Women's General Football Discussion

Some coaching transfer updates:

- Emma Hayes has officially left Chelsea and is now coaching the USWNT.
- Chelsea have brought in Lyon coach Sonia Bompastor as their new coach.
- Lyon have hired former Juventus coach Joe Montemurro as their new coach.
- Barca coach Jonatan Giraldez has officially left and is now coaching the Washington Spirit in NWSL.
- Barca have named Pere Romeu as their new coach.

Player transfer updates:

- (Rumor) Chelsea look set to sign PSG winger Sandy Baltimore on a free.
- (Rumor) Lyon are ready to sign PSG forward Tabitha Chawinga.  
- Man City and England keeper Ellie Roebuck has moved to Barca on a free.
- Man City defender Esme Morgan has joined the Washington Spirit on a free.
- (Rumor) Aston Villa's Alisha Lehmann could join Juventus.
- With Vivianne Miedema gone, Arsenal have signed Barca forward Mariona Caldentey as her replacement.
- North Carolina Courage signed Australian internationals Cortnee Vine and Charlotte McLean from Sydney FC.

We're at the midway point for the NWSL so here are the standings thus far:



- The Orlando Pride and Kansas City Current are the only 2 teams left that are undefeated.
- Kansas City lead the league in goals scored with 37.
- Defending champions Gotham lead the league in fewest goals conceded with 11.

These are the top individual performers so far:

Golden Boot Leader: Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride) & Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns) with 10 goals each.
Assists Leader: Croix Bethune (Washington Spirit) with 9 assists.
Most Clean Sheets: Anna Moorhouse (Orlando Pride) and Jane Campbell (Houston Dash) with 6 clean sheets.

These are the current frontrunners, IMO, for the end of the season awards:
Champion: Orlando Pride
Supporters' Shield winner: Orlando Pride
Most Valuable Player: Barbra Banda, Sophia Smith, Temwa Chawinga (Kansas City Current)
Defensive Player of the Year: Kerry Abello (Orlando Pride), Taylor Flint (Racing Louisville), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave)
Goalkeeper of the Year: Anna Moorehouse, Jane Campbell, Kailen Sheridan (San Diego Wave)
Rookie of the Year: Croix Bethune, Reilyn Turner (Racing Louisville), Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit)
Coach of the Year: Seb Hines (Orlando Pride)

And San Diego have sacked their coach mid-season:



Shocking decision honestly. Stoney had led them to the Supporter's Shield last season, which is super impressive given that was only their 2nd season in existence. Her tactics were trash this season, but deserved at least the full season to try and turn things around. Awful decision from Wave President Jill Ellis.

USA have announced their 18-player roster for the Paris Olympics:



Takeaways:

- No Alex Morgan at a major tournament for the first time in 14 years. She hasn't been able to adapt her game to fit in with this newer, younger group of pacy attackers who can both dribble and finish.

- Gotham FC's Lynn Williams only going as an alternate stings as well. She's very much the best forward USA has at applying defensive pressure from the front. She's also NWSL's all-time scoring leader and I believe 2nd assists.

- Speaking of Dunn, this will be her first tournament for USA as a forward. She has historically only played as a fullback even though she won the NWSL golden boot and MVP awards as a forward in her earlier years. She can play virtually anywhere on the pitch and it will look like her natural position.

- The inclusion of 20-year old PSG midfielder Korbin Albert is very controversial given her transphobic and homophobic social media activity that was discovered earlier this year. On top of that, she hasn't been in good form for PSG and with the likes of Hal Hershfelt, Andi Sullivan, Croix Bethune (all of the Washington Spirit), Kansas City's Vanessa Di Bernardo and Racing Louisville's Savannah DeMelo, there are plenty of midfielders in better form that should be on the plane. Poor decision from USA coach Emma Hayes.

Australia announced their Olympic squad back at the beginning of the month:

Oui oui... we're on our way to Paris!

Read More: https://t.co/dElvQQyL7q#Matildas #TilitsDone #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/8jxPTEHZ4M

— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) June 4, 2024

This is about the squad I thought would be selected by Tony Gustavsson. Solid throughout. The only glaring omission is Sam Kerr, who's still out with an ACL injury. Arsenal's Steph Catley will captain the Mathildas in her place. Big fan of Man City's Mary Fowler.

Spain announced their roster yesterday:



Probably the biggest takeaway is that 7 of Las 15 are included in this squad. If Spain weren't already the favorites before, they certainly are now.

Japan have announced their squad:

なでしこジャパン
メンバー発表

????????#山下杏也加 INAC神戸レオネッサ#平尾知佳 アルビレックス新潟レディース
※ #大場朱羽 ミシシッピ大

????????#熊谷紗希 ASローマ#清水梨紗 ウェストハム・ユナイテッド????????????????????????
※ #守屋都弥 INAC神戸レオネッサ#北川ひかる INAC神戸レオネッサ… pic.twitter.com/fajEnLZL2N

— JFAなでしこサッカー (@jfa_nadeshiko) June 14, 2024

Translated to English:

GK: Ayaka Yamashita (Kobe Leonessa), Chika Hirao (Albirex Niigata)
DF: Saki Kumagai (Roma), Risa Shimizu (West Ham United), Hikaru Kitagawa (Kobe Leonessa), Moeka Minami (Roma), Hana Takahashi (Urawa Reds), Toko Koga (Feyenoord)
MF: Kiko Sieke (Urawa Reds), Yui Hasegawa (Man City), Honoka Hayashi (West Ham), Fuka Nagano (Liverpool), Hinata Miyazawa (Man United) Aoba Fujino (Tokyo Verdy Beleza), Momoko Tanikawa (Rosengard)
FW: Mina Tanaka (Kobe Leonessa), Riko Ueki (West Ham) and Maika Hamano (Chelsea)

A strong squad, just like the World Cup one. Pretty surprised that Narumi Miura (North Carolina Courage) was left off, but she's out of form. The worst miss here is Jun Endo of Angel City, still recovering from an ACL tear.

They've been grouped with Spain again so that match is sure to be a good one, as will their face offs with Brazil and Nigeria. Very much a group of death.

Some absolute fuckery happening over at Manchester United:

Man Utd’s treatment towards their women's team is horrific:
They have been waiting for good facilities for years, only to be kicked out of them and moved into portable buildings so the men can now use them. The awards ceremony was cancelled for everyone after the women won the FA… pic.twitter.com/EwpSeUyTFe

— Alice Abrahams (@AliceTalksFooty) June 26, 2024

All of that has reportedly triggered an exodus of players leaving. The following have been rumored so far:

- Captain and midfielder Katie Zelem
- Forward Lucia Garcia
- Forward Nikita Parris
- Goalkeeper Mary Earps
- Midfielder Irene Guerrero
- Forward Ella Toone

Those are all big pieces to this team. All are seasoned internationals. Would be very much a body blow if United loses even half of them.

In other news, big get from London City Lionesses:

We’re delighted to announce that @KosovareAsllani will join London City Lionesses on a two-year deal

Introducing our new No. 9

https://t.co/iULbQMtCK8 pic.twitter.com/AaWzN7Wxjw

— London City Lionesses (@LC_Lionesses) June 27, 2024

One of the best players of her generation. Excellent signing.

Really curious as to where she'll go:

Lucy Bronze has left Barcelona :#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/EA9IYpaM5a

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 27, 2024

Brazil and Canada have released their Olympic squads:

Prazer, @JogosOlimpicos! Estamos prontas. Chegou a hora. Mais um capítulo da nossa história sendo escrito.

Com vocês, o elenco de atletas que irão representar com muito orgulho a #SeleçãoFeminina! pic.twitter.com/YS3RPhLDyR

— Seleção Feminina de Futebol (@SelecaoFeminina) July 2, 2024

Really surprised to see reigning NWSL MVP Kerolin make this squad given she's been out with an ACL injury since last October. No Debinha is very bold as well though understandable as she's struggled with injury with Kansas City this season.

JUST IN

Canada Soccer reveals the women’s roster for Paris 2024.

The Canadians are defending Olympic champions.

Here’s a look at the full roster: pic.twitter.com/ruMSnFWXeL

— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) July 1, 2024

No major surprises here. First major tournament without the legendary Christine Sinclair. Rising star Olivia Green was left out as well though she's about to sign for Liverpool in the WSL. Not at all sure what Marie-Yasmine Alidou needs to do to get a look in. She was excellent for Benfica, particularly in the Champions League.

Is Alisha Lehmann to Juventus happening?

Is she even a good player and how much will it boost their overall global appeal?

Well I do think she's dating Douglas Luiz so that seems to be the primary reason for the link. I haven't seen any further news about it though. Still a couple of months until Serie A Femminile kicks off again so we're at the tail end of the beginning of silly season on the women's side.

If she does join, I'm honestly not sure how she can help them. She's not what they need. She's a good footballer, but I don't think she's ever going to be better than that. And Juve need a big talent to upend Roma's dominance.

New Zealand announce their Olympic Squad:

Paris bound

Your Women’s Football team selected for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games #TheFernIsAllOfUs pic.twitter.com/mHzqXfatTJ

— The New Zealand Team (@TheNZTeam) July 3, 2024

That's a pretty young squad. They've officially moved on from legendary players like Ria Percival, Hannah Wilkinson and Abby Erceg. This is probably the last rodeo for captain Ali Riley as well.

I don't expect this side to go far unfortunately.

Nigeria's Olympic squad:

Nigeria has announced their Olympic squad for Paris pic.twitter.com/BydcxXkgag

— Soccerdonna (@soccerdonna) July 3, 2024

Solid squad that's going to cause issues in their group, if they can convert their chances. Asisat Oshoala has had a tough start to life in the NWSL, scoring just twice so far this season. She's Nigeria's talisman so her form is pretty much their form. Chiamaka Nndozie is one of the best keepers in the world though and can absolutely keep them in games.

Germany have released their squad:

Germany has also announced its Olympic team. How strong do you think the squad is? pic.twitter.com/X1IBnM2hwn

— Soccerdonna (@soccerdonna) July 3, 2024

A strong 18, but they've shown a tendency to start slow and grow into games late. If they can solve that problem, they have the talent to make a deep run.

Big signing for the Wave and for NWSL. Delphine Cascarino is very much in the prime of her career. She's won everything there is to win in Europe though.

representing her roots 🫶 pic.twitter.com/MFsVzwdhvM

— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) July 24, 2024

New Zealand women's soccer team claim they were spied on at a training session on Monday in St. Étienne by Canada Soccer via drone surveillance.
They have made an official complaint to the IOC.
Canada plays New Zeland Thursday morning 11 ET. #Paris2024https://t.co/m4VSkbwCPG

— Shireen Ahmed (@_shireenahmed_) July 23, 2024

This has evolved into a big scandal unfortunately.

2 coaches for Canada were fired and sent home and their head coach has stepped down from today's game against New Zealand. She has not been fired however though she dodged questions about whether she knew what was going on, which tells me she likely did. She's essentially suspending herself. Local police have apparently charged one of the coaches, who operated the drone.

So the Olympics have kicked off for the women's NTs.

Spain beat Japan 2-1 off goals from Aitana Bonmati and Mariona Caldentey.

Canada beat New Zealand 2-1 off goals from Cloe Lacasse and Evelyne Viens.

Brazil defeated Nigeria 1-0 with Gabi Nunes scoring the lone goal.

Germany routed Australia 3-0 with goals from Marina Hegering, Lea Schuller and Jule Brand.

USA-Zambia and France-Colombia are about to kick off now.

Mclewis. What do you think of the final? USA have a chance?

I never would've imagined we were capable of doing this to Spain. It wasn't just a gritty performance where we scrape by like against France. We just spanked the world champs. Crazy stuff.

I enjoyed that match thoroughly. Only Japan have been able to completely dismantle them, but they did it in a completely different way. Can't believe the Spanish players had the nerve to complain about Brazil's tactics after this game. Incredible. They should know by now how CONMEBOL (and CONCACAF to a degree) teams play and adjust accordingly. All they've shown now is that they can't handle physicality. I really hope not just other NTs take note, but I'm sure a lot of club teams are taking note as well given Spain is almost completely made up of Barca players.

Someone needs to throw a bag at Gabi Portilho. She's been a revelation all tournament. If Lorena can stay fit, she should have her pick of clubs as well. She's been one of the most solid keepers Brazil have had in a minute.

Really looking forward to seeing USA take this team on tomorrow morning. This is a very different Brazil from the one that USA beat in the W Gold Cup earlier in the year. It's gonna be a scrappy game imo.

I felt like that could've gone either way. Tough loss. Congrats, McLewis.

Agreed. Honestly, would've been fine if Brazil had won this one. Marta truly should be going out with a gold medal given everything she's done for the game. Unfortunate it wasn't to be for her. She'll be heartened by how good this Brazil side is though. I feel like they have truly taken a big leap forward. They've always had the technical ability and now they've added some steel and fortitude to their game. They're going to be truly formidable at home for the next WWC.

As for USA, can't say enough about that front 3 of Mal Swanson, Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman. It wasn't their finest game, which is a credit to Brazil, but they've proven incredibly clutch when the team needs it most. And then there's Naomi Girma, who played every minute of this tournament. She's the best CB in the world right now and it's not particularly close. And of course, Alyssa Naeher goes the whole knockout phase without conceding a goal and also gets a clean sheet in her 2nd consecutive major final. Honestly, she's probably in the conversation for one of the very best keepers in this program's history. I think she needs another WWC title to cement her place there though. Either way, she's a legend now.