jaedyn shaw is a bat, what now?

Gotham General Manager Yael Averbuch West seized on an opportunity to reload the club’s star power by ending Jaedyn Shaw’s North Carolina nightmare with a $1.25-million intra-league transfer. It was an unexpected move considering Shaw had only been a Courage player 240 days before shipping off to New Jersey.

Shaw’s stint in North Carolina was marred through system rigidity and a poor fit. Gotham are suddenly resurgent and scoring goals again, but it’s another scenario in which the fit isn’t immediately obvious. Working in her favor, though, is that Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós is a bit of a mad scientist, and non-obvious fits are where he can do some of his best work (raise your hand if you knew Esther would be leading a golden boot race in 2025, ok now look around and take note of the liars with their hands up).

So why has Shaw moved to her third team in two seasons, and what can we expect from her batty era?

what went wrong in north carolina

Given USWNT head coach Emma Hayes’ disdain for Jonas Eidevall, who was hired in the offseason to lead San Diego Wave, it’s probably no coincidence that Naomi Girma and Jaedyn Shaw immediately yeeted themselves from the California club. Jill Ellis helped make it less obvious by turning the organization into a mess that’s still handling lawsuits, and also once turned to Rebecca Lowe’s husband and Landon Donovan to coach their star-studded squad.

Shaw’s decision was to opt for a move to the opposite coast, swapping San Diego for Cary, North Carolina. The fit wasn’t obvious, but since the deal was made it was assumed that North Carolina had some sort of diabolical plan to piece it all together—they did not. The hope was that then-head coach Sean Nahas was ready to acknowledge and solve the faults in his rigid system—he was not.

Nahas’ best seasons as head coach of the Courage featured two profiles he’s refused to add in every other season. Diana Ordóňez tied a record with 11 goals in her rookie season as a central target for all of North Carolina’s crosses and cutbacks. The other was Kerolin, who was the anomaly in the system that had the freedom to terrorize opposition defenses however she saw fit, eventually leading to an NWSL MVP.

So when the Courage brought in Shaw, despite already having Ashley Sanchez and Manaka Matsukubo, I was anticipating Nahas shifting into his George Miller era. Instead he spent months appearing to be confused as to how Shaw ended up on his team, and then he was fired. Interim head coach Nathan Thackeray continued being confused in Nahas’ honor, so Shaw was either on the bench or stuck in a system that wasn’t all that interested in utilizing her best skills.

In 2023, Shaw’s second season in the league and best statistical year so far, she scored six goals and delivered three assists as a teenager on a team that won the NWSL Shield. According to FBref, during that season she averaged 1.21 throughballs and 1.64 progressive carries per 90. During her Courage tenure she delivered just .27 throughballs and 1.08 progressive carries.

Throughballs are defined as completed passes behind the defensive backline into open space, which means it is a cheat code to have a player that literally averages over one of those per game. Why anyone would pursue signing Jaedyn Shaw while also deciding they didn’t so much care for her throughball ability is something I will never understand, like the physics of flight or why God made deep sea creatures look like that.

what might things look like at gotham

Luckily Jaedyn Shaw has already made her Gotham debut so this is a bit of an open book test. She also already scored with a nifty diving header in the box.

The header was exquisitely placed, but the entire move was constructed by Shaw claiming a loose ball with a first time pass across the pitch to Bruninha in space. This gave Jaelin Howell time to get forward to receive a pass and line up a cross. Shaw drifted into the box and initially slid between center backs before drifting away from the backline into the pocket of space she often targets in attack (space that rarely existed in North Carolina due to a lack of a center forward or aerial threat inside the box).

I spent months wishing for a free-flowing, constantly rotating attack of Matsukubo, Sanchez and Shaw only to never get it. In Shaw’s first minutes, Amorós has already blessed us with the DM Jaelin Howell, CM/AM Jaedyn Shaw, AM/CM Rose Lavelle midfield that I barely had time to even consider dreaming about.

Howell has resurrected her career at Gotham, particularly over the last couple months. Earlier this season, though, she was having a tough time adjusting to the sudden burden of progressive and/or creative passing required from a higher midfield position. I had my doubts about a Midfield Murder Machine being expected to also paint happy little trees, but Howell had her moments, and recently just decided to start scoring.

It worked well enough to get Gotham through Rose Lavelle’s injury, and now to the Shaw deal, which will likely drop her back into her more comfortable deeper role. Fair enough Juan Carlos, you madman you.

why it will/won’t work

Though Shaw’s debut was straight from the Disney Channel it remains to be seen if that midfield setup will be replicated every other time she’s on the pitch for Gotham. So while I try very hard to avoid anyone who believes it is their duty to play devil’s advocate, I’m about to have an argument with myself to determine why his move will work, or why it won’t.

Why It Will Work: Let’s not overthink it. Jaedyn Shaw is a uniquely talented middle of the pitch player with a futsal background, whole-pitch vision and inch-perfect passing technique. Gotham are currently last in the league in throughballs per 90, with just .40. Shaw instantly adds a dimension they haven’t had all season.

Why It Won’t Work: Yeah, I hear you, square peg/square hole right? Neat. Um, do you know who leads the NWSL in throughballs per 90? That’s right, the North Carolina Courage.

Why It Will Work: Sure but context matters. Where are those passes going? Typically to wingbacks/fullbacks in wide areas as opposed to in/near the penalty area. Despite leading in throughballs per 90, there are only five teams with fewer touches in the attacking third—Angel City, Houston, Seattle, Chicago and Utah—also known as the teams with the lowest non-penalty xG per game. If the Courage were using throughballs to consistently get into the attacking third, let alone the penalty area, they wouldn’t also be keeping such bland company.

Why It Won’t Work: Ok but there’s still a reason why her new team, Gotham, are dead last in that metric, their attacking players primarily want the ball at their feet, not in behind. Esther’s been feasting on the league through lateral movements, instinctive heading ability, and a penchant for not being where she needs to be until the precise moment she needs to be.

Midge Purce wants chalk on her heels and the ball before she dicing up a defender. Geyse doesn’t need the chalk but craves a disrespectful dribble too, so wants the ball to feet as well. Gabi Portilho might be the best option for connecting behind the line since she seems to enjoy a late diagonal run into the box. Connecting with a late run from wide requires more time and a slightly sleepier defense, so averaging more than one of those per game feels unlikely.

Why It Will Work: You’re overthinking it. Gotham are still Gotham, which means they’re still press-happy fiends who crave a loose ball or poor touch. They lead the league in allowing the fewest passes per defensive action (PPDA), and as we all know that sort of pressure is intended to not only disrupt opposition buildup, but claim possession and hit in transition—defense to attack in the blink of an eye.

So yeah while Esther, Midge, Geyse and Portilho aren’t exactly Temwa Chawinga, they’re willing runners, particularly in transition. And in transition defenses are usually stretched or outnumbered, which gives Shaw plenty of space to ensure a player and the ball arrive where she wants them to.

Why It Won’t Work: I’m glad you brought up defense, because in your little dream scenario of a Shaw-Howell-Lavelle midfield whomst exactly is sharing defensive duties with Howell? As unfun as it seems to play against her, when it came time for Louisville to choose between her and Taylor Flint as their lone ground-covering 6, they chose Flint.

Why It Will Work: So your point here is that Rahsing Louisville made a decision. Ok. Anyway, while I might personally grimace when watching Rose Lavelle get into tackles and duels, she’s grown a lot in her defensive work rate and contributions. But also don’t sleep on Jaedyn Shaw’s defensive craftiness.

#NeverForget that her very first professional coach was Casey Stoney. You won’t step foot on the pitch for Stoney unless you can hold your own defensively. Shaw’s recoveries stand out in the chart above. It seems the same instincts that allow her to read play in possession help her find her way to the ball out of possession. Given what she can do when she has the ball, that should excite Gotham fans.

Also, the reason Gotham’s press is so effective is because it’s organized, and players know when to fill spaces while others go on the hunt. Even if Shaw doesn’t turn into a defensive stalwart—Why would you want that? She’s Jaedyn Shaw.—there’s room in Juan Carlos Amorós’ system for her to flourish with and without the ball.

well that was weird

Luckily, I seem to have convinced myself that this has a good chance of working quite well. It will require some adjustments on Amorós’ side, and it might not hurt for them to add a behind-the-line runner in the offseason just to maximize what Shaw can do. But if she hit 1.21 throughballs per 90 under Casey Stoney, Amorós should make it his business to inflate that number to comically absurd levels.

This is also an important move for Shaw, and at a critical time. We’re months from 2026, so national team pressures will ramp up as Hayes whittles the player pool into the group she’ll take to Brazil in 2027. Competition in attacking areas will be fierce, but Shaw’s special skillset gives her a solid chance to nab a spot simply because there aren’t many players who can do the things she does. Now, she and Gotham just need to make sure she’s able to showcase consistent reminders.