USWNT Stars Prepare for WSL Season: Arsenal, City, Chelsea, and More

Emily Fox is not easing her way into English football. She wants everything.

“I think you have to go for all of them,” she told ESPN before the new WSL campaign, laying out Arsenal’s stance on trophies, domestic and European. “If you want to be the best, you have to go for it and be all in.”

Arsenal know how thin the margins are. One league defeat last season, but six draws. Those dropped points handed the title to Manchester City and left the Gunners with a familiar, bitter taste. This year, every weekend feels like a must-win.

The final preseason tune‑up suggested they are ready. Arsenal tore through Charlton Athletic 5-1 on Wednesday, moving the ball with a sharpness that looked more like late spring than late August.

Fox started on the bench, then changed the tempo the moment she stepped on. Introduced at right back in the second half, she immediately drove forward and forced Charlton goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse into a save, a reminder of how dangerous she is when she decides to go.

At 28, Fox is already one of the elite one‑v‑one defenders in the league, but it’s the relentlessness down the right flank that makes her such a problem. She locks down wingers, then turns into an extra attacker. That two‑way dominance earned her a place in the PFA WSL Team of the Year.

Nothing in her game or her words suggests a quiet season ahead. Fox looks set for another major year in north London, and she has made it plain: Arsenal are not hunting for a single piece of silverware. They are coming for the lot.

Coffey’s return and City’s title defence

When Sam Coffey went down late in Manchester City’s season, the damage stretched far beyond the club.

The injury ruled her out of the USWNT’s June camp and two friendlies against Brazil in Brazil, a significant blow for a midfielder still cementing her international role. The layoff stalled momentum, but it did not stop it.

Her recovery has steadily gathered pace. Coffey played 45 minutes in a preseason clash with Barcelona, a key step that points toward her being ready for the opening weekend of the WSL.

Last season was her first in England, and it showed early. There was a brief adaptation period, a feeling‑out stage in a new league with different rhythms. Then she settled. From January onward she became a regular, making 10 league appearances and helping drive City to their first WSL crown in a decade.

That title now sits behind her as a reference point, not a destination. Coffey enters this season with that experience banked, her understanding of the league sharpened and her role clearer.

With World Cup qualifying for the USWNT looming this fall, her checklist is simple and unforgiving: regain rhythm, stack minutes, stay healthy. If she does, she will not just be a key piece of City’s title defence; she will be central to the U.S. midfield picture when the stakes rise again.

Thompson, the winger Chelsea can’t do without

Chelsea have been through an offseason of upheaval. One constant they can lean on is Jaedyn Thompson.

The winger wasted no time after arriving last season. She attacked defenders without hesitation, drifted intelligently around the box and finished with the kind of cold precision that changes matches.

By the end of her debut campaign she had nine goals in 32 appearances across all competitions, second on Chelsea’s scoring charts. Seven of those came in the WSL, where she also supplied three assists. The league took notice: Thompson earned a WSL Player of the Season nomination and a place in the Team of the Season.

Her rise has mirrored her USWNT trajectory. During stretches when Mallory Swanson and Sophia Wilson were away on maternity leave, Thompson surged up the depth chart and grabbed a starting role out wide. She has four goals and four assists for the U.S. already, numbers that hint at a player just getting started.

Now Chelsea need her more than ever. With change swirling around Cobham, Thompson’s directness and end product become a foundation. If she hits the ground running again, she won’t just be filling a role; she’ll be shaping Chelsea’s attack and sharpening the U.S. front line heading toward another World Cup cycle.

Girma’s chance to finally own Chelsea’s back line

For years, Naomi Girma has made defending look like the easiest job on the pitch.

She reads danger before others see it, slides into passing lanes as if she has the script, and positions herself so well that last‑ditch tackles become rare. On the ball, she is just as calm, threading passes into feet and starting attacks from the back with precision.

Chelsea need that version of Girma now more than ever.

So far, her time at the club has been stuttered. Injuries and limited minutes have broken up any rhythm, denying her the continuity needed to build chemistry with the rest of the back line. The question has never been talent. It has always been availability.

Even last season, Chelsea had to carefully ration the minutes of Girma and Millie Bright, leaning on Veerle Buurman as responsibility in defence grew heavier. Every time Girma looked ready to string together a run of games, something interrupted it.

If that cycle breaks, the ceiling is obvious. A sustained stretch of matches would give Chelsea a commanding, playmaking centre back around whom they could rebuild a title‑winning defence. It would also cement her status with the USWNT.

Stay healthy and sharp, and Girma should walk into October’s fixtures against Spain as a first‑choice centre back and carry that role into World Cup qualifying. This season is as much about proving she can stay on the pitch as it is about what she does once she’s there.

Tullis-Joyce, United’s wall still chasing the No. 1 shirt

For Phallon Tullis-Joyce, the mission in the WSL is clear: turn reliability into dominance.

The Manchester United goalkeeper put together another strong league campaign last season, starting 21 WSL matches and keeping seven clean sheets. Across all competitions she racked up 17 shutouts, a staggering total that underlined her importance to United’s defensive structure.

Yet the USWNT’s No. 1 spot remains unclaimed.

Her shot‑stopping is not in doubt. The area under the harshest spotlight is her distribution. Emma Hayes wants a goalkeeper who can help build from the back, act as an extra outfield player and keep the ball under pressure. Tullis‑Joyce has made strides there, but United’s more direct style often limits how often she can showcase that side of her game.

This season, she will not only be auditioning for the national team. She will be fighting for her club place too. Janina Leitzig’s arrival from Leicester City gives United genuine competition in goal and the depth required to challenge the league’s elite.

If Tullis‑Joyce can sharpen her passing while maintaining her shot‑stopping standards, she won’t just keep her shirt at United. She will force herself into the heart of the USWNT conversation.

Yohannes steps into the Lyon void

The departure of Lindsey Heaps to Denver Summit leaves a sizeable hole at OL Lyonnes.

Heaps was the metronome, the midfielder who slowed games down when needed, stitched phases together and offered a calm, reliable outlet between defence and attack. Losing that kind of presence changes a dressing room and a midfield.

Nicole Yohannes is the one with the tools to absorb more of that responsibility.

At 19, she already looks like a natural in the role. Her vision is outstanding, her touch secure, her ability to keep the ball moving under pressure striking for someone so young. Last season, her first in Lyon, she scored six goals in all competitions, two of them in the Champions League, and was named UEFA Women’s Champions League Revelation of the Season.

She often shone most when playing alongside Heaps. Now, without the USWNT captain, Yohannes may have to raise her voice and her influence in the middle of the pitch. The passing range is there. The question is how assertive she chooses to be.

Lyon’s midfield is stacked with talent — Melchie Dumornay, Korbin Albert, Damaris Egurrola, Ingrid Syrstad Engen — so Yohannes does not need to morph into a traditional do‑everything No. 8. She just needs to bend games to her rhythm a little more often.

She is already firmly in the frame for the USWNT’s 2027 Women’s World Cup squad. Her profile is exactly what the U.S. midfield has often craved: a player who can lift the team’s level while preserving its tempo and style when she comes on.

The WSL and Europe are about to test just how quickly she can turn promise into control — and how many of these American storylines will end with medals in May.