Tag: Women’s Super League

NJ/NY Gotham FC vs. Chelsea: How to watch friendly, live stream

The champions of the WSL and NWSL will face off in a high-profile friendly

NJ/NY Gotham FC will face Chelsea on Monday in a high-profile friendly between the champions of the WSL and NWSL.

The two teams are at different points of their campaigns. Gotham has been idle for nearly two weeks after beating Angel City 1-0 in the semifinal of the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup on August 6.

The defending NWSL champion returns to league play on Saturday against Portland, with its seven Olympians set to return in that match.

Gotham saw six of its players win gold, with Rose Lavelle, Jenna Nighswonger, Tierna Davidson, Crystal Dunn, Emily Sonnett and Lynn Williams all featuring for the U.S. women’s national team in France. Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger helped Germany win bronze.

Of that group, only Berger has been named to the matchday squad.

Chelsea has brought along two USWNT players who may have been at the Olympic were it not for injury. Mia Fishel and Catarina Macario weren’t fit for the Paris Games, but both have been included in the team’s roster for its two-game U.S. tour.

While Gotham may be without most of its Olympians on Monday, it did add a USWNT legend for the game. The team announced the signing of Heather O’Reilly on a one-day contract as an injury replacement player.

Following this match, Chelsea will head south to face London rival Arsenal at Audi Field in Washington D.C. on August 25.

The Blues are starting their first campaign under Sonia Bompastor, who took over as head coach after Emma Hayes departed to take over the USWNT.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of the game.

Gotham FC vs. Chelsea (friendly)

  • When: Monday, August 19
  • Where: Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ)
  • Time: 7 p.m. ET
  • Channel/streaming: DAZN (WATCH LIVE on YouTube)

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Injured USWNT pair Fishel and Macario included in Chelsea USA tour squad

The two forwards are recovering from the effects of torn ACLs

Two U.S. women’s national team forwards got some positive health news this weekend, as Mia Fishel and Catarina Macario were included in Chelsea’s traveling roster for its preseason tour of the United States.

Both players missed the Olympics as they recovered from knee injuries, but the duo was healthy enough for inclusion on Sonia Bompastor’s 28-player roster.

After recovering from a torn ACL that kept her out nearly two years, Macario was forced out of the Olympics with “minor knee irritation.”

Fishel, meanwhile, tore her ACL in training with the USWNT back in February. The forward’s inclusion on Chelsea’s traveling squad is a positive indication that her recovery is progressing well.

Chelsea will play NJ/NY Gotham FC at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey on Monday, before heading south for a match against London rival Arsenal at Audi Field in Washington D.C. on August 25.

The Blues are starting their first campaign under Bompastor, who took over as head coach after Emma Hayes departed to take over the USWNT.

Hayes enjoyed instant success in her first foray into the international game, leading the USWNT to an Olympic gold medal last weekend in just her 10th match in charge.

Chelsea Women 2024 USA tour squad

Goalkeepers: Hannah Hampton, Katie Cox, Zecira Musovic

Defenders: Ashley Lawrence, Alejandra Bernabe, Charlotte Wardlaw, Eve Perisset, Lucy Bronze, Kadeisha Buchanan, Millie Bright, Nathalie Bjorn, Niamh Charles

Midfielders: Erin Cuthbert, Lexi Potter, Maika Hamano, Oriane Jean-Francois, Sjoeke Nusken, Sophie Ingle, Wieke Kaptein

Forwards: Aggie Beever-Jones, Catarina Macario, Guro Reiten
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Lauren James, Lucy Watson, Mayra Ramirez, Mia Fishel, Sandy Baltimore

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Hayes would have ‘100 percent’ turned down USWNT job without Chelsea clause

The coach was sticking to her guns, even if it cost her the USWNT job

In her upcoming book, Emma Hayes said she would have “100 percent” walked away from the U.S. women’s national team head coaching role if U.S. Soccer didn’t allow her to complete the season with Chelsea.

Hayes was named USWNT head coach in November, but insisted upon finishing out the season at Chelsea before taking over.

That meant Twila Kilgore served several months as interim head coach while Hayes coached Chelsea and also kept an eye on the USWNT in the background.

Finally, Hayes joined up with the USWNT in late May after clinching a fifth straight WSL title with Chelsea.

Hayes has now coached four matches with the USWNT, winning three and drawing one as the team prepares for the Olympics.

The USWNT kicks off the games in France on Thursday against Zambia, before facing Germany and Australia in the group phase.

In an excerpt from her upcoming book “A Completely Different Game: My Leadership Playbook,” Hayes detailed a meeting with U.S. Soccer leadership after she was offered the USWNT position.

Hayes insisted upon being allowed to coach the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign with Chelsea — even if it cost her the chance to manage the USWNT. She was also prepared to immediately walk away from Chelsea if the club didn’t agree to the arrangement.

With her father having recently passed away and her son Harry in the middle of the school year, Hayes had professional and personal considerations in mind.

The following is an excerpt from the book, which is available now to pre-order HERE and will be released on Tuesday.

Things were moving fast. Matt [Crocker, sporting director] asked to meet with me in London the following Sunday, together with Cindy Parlow Cone, the U.S. Soccer Federation president, and JT Batson, the CEO. I agreed, since Chelsea was to play on the Saturday before (a 2–0 win over West Ham, as it turned out).

The delegation shared their vision and the work they had been doing in the background. It was really impressive. They made me feel really wanted. Their offer—to make me the world’s highest paid manager in the women’s game—was unbelievable.

Money has never been the most important thing for me, but it was nice to be valued. By adhering to the principle of equal pay—I was to be on the same level as Gregg Berhalter, the men’s manager—they also proved they were willing to act on fundamental beliefs.

Despite the disappointment of the earliest U.S. exit from a World Cup, in round sixteen, a new generation of richly talented young players would be coming through. This would be my opportunity to build and lead a team through an Olympic Games, a World Cup, and another Olympic cycle. I couldn’t get the thought of this opportunity out of my head, but there were considerations.

I told them I didn’t want to leave Chelsea immediately because I had committed to the players. That’s the sort of person I am. My word is a condition, an article of faith. I wanted to complete the season in England before attacking the challenge of the Paris Olympics.

I explained that for the first time in my life I was not going to do something at all costs. I did not want to disrupt Harry midway through a school year. I wasn’t leaving my mum: she needed me. I would have 100 percent walked away if they had said no.

I couldn’t believe how accommodating they were. They acknowledged the logic of my stance, even though they knew they would take some heat domestically because of it. By the same token, if Chelsea had preferred to move on quickly, in terms of succession planning, I would have gone to the U.S. without hesitation.

Leaders do not have the luxury of idle gestures. By finishing the European season, I knew how hard I would have to work to be completely present. I never want to be accused of having stopped working or having switched off. I really believe in professional commitment.

Keeping Twila Kilgore (or Kaufman, as many of us still know her) as the interim head coach was a really smart decision. The first U.S.-born woman to earn a U.S. Soccer Federation pro coaching license, she had spent the previous eighteen months as Vlatko Andonovski’s assistant.

She represented continuity and authority because she embodied the strengths of the system, having excelled at the youth, collegiate, and club level. She was able to implement many short-term decisions so that I could hit the ground running when I started in June.

I made it clear how much I valued her, insisting that every department would go through her while I was still a full-time employee of Chelsea. There is always a temptation to gravitate toward a new head coach, but I wanted to be in the background, getting staffing and protocols in place.

Excerpted from “A Completely Different Game: My Leadership Playbook” by Emma Hayes with contributions by Michael Calvin. Copyright © 2024. Available from PublicAffairs, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

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Manchester United doesn’t give a fig about its women’s team

The list of indignities seemingly grows by the day

There’s been plenty of attention on what Sir Jim Ratcliffe said recently about Manchester United’s women’s team, but perhaps not enough focus on one small element of it.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, United’s new co-owner Ratcliffe was asked if he would consider spinning off his women’s team to a new owner.

“We haven’t got into that level of detail with the women’s football team yet,” he said. “We’ve been pretty much focused on how do we resolve the first-team issues in that environment, and that’s been pretty much full time for the first six months.”

That Ratcliffe seems to have done zero planning when it comes to the women’s team has been rightly criticized, but perhaps the most troubling element of his answer comes from his usage of “first team” as a shorthand for the men’s team.

Manchester United has two first teams: the men’s first team and the women’s first team. To Ratcliffe, there seems to be only one. That isn’t too surprising to anyone who’s paid attention to how United has treated its women’s team over just the past six weeks.

Last month, Manchester United cancelled its traditional end-of-season awards dinner, which was scheduled for May 20, to avoid any potential distractions for the men’s team in the FA Cup final on May 25.

The problem? That awards dinner was for the men’s and women’s team. To make matters worse, nobody at the club even bothered to tell the women about the cancellation. Instead, they found out the way everybody else did: by reading a report in The Athletic.

This week, another indignity: The women’s team is being evicted from their training facility next season to make way for the men, whose own facility is undergoing a £50 million renovation.

Not to worry, though: There will be temporary cabins set up for the women to use for the entirety of the 2024-25 season.

Things have gotten so dire that The Athletic reported the Professional Footballers’ Association is ready to intervene on the players’ behalf.

Unsurprisingly, some of United’s key players aren’t sticking around to see how that process shakes out.

Just this week came the news that Mary Earps is set to leave for PSG, Nikita Parris is expected to depart, Lucía García has signed with Liga MX side Monterrey, while captain Katie Zelem also confirmed her departure.

When the topic of her future came up last month, England goalkeeper Earps told Sky Sports that her decision came down to what kind of plan her current side could provide her.

“I’ve asked the club for some confirmation on what they’re trying to achieve and when I have those answers I’ll be able to make a decision,” she said. “It’s up to the club.”

One month later, she’s on her way out the door. If United continues down the road it’s traveling, there will be even more following her.

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Chelsea Women USA tour 2024: Schedule, tickets, stadiums and more

The Blues will play two matches on the east coast during the tour

For the second time in three years, the Chelsea women’s team will embark on a preseason tour of the United States.

The Blues will come to the U.S. for two matches this summer as they continue preparing for the 2024-25 season.

Chelsea will be led by a new head coach, as Emma Hayes departed to take over the U.S. women’s national team after clinching the club’s fourth straight WSL title.

Sonia Bompastor will be leading Chelsea on this preseason tour, as the ex-France international took over from Hayes after a successful run coaching Lyon.

In 2022, Chelsea visited the U.S. to competed for the Women’s International Champions Cup in Portland.

This time around, Chelsea will be on the east coast as it plays NJ/NY Gotham FC in New Jersey before heading south to face Arsenal in Washington, D.C. The latter match will be part of a doubleheader, with the Washington Spirit facing the Kansas City Current in the first game.

Here are the fixtures for Chelsea Women’s summer tour of the United States, including information on purchasing tickets.

Chelsea Women USA tour 2024

August 19: Chelsea vs NJ/NY Gotham FC — Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ. TICKETS.

August 25: Chelsea vs. Arsenal — Audi Field, Washington, D.C.

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Chelsea confirms five coaches to join Hayes’ USWNT staff

The ex-Blues coach is taking several of her assistants with her to the USWNT

Emma Hayes’ U.S. women’s national team coaching staff is starting to take shape.

Chelsea announced this week that five members of Hayes’ staff at Chelsea will follow the coach to the USWNT.

Assistant coach Denise Reddy, goalkeeper coach Stuart Searle, head of performance Bart Caubergh, performance analyst Ferdia O’Hanrahan and opposition analyst Cameron Meighan have all left Chelsea to take up positions on Hayes’ staff with the USWNT.

That group will join Twila Kilgore on the USWNT staff, with the team’s former interim head coach having returned to her previous role as an assistant.

“We have a fantastic staff already in place, and we all saw what a wonderful job Twila did with the team over the past six months, so I’m excited to integrate these new staff members who I know will contribute to a positive, competitive and inclusive environment for the players,” Hayes said in a U.S. Soccer release confirming the hires.

“These are people who care deeply about the players and will provide them all the tools, knowledge and support to help them play at their best while working together towards common goals. I can’t wait to get started.”

On Tuesday, Hayes named her first roster as USWNT head coach, selecting 23 players for the team’s two friendlies against South Korea next month. Her first game as USWNT coach will be on June 1 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado.

Hayes was named as Vlatko Andonovski’s successor in November, but finished out the season with the Blues before taking over. Hayes’ final Chelsea game was over the weekend, as the Blues clinched a fifth straight WSL title.

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Incoming USWNT boss Hayes signs off from Chelsea with WSL title

The Blues hammered Manchester United to seal a fifth straight championship

Emma Hayes is leaving Chelsea as a champion — yet again.

The incoming U.S. women’s national team manager clinched a Women’s Super League title with Chelsea on Saturday, hammering Manchester United 6-0 on the season’s final day.

Mayra Ramírez opened the scoring just two minutes in, and completed her brace just before halftime as the Blues cruised past the Red Devils.

Chelsea entered the last round of WSL fixtures level on points with Manchester City and holding a two-goal advantage on goal differential.

As the Blues won at Old Trafford, Man City also won 2-1 at Aston Villa. But the margin of victory wasn’t enough for Gareth Taylor’s side, which finished as runner-up yet again.

It was a fifth straight WSL title for Chelsea and Hayes, further cementing their status as the dominant force in the competition’s history.

Overall, Hayes has won seven WSL titles to go along with nine other trophies.

Hayes will now fully turn her attention to the USWNT after she was originally named as Vlatko Andonovksi’s successor back in November.

The 47-year-old will soon take charge of her first USWNT camp, as she attempts to navigate a tight timeline ahead of the Olympics in July.

Hayes will coach her first two USWNT matches against South Korea on June 1 and June 4.

There was one potential piece of bad news for Hayes on Saturday, as USWNT star Catarina Macario limped off in the first half of the game.

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USWNT star Macario gets assist in first Chelsea start

It’s been 686 days, but Macario is back starting games again

Making a big step after her injury nightmare, Catarina Macario started a match for the first time in 686 days.

The U.S. women’s national team star was on the pitch from kickoff as Chelsea hosted Aston Villa in the Women’s Super League on Wednesday, making her first start for the Blues since joining the club in June 2023.

The 24-year-old would end up logging 70 minutes in a 3-0 win, with the Blues climbing back above Manchester City at the top of the WSL standings on goal difference.

Macario had not started a game anywhere since tearing her ACL in her final appearance with Lyon, all the way back on June 1, 2022.

Since then, Macario has missed a World Cup for the USWNT, and had totaled just 169 minutes of playing time for Chelsea and the U.S. before being named to the starting 11 by Emma Hayes for Villa’s visit.

Villa goalkeeper Anna Leat was sent off after just four minutes for denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity after making a save well outside her 18-yard box, helping Macario and the Blues ease into the game.

Aggie Beever-Jones’ 18th-minute volley opened the scoring, and Macario followed that strike up with a clever 38th-minute assist. The USWNT attacker’s near-post heel flick completely caught the visitors’ defense off-guard, setting Japan forward Maika Hamano up for a tap-in.

Despite her lack of playing time, this marked the third assist for Macario since her return, to go with two goals (including one in her first appearance for the club).

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Incoming USWNT coach Hayes has sideline dust-up with Arsenal boss Eidevall

The Chelsea manager accused the Arsenal boss of “male aggression on the touchline”

Things got a little heated between Chelsea coach Emma Hayes and her Arsenal counterpart Jonas Eidevall in Sunday’s Women’s League Cup final.

The pair were at odds over an issue that managers typically don’t get too concerned over: the number of balls available to use during the game.

In short, Eidevall thought only one ball would be used, and was enraged when Chelsea took a quick throw-in with a new ball from the dugout. The manager got near Chelsea’s Erin Cuthbert on the touchline in a moment that clearly did not sit well with Hayes.

After the match, which Arsenal won 1-0 on an extra-time winner from Stina Blackstenius, Hayes gave Eidevall a minor but unmistakable bump on the pitch when the pair shook hands.

Afterward, the incoming U.S. women’s national team head coach vented her frustration at what she called Eidevall’s “male aggression.”

“I’m not down for male aggression on the touchline, I’m really not,” Hayes said. “And fronting up to players, for me, that’s unacceptable. I’m disappointed and I told Jonas that. I don’t think it’s OK to behave like that.

“He got a yellow card, and he should have probably been sent off. I’m all for competing to win. I’ve never been booked in 12 years in my time here. I totally accept he’s a winner and wants to win but his behavior on the touchline wasn’t acceptable.”

Eidevall hit back by saying that the “male aggression” remark used by Hayes was “irresponsible.”

“I think that’s a very irresponsible way of labelling the behavior that I have, I don’t feel comfortable with that label, I don’t think it’s the truth to do that, so I think it’s very irresponsible to do that,” he said.

“The ball gets kicked away and Chelsea want to take a new ball to throw a quick throw-in and I said, ‘You guys wanted to play with one ball, now we need to get that ball.’

“Of course, Erin doesn’t get happy over that, I didn’t say anything more in that situation. If we decide to play with one ball we play with one ball. I like to play with multi-ball, the game is quick, but they didn’t want to do it and you can’t do it when it suits you.”

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USWNT’s Macario says return from injury ‘feels like a dream, like a miracle’

Macario admitted she had doubts about her future, but is now looking to enjoy her soccer

Catarina Macario may still be in the early stages of her career at the highest level, but after 20 months on the sideline, she’s gained the kind of perspective associated with a veteran.

The U.S. women’s national team forward was sidelined for over 20 months after suffering a torn ACL in June 2022, with multiple setbacks costing her a World Cup and a full European season.

Even after a summer move to Chelsea, Macario only made her Blues debut on March 3, scoring in a 4-0 win over Leicester.

Speaking to The Guardian, Macario emphasized that such a difficult battle to return to the field redefined so much about how she thinks about her career.

“Before the injury I’d be really nervous before big games: ‘I don’t want to mess up, I just want to be able to perform well for my team,” said Macario. “Sometimes I almost got too much in my own head to the point that I wouldn’t be able to perform, really.

“But I feel like now, since the injury, I’m just grateful to be on the pitch again and just to have legs.”

Macario is still very much in the early stages of her return, and is not expected to start Sunday’s Continental Cup final against Arsenal. Thus far, Chelsea boss Emma Hayes (who will soon enough be evaluating the 24-year-old for USWNT duty) has been peppering Macario into matches, calling on her as a substitute in each of the club’s last five games.

The USWNT star has responded quickly, posting a goal and two assists in just 105 minutes as Chelsea advanced to the semifinals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League while also inching ahead of Manchester City atop the Women’s Super League standings on goal difference.

“My first game back I was able to score and you could see the joy in everyone,” recalled Macario. “That meant so much. Even though we had trained together for a while, it felt like such a big celebration. It really was such a genuine moment and so emotional too that I could literally not imagine being part of another team.”

Macario hopes for ‘fun’ Continental Cup final

Despite the big stage that is a final between two of the giants of European women’s soccer, Macario maintains that for her to succeed, she has to focus on having a good time first and foremost.

“I know that it’s a big game, but I personally don’t really think about it that way any more,” said Macario. “You’re supposed to do the work for [a final] before you get to this point, so let’s just have some fun.”

Macario indicated that she has a massive amount of gratitude for the Chelsea medical team for seeing her through what was a murky, challenging return to full fitness.

“Our head of performance one day told me, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time focused on one player, but we’re doing this just to try to get it right for you so that you can be healthy in the long term, and be able to contribute for us,’ explained Macario.

“That’s something that I really appreciate, and I honestly could never repay them. I did at times think, ‘Will I be able to play at that level again?’ There were definitely a lot of doubts. They just reassured me a lot.

“A lot of times I didn’t believe them. That’s why now everything just feels like a dream, like a miracle.”

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