Song: ‘Red Card - Extended Mix’ -Tiscore

Oh, hello there. Hi again.

That’s right, the NWSL is back and so obvs, as am I. The NWSL knows no chill though, so of course it’s returning—ew, pun certainly not intended, I’m actually quite concerned about the league that quietly updated its heat policy last year plowing through a heat dome—with three Friday kickoffs in two hours. Heavens.

I am certainly hoping everyone stays safe and that smart decisions are made by those in charge. I realize what I just said and typed, but hope is all we have right now. However, I’m super hype to have the league back. It’s felt like forever, and the last we left it some weird things were indeed happening (a lot of weird things have been happening while it’s been gone too).

Don’t worry, I’m not going to leave you with a tentatively excited intro. To help us all dive back into the season, I’m dropping two new articles. The first is reviewing the trades that sent Kennedy Fuller, Ally Sentnor and Lilly Reale to new teams. Then, there’s a piece that asks one single yet extremely important question for every NWSL team.

It’s good to be back. Remember to take your pausa de hidratacións, and let’s do this.

When the NWSL decides to go off it literally has no chill. In one day we got three major midseason player moves. Shit was crazy. Now that the league is about to get back underway, I dove into each move to assess the fit for each player and their new team.

It’s been a while since an NWSL matchday [insert quick and accurate math regarding how many days here]. The break also came at an interesting time, with still two-thirds of the regular season to go. That means there’s a lot of time for things to change from what we saw in the first third.

To do a quick reset on what each team will need to focus on and/or prove in the second half, I came up with a key question for every team as we return to matchday action.

Marta remains a legend.