What these NWSL teams need to get (back) to the playoffs

Credit: EM Dash-Imagn Images

Utah Royals: Sign Narumi Miura and Mandy Freeman

Sporting director Kelly Cousins is a savvy operator. The pivot to Jimmy Coenraets and the splash to grab three thirty-something players from Europe in the summer window doubled Utah’s expected points per game from 0.7 pre-Olympics to 1.4 post-Olympics. They’re moving in the right direction. If Ally Sentnor can kick on and Hannah Betfort comes back, the Royals might have some attacking juice.

Signing Narumi to patrol midfield helps ensure that the club no longer gets exposed to ugly counterattacks, their bane while under Amy Rodriguez. Narumi provides a solid defensive base that also frees Claudia Zornoza to push up and unlock the forward line more fluidly. It also allows Ana Tejada to move back to central defense. Suddenly, between Narumi, Tejada, Kate Del Fava, and goalkeeper Mandy Haught, the Royals have a strong, powerful spine. Throwing Mandy Freeman on top of it helps prevent wingers from running riot, too. Cousins has cap space to play with even after signing the three internationals, and should splash some more cash to shore up the remaining holes in her and Coenraets’s roster.

Angel City: Do NOT re-sign Christen Press

Julie Uhrman and Angela Hucles Mangano are no longer running soccer operations at Angel City, and that’s a good thing. Sydney Leroux and Claire Emslie both signed long-term extensions, and that’s not. Press is reportedly amid negotiations to re-sign with the club. Despite the bump in salary cap space, Angel City still has their resources stretched across contracts for players who are only set to decline, not improve. Even a short-term deal for Press won’t come cheap.

What’s more, where is she going to play? Emslie, Alyssa Thompson, and Jūn Endo will be battling for the winger slots. Leroux and Messiah Bright provide a logjam in the middle. Does Press become a No. 10, or simply be a bench piece? Either way, at age 36—and after a grueling two-year ACL recovery process—Angel City’s limited resources would be better spent elsewhere.

Seattle Reign: Let the kids cook

Head coach Laura Harvey and GM Lesle Gallimore made a great first step toward getting the squad younger and more mobile by signing Madison Curry in free agency. That can’t be their final move. The squad was old, expensive, and unproductive in 2024, whose 30 expected points in the regular season came in 11th in the league.

Why not tear it down from the inside and let their youth shine through? Make Jordan Bugg a starting center back. See if Shae Holmes can play right back while you wait for Sofia Huerta to return. Trust Emeri Adames to figure it out on the wing — it’s not as if Ana-Maria Crnogorčević was providing much in her short season with the club. Use Jess Fishlock‘s declining speed but tenacious defense to shield the center backs while Jaelin Howell is free to go destroying, like she is intended to.

If you need to eat some money in trades (or let those expensive players stew on the bench), take the risk. It could get very ugly with all that inexperience around the field. But if those young talents can figure it out together, that will be a crucible they and the fans won’t soon forget. It’s not like it could get much worse than last year, could it?

Houston Dash: Oh god…

The Dash don’t have a GM. They don’t have a head coach. Somehow, under the auspices of interim GM Eric Ustruck, they signed Delanie Sheehan in free agency, traded for an aging Christen Westphal, and locked up numerous other members of their 2024 squad. Jane Campbell will be in a Dash shirt for at least three more years. What can you say to that?

A front three of Diana Ordóñez, Michelle Alozie, and Amanda West seems good in theory. A center back pairing of Natalie Jacobs and Tarciane (or a three-back with Paige Nielsen) seems good in theory. Avery Patterson and a rotation of Allysha Chapman and Ryan Gareis in wide defense seems good in theory.

But what do these disparate parts add up to? Is this a possession squad or a transition squad? Are they tactically intricate or are they direct? Do they have speed or steel? Both? Neither? There is plenty of theory about the state of the Dash squad, but until they get two people to translate that theory into practice, I have no idea how they avoid another season in the NWSL cellar.