We’re releasing team previews ahead of the NWSL season that kicks off on Saturday, March 16! Our final episode covers the two teams taking place in the Challenge Cup, San Diego Wave and Gotham FC. You can find all of our season previews here! Water Pressure in the Tidal Pool By Kieran Doyle $120M. That’s apparently the cost of buying into a team with +300 odds at winning the NWSL Championship. I suppose both of those things (the impending sale of the team at a $120m valuation, more than double the next highest NWSL valuation triggered by an ownership stake sale, and the +300 betting odds) are ..read more

We’re releasing team previews ahead of the NWSL season that kicks off on Saturday, March 16! Our penultimate edition covers the North Carolina Courage and Portland Thorns. You can find all of our season previews here! Sweet Kerolin By Paul Harvey  The Courage had a much better season than anyone predicted last year, and were more than happy to point that out as the table took shape towards the end. The last season had marked the gradual transition away from the legends that had made the Courage the team to beat in the late 2010s, and in the beginning of the season had essentially complete ..read more

We’re releasing team previews ahead of the NWSL season that kicks off on Saturday, March 16! Day five covers Angel City and Seattle Reign. You can find all of our season previews here! Angel City Needs to Get Out of Escrow on Their Cabin in Big Bear By Evan Davis Angel City is constantly undone by the burden of their own self-regard.  One need only watch the three-part HBO docuseries about the team’s inaugural 2022 season to understand the disconnect between the Girlbossin’ ownership group and the rest of the women’s soccer community. The joke around town is that they are a PR firm with a ..read more

We’re releasing team previews ahead of the NWSL season that kicks off on Saturday, March 16! Our third edition includes last season’s bottom dwellers, the Houston Dash and Racing Louisville. You can find all of our season previews here! Can you Door-Dash a New Reset Button? By Evan Davis The Houston Dash really, really want to be a real team.  Oh, they’ve come close once or twice. They won the inaugural, COVID-haunted NWSL Challenge Cup back in 2020. A few months of Juan Carlos Amorós got them over the playoff line back in 2022. Beyond those two glimmers of hope, it’s been a long road of ..read more

We’re releasing team previews ahead of the NWSL season that kicks off on Saturday, March 16! Our first edition includes the league’s two newest expansion teams in Bay FC and Utah Royals. You can find all of our season previews here! Bay FC: Setting the standard or just setting the table? By Trevor Wojcik Breaking the global transfer record in women’s football, signing away key players from top European clubs, Bay FC certainly has not lacked ambition heading into their inaugural season. To guide them, the team selected Albertin Montoya, a staple of women’s soccer in the San Francisco Bay A ..read more

Will Orlando’s Outliers Overperform Once More? By Matt Barger How do you follow-up your best-ever season? Orlando City might have the answer. Orlando finished 2023 second in the East (and second in MLS) with a club-record 63 points, scoring a club-record 55 goals along the way. After a best-ever playoff finish in the Eastern semifinals, the Orlando front office may have had a best-ever off-season: Keeping rookie standout Duncan McGuire for the MLS minimum rookie salary after his $4 million deal with Blackburn collapsed at the final hurdle, Signing Luis Muriel, a designated player also valu ..read more

The Vel-lesser of Two Evils By Ben Bellman LAFC had nearly the best possible season you can have after winning MLS Cup, making it to the final a second consecutive year and shining as the analytics darlings of the Western Conference. LAFC led their conference in both xG difference and xPoints, reflecting consistent dominance in generating and limiting opponents’ underlying shooting opportunities. Steve Cherundolo’s team achieved this success through a transition game that exploits speed and technical skill to get behind defenses. Much of this comes down to the brilliance of Denis Bouanga, who ..read more

Atlanta United: Almada and Inshallah By Tony ElHabr 2023: Garth is Good Under the new leadership of CEO Garth Lagerway, Atlanta United returned to the playoffs in 2023, shaking off the previous season's disappointments. While Atlanta was ousted in the first round at the hands of the eventual champs, the team gave fans plenty of reasons to have hope for the future. In 2023 Atlanta United finished first in goals minus xG, even while being top 10 in season-long xG. So they scored a lot, and they did it way better than expected. Some of that might be luck, some of that is maybe due to the finishin ..read more

Punny Titles Are For Clubs That Don’t Hire Gavin Wilkinson A 2024 Sporting Kansas City preview can only begin with the acknowledgement of an ending. Two club legends, Graham Zusi and Roger Espinoza, won’t be lacing up their blue boots this season. One of those two has been in a Sporting KC jersey every year since 2008. The duo combined for nearly 700 games played and oversaw the collection of four trophies. They will be sorely missed by the fans and in the clubhouse. The fact that Zusi spent his entire 15-year career with one club is just a marvelous feat. What a career. Following that moment ..read more

Lesesne in the Membrane By Nate Gilman DC United wasn’t terrible in 2023, finishing 12th in the Eastern Conference though racking up 40 points and a +5.99 expected goals difference per American Soccer Analysis data. But it was an uninspiring season nonetheless and a major offseason overhaul followed. So the Black and Red enter the 2024 season with what looks to be real change for the first time in a long time. Wayne Rooney is out. Same, too, with Dave Kasper. Ally Mackay (and Caleb Shreve!) are in. So is Troy Lesesne.  So what can supporters of DCU and MLS watchers across the world expect ..read more