Tobin Heath and Christen Press became the latest to praise the U.S. women’s national team for its impending hire of Emma Hayes.
While Hayes’ role as the next USWNT coach is not yet official, her departure from Chelsea is, with the Women’s Super League club announcing that she will exit at the end of the 2023-24 season. U.S. Soccer’s board of directors also has reportedly approved the hire, with contract details still being worked out.
On Friday, Hayes said in a news conference that the “time is right” to leave Chelsea. She is in her 12th season, and she has led the club to six league titles.
“I’ve been in the post for 12 years, and I’ve dedicated my life to this place,” Hayes said. “I drive four hours to this place six days a week for 12 years. I have a 5-year-old that needs more of his mummy, for sure. That’s important. Family matters. I think I’ve dedicated as much as I possibly can to this football club. I’ve loved every minute of it.”
But she wouldn’t comment on the reports linking her to the USWNT.
“I’ve got a team to focus on,” she said. “I’ve got games to win.”
On the latest episode of “The RE-CAP Show,” though, USWNT forwards Press and Heath had no qualms about discussing the expected hire. Heath called the USWNT’s choice of the Chelsea manager a “no-brainer.”
“When I saw this announcement I thought to myself, ‘Great choice. No-brainer,’” she said. “Did I think she was available? No. So then I instantly kind of became a little confused as to the timing of when she would come. But when I think about Emma Hayes and the impact she’s had on the women’s game, and the success that she’s had at Chelsea, she’s a winner.”
In her 12 years at Chelsea, Hayes developed a “winning culture,” according to Heath, bringing in players that fit her system. Her tenure includes six Women’s Super League titles, including the most recent one in May of this year, which capped off a run of four straight. She also has led the team to five FA Cup titles, including a third straight in 2023.
Heath, who has played in the WSL for Manchester United and Arsenal, has heard from other players that Hayes is “a real coach that advocates for her players, advocates for the game.”
“She is unashamed to want to be the best coach in the world. Coach the best team in the world,” Heath continued. “She thinks she’s up for the job. She’s not afraid of the task. We know what the task is of the U.S. women’s national team. We know what the expectation is. And I think having a coach that’s coming in that already you get the sense has the confidence to take this team where it is and put it back where the team belongs.”
Press also pointed out that Hayes is “used to that pressure,” which is important given the immense pressure placed upon the USWNT head coach. But the co-hosts also questioned whether the hire will affect the USWNT’s Olympic aspirations, as Hayes will remain with Chelsea through May 2024.
“I think, ultimately, we’re going to be sacrificing an Olympics,” Heath said. “Let’s just assume it’s a wash, no Olympics for this team, and we’re going to be setting our sights on the next World Cup.
“And that’s really hard, I think, for any U.S. women’s national team fan or even player to grapple with, is this idea that this is a long-term play. Because that’s what it looks like. She doesn’t have the time to go into an Olympics and win.
“Could the U.S. women’s national team still win an Olympics with absolutely no coaching? Yeah, Of course. And also the Olympics isn’t as big of a deal as the World Cup. It’s not as strong of a competition for a lot of reasons. But ultimately, it’s not a good signal for the short-term development of course correcting what I think is a team that is really lost right now.”
Press agreed with Heath’s assessment, even as she struggled to wrap her head around it.
“I can’t wrap my mind around us going into an Olympics not to win,” Press said. “And to just say that’s a wash, like, I have a really hard time with that. I think it goes against the culture of the U.S. women’s national team. And I think it’s very confusing as a player to imagine a world where U.S. Soccer is thinking [that].”
Preview the 2023 NWSL Championship by tuning into the Just Women’s Sports Super Show Presented by State Farm, featuring surprise guest appearances by NWSL stars. Watch here.
The NWSL Championship will bring plenty of buzz. But “the most exciting NWSL players aren’t going to be in the final,” Christen Press said on a recent episode of “The RE-CAP Show.”
No. 4 OL Reign will meet No. 6 Gotham FC in the NWSL Championship at 8 p.m. ET Saturday — a game that will prominently feature Megan Rapinoe, 38, and Ali Krieger, 39, as they finish their legendary careers.
Press and co-host Tobin Heath are happy for “elder millennials” Rapinoe and Krieger, but they are “done with retirement games,” as Heath stated on the podcast.
“I want to see the best players in their prime, and the best players that are coming up, and right now, I don’t see any of those two things in this final,” she said.
In the same episode, Press and Heath discussed the playoff format and how it may negatively affect players that had a first-round bye or had to leave training to fulfill U.S. women’s national team duties. The two top-seeded teams — the San Diego Wave and Portland Thorns — fell in the semifinals after long periods of not playing together, making room for the lower-seeded Reign and Gotham in the championship match.
Yet while none of the five NWSL MVP nominees will appear in the final, Press and Heath did give the players and teams who did reach this point their due. They pointed to Gotham forward Lynn Williams and Reign midfielder Emily Sonnett as potential game changers.
Heath highlighted Rapinoe and Krieger’s retirements, which give the match a great storyline. And both were excited that this tournament will end with a first-time NWSL champion. Press and Heath missed the 2023 season with injuries, but Heath won two NWSL titles with the Portland Thorns, and both played with Rapinoe and Krieger on the 2019 USWNT World Cup squad.
“Really, really interesting obviously, two teams that have never won a championship that, for the first time ever, they’ll make history and that’s so exciting,” Heath said. “If you look at a player like Pinoe and Krieger, they both have never won an NWSL Championship either. So it’s huge, one of them is going to do something at the end of their career for the first time.”
The NWSL playoff format needs an overhaul, Christen Press and Tobin Heath argued on the latest episode of “The RE-CAP Show.”
Press and Heath broke down the format on their podcast, which they brought back for the NWSL playoffs. In 2021, the NWSL expanded the postseason to six teams, giving the top two seeds a bye into the semifinal round.
“It is bizarre and lopsided,” Press said.
With the top seeds getting a bye – and, this year, with an international break in between rounds – they face a two- or three-week break between their regular-season finales and their first playoff games. In this year’s playoffs, the No. 1 seed San Diego Wave and the No. 2 seed Portland Thorns both lost in the semifinals, while No. 4 seed OL Reign and No. 6 seed Gotham FC advanced to the championship match. And while both missed the 2023 season with injuries, both have been tracking the postseason.
“There’s a lot to be said for form and staying in form, and playing games and being in a little bit of flow versus just sitting on your hands waiting for your most important match of your season,” Press continued.
For Heath, the argument showed in two players: Sophia Smith and Rose Lavelle. Both players are coming off injuries. But Smith had to leave Portland to play with the USWNT during the international break, while Lavelle stayed behind and trained with OL Reign. And Lavelle got some minutes in her team’s quarterfinal game, which helped her ramp up for the semifinal round.
“And who knows, everybody is at a different form in their recovery,” Heath said. “But it just shows how disruptive it is to these players to have an international break for the top players.
“And then also the bye — like for Portland, they had lost. They had played their last game of the season, lost in a crazy loss to Angel City and then their first game of their playoff they play and they lose.”
Heath extended the argument to the NWSL calendar as a whole, which runs into FIFA’s international windows in September and October during the most important stretches of the league season.
“Imagine if it’s the NBA, and all of a sudden Team USA Basketball says, ‘Oh, you just won. Before you go to the final series, you’re going to come over and play with a different team for a couple of weeks, and then go back and try to win a championship with your team,’” Heath said. “It’s just unheard of. It would never happen. It’s disruptive. It shows that the best team isn’t going to be the most likely team to win a championship. It’s very hard to do.”
As Just Women’s Sports writer Claire Watkins pointed out ahead of the playoffs, quarterfinalists have made deep runs since the NWSL expanded its postseason format. Since 2021, five of the six finalists have played in the quarterfinal round, which Press calls “proof enough” that the format needs changing.
“So NWSL organizers, if you’re listening to this, I think we could use a little refresh of the playoff format,” she said.
Heath agreed, adding: “We just need to go to a European calendar. Period, full stop. It’s going to be disruption to the max until we’ve become legit.”
@justwomenssports It’s time for the #NWSL quarterfinals, a round that as produced three out of the last four finalists since the league changed their playoff format. San Diego and Portland are sitting on playoff byes wondering the age old question: is rest better, or momentum? #soccer #woso ♬ original sound - Just Women’s Sports
The U.S. women’s national team has been on the hunt for its next head coach.
From OL Reign’s Laura Harvey to Australia’s Tony Gustavsson, the rumor mill has been buzzing with names. But after a three-month search, Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes seems primed to take the job.
Just Women’s Sports has been keeping track of the conversations surrounding the search for Vlatko Andonovski’s replacement. Check back here for the latest.
Nov. 4: Chelsea’s Emma Hayes in line for USWNT opening
Emma Hayes is set to become the next head coach of the U.S. women’s national team, according to multiple reports.
The 47-year-old from England is stepping down as Chelsea head coach at the end of the Women’s Super League season. While the Women’s Super League season does not end until May 2024, Hayes could join the USWNT during international breaks over the next seven months before stepping into the role full-time at the conclusion of the season, Backheeled reported.
Hayes joined Chelsea as head coach in 2012. In her 11 seasons with the club, not including the 2023-24 season, she has won six league titles, five FA Cups, two FA League Cups and one Community Shield.
Oct. 27: OL Reign’s Harvey, Australia’s Gustavsson and Juventus’ Montemurro top shortlist
U.S. Soccer has whittled down its candidate pool, with three names atop the shortlist, The Athletic reported Friday.
OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey, Australia head coach Tony Gustavsson and Juventus women’s head coach Joe Montemurro are the leading contenders, though each comes with pros and cons.
Oct. 23: Becky Sauerbrunn: USWNT is ‘getting closer’ to hire
The 38-year-old defender spoke with reporters about the coaching search ahead of the USWNT’s October friendlies.
“I have been involved a little bit, but just kind of updated periodically about where they are in the process,” Sauerbrunn said. “I don’t know names of candidates or anything like that, but I was aware of when candidates were being flown in for interviews and that sort of thing.
“We’re getting close and I think that they’ve got a few candidates that they’re very excited about. But for the most part, it’s just been process and knowing where we are in the process.”
Sept. 29: Lorne Donaldson parts ways with Jamaica
Donaldson, who led Jamaica to the knockout round for the first time at the 2023 World Cup, is parting ways with the team, the Jamaica Football Federation announced Friday.
“After an extended discussion, both parties came to an agreement that the contract would not be renewed,” the JFF wrote on social media. Donaldson’s contract is set to expire on Sept. 30.
While Donaldson has not been linked to the USWNT opening, his name has popped up as an intriguing candidate. He coached USWNT star forwards Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson during their youth careers in Colorado.
Sept. 24: U.S. Soccer has ‘unbelievably diverse pool’ of candidates
U.S. Soccer has gathered “an unbelievably diversity pool exciting candidates” for the USWNT head coaching position, sporting director Matt Crocker said. He also reaffirmed that the federation is “on track — comfortably on track — to be in a position to have the head coach in place and ready to support the team from that early December camp.”
The diversity in the candidate pool extends to gender, ethnicity and experience levels, which puts the USWNT in position to find the best person for the job, Crocker said.
“I feel really excited about the coaches that we have that are interested in the role, which I think is a great indication of how highly this role is considered across the world game,” he said. “My job has been from the start: Go and find us the best candidate in the world.”
Crocker also is having discussions with USWNT players about what they want to see in the next head coach. He has talked to roughly half of the team so far, and he plans to speak with “every single player,” he said.
Sept. 12: U.S. Soccer lays out timeline for hire
U.S. Soccer is hoping to hire the next head coach of the USWNT by December, sporting director Matt Crocker told TNT.
Interim head coach Twila Kilgore will remain in her position for the team’s September friendlies against South Africa and its October friendlies against Colombia.
“Twila will pick up the September and the October camps with the staff,” he said. “And you know, in an ideal world, we’d like to be in a position for the December camp to have the new head coach in place.”
For Crocker, the ability to make tactical changes on the fly is an important attribute for the next coach. He also wants the USWNT head coach to be a hands-on presence within U.S. Soccer, including at its Chicago headquarters.
Sept. 6: Mia Hamm offers decisive ‘no’ on USWNT job
The USWNT legend shut down any discussion of her name in connection with the opening, saying she does not have the “bandwidth” or “patience” for the job.
“I’m not the coaching type,” she told TODAY.com when asked if she would want to lead the team. Hamm joins several other players in turning the conversation toward more experienced coaching candidates.
Aug. 21: Carli Lloyd calls herself ‘definite no’ for USWNT opening
Several former USWNT players weighed in on their own credentials for the USWNT head coaching job.
Lloyd called herself “a definite no” given her lack of coaching licenses and experience. Brandi Chastain also said she is “not ready” this time around, but she said she would “love to lead this national team some time in the future.”
Former goalkeeper Briana Scurry did not throw her hat into the ring as a head coaching candidate. But when asked if she would be up for a position with U.S. Soccer, Scurry did not say no. “I would definitely consider it,” she told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
All of the above players also offered their take on what they want to see in the next head coach, as have current USWNT players, including Christen Press, Tobin Heath and Andi Sullivan.
“You need somebody, a leader, with a keen understanding of the system that is going to be played, how to implement the system, and which players are best for the system,” Heath said. “That doesn’t mean: Who are the best players? Who’s scoring the most goals? Who’s everyone talking about? It’s not that at all.”
Aug. 19: Casey Stoney remains ‘very happy’ with San Diego Wave
The San Diego Wave head coach joked about being floated as a candidate because of her gender amid a debate over whether the next USWNT head coach should be a woman. But she didn’t offer much beyond that, only saying that she is happy in her current role with the Wave.
“I think there’s people that will go into that role and do very well,” she said. “I’m very happy where I am. I’m at a club that’s building something very special. I’m invested in my players and I will stay invested in my players.”
Aug. 19: Australia’s Tony Gustavsson downplays rumors
A former USWNT assistant under Jill Ellis, Gustavsson led the Matildas to the 2023 World Cup semifinal in their home country. And in the immediate aftermath of the tournament, he seemed committed to the future of the Australia program, though that could change if the USWNT comes calling.
“I don’t see this as an end of a journey. I see it as the beginning of a journey,” he said after Australia’s loss to Sweden in the third-place match. “But I also want to be very clear that I want to see investment now. I really do. I want to see investment and I mean like real investment that we’re serious about what we do.”
Gustavsson is under contract with Football Australia until the end of Australia’s 2024 Olympics run, but Ellis tabbed him as a “strong candidate” for the USWNT opening.
Aug. 18: Sarina Wiegman has ‘no plans to leave’ England
The 53-year-old Netherlands native led England to the World Cup final, where the Lionesses lost 1-0 to Spain. When asked about the USWNT job, she reiterated the details of her current contract.
“I have a contract until 2025,” Wiegman said. “I’m really enjoying my job, and I have the impression that people still like me doing that job. I have no plans to leave.”
The English Football Association plans to reject any approaches from rival countries interested in the manager, CEO Mark Bullingham said.
Aug. 16: Lluís Cortés linked to USWNT opening
The former head coach of FC Barcelona Femení, he is stepping down as coach of the Ukrainian women’s national team at the end of August upon the expiration of his contract. He had been in conversations with some NWSL clubs, per The Athletic, but Relevo has reported that he also had been contacted by U.S. Soccer.
Aug. 7: Laura Harvey: USWNT head coach is ‘top job in the world’
Even before Andonovski’s resignation, the OL Reign head coach was asked about a potential USWNT opening. She was on the shortlist for the job in 2019 before Andonovski was selected as Ellis’ successor, and she worked as a head coach at the developmental levels while also serving as an assistant coach to the senior team in 2020 and 2021.
And while she called the OL Reign her priority, she also labeled the USWNT head coaching position as “probably the top job in the world.”
“I enjoyed my time at U.S. Soccer. That’s no doubt,” she said. “The U.S. women’s national team is probably the top job in the world, if not a top three job in the world. That’s just reality. And if my name is anywhere near it, then that’s an honor.”
Christen Press and Tobin Heath are bringing back “The RE-CAP Show,” starting with the NWSL playoffs.
The sports talk show premiered during the World Cup, with the USWNT duo recapping games throughout the tournament. Now, they’ll do the same for the NWSL semifinals and championship match.
“We are thrilled to be bringing back ‘The RE-CAP Show’ to audio and full video within our membership. Same shenanigans that you saw this summer, with a new trophy being fought for,” Heath said in a news release announcing the show’s return.
The eight World Cup episodes of the show aired on the YouTube page for their RE-INC brand. The platform for the new episodes remains to be seen, though Heath mentions their RE-INC membership platform, which costs $9 a month or $90 per year.
“After the incredible success from this summer’s show, we are back and better with ‘The RE-CAP Show’ NWSL edition,” Press said in the news release. “We promised to shine a spotlight on women’s sports and never take it off. So we’re bringing back all the good juicy bits from the show, as well as the essential conversations around social progress and equity.”
“The RE-CAP Show” will return on Tuesday, Nov. 7, and will discuss both semifinals, which will take place on Sunday, Nov. 5. On Saturday, Nov. 11, the duo will provide a preview of the NWSL Championship later that day. And a final NWSL show will air on Tuesday, Nov. 14, to discuss the final.
Four more episodes will air in 2023 “covering global women’s soccer and the issues that matter most,” according to the news release.
Christen Press wants to close the clear gap between supply and demand for women’s sports.
The demand for content is there, but media outlets are not keeping up, Press said at the 2023 Fortune MPW conference this week. As an example, the Angel City FC forward spoke about the difficulty of finding her own club’s away games on TV and streaming services.
“I can’t find my own team play. I’m injured right now, and when the team is away it takes me 10 minutes trying to find the content for my own team,” she said. “And so it’s like, how many people does that deter? I think that’s where the investment comes in.
“And that’s where the belief that, this isn’t a charity — we’re far past the time that we want people to come in and say ‘Oh, I’m doing this for my daughter.’ We want people to come in because they see the business opportunity, because they see the potential that we have in women’s sports.”
She also called Angel City FC games – and the fans – unlike anything else she has ever played in front of, which she attributes to the community that has been created around the club.
“I think that’s because everybody that comes to a game comes for more than sport,” she said. “They come for the community, they come for the fight for equity and progress, and they come for the belief that women from all industries can rise. And when we do, we create a better world for everybody.”
Press, 34, also touched on her career overall, with the USWNT and in the NWSL, which she has spent for a better future for players that come after her. She pointed to 18-year-old USWNT and Angel City forward Alyssa Thompson, and how her entire experience as a professional is exactly that.
“The goal that we had for the whole fight for equal pay with the USWNT, and now with the NWSL following that, the goal is that the next generation doesn’t have to fight,” she said. “They don’t have to spend their entire careers doing two jobs.”
The fight for progress and equity continues. And it’s something that has reached other national federations. It’s something that Press wasn’t expecting when initially handed the torch, instead thinking her job was just to “pass it to the next generation” for the USWNT.
After the USWNT lost this year’s World Cup, though, she began to understand the magnitude of what another team winning could mean for the fight for equality.
“Both in England and in Spain, the two finalists, are having massive fights with their federations about basic rights,” she said. “And so, I think we hope as the USWNT that our fight was able to inspire the fight. I always think about walking towards equality with a torch in my hand. When I joined the USWNT, I was handed a torch because there was a whole other decade, a generation of players, that had already been fighting.
“I continue carry that torch as far and high as I can. In one way, I thought my job was to pass it to the next generation, but in a lot of ways over the last 10 years, we were able to light a little fire and let it spread out … and I think that’s a lot more powerful.”
Trinity Rodman is a rising star for the U.S. women’s national team, and she has had plenty of inspiration.
Speaking on Sunday, the 21-year-old pointed to a trio of forwards from the 2015 and 2019 World Cup-winning teams as role models for her own career journey: Megan Rapinoe, Christen Press and Tobin Heath.
“Megan Rapinoe has been a big one for me,” Rodman said. “Christen Press and Tobin Heath have been big ones for me.
“Obviously, playing with Pinoe, who’s amazing, to be there for her retirement was amazing. But she just works so hard, she’s changed the game of soccer and she brings her own personality and swag to the game. And I hope to do the same.”
While Rodman has played alongside Rapinoe in 2022 and 2023, her first and Rapinoe’s last years with the USWNT, she has not played with Press or Heath. Her first call-up came in January 2022, and neither Press nor Heath have played for the national team since 2021 as both have dealt with various injuries. Still, Rodman looks up to them, pointing in a different interview to Heath’s “creativity” as a particular inspiration.
Since the 2023 World Cup, Rodman has started to come into her own, both on the USWNT and in the NWSL with the Washington Spirit. At the World Cup, USWNT interim head coach Twila Kilgore saw a switch flick in Rodman, and since then the young forward has been on a tear.
Rodman scored in each of the team’s September friendlies against South Africa, and in her next NWSL match, a sign of what is to come for the forward as she continues to embrace her role.
Her Spirit teammate, 24-year-old defender Tara McKeown, also spoke about her role models, citing longtime USWNT captain Becky Sauerbrunn as a defensive paragon.
“Growing up I always looked up to Mia Hamm, and I used to be a nine so that kinda made more sense,” she said. “But now, switching to center-back, watching Becky Sauerbrunn has been a good role model for me and trying to learn from her game.”
Two-time World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe ends her career in the top 10 in U.S. women’s national team history in goals.
Alex Morgan and Christen Press also rank in the top 10. See where they sit on the all-time leaderboard.
10. Megan Rapinoe — 63
A member of the USWNT since 2006, Rapinoe has made an impact on and off the field. She became the only player to score an Olimpico in two Olympic Games when she added one in the USWNT’s bronze-medal win in Tokyo in 2021.
9. Christen Press — 64
While Press missed the 2023 World Cup due to a knee injury, her body of work speaks for itself. Her first two career goals came during a 2013 friendly against Scotland, and her 64th came in a 4-1 win over New Zealand during the Tokyo Olympics.
8. Cindy Parlow Cone — 75
Now the president of U.S. Soccer, Parlow Cone spent 11 years with the USWNT, spanning three Olympics and two World Cups. She scored her first two goals in her first appearance during a friendly against Russia in 1996. She also recorded seven career hat tricks for the USWNT, just one behind Mia Hamm for the most in team history.
7. Tiffeny Milbrett — 100
After joining the USWNT in 1991, Milbrett scored her first international goal in 1992 against Norway. She went on to lead the team to Olympic gold in 1996, scoring the game-winning goal against China. Her 100th and final goal came in a 2005 friendly against Ukraine in her hometown of Portland, Ore.
6. Michelle Akers — 107
A member of the USWNT from 1985 to 2000, Akers scored the first goal in the team’s history in its second-ever international game against Denmark.
She also led all scorers in the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991 with 10 goals, including five in one game. Akers led the USWNT to their first World Cup that year, scoring both goals in a 2-1 defeat of Norway in the championship match.
5. Alex Morgan — 121
One of two 2023 World Cup players on this list, Morgan has been a member of the USWNT since 2010. Morgan’s goal in the 123rd minute of the 2012 Olympic semifinals, which delivered her team a victory over Canada, still holds the record for the latest goal ever scored by a USWNT player.
4. Kristine Lilly — 130
A member of the USWNT for 23 years, Lilly is the most-capped player in the history of the sport. She has 12 goals across five World Cups and three Olympics.
3. Carli Lloyd — 134
With a five-goal performance to begin her farewell tour in 2021, Lloyd tied the USWNT’s single-game scoring record. The star forward also had a hat trick in the 2015 World Cup final — scoring all three goals in the span of 16 minutes.
2. Mia Hamm — 158
Hamm held the record for most international goals scored until Wambach surpassed her in 2013. She remains third on the all-time list behind Wambach and Canada’s Christine Sinclair (190).
A member of the USWNT’s inaugural World Cup and Olympic teams, Hamm played an astounding 17 years for the senior national team. Her 158th and final goal came during a 2004 friendly against Australia.
1. Abby Wambach — 184
Wambach tops the list after an illustrious 14-year career with the USWNT. A tour de force on the big stage, Wambach scored 14 times in World Cup tournaments and 24 times in the Olympics. Her final goal came during a 2015 friendly against Costa Rica.
Christen Press will not play this NWSL season. Instead, the U.S. women’s national team and Angel City FC forward is targeting a return in 2024.
Angel City interim head coach Becki Tweed shared Press’ expected timeline with The Sporting Tribune. The 34-year-old has not played since tearing her ACL in an NWSL match in June 2022, and she underwent a fourth knee surgery in mid-July.
Still, Press remains eager to get back to the pitch. As she told ESPN’s Holly Rowe on Sept. 4: “The comeback is on.”
“I am doing everything in my power to get back on the field as soon as possible,” Press said. “Looking forward to my return on the pitch.”
Tweed provided more context Tuesday. While Angel City sits in eighth place in the NWSL standings, two points out of playoff position with four matches left to play, they’ll make their push for the postseason without Press. Previously, Tweed had said the club was taking Press’ recovery “week by week.”
“I think her objective is coming back for next season,” Tweed said. “And I think that’s the space that she’s in, and obviously a player of her caliber, we’re excited for her return. But we’re excited for her return when it’s the right time for her.”
Press has been open about the emotional toll the injury has taken on her, sharing details of her “unique recovery journey” throughout the process. Upon revealing the need for a fourth surgery, she maintained that her days were “mostly good” and that she was working once again toward returning to play.
“Despite the fact that, on paper, this is an athlete’s recovery-nightmare, I feel in my heart that to climb the mountain — yes, even one more time — is the dream,” she wrote.
Angel City will support Press throughout her recovery process, Tweed said Tuesday.
“I think that’s obviously really important to bear in mind that we talk about injuries, but we talk about humans and people’s emotional state and what she’s been through in the last year and a half has not been easy,” she said. “So we’re so excited to have her back, and we can’t wait for it to be back on the field, and we know when that moment happens, it’s going to benefit the team.”
Angel City is taking it “week by week” when it comes to Christen Press’ recovery.
After tearing her ACL last June, the 34-year-old forward has undergone four knee surgeries, a situation she has described as “unfathomable.” The latest surgery came on July 18, and she is hoping for a better outcome than resulted from the previous procedures.
“I believe every single time that I’m going to have the best outcome to the point where like now I’m like, I think I might be naive. Like, it’s too optimistic,” she said on “The RE-CAP Show” podcast with Tobin Heath. “But that’s how I have to go into surgery to get through.”
Angel City interim head coach Becki Tweed spoke Friday about Press’ status.
“Obviously everybody’s recovery journey is different and we’re all aware of Christen’s journey and her multiple surgeries,” she said. “A player of her quality and caliber is obviously really highly missed. Again, everybody’s recovery journey and pathway to what they need to come back and return to the field is important.
“With her, we’re taking it week by week. It’s important that she returns when she’s ready, and there is no official timeline on that. But we’ll continue to offer support through the process. We’re excited for her return whenever that may be.”
Angel City got its first-ever win over OL Reign on Sunday in a 2-1 result. The club currently sits in ninth place in the NWSL standings with 21 points, three points out of playoff position.