coming up. It is in Paris. It is Emma Hayes' first competition as the head coach of this team. 18 players, as I mentioned, four alternates that are going to travel with the team. I also believe there are three training players who are going to be coming to team. I also believe there are three training players who are going to be coming to the U.S. send-off series matches. One of them in New Jersey, one of them in Washington, D.C. The one in New Jersey, also celebration of the 99ers because it is the anniversary on 25th anniversary, right? That'd be simple math. So it's going to be a really special

send-off series and then we get our team. So we've got 18 players broken up into all the different positions. We're going to go position group by position group. And then we're going to talk about some of the big storylines. The goalkeepers, pretty obvious, I think, for many people. Casey Murphy of North Carolina Courage, Annalisa Nair, returning to the team. She has been the solid starter over the last five years. What do you make first reactions to this group? I think within the goalkeeper position,

it's always difficult to pick who's going to be the second goalkeeper. There was no doubt in my mind that Emma Hayes was going to pick Alyssa Nair as her number one goalkeeper because of the experience Alyssa has in really pivotal moments for this team. I think some would even say she did save that penalty last summer off the line. And it's experience and moments like that that make Alyssa Nair the best. She has had a difficult couple seasons in NWSL with the Chicago Red Stars. Last year, they were terrible and really bad at it.

They were. they were terrible and really bad at they were they gave up 50 goals and that is something that no team wants to be a part of this year they've honed in on their defense there are still leaking goals in certain situations but I think there are a number of saves that we can look at and say Alyssa Nair is still doing what she can do in big moments to make the save that she needs to make. I think Casey Murphy is the next obvious pick, 19 caps. So she has had some experience playing with the national team, which is important for that second goalkeeper. I think one of the things that is really going to differentiate these two,

Casey Murphy, really good on crossing situations, a good shot stopper, maybe not as good with her feet as Alyssa Nair. So if she does get time in the Olympics, are they going to ask that of her? I know it's something that her and the alternate Jane Campbell are both very much working as to add that part to their game. But I think that this is, right now with the experience that these goalkeepers have and the, I think, recent experience with the national team, there's no surprises there yeah Campbell I think I was looking at some of the underlying numbers that's what I do with goalkeeping because I don't know a ton about goalkeeping if I'm being honest she has some of

the best underlying numbers in NWSL for an American because actually the cream of the crop's not American right now in the league. But you are talking about razor thin margins and you're talking about a very young season still. So I think you are right that at some point in this group, you're going to lean back on experience. You're going to lean back on who has been around the group. And in fairness, Campbell, I believe, is going to be there training. That's kind of the role of the second and third goalkeeper at a tournament is like be there in training. Don't make nair dive 500 times in between matches all those things so they kind of both get that experience and get that opportunity we have six technically listed

defenders i'm sure we're going to get into this as we go along the flexibility of this roster you've got davidson fox germa kruger nicewanger, and Sonnet along the back line. Doesn't feel like a ton of shocks here. What's your reaction to this group? One of the biggest reactions is, I think historically, we would say no Crystal Dunn. Well, we're going to talk about Crystal Dunn later and speak to that point that you were just saying. One of the biggest things when you're going to the Olympics is versatility and how many different spots can you play i think personally goss this is

why emily sonnet's on this team over sam stobb because if you're looking at this roster there are two center backs it's tierna davidson and it's naomi germa germa is probably after this tournament we're gonna say she's probably one of the best, if not the best center back in the world. And if that's the case, you're counting on her to start and Davidson next to her, but who's the third? Well, it's going to be Emily Sonnet. She's going to be able to slide into that role if need be.

She can also play outside back. She can play the six. So the versatility of Sonnet, I think, has her chosen over Staub. But man, did Sam Staub, has she made a name for herself in NWSL? And kind of a bummer, I think, that she wasn't a part of this. But I have no doubt that she is going to be within this group right after this tournament is over and we flip to a new roster. If this was a 23-player roster, it feels like Sam Stobb is coming to this tournament. I agree with you. Sonnet, I think her flexibility is what won her that role in that there are not

a lot of sixes on this roster and she has played there and could play there. There aren't really a lot of genuine fullbacks either. I mean, Jenna Neiswanger is a fullback, but, like, name only. We'll probably start at that position. Crystal Dunn as well, name only. And then you have Kruger who can play on both sides. So I think Sonnet is, like, the flexible Swiss Army knife in this whole thing and may end up playing a ton because it will be either filling in in each role

or sliding someone else. So if there's loss at both fullbacks, does Kruger have to go to the right side? Can she play on the left side? Whatever it is, that gives you all that flexibility where Sonnet steps in. I'm really excited to see Davidson be healthy the way she is right now. It's been tough over the last five years of like she was at the 2019 World Cup as that future prospect that will be good and then it felt like we were never going to get there and right now her and Germer just seem like they could be the best pairing in the world they and they are good ball playing

center backs which Emma Hayes wants they have the ability to beat players on a dribble, eat up space going into the midfield, create overloads, and that is difficult to defend, and both of them can do that. I will just add one thing. You missed Emily Fox, right, as a true outside back. She's a true outside back. True, yes, sorry. She's the starter at right back, yes. Yeah, she's the true outside back,

and I think with the depth of Niswonger and Kruger, Niswonger is going to give you something different. Not that Casey Kruger is not good in the attack because she is very good in the attack. But if you need a hold it down 1v1 defender, that has been Casey Kruger over her career. She is one of the best. And when it comes to 1v1 defensive principles, taking players or mitigating players in the channel. So I think that depending on the matchup, you might see a little bit of interchange between Niswonger and Kruger there on the left side. And we're going to talk about it in this convo, but it's Zambia, Germany and

Australia. There is no space to relax in the group stage of the Olympics. That's one of the issues the U.S. has had over the last two Olympic cycles. Also, they are very different matchups, all three of them. And so when you talk about the differences between Kruger and Niswonger and their game, I would be surprised if anyone started at that position all three of the group stage games. My guess would be that's one of the places where Emma Hayes goes more based off matchups. Yeah, good point there. Let's jump into midfielders. You've got Corbin Albert, Sam Coffey, Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle, and Katerino Macario listed here as midfielders in this group. These are maybe some of the quote-unquote bigger surprises to people. Lindsey Horan's clearly not one. Lavelle is now clearly

healthy and therefore a part of this team, although I'm not quite sure where she plays in this group. And then you've got Coffey, who feels like a starter at this point, Macario finally healthy, and then Corbin Albert probably the last piece in this. What's your, what was your initial reaction to this group? I think it's a really well-rounded group of midfielders. I think my first reaction was, heck yes, Sam Coffey. I am so happy she is a part of this team because she has proven over her time in NWSL and when she gets a shot with the national team, she's just different. And she is built up as one of the best sixes.

She wasn't a six in college goss and she now plays as a six for portland so she's learned a lot over the last couple of years and you're seeing that in real time how she's developed into a really good denying space central midfielder she denies those pockets into the forward line but then when she gets on the ball she can find the final pass it doesn't matter where she's at she got a assist over the weekend in just a few minutes played so I love that Sam Coffey is a part of this team because she gives you stability at the six and she can cover a lot of ground and then moving up from there I think you have a lot of a lot of flexibility in how you play Captain Lindsay Hor from there, I think you have a lot of flexibility in how you play.

Captain Lindsay Horan, there's, I think, a lot to be said about her, but we know what we're going to get from her every single game. She is going to show up in big moments, as she always does. And then the rest of the group, I think, because you know the fragility of Rose Lavelle over the years, but also the magnificence of Rose Lavelle, you have to be able to use her in the right times, in the right games. And having players like Corbin Alder, who can play as a 10, who can play as an 8, has flexibility in her game, grit, bite, ball-winning ability. She can make the midfield look a lot different than it would with a Rose Lavelle.

Or you could play Katarina macario in that position watch out your windows opening behind you don't let it knock you out there you'd be solo at that point i'd be figuring out how i call someone to help Goss in his apartment all by himself. Macario gives you just, she is such a piano player, right? She's beautiful in the way that she can find spaces in the final pass. She can play, I think, as a 9 or as a 10, which also allows you that flexibility with how you play in certain situations. So I think overall, when I look at this midfield, I feel like it is very well-rounded and gives you bite, which I feel like at times we have been missing over the last year or two years with this group.

It is, it is funny that you say like that bite, because I think the 10 position when Rose Lavelle has been injured over the last few years, like who plays that role? And it's like, we didn't even talk. We're not even talking about Jaden Shaw in this conversation who was starting their weekend and week out for San Diego. I don't think it's her best position,

but like, that's how deep this spot now is where it might be the deepest spot on this team. Yeah. Yeah. It might be. No, but I'm thinking about all the players that can play there. Lindsey can play there.

Rose can play there. Katerina can play there. Shaw can play there. That's a pretty good group of players. Gunn can play there if you needed her to. For an 18-player roster to have over a quarter of them be able to play in that one position is pretty impressive. A lot of the headlines around Corbin Albert making this team, obviously some controversy around her and some of her social media presence.

There's been a lot of conversation in all of the interviews that all the players and Emma Hayes and the other coaches have done about the work she's done behind the scenes with the team to be accepted. This is a group that's very tight-knit, but they're also very strong personalities. It seems like she has done what she needs to do to be re-accepted into this group by some of the leaders, whether it's the senior players or now, we're going to talk about it a little bit,

but like this future generation of the Trinity Rodmans and the Sophia Smiths and the Swansons that are the leaders, I think, of this group now going forward. So a big moment there as she makes this as one of those midfielders as you said brings that versatility to an Olympic squad and then the forward position we basically said all these names because they all can play other places as well Crystal Dunn, Trinity Rodman, Jaden Shaw, Sophia Smith and Mal Swanson who of course was injured last year missed the World Cup and seems to just be fully, fully back.

And maybe by herself as a presence as a changer for this roster. But this is just a loaded group. I think my first thought, Goss, was ball in this front line. It doesn't matter who you play because, my goodness, they are going to be electrifying. I think one of the things I've really liked in the inclusion of with Swanson back and Swanson Smith and Rodman in particular is I think for so for a time there, we got so into playing these these wingers were one-way wingers. They wanted to get to the end line, and they wanted to cross the ball, and they were very vertical, which is great. And you need to have that in your bag.

But I think one of the things that Swanson has worked on since she was introduced to this team at the young age of 16 is that was her first go, and she was very vertical. And now she is all of the things she can play in the pocket she can be the connector she adds a different look to this and I would say Rodman can do the same thing but Rodman has more she can be more lethal in that stretching vertical channel so I think that there's depth within this group when you talk about the lines that they can expose. And Sophia Smith, Mal Swanson, Trinity Rodman, Jaden Shaw are all scoring goals right now. And when you're picking a roster that has this few of numbers, you need to have players who are scoring goals right now, wherever they're at, whether they're with the national team or whether they're at their club team.

And these players aren't just scoring goals. They are scoring bangers. And they've been fun to watch week in and week out within NWSL. I laugh about it every week where we talk about all the new additions to NWSL and the goal-scoring ranks, right, with Banda and all of this. Sophia Smith's still in that golden boot. Like, she is, even with all the excitement around everyone else she is still the best finisher in nwsl and this is only going to be her second major tournament and the thing that differentiates her from other finishers and i think we're seeing it with Banda because of who's around her too.

But Sophia Smith also can dish. Like she has understood now in her short evolution as a professional player, the times where she's like, uh-uh, I'm taking this on my back and I'm going myself. Or the times where she's saying, hey, everybody's around me. This is the right pass. I am going to include players. And that's why she's number one in the golden boot right now is the differentiation of assists and that's what you want within this group and it feels to me like that front that front three which i would imagine would be the starters in swanson smith and rodman i think those three have really good cohesion and knowledge of how to get the best out of one another it's um the flexibility

there is also ability to swap through games which we saw be a little bit rigid at the world cup which was there were moments it felt like where vlaco decided okay now lynn williams and sophia smith are going to switch sides for the next 20 minutes. But this is, I think, more can be in the run of play, in the flow. And the biggest one to me is, especially with Niswander in this group, is they're all back post finishers. They are all forwards when they are in the box and in those situations. Rodman's the one who's come the furthest on that over the course of this year and obviously playing off Corey Bethune and what she's become now

at times when she's not in possession and so she can do all of that on the right side if that's where she starts on the opposite of Niswonger putting in those crosses whatever it is it feels like you've got three different players that can pop up like you said in any of the positions and be the person in the big moment and you had that quality last year it just it was not cohesive enough to really find that for a lot of these players also you go to this which is this is the youngest team that the u.s is going to send to an olympics since 2008 but you have eight players who play in the tokyo olympics you have 10 players coming back from last year's World Cup roster. So while it is a young team and it is, I believe, finally the flip of the generation all the way back,

you still have players that have been in moments like this. And I think a lot that learned a ton last year. Which we don't often see in this quick turnaround between World Cup and Olympics. We often see a very, very similar roster as the year before. I think because of what happened and also because of the coaching change, you see a lot of new players within this. But there's also four players with over 100 caps. So there is experience within this group in all of those World Cup winning, Olympic winning rosters and i that is important and i think that is one of the reasons that i think we'll probably get to this next that a lot of talk around why

wasn't alex morgan included in this roster this is the most experienced forward you have the best goal scoring forward that this united states team has seen and she's not on this roster. And I think a lot of people are like, what is happening? Yeah, let's dig into that right here. So Nair, Dunn, and Horan, this is their third Olympics, by the way. And Nair and Dunn both started the 2019 World Cup final. Horan came off the bench in that one as well. Rose Lavelle, another one. So that experience carrying over.

But this will be the first major tournament that Alex Morgan is not on the roster for since 2008, which by itself is just mind-blowing. And I think similar to what Emma Hayes did in the press conference today, you start with like the accolades when you talk about Alex Morgan not making this team because that's that's the wild part 224 caps 123 goals and every major tournament roster back to 2008 so you have to take a moment to be like it feels so big because it is so big this is a player who is larger than the game this is a player who's larger than the team at times and this is a player who's larger than the team at times. And this is a player who's been at the peak of the game for such a long time. And so that's why I think this feels shocking, even though we saw it coming, because it's such a big deal.

Yeah. And I think with her assists, I don't have it. I was trying to look it up really quick what her assists are. I think she has a goal contribution in like 75% of the games that she's ever played, which is massive. Alex Morgan has been the face of this team, rightfully so, for a really, really long time. And is there still a role for Alex Morgan within this group? I have no idea. And I don't think that this is going to be the end of Alex Morgan with the national team. But one of the things that I spoke about earlier that I think

is really pertinent to this is Alex Morgan is not scoring goals right now. For club, she scored a goal in the Challenge Cup final, which was March 15th. But before that, she hadn't scored since October 18th, 2023. For country, her last goal was February 23rd, 2023. She has two international goals in her last 10 women's national team appearances. So for Alex Morgan, this is a time where it's been hard for her to find and produce in front of the net. She's not used to that, right? This is a player who scores goals all of the time. And that's a hard decision to make in your first major decision as a head coach to not bring the best goal scorer this team has probably ever seen.

But I think right now at this time, it is the right decision. And Alex Morgan said something on her socials earlier today that this is how difficult it is for her. But come the Olympics, she's going to be the biggest fan and i think that speaks to the how difficult this is going to be over the next few weeks but also how this is a team player she wants this team to succeed at her heart and she knows that when the time comes she's going to support them and all that she that they do so um yeah i i wasn't as shocked that she

wasn't involved just because of the underlying the numbers right now for her when it comes to club and country yeah I think people who are locked in are not surprised um she was on the outside at the last camp uh she's been not scoring as you mentioned and all of these other players are scoring and and that's where it gets tough. And the quotes that I or the things I pulled out from Emma Hayes comments were she talked about positional flexibility and she talked about the tight turnarounds of this tournament. And you look at a player who's struggling with injuries this year and who doesn't have positional flexibility. And it was fine because the team was built around her being the best in the world at what she did. And if she's not that player, now it starts to make it hard to say,

okay, if you have a larger roster, do you bring her as an option off the bench late when you need a goal and you're chasing and that's what she does best? But otherwise, if you're building a system, right. But if you're building the system built on flexibility and positional changing and and flowing through the game that's not exactly where she fits at her best anymore and i think you could sort of hear it in some of the comments out of the last camp where it was she she has been you know they were talking about her being a leader and helping and and bringing the next players along almost in a way where like everyone kind of knew that that was her role at that point in the game. Yeah, that's really interesting. And I think that that's what people don't see

about Alex Morgan, right? They see this fierce competitor, but she's also a really good teammate and she wants people to succeed. And I love that you bring that up because right now I'm not saying that this is like for like but if you look at the forward line who are you going to take her over maybe the one player you take her over is Jaden Shaw who had five goals in her first five starts over the last five months for the U.S. women's national team and is carrying the attack for san diego week in and week out and can play at the 10 yeah right and can play as a winger so i i think that for alex in the long run i don't think she would want and this is just me speaking right if i was her it's jayden's moment potentially right like would you want to take that away from her probably not and I think she more than

anyone will support her in this moment that she's having as a member of this roster um being on the outside looking in which is just a weird thing congratulations to her gosh since 2008 that was the last time she hasn't or the first time she was in the major tournament and she's been in every one since that is a heck of a run yeah um and she's done it for club as well like it's like you said it is an all-time great career and it's one of the best um this less soccer but has to i think we have to talk about which is she posted on social media you go on her account she's got 10 million followers she's the face of the sport right now she's the face of this team she's not going who do you think fills that role whether it's externally or who do you think fills her role internally like who is taking over now as this next generation or is it leaned back on the Crystal Duns and Lindsay Horans? I think it's leaned on them. I think Naomi Girma has stepped up into more of a bigger face of this team.

That's hard to do as a center back. But I think when you talk about production, that's going to be Sophia Smith. This is going to be a Sophia Smith tournament because she has found nuances of her game to get better at. And when she is scoring goals, I don't know who can stop her. So as long as she keeps that up, keeps the form up, going into the Olympics, I feel like she could be the new face of this squad. Yeah.

I think that was one of the first names that came to mind for me. I think Swanson being healthy, massive. Trinity Rodman. I know. Who do you cheer him? Yeah, the way she plays, I think, is one of those that sucks everyone in. It's exciting. It's what you want to see.

Maybe it's a little bit like the Bulls, right? Like Rodman, Pippitt, and Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan's a the star but you know who the wingmen are as well and you know that uh they're all going to be a part of this team for a really long time yeah that's what's wild is we're now saying like okay what's the next decade look like but they're not the only ones there's more coming through jayden shaw getting on this roster as a teenager um lily johannes not on this team as we go. Lily Johannes, not on this team. As we go into some of the maybe surprises,

she's one of the names that came up. Emma Hayes was asked about her, and Emma Hayes said that she's still not cap-tied and still in consideration of figuring out what she wants to do. Now, it feels like she was never going to make this roster, but the quote was, Lily hasn't made a decision about her future and i support that she then went on to talk about her age and how

big and important of a decision it is she said quote i really do hope that she will be a part of our future but at this moment she wasn't ready to make that decision and i fully support that this feels like she wants she didn't want to come as an alternate and be captied in that moment that's how I read this. And for a young player, you can understand that. What do you make of sort of potentially what goes on with her? I think it's smart from both her and from Emma Hayes. Would I like Lily Johannes to eventually be a part of this national team

from what I saw in that last game? Yeah, I would. I really think that she plays well beyond her years already. And I think everybody got a little nervous when they saw her posting from the Netherlands game and the Euros recently, thinking, okay, is she going to choose Netherlands, or is she going to choose the United States? But this is a young player, and as we've seen, it's hard to be in the spotlight. It's hard to manage all this as such a young player.

And I think giving her the time and the space after just having the experience with the United States so close to a major tournament is the right thing. So we don't know where she's ended up on this roster of players. Could she have been an alternate? Probably. But I think in general, what is an alternate? What is that experience is not going to give you what potentially the next experience could be, which is a role within this group, either on the field, coming off the bench. And that's really what you're striving for. And I think she'll get there no matter where it is.

We hope it's the United States. But she'll get there. I will say, as we see this more on the men's side of the battle than we do on the women's side, mainly because the hierarchy is flipped. So normally if you get called up for the U.S. women's national team, as Sydney LaRue showed us, that's the one you pick. And on the men's side, it's not the case. And so you're in these battles.

It feels like from the outside the U.S. has done everything they can, and she has the option between two world-class nations that both can contend for trophies consistently for the Netherlands, Euros, as well as World Cup, and for the U.S. as well. But I think when you watch the goals she scores in Minnesota and the reaction in the postgame and all of that, she clearly feels a part of this. And I think at this point, the recruitment is on the players

and the decision she's going to make that's best for her and her family and all of that. And I don't think there's much that the USSF can control anymore and you understand this decision the four alternates I didn't put the names there is Bethune, Hirschfeld, Jane Campbell and Goal which we mentioned and Lynn Williams. Lynn Williams really the only experienced part of that group these players would be available to be called into the team if there was an injury and they will go and train with the team. Do you think Lynn Williams misses out because of the injuries recently or you think that this is just she was the sixth of five good forwards? I think she's the sixth of five good forwards. I would

say that would be the spot that Alex Morgan could also challenge for. I think Morgan in general is more experienced in big moments to score the big goal for this team than Lynn Williams is, but Williams is a different type of forward than Alex Morgan is. She can play in multiple different spots, and I think that that probably was the difference maker there, but I love Kroy Bethune in this group. I love Hal Hirschfeld in this group because those two names, I got to do the NWSL draft this year and those two names were mentioned by every single coach we talked to.

And sometimes that does not always translate into NWSL. It's a different league with challenges of its own. And my goodness, these two players have hit the ground running they made it look seamless like it's the easiest thing on planet earth to do because they are major competitors for their team in the washington spirit how herschfeld is could give this midfield if need be a look at the six she could be an eight she has bite to her good ball winner but then Croy Bethune I think she's making a case not just to be rookie of the year I think she's already there

I think she's making a case to be MVP of this league and rookie of the year because of what she's doing this year in her first season so you want to bring that in and have her have that experience of potentially being an alternate and potentially moving into this squad if need be. Of course, we hope that that never happens, but I think the alternates mostly make sense. With the one, I would say Lynn Williams is the one I would say is sitting on the fence there. Yeah, you'd assume she would be the first one brought in in case of an emergency or something like that because she has that experience um but but i do think no i was saying the other way i think lynn williams because of her injury and she has not played that much this year and i know she

scored the yeah i just would for me i think the other ones are performing better than lynn williams is and coming off an injury it's a difficult decision to make coming off of an injury. Right, but in a scenario in which they had to be brought in, it feels like a lot to throw on a rookie to say like, oh, by the way, you didn't know you were going to play in the Olympics and we need you to play, be on the bench tomorrow against Germany. Yeah, well, yes, but we don't know what line of the field the injury is going to happen. And I didn't mention Hirschfeld can also play as a center back.

So she could add depth there if need be in that position. So yes, of course, it depends on the line. But for me, with how this season is going, I would pick Roy Bethune over Lynn Williams to come in as the first alternate. Yeah, we had a little convo about Bethune maybe making this roster, I think, a week ago because everyone was talking about it. That is a numbers game situation again, where like, who are you taking off for her? But I thought before we got an Olympic roster that we were going to do a bit of a midseason recap here.

And in that rookie of the year convo combo you then have to go into this Washington draft class maybe one of the greats of all time yeah you talk about four first round picks Courtney Brown gets a goal for you this weekend Hirschfeld I think when we sort of talk about this midfield going forward for the U.S. yep might be the one player who can connect lines in a way we haven't had in years. And they all got drafted by the same team on the same day and might be the future of the Washington Spirit for, again, back to like a decade going forward. And that was the thought with Mark Krikorian, the technical or the GM and the staff at Washington, knowing that there was going to be a big change at head coach,

their style of play was going to change. Jonah Geraldo is finally with the team now officially this week. They knew that they were going to need footballers, and they got footballers. And it has paid off because they have been, yeah, really good going forward and cohesive as a unit. And these players have been plug and play in nwsl yeah it's going to be fun to see what heraldas can do with them as they continue to go along

um the other names i had as left off i don't think anyone was really close based off the camps we saw alissa thompson obviously went to the world cup and she will be one of those training players i mentioned who will be with the group before they go to france i think savannah de milo and sofia huerta they're always in a conversation but it is felt like it came down to this 20 or 21 for this group uh and this is the one that the u.s ends up with um so i mentioned the age for this team the youngest u.s olympic group since 2008 it is by average age four years younger than the 2020 21 team that was 30.8 years this is 26.8 the average player on the 2022 team had 111 caps and now it's 58 caps so like it's a huge jump in that experience but as we mentioned players who have been here before as well they start with Zambia the day before the opening

games July 25th Germany in the second game and then Australia in the third game they're three very different games what is your thoughts about now that you have a roster of how it fits together what it looks like what those matchups look like going forward well since you said that they're all very different matchups I think that might take a little bit more digging into talking about what you look like versus Zambia versus what you look like for against Australia but I would say I'm thankful that the third game is Australia because I think that that is going to be the best. Not to say Germany isn't going to be difficult, right? But what we saw from Australia in the World Cup was a different style of football.

One of the positives is you've now faced some Zambian players in NWSL. So you know who the threats are. You could try to stop them. I don't know if you're going to be able to. But at least you have that to rely on when you get into those situations but it's going to be a really fun group and the olympics is fun because it is quick those games come quick and fast and you have to be rested prepared have depth have the different ability to play different spots and i think that this team with the youth that they have and the experience

they have, it's just a really well-rounded group. And I'm excited to see what they are going to do, because this is a big look at the future of this squad. And I think they're going to feel that and want to perform because of that. It is a, it's a wild tournament, 12 teams.

That's it. There are literally exactly three days between games. So from first to last game, if you don't get out of the group, you could be there for eight days and then be done. And then on the flip side, you could stretch it and start to go into knockout and then in medal games. And you're also moving around cities the whole time. This is not in Paris.

So the group stage is outside. Then I believe there's a potential they could play their quarterfinal match in Paris and then leave the host city again and then go back for the medal games. So it's going to be an awesome experience. It's going to be really cool to watch obviously the place where the U.S. won the 2019 Women's World Cup and we'll try and do it once again. So we're going to cover all of that here at SoccerWise every single week going into it. And then of course as we get to the, we'll plan some special stuff for you all as well, because this is going to be, as you mentioned, a big moment for the future and for this team. Let's dig into

some NWSL now before we finish things off. Let's start with your best thing that you called this weekend in NWSL action. Oh, I think it has to be i got to be on the local feed for the court kansas city portland game which was a really big game this weekend when you talk about the performance of these teams over the last few um weeks top five matchup and kansas city just put down the hammer and the best thing i called was the Lola Bonta goal, especially with the can-can kick afterwards. Good goal celebration. It was a golazo from outside the box. The first time that Lola Bonta has ever scored a brace,

which I actually was surprised about because we've seen her score a number of goals and also a number of penalty kicks. But it was her first brace to really – the first goal was really savvy. The second goal was pure technique. And that has to be the best thing I saw because going into the weekend, Goss, Kansas City had never won at Portland. And they didn't just win, they blew them out of Providence Park. That game was over in 30 minutes maybe as it settled in.

She didn't celebrate the first goal and so you're kind of like uh but it was a touch goal i think that's why yeah it's like if i don't get full contact but i also think it was really smart of her not to celebrate the first goal because one of the things that blocker told us and we i mentioned on the broadcast is you can't win the game in portland in the first 10 minutes but you can't win the game in Portland in the first 10 minutes, but you can lose the game in Portland in the first 10 minutes. And I think that had gone into her head as like, okay, this is a 90-minute game. We have a long game ahead of us.

We scored a goal, but we need more. And so then when they get the third goal, I think she's like, eh, okay. Now you can party, yeah. I said can, can. Can you score as well as I can? I thought that was pretty good. Yeah, it was pretty creative. You came up with that on the spot.

Right on the spot. And you were clearly so proud of it, you brought it back four days later. Well, yeah, you told me the best thing. I had to bring it back. That's it. That is very, very true. Let's talk KC a little bit because I've turned on this game, and I'm like, I'm ready to be locked in for, you know, KC KC they're going to open up they're going to give up goals and score goals but I

thought this would be tighter because of what you said of like how tough it is to play in Portland Sophia Smith is back you're looking at a team that's trying to keep the undefeated run where do they sort of balance the risk and reward and what I said on Monday's recap show because someone sent us a question about KC is like they have license to defend in a deep block with numbers because they don't need to have overwhelming numbers in the attack and with the way Bia played in this game to be that outlet and then be able to launch the wing and then it's three attacking and then labonta can make that late run when she sees that fit and it felt like this is why this team is so tough is like you can't catch them out

in transition because they don't really need to shift their lines that much yeah and when they do goss like if they do get izzy rodriguez into the attack it is the times where they have a little bit of possession, which comes few and far between for this Kansas City team. They do not covet the ball. They're not saying, hey, we want to outpass you. We want to make you move all around. They're like, no, we want to get the ball and we want to get at your goal as quickly as possible. And a lot of that does go through Bia. But also, I think that this game was lost for Portland in the midfield because they had a mixed-up midfield. It was Megan Klingenberg coming in for Sam Coffey. Only the second time in Sam Coffey's career that she came into a game off the bench.

She started every other game for Portland, and it was because of an injury she picked up a couple of weeks ago. Hina Sagita and Jesse Fleming. And when you think about those players, those are great players, but Klangenberg is not a six and Sagita is not a ball winning six. And then Fleming has had a difficult time transitioning into NWSL with the, it takes a lot of energy and physicality, and she has not found her footing as we would have probably thought she would have halfway through the season and that midfield got out played and played around a lot which I think was really difficult for them it was a quick pass through off to the other side or straight into

and then numbers could join in for Kansas City so I for Portland, it was going to be a task, especially without Sam Coffey, no Olivia Moultrie as well. But Coffey comes in, she gets an assist, and Sophia Smith scores. So I think for Portland, there was luckily a nice sweet taste at one point, knowing that those two still have a good connection. But it was a very difficult night for them and one that they are not going to want to watch the game film back for. It was Diakila that came in off the sideline when she swapped with Sophia Smith late in the first half to create the first real chance. And it was one of those moments where it felt like it felt like Sophia Smith was too isolated on the wing and couldn't find that connection I think a lot of that goes to the midfield play of like

Fleming is still figuring it out that should be your first option to sort of control things and and be able to be a part of that but it just was one of those moments where you're looking at it and you're saying like how can Smith be a bigger presence in a game like this where you are playing the best team in the league? Yeah. No, and I think that's one of the things that Smith has done so well over her time in NWSL is she has been the player to put teams on their heels in moments where it feels like all the momentum is going the other way.

But that's a lot of weight to carry, especially with the high flying Kansas city team who is relentless in attack. And I can't say that, you know, I don't say that lightly. They are, they will get after you. And I think B is the best nine in this league.

I think showing God does such a good job of exploiting space in the right times and has brought in players a lot more than I think we saw earlier in the season so she's adapted her game a little bit they're fun to watch and I think Michelle Cooper has done a good job of filling in as a winger when this is a traditional nine she she is not a winger and she has found her footing in that position over the last year and a half and done a good job of knowing when to stretch and behind. And I think her crossing can get better, and that's something that she's working on. But she's part of one of the goals this weekend, so she's going to feel like there's good progress there.

Shout out to Hootski in the chat who says, got to get to a KC current game. Hootski also in the Discord was the one who sent me one of the Emma Hayes quotes. I think of the one about Lily Yohannes. So appreciate all your help today. And then John Rollins says, Banda and Shawinga are special. They have been two huge additions to this league. I said last week case he was the

most entertaining team the best thing you saw was a casey goal i don't know if it's wins or not we can debate we can debate this more uh as we go along let's let's get through those some of the big news uh we start in san diego with casey stoney being let go. Seven-match winless streak for the San Diego Wave, but they did win the NWSL Shield last year under Casey Stoney. So this was the earthquake in the NWSL community. I think this week you mentioned NWSL after dark. It was not, but it felt like it over the course. Was it all on Monday?

Yeah. All this news dropped on monday um so casey stoney out reminder san diego just appointed a new general manager and camille ashton who came over from um kansas city current and this is about 10 days i believe since she's been announced that the head coach has let go. So my first reaction is she kind of has nothing to do with this. If you're at a club that has Jill Ellis in charge of sporting decisions and you let a coach go coming off a shield-winning team, a team that's still similar, they're not playing exactly how you'd like, but I said seven winless. That's not seven straight losses.

This is still a playoff team currently, and you're going through, you're dealing with some injuries, you've got some new players coming in as well. I just can't see a world in which you hire a GM and say this is your, like, this is your decision to make. But it's shocking either way. I was really shocked when I heard this. I don't know.

It didn't sit right with me. Something about this decision. Because maybe it's the insight I know from Casey Stoney and the time that she has given me as a broadcaster in this league and the insight into her knowledge of the game not just as a professional because that is vast but now as a coach and her ability to unify a group and to go through all the ups and downs of expansion, but quickly win, not just one trophy in the shield, but the challenge cup, the beginning of this year. And they had a similar stretch last season in the summer. And Casey Stoney spoke about how difficult that run was and how close she felt like she was to maybe not having a job anymore

but they pulled themselves out of it and I think that there was hope that this group could pull themselves out of it the the hardest thing was this is the third best team in NWSL when it comes to goals against they've only given up 13 goals this season and their goals to expected goals is a negative 4.4 so they've scored four less goals than they are expected to score it feels like a finishing thing it feels like if you score four more goals how many of those draws are wins and right now this team sits three wins out of being middle of the pack in the playoff push or the playoff picture I would say and so I think those things in my mind are a big reason why I was shocked by this decision and I think Casey Stoney is just a very intelligent manager but reading the the

quotes from Jill Ellis she said and this is on the heels, Goss, of she just signed a three-year contract or a two-year contract with an option year at the beginning of January. And Jill Ellis says this is a now business. Are you performing now? And it doesn't matter what happened in the past, which I don't think she's wrong about that, but something about it to me was not i was very shocked and it didn't feel like the right decision to me i'm not making that decision that's just my opinion yeah um i agree

with you uh i also think because we're about to talk about bay fc and run through expansion teams like stability for expansion teams is not just rare it It doesn't exist for NWSL teams. And you have this thing. You worked hard to build it. Why risk it yourself, unforced? And that's where it feels like you're putting your club in a dangerous moment now when you didn't have to. Yeah, right before a transfer window opens. And right before a break that is going to allow this team a lot more training time together which i i don't know i think that there are there are things that we'll never know about this

but it feels like the timing is interesting and i am very curious about how quickly this gets filled. I think the things on the outside you see are obviously Maria Sanchez struggling to get involved. Now, that's a player. Yeah, but Maria Sanchez, I'll just say, Goss, sorry, really quick, she is not a Casey Stoney type winger. She's a left-footed player, which is great, but she doesn't like to get to the end line.

This is an early cross. Find the end line. This is an early cross, find the half space, make sure, you know, find the back post from an early position and quick transition moments. And Casey Stoney likes wingers that get to the end line and create in within the 18 and down, which Sanchez can do, but that's not Sanchez's bread and butter. And when she's done that, they've scored goals. Yes. But it's not really where she wants to be but i think the biggest thing with all that is like she came in once the season started

and you're talking about this break coming of like they haven't had a chance to get her up to speed but i think you have probably a front office looking at it saying like we gave up a ton for this player we're not getting the production out of that to me that's one of the things that you assume is part of these conversations that are happening I think one of the other ones and I said this a little bit last week is like a young player like Maya Jones I think has been effective and it's been hard for her to get into the lineup and she gets in and scores and gets injured and all that it feels though a little bit like Casey Stoney has her her group in mind because she's been there, and maybe there's an idea from the front office of, like, you're not giving other players opportunity,

and we actually want to reset who has earned their spot and who hasn't going forward. I see where you're saying that, but also those players have not scored goals when they get into the game. True. And that is the name of the game like the coach can put out whoever the coach puts out but i've been in the spot where i've been in the non-starter and come in and known that i have 20 minutes to score a goal or i'm sitting on the bench again next game and i think that that is and maybe that's a mentality that is missing with this group. And maybe that is what the front office staff and Jill Ellis says, okay, we're missing this tenacity that we need. And maybe we can get it with somebody else.

So I don't know, but I think that this team lacks tenacity in the attacking third. And can you get that from another coach? Are you calling on your players to be better in those moments I think they think maybe it's a little bit of both but right now the coach gets the the short end of the stick yeah um it's been a struggle I think for them they've yet to win at home I believe oh no they haven't won on the road yet that's what it is and they've of course dropped on the road yeah yeah yeah they've and they've dropped three points they dropped three points total in stoppage time over the course of a week so it's been tough it i think we both sort of agree this feels like an aggressive

move it will be really interesting to see how it's felt i believe paul buckle is the interim head coach um that's being brought in for this group. He coached Sacramento Republic in USL for about two years. He is the husband of the NBC Premier League host whose name I can't remember right now. Rebecca Lowe. Rebecca Lowe. Yeah, there we go. It was all happening at the same time in my head. And then my understanding is he runs a bit of a consulting soccer company. That's what he's been doing over the last few years, consulting for teams. Yeah. Can I just say I did hear that? I saw this on, I think on Twitter, and I wish I remember who said it

because I would give them credit right now. But they said post-Olympics, Tony Gustafson, head coach of the San Diego Wave. And I don't think that's far off. No. You would assume for him, the hosting a World Cup was the thing he wanted to be there for. And now, because the turnaround is tight, you stay for an Olympics and you've got a real shot at a medal. But after that, what is your job?

He was one of the names, I think, connected to the U.S. Women's National Team job for a long time and obviously was an assistant there. That would make a ton of sense. San Diego's a tough sell, huh, on yeah on people well and he worked with jill ellis for years as well okay yeah that's a name that that connects pretty quickly um in all of that so that's really interesting san diego obviously we will continue to watch um going forward let's talk bay fc for a moment here as well because because their general manager, Lucy Rushton, stepped down on Monday afternoon

just to make sure all of California was in chaos and all of NWSL was in chaos at the same time. Bay FC currently in their expansion year. And the way it came out was that Lucy Rushton was choosing to step away. Bay FC currently 11th out of 14 in their first ever season in NWSL. This is a team that came in with a ton of excitement. They spent a lot of money to put this roster together.

They've had some really great moments early on. They have struggled at home, but have had some great crowds. What's your reaction to this? how do you sort of process this i was surprised lucy russian came over after being an mls for a little bit she was with dc united correct goss and atlanta united and atlanta united um so really good experience within the mls world and the soccer culture within the United States. And she came over and I was shocked. I didn't expect this to come, especially in the middle of the year. Maybe if this was something that she had thought, hey, can I can I build an expansion group and then

hand it off to somebody after building it? Because that's the I mean, to me, that's kind of the fun part of the process, right? Like you get to mold the clay and figure out a way to make something that is truly your own. I would say that from the list of things that you can do well, I think Lucy Rushton has done a lot of things well. You have some major signings in world soccer that you bring to your team. You bring in one of the best sixes as your first signing, a Santa Clara player who played right down the street and people know who she is and she knows that area very well,

so she wants to perform. You can't control the things that aren't controllable, right? Those three splash players, well, they haven't scored as many goals as you would expect. This is a hard league to transfer into. There might be a Goss theorem in NWSL as well. We have the question out there. We're going to have to dig into it at some point.

Yeah, and you can't foresee that Alex Duetta is going to tear her ACL. I think things would be different if Alex Duetta was on this team right now and playing minutes. And you bring in a coach in Albertine Montoya who has a really beautiful style of soccer. Have they leaked goals? Yeah, they have. But have they scored a lot of beautiful goals?

Yeah, they have. And I think that one of the hardest things during an expansion year is to do all these first things together. So I think for Lucy Rushton, she did a lot of the first with this group. I think she built overall a pretty good team. And they have a great facility they're playing in.

They have a great training facility that they're building. So there's a lot of positives to go into what she has done. I just don't have the Geordie scoops to know what the real deal is. I don't think anyone is as connected as Tom, so we're never going to get there. I will say from the outside, this feels somewhat reminiscent of Angel City, where it's like a ton of buzz, a ton of excitement, a ton of money put in, not immediate returns because that's not the way it works. And then I think also the fun of expansion and building is different than the pressure of running a team and so now a bunch of people who have worked together in one environment that environment

now shifts and i think you see it and if you watch the angel city documentary of like people start to bristle as now you're on a field and you're losing games and like pressure is different than oh we think this is what it'll look like in 18 months when we put this all together. So that could be part of it as well. It's just, it's shocking to say that you, that someone forces this move, that things aren't going well. So Louisville in 2019 have still not made the playoffs. Angel city,

2022 have not San Diego, just letting their coach go and having that conversation. They are like the lone real success of true expansion over the last few years. I would say that this Bay FC roster build feels more complete to me than Angel City does. Dig. Out the gate. Yeah.

No, I agree with you. It feels like a more complete team. And the only way that you're, you know, there were injuries that I think were hard to some of the veterans in nwsl that put a lot more pressure on players that hadn't played here before um but i i think over i just don't know what is the cause behind this but i don't i i think she gets a good grade when it comes to how do you build an nwL team because even if Bay is not successful this year, they are going to be successful.

I feel that. Right. And the pressure is on year one, and so we'll see what happens going forward. Utah is showing it is not easy. Like no one really has that formula outside of what San Diego has done over the last few years. I had a bunch of other stuff to go through,

but we have gone forever because the U.S. I had a bunch of other stuff to go through, but we have gone forever because dropped a roster. So we've got some rumors of signings up in Seattle. Yonatan Heraldes has finally arrived in Washington, D.C., some injury updates as well, and then some interesting conversations. So we're going to dig into that as we go along, because we are here every single week to talk NWSL and talk all things national team and everything that's going on here in North America. Jordan, anything else you feel like you got to get out there before we finish? Only two more weekends in NWSL before we go to the international break, and there will be a tournament.

But watch games this weekend because um orlando has not trailed in a thousand eighty minutes so they're on a roll kansas city is flying as well but there are some teams who are starting to find their identity and starting to make a little bit of leeway so i think there's a lot of a number of games that are worth your watch here this weekend and so tune in because we're gonna to be talking about it next week. Yeah, we are going to be here next week. The prime game on Friday, KC against Houston. San Diego under their new interim coach facing off against Chicago

as the late game on Friday. I love the back-to-back Friday games as a way to start the weekend. Three games on Saturday, closing out with the two games on Sunday. By the way, I didn't say it this way, but NWSL, 14 of the 18 players on the women's national team roster currently in NWSL. Six different clubs represented. I think five of the players are from Gotham. It is wild what they have put together.

That makes sense. And what they have done. So they are sort of this sleeping giant right now. Yeah, they're on a really good streak too. Yeah. Washington is showing what they have as well. And Washington, that's why they also have a bunch of players in this national team conversation.

So it's going to be a great weekend. I'll be back with the Monday recap. So anyone who doesn't subscribe, you can go to the Patreon. You can become a member there. Then you can get to the Patreon. You can become a member there. Then you can get to the Discord and you can send in mailbag questions as the weekend goes along. Last weekend was our first one on Discord.

It was really fun just talking to games and what you're watching and what's going on in there. So become a part of that. Get involved. Send me your NWSL questions. I will dig into them on that Monday recap and then we'll be back on Wednesday in a week to talk all things things as well but for now that's all we've got here so thank you to all of you

for tuning in thank you to all of you for watching live as well and uh this has been soccer wise we love doing it it's the best place to do it oh yeah everyone and we'll do it again very very soon