Former professional soccer player Lori Lindsey pointed to “behind the scenes” circumstances as a reason for Christen Press’ exclusion from the USWNT roster.
After the roster was released, USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski revealed that Press was not going to make the roster even before she tore her ACL in a Saturday NWSL matchup.
Speaking on the “Attacking Third” podcast, Lindsey offered her thoughts on the snub.
“I think there’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes that a lot of people aren’t privy to,” Lindsey said. “I think that probably dates back a little bit – I’m privy to some information, not all of it, and I clearly wasn’t there at the Olympics – but I guarantee that this has to do with a lot of stuff that goes on off the field that people don’t know about. As good as Christen Press has been, I think more of this has to do with leadership and not only what that looks like on the field.
“I think there is some internal stuff that we don’t actually know, with other players. Take what you want with what I’m saying with that. You can read between the lines.”
Lindsey made 31 appearances with the USWNT from 2005-2013. Current USWNT forward Megan Rapinoe has described Lindsey as “one of my best friends.” The two played together on the USWNT from 2006 until Lindsey’s final appearance in 2013.
On the podcast Monday, Lindsey describes Rapinoe as more of a leader than Press, likening Rapinoe to Abby Wambach in 2015.
“In general, Christen Press is going to be more like a Mallory Pugh [in terms of playing style],” she said. “Not a lot of players bring what Megan brings, whether it’s 10 minutes, whether it’s 30 minutes … Do you bring her because you know what you’re going to get on the bench? You know how she’s going to respond to being on the bench? And I think you know that with Megan.”
