a mini 2025 season preview
*note: just in case it wasn’t obvious, I used the photo attached to the article because it’s against Angel City FC who we play tonight + it’s funny.
My favorite thing to write every year is the season preview, but unfortunately work has been kicking my butt all week so I’m going to do my best to lay out some thoughts about the upcoming season as quickly and as concisely as I can.
The turnover from 2024 to 2025 is drastic. Today’s season opener against Angel City is likely to feature a new center back pairing, a revamped midfield and new striker. Diving deeper into those groups, only one player on the roster is a true center back with NWSL experience, the only defensive midfielder on the team is 17-years-old with 148 minutes played, and the most experienced striker option is a 32-year-old who has put together just two seasons with at least 5 goals past 7 years.
This is all a bit pessimistic, but there are bright spots throughout, I promise.
Let’s look at who left, ran away, or decided not to return:
Departures:
Jill Ellis
Casey Stoney
Alex Morgan
Naomi Girma
Jaedyn Shaw
Abby Dahlkemper
Amirah Ali
Elyse Bennett
Sofia Jakobsson
Emily van Egmond
Danielle Colaprico
Christen Westphal
Kaitlyn Torpey
The obvious names hurt of course, but there is a lot of depth with NWSL experience that left as well.
Now let’s go through what the current team looks like with so many new faces. Players on loan (Mya Jones, Sintia Cabezas) or on short-term contracts (Nia Harrison, Jordan Fusco) will not be listed below.
Coaches:
Jonas Eidevall - head coach
Becki Tweed - assistant coach
I wrote some thoughts and linked a few articles about Eidevall in this piece from two weeks ago. Based on his previous experience, I think the hope is he’s one of those coaches who have 2 or 3 strong seasons before players get tired of their act, a la Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. The concerning part for me is this is new territory for him. At Arsenal, he took over a team that was already good, whereas here he’s building something from scratch. I still hope someone asks him if he took this job expecting to have Shaw and Girma as part of the team.
It’s kind of funny Tweed’s first game is against her former team. Tactical advantage? Maybe. My favorite thing about Tweed is from 2023, when she destroyed a Portland Thorns team who was playing for the NWSL Shield 5-1. Shoutout to you for our first trophy Coach Tweed.
Goalkeepers:
Kailen Sheridan
Hillary Beall
DiDi Haracic
There isn’t much to say here other than, Sheridan can’t miss extensive time with an injury if this team is going to have a chance. This isn’t meant to be negative on the rest of the goalkeepers either, moreso, the lack of experience and depth from the defenders might ask more from the group.
Defenders:
Trinity Armstrong - rookie
Hanna Lundkvist
Kennedy Wesley
Kristen McNabb
Quincy McMahon - rookie
Perle Morroni
Despite this offseason looking disastrous with the transfer of Girma to Chelsea and Shaw to NC Courage, this year might be remembered for the incoming rookie class. Trinity Armstrong and Quincy McMahon might be a star backline pairing in the making, though I’m not sure how many starts they’ll see early on. Wesley will be CB1, but injuries have kept her from consistent playing time. CB2 could be McNabb, but with team expectations not as high as previous seasons, I’d love for them to start Armstrong right away. I don’t really watch college ball, but the fact McMahon finished her run at UCLA ranked 8th all-time in assists as a defender is wild to me. Maybe she gets pushed up the field in that defensive midfielder role occasionally. The lineup of defenders is thin so health is going to be key.
Midfielders:
Kenza Dali
Gia Corley
Kimmi Ascanio
Savannah McCaskill
Favour Emmanuel
I’m not even going to pretend to know much about the players they brought in. Off the top though, Corley is an absolute vibe. She steals every scene she’s in from whatever the Wave FC accounts post on social media. We are already fans here. Dali can ball, but I have an on-paper concern: how will a player going into their age 34 season fare in the extremely athletic NWSL? If some of these other midfielders can cover ground behind her, it’s probably going to be fine, but that’s a huge if. Emmanuel comes from playing in Russia and I have no idea how that league compares to anything else. I do wonder how they’re scouting a player at ZhFK Lokomotiv Moskva, but somehow haven’t brought in a single player from Liga MX Femenil. Ascanio needs more playing, that’s it.
I’m not sure what to expect from McCaskill. Last year was rough. Maybe it was the pressure of the contract, or being on a team with high expectations that weighed her down. If this team is going to succeed, she needs to find her 2023 form or become a late-game substitute. You can’t give her another 1,400 minutes with last year’s production again.
Forwards:
Trinity Byars - rookie
María Sánchez
Chiamaka Okwuchukwu
Adriana Leon
Makenzy Robbe (née Doniak)
Kyra Carusa
Delphine Cascarino
Melanie Barcenas
So many listed “forwards” and like only one striker with full-time experience. We know Sánchez can ball. We know Cascarino can ball. We know Barcenas can ball. The problem is all these ballers play in wide positions. I like Carusa as the starting 9 because I think she’s the only one who is enough of a bully to get touches on any Sánchez cross. Leon is a nice depth piece, but if she’s getting the majority of starts early on, I don’t think they’re scoring much. Byars is part of that potential star class of rookies coming out of college I listed earlier and while she’s going to be on the season-ending injury report for a while, any playing time in 2025 would be a huge win. I’m excited about Okwuchukwu. The resume is great: CAF Young Women’s Player of the year finalist and regular for Nigeria’s youth national teams. I really hope they give her enough minutes to get a feel for the league.
Season outlook time. There are a lot of unknowns, not just about the quality of new players brought in, but how Eidevall will use them. Health is going to be key since the majority of this team is made up of attackers who run the wings. Despite how bad they struggled creating and finishing chances last season, my biggest concern is the backline. Even with Girma holding it down last year, they still gave up too many cheap goals late in games. The good thing about a new coach and so many new faces is players will be hungry to prove themselves and win their starts. Regardless of scoreboard results, we’re going to see a tougher team than last season and I think they will make the playoffs.
Dale Wavé!
*note: please excuse any typos, I did not get to reread this yet!
