New Year’s resolutions for every NWSL club in 2024: NJ/NY Gotham FC must seize moment, OL Reign need to reload

After a year that delivered one of the most competitive and thrilling seasons in recent memory, the NWSL has the chance to build on that momentum for 2024. From reigning champions NJ/NY Gotham FC to expansion sides Bay FC and the Utah Royals, the onus will be on each one of the NWSL’s 14 teams to improve after setting an incredibly high standard in 2023, but each has a different set of challenges ahead to ensure competitiveness in 2024. It means the offseason is going to be full of intriguing moves as each team aims to level up in a league that’s clearly surging.

With 2024 right around the corner, here are a batch of New Year’s resolutions for each of the NWSL’s teams — and the league itself.

Angel City FC: Focus on the on-field product

The Los Angeles-based club has fared fairly well as far as expansion teams go. Angel City are a model newcomer from a business standpoint — they regularly boast sold-out stadiums, have raked in record revenue for an NWSL club, and thanks to their celebrity-led ownership group, have drummed up enough publicity to have an HBO documentary. With the off-field foundation set, it’s time for Angel City to build a sustainable on-field strategy for success. They can consider themselves accomplished after making their first playoff appearance this season but feel like an unfinished product on the pitch and will need to invest intentionally to change that — especially after lead playmaker Savannah McCaskill moved south to the San Diego Wave this offseason.

Bay FC: Follow the San Diego Wave’s example

Like many expansion teams that came before them, Bay will begin play next year with no NWSL history and the uphill, on-field battle of creating a team from scratch that can compete. No team aced either task the way the San Diego Wave have done over the last two years, setting a new standard for incoming sides in the process. The Wave were ambitious on the field and hired Casey Stoney to lead a team that includes Alex Morgan and rising star Jaedyn Shaw and also welcomed sold-out crowds of their own at Snapdragon Stadium, a new favored destination in women’s soccer. The jury’s still out on how easy it is to replicate the Wave’s instant on-field success, but as long as Bay use them as an example, they will be on the right path.

Chicago Red Stars: Be strategic — and patient

Next year will serve as the first year of a rebuild for the Red Stars, now officially under much-needed new ownership. The new leaders have a lot to do, including overseeing a new on-field project after a years-long series of outgoings and elevating the professional standards across the board. Both tasks are of equal importance, but completing both aspects of the rebuild will be a difficult task in one year. The wisest thing for new Red Stars majority owner Laura Ricketts and company to do, then, is to be intentional with each choice in front of them, even if it takes time to build a winning formula.

Houston Dash: Be ambitious

Throughout their history, the Dash have mostly been on the outside looking in at the NWSL’s top teams, but they might be in a position to change that in 2024. More than a year into Ted Segal’s tenure as the club’s new majority owner, they seem eager not to be left behind as their rivals showcase a habit of spending big. Forward Maria Sanchez just became the league’s highest-paid player with a deal reportedly worth $1.5 million over four years, and the objective for the rest of the offseason will be to follow through with that ambition and finally build a team that can compete regularly for a playoff berth.

Kansas City Current: On-field reset

The club does not lack ambition — they secured Debinha’s signature a year ago and are set to open the country’s first women’s soccer-specific stadium in 2024. Things have not always gone according to plan for the Current, though, so this year will serve as an opportunity to correct course. Hiring ex-U.S. women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski serves as a strong first step to ensuring the 2022 NWSL Championship finalists can return to those heights, but key player signings are also required to ensure the reset is a successful one.

NJ/NY Gotham FC: Seize the moment

The reigning champions’ impressive worst-to-first story has delivered the opportunity to solidify themselves as one of the NWSL’s most competitive sides. They seem eager to flex their championship muscles as they reportedly get close to signing USWNT stars Rose Lavelle, Tierna Davidson, and Emily Sonnett, signaling that Gotham are settling into a win-now mindset. The aim will not to be too short-sighted, though — Lavelle and Sonnett are veterans, and after boasting the oldest team to play for the NWSL Championship, getting younger might be something Gotham should prioritize sooner rather than later.

North Carolina Courage: Off-field improvements

The Courage seem to be settling into their new possession-oriented on-field identity under head coach Sean Nahas and can count this year’s NWSL Challenge Cup and a playoff appearance as examples of success. As their counterparts across the country improve off the field, chiefly through facilities, the Courage serve as a glaring example of the league’s past. It will not be easy for the club to make such changes — funding a stadium is no small feat, and moving into a ready-to-go venue is not really an option in their market. To match other NWSL clubs’ ambitions and their own on-field project, a solution is imperative.

OL Reign: Rebuild with stars

Following Megan Rapinoe’s retirement and Lavelle and Sonnett’s imminent departures, the Reign will be without some of their most notable players for 2024. One of the NWSL’s serial competitors will need to invest smartly to stay at the top, though that might not come until after the ownership change officially happens. Recruitment throughout the season — and perhaps during the summer transfer window — might be the right strategy for the Seattle-based club to continue their strong history of competing and hopefully aid in the task of luring audiences to games.

Orlando Pride: Tap into the free agency market

The Pride are clearly also in a rebuild year but have yet to declare what exactly their intentions are as they craft a new identity. Gotham might be scooping up a lot of free agents but there are still a lot of impressive players to pick from, and a marquee signing is a stylish way for the Pride to announce themselves in 2024. Doing so might also finally offer up a clue as to what direction the team might actually be headed in.

Portland Thorns: Defensive reorganization

The serial champions were competitive again in 2023 and there’s no reason they will slow down in 2024, but last year revealed a shortcoming — their defense. Of the six playoff sides in 2023, their defense conceded the most goals, and last year’s center backs might not be on their way back. Emily Menges was traded to Bay in exchange for protection in the expansion draft, while Becky Sauerbrunn is currently a free agent. Freshening up in the back line could bolster their chances of winning yet another title in the new year.

Racing Louisville: Leaving a mark on the field

Of the non-expansion sides, Louisville are the only ones not to ever appear in the postseason, which is reflective of their generally underwhelming on-field showings so far in their young NWSL history. It is imperative that they showcase some signs of improvement in 2024, which will be yet another rebuild year for the team under first-time head coach Bev Yanez. A playoff appearance might be too early for Louisville in 2024, but it will be crucial for Yanez to establish a promising on-field identity.

San Diego Wave: Give Jaedyn Shaw the keys

Stoney was wise to patiently integrate Shaw into the team last season, but the 18-year-old is clearly ready for a promotion in 2024. She is poised to provide a nice refresh to the attack after Morgan struggled to score for much of 2023, and McCaskill’s arrival only signals that the Wave are putting all the pieces of the puzzle together for Shaw to shine.

Utah Royals: Hit the ground running

After suddenly pulling the plug on operations because of then-owner Dell Loy Hansen’s ouster in 2020, the Royals are making their much-welcomed return. With a local community eager to see them play again and former player Amy Rodriguez at the reins, it’s clear that the Royals are being intentional with their return. The hope is that they will pull it off and deliver a healthy first season in their new era.

Washington Spirit: Get the best out of the attack

Owner Michele Kang is charting her ambitious plan to build a network of women’s soccer clubs, so it’s worth remembering that the Spirit are the first part of her plan and still have the option to remain its crown jewel. Kang might enlist outgoing Barcelona coach Jonatan Giraldez to do so, but whoever ends up in charge of the team, taking advantage of the attacking talent on hand should be the top priority. A group that stars Trinity Rodman, Ashley Sanchez and Ashley Hatch is a cheat code for success when their skills are optimized and just might be key for the 2021 champions to reach similar heights again.

NWSL: Hire more women coaches

There were eight coaching vacancies heading into 2024 and unfortunately true to the sport’s form, at least half of them went to men. The total number of women coaches in the NWSL is only five, which is unimpressive for a league with 14 teams. There is still no reliable pipeline for women coaches in the U.S., though the fact that Yanez and Rodriguez are head coaches after taking free licenses available during their NWSL playing careers means there’s something to go off of.