USWNT Stars Pursuing Glory in Europe's Defining Season
Emily Fox is not in England to make up the numbers.
On the eve of the new WSL season, the USWNT defender laid out Arsenal’s intentions in blunt terms. Every trophy. All of them. Domestic and European.
“I think you have to go for all of them,” she told ESPN, framing the campaign as a test of ambition as much as ability. “If you want to be the best, you have to go for it and be all in.”
Arsenal know how fine the margins are. One defeat in the league last season, yet six draws left them watching Manchester City lift the title. That kind of frustration lingers. It also sharpens focus. This time, every point, every moment, feels loaded.
The response in preseason has been emphatic. In their final warm-up, the Gunners tore through Charlton Athletic 5-1, a performance that looked less like a tune-up and more like a statement.
Fox started on the bench but wasted no time once introduced at right back in the second half. She pushed high, drove at defenders and quickly forced Charlton goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse into a save, a glimpse of the two-way threat that has made her one of the league’s standout full-backs.
At 28, Fox is in her prime. She relishes one-on-one duels, rarely gets beaten down the outside and can still surge relentlessly into the attacking third. That blend of defensive steel and attacking thrust earned her a spot in the PFA WSL Team of the Year last season.
Nothing in her game, or her words, suggests she plans to slow down now. Arsenal are not talking about “a” trophy. They are talking about the lot.
Coffey returns to anchor City’s title defence
If Emily Fox represents Arsenal’s push for more, Sam Coffey embodies Manchester City’s need to hold their ground.
Her late-season injury last term did more than disrupt City’s rhythm. It carried a cost for the USWNT, too. Coffey missed the June camp and two friendlies against Brazil in Brazil, a significant gap for a midfielder still consolidating her place in the national-team picture.
The good news for club and country: the recovery is on track. Coffey logged 45 minutes in a preseason match against Barcelona, an important step as she builds back toward full match fitness. That outing points to her being available when City open their WSL title defence.
Last season was her first in England, and it showed early. There was an adjustment period — new league, new tempo, new demands. Once she settled, she became a fixture, making 10 league appearances after arriving in January and playing a meaningful role in City’s first WSL crown in a decade.
Now she starts from a different place. No adaptation curve, no unknowns. Just expectation.
With USWNT World Cup qualifying on the horizon this fall, Coffey’s checklist is simple but unforgiving: regain rhythm, play consistent minutes, stay healthy. Do that, and she doesn’t just help City chase back-to-back titles; she strengthens her claim as a central piece in the U.S. midfield for the years ahead.
Thompson becomes Chelsea’s cutting edge
At Chelsea, change has been the theme of the offseason. One constant remains: Jaedyn Thompson will be central to whatever this new version of the Blues becomes.
The winger exploded onto the scene after her arrival last season. No easing in, no tentative cameos. She attacked defenders from the first whistle, showing a fearlessness in tight spaces, sharp movement around the box and a ruthless streak in front of goal.
By the end of her debut campaign, the numbers told the story. Nine goals in 32 appearances in all competitions. Seven of those in the WSL, plus three league assists. That output made her Chelsea’s second-highest scorer and earned her a WSL Player of the Season nomination, along with a place in the Team of the Season.
Her rise hasn’t been confined to club football. Thompson has quickly become a regular presence on the wing for the USWNT. During stretches when Mallory Swanson and Sophia Wilson were away on maternity leave, she climbed the depth chart and seized a starting role out wide. So far, she has four goals and four assists for the U.S., numbers that hint at a player only just beginning to understand her own ceiling.
Chelsea will lean heavily on that edge now. In a league race that punished every slip last season, Thompson’s ability to conjure something from nothing — a burst, a cut inside, a clinical finish — could be the difference between chasing and leading.
Girma’s moment to finally own Chelsea’s back line
If Thompson has already stamped her authority on Chelsea’s attack, Naomi Girma is still waiting for the chance to do the same at the back.
Her qualities are obvious. They always have been. Girma defends with an economy that makes the hardest part of the game look effortless. She reads danger early, steps into passing lanes before they fully open and positions herself so that tackles become last resorts, not first options.
On the ball, she is just as composed. Her distribution allows her to break lines and find teammates’ feet with precision, turning defence into controlled possession instead of aimless clearances.
Chelsea need that now more than ever.
So far, her time in London has been disrupted. Injuries and limited minutes have broken any chance of continuity, stalling her ability to build chemistry within the back line. The question has never been talent. It has been availability. Every time momentum threatened to build, something interrupted it.
Even last season, Chelsea had to carefully manage the minutes of Girma and Millie Bright, with Veerle Buurman taking on more responsibility to cover the gaps.
If that cycle finally ends — if Girma can string together a sustained run of matches — the upside for both player and club is enormous. Chelsea are desperate to reclaim the WSL title. A fully fit, rhythm-set Girma at the heart of their defence would change their ceiling.
The stakes are just as high for the USWNT. Stay healthy and sharp, and she should be a first-choice center back for the October fixtures against Spain and into World Cup qualifying. For a defender who thrives on reading the game, this season is about writing her own.
Tullis-Joyce, United and the fight for the No. 1 shirt
At Manchester United, Phallon Tullis-Joyce enters the new campaign in a familiar position: trusted, productive, and still chasing that final step.
Last season, she was one of the WSL’s most dependable goalkeepers. Twenty-one league appearances, seven clean sheets. Seventeen shutouts in all competitions. Those are the numbers of a keeper who gives her team a platform.
United’s defensive stability owed plenty to her presence. Yet the USWNT picture remains unresolved. Tullis-Joyce has not fully nailed down the No. 1 role, and the area she must refine is clear.
Her distribution.
Emma Hayes wants a goalkeeper who can act as an extra outfield player, comfortable building from the back and helping the U.S. control possession under pressure. Tullis-Joyce has made strides in that department, but United’s often direct approach does not always give her the stage to showcase those improvements over 90 minutes.
The challenge at club level just intensified, too. Janina Leitzig’s arrival from Leicester City adds real competition and depth at United. It raises the standard in training and removes any sense of guaranteed starts.
For Tullis-Joyce, that pressure can cut two ways. It can unsettle, or it can sharpen. If she embraces it, this season could be the one that pushes her from reliable league performer to undeniable national-team first choice.
Yohannes steps into the Lyon void
In France, a different kind of responsibility is forming.
Heaps’ move to Denver Summit stripped OL Lyonnes of one of their most experienced midfield anchors — a player who could slow the game, link phases and sit calmly between defence and attack when everything around her sped up.
Into that space steps 19-year-old Lily Yohannes.
She is not a like-for-like replacement, and she doesn’t need to be. What she does have is a rare blend of vision, technique and composure. Yohannes keeps the ball moving, resists pressure and sees passes others don’t, all without forcing the spectacular.
Her first season in Lyon was anything but quiet. Six goals across all competitions, two of them in the Champions League. A UEFA Women’s Champions League Revelation of the Season award. Performances that shone even brighter when she shared the midfield with Heaps.
Now, without the USWNT captain beside her, the dynamic changes. Yohannes may need to become more assertive, to take more ownership of tempo and territory. She has the passing range and intelligence to do it.
She will not be alone. A midfield featuring Melchie Dumornay, Korbin Albert, Damaris Egurrola and Ingrid Syrstad Engen means responsibility will be shared, not dumped. Yohannes doesn’t have to morph into a traditional do-everything No. 8. She just has to lean into what already makes her special, more often and in bigger moments.
The reward on the horizon is obvious. She is firmly in the frame for the USWNT’s 2027 Women’s World Cup roster. Even at 19, she is the type of midfielder who can lift a team’s level while preserving its rhythm when she steps onto the pitch.
From Fox’s all-or-nothing title chase with Arsenal to Yohannes’ quiet takeover in Lyon, this European season will shape not only club trophies but the spine of the next USWNT. The question now is simple: who turns potential into dominance when the real games start?
