Was Casey Stoney’s firing too harsh? Plus, Sam Mewis’ coaching debut

Full Time Newsletter ⚽| This is The Athletic’s weekly women’s soccer newsletter. Sign up here to receive Full Time directly in your inbox.

This morning I was ready to talk about a coach arriving in NWSL, and now I’m leading with another leaving a team. Life comes at you fast. I’m Emily Olsen here with Meg Linehan and Jeff Rueter — welcome to Full Time!

Want more? The “Full Time” podcast is here for you. Last week co-host Tamerra Griffin hosted a special Juneteenth episode featuring Croix Bethune.

Coaching Carousel: Casey Stoney, Wave part ways

Five months ago, Casey Stoney signed a new four-year contract with the San Diego Wave through 2027 with an option for the 2028 season. But earlier today, the NWSL club announced it parted ways with the coach in a decision that was made “given the ambition of this club.”

After a strong showing in her first two seasons, 2024 presented a struggle, ending with a seven-game winless streak. Stoney leaves the team in ninth place with a 3-6-5 record (her final game was a 0-0 draw with 12th-place Houston Dash).
“Today I’m broken but in time I will be proud of what we all achieved together,” Stoney wrote on Twitter.

Stoney is expected to be a coveted free agent: Her name had previously been mentioned as a possibility to fill the vacancy left by former Chelsea Women manager and current USWNT boss Emma Hayes in the Women’s Super League. A return to her home in England didn’t seem too far off.

So where did things go wrong for San Diego’s first coach, and did she deserve this fate? We asked our data guy, Jeff Rueter, to dive into the performance metrics that defined San Diego’s 2024 season thus far:

When the San Diego Wave were at their best in 2022 and 2023, they were among the league’s most tantalizing entertainers. San Diego could feast in transition thanks to Jaedyn Shaw’s effervescent verve and Alex Morgan’s finishing chops. A defense anchored by Naomi Girma kept the team from being tactically reckless. 

Fast-forward to 2024, and opponents have found the best way to slow the Wave down is to give them more of the ball. With the league’s second-highest possession rate and its second-slowest direct speed — that is, meters progressed toward goal per second of possession — it became far easier to make San Diego look like a shell of itself.

Mere days after defending her players and criticizing the NWSL’s schedule, Stoney will now have some weeks off to reflect on where it all went wrong. Opponents inevitably adjusted their game plans to contain a high-octane attack, and Stoney simply didn’t change in time to keep her in the coach’s seat. It’s a cruel end to what’s been one of the NWSL’s most successful on-field launches, with a 2023 NWSL Shield to show for her efforts. 

One has to think she won’t be unemployed for long — the question is whether her next gig will be with an NWSL rival, a return to the WSL, or possibly a venture to a new league altogether.

Stay tuned.

Deeper Looks: Why are the Spirit changing coaches?

Unlike in San Diego, things are going well for the Washington Spirit.

The third-place team is coming off a dominant 2-0 win over Gotham FC on Sunday, which saw another assist from Croix Bethune, a golazo by Trinity Rodman and a shutout for goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury. The victory is just the latest in a series of fortunate events that have headlined the team’s first 14 games in the 2024 season, including:

• Ten wins (the most in the league), one draw and three losses.
• Nine assists from Bethune, chasing the single-season assist record — one away from equaling Tobin Heath in 2016.

Interim head coach Adrián González deserves credit for helping lead Washington to its most successful season start in years. Yet, his time in charge will come to an end this week. Let us explain:

The Spirit hired Jonatan Giráldez in January from FC Barcelona Femeni but had to wait until this week for him to join the team as he was in the middle of his season in Liga F with Barcelona — one which ended with a Champions League trophy.

González, meanwhile, took on the role of interim head coach with ease, implementing a new system while speaking with Giráldez daily and making a positive impression with local media. And that’s not to mention, again, the results he earned.

 Since 2018, Washington has had a revolving door of head coaches and interim ones … seven to be exact. While some departures were due to coaching misconduct, the latest change came after Mark Parsons failed to lead the club to the playoffs.

As ambitious as they come, owner Michele Kang looked internationally for his replacement, hiring the 32-year-old Giráldez, who won a domestic treble in the 2021–22 season and a continental quadruple in this previous season in Spain. Did Kang get it right? Only time will tell.

MORE: Barcelona’s Champions League win felt like a shift in power

Barcelona, meanwhile, hired Pere Romeu to replace Giráldez. Elsewhere, Lyon appointed Joe Montemurro to replace Sonia Bompastor, who left for Chelsea to replace Emma Hayes. That’s enough coaching changes to make your head spin, but we have one more …

Meg’s Corner: Sam Mewis tries her hand at coaching

I haven’t made much of a secret of becoming a Vermont Green FC fan after my move to Burlington, with the USL2 team providing a lovely gameday experience where I can simply watch a game and grab a Ben & Jerry’s sample as a bonus. But on Saturday night, well over 2,500 folks packed the stands at Virtue Field, donning a mix of Green jerseys and all manner of women’s soccer merch, for the team’s foray into women’s soccer with a one-off exhibition game against FC Laval from Canada.

With Sam Mewis at the helm as head coach (her debut as a manager!), the players only had three days of training together ahead of the match. While it showed at times, Tennessee Tech’s Neve Renwick scored first for the Green and they nearly hung on for the win until FC Laval equalized late. The game went to penalties, and with plenty of drama, Vermont won 5-4. As player of the match, Renwick performed the ceremonial maple syrup chug. Not bad for someone who had never been to Vermont before this past week!

Spenser Powell

And I’ll admit, I had some emotions stepping onto the field after the penalties, as kids swarmed the players for autographs. For all the big games and the growth of the game at a higher level, it was so special to see it at home on the local level. The Vermont ownership group has promised to explore adding a women’s team, though no path is set yet. After Saturday, it’s so easy to see that whenever it happens, Burlington will be ready with open arms.

(Side note — my wife, not a sports fan, is now a perfect 3-0 on women’s soccer games she’s attended: Sky Blue’s only win of the 2018 season, the 2019 World Cup final and now Vermont Green.)

NWSL Recap: The league has clear leaders. That’s a good thing

It might feel like there are a handful of topics we hit in this newsletter on repeat. Fair enough — but we’re not super sorry to be back at it! A quick rundown from last weekend:

• Continued dominance from the Kansas City Current and Orlando Pride? ✅ (Both are sitting on 9-5-0 records with 32 points, only separated by a single goal in the goal differential column.)
• Croix Bethune assisting. ✅
• Ludicrous goals from players like Mal Swanson and Sophia Smith? ✅ and ✅

We love a good Sophia Smith goal and this one was a BEAUTY! pic.twitter.com/9BnRHKz8Yt

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) June 23, 2024

But rather than delving deeper into what happened last weekend, let’s talk about what it means for the NWSL:

• Last year, the watchword was parity. And to be fair, the regular season mattering all the way through Decision Day ruled, especially considering how Gotham snuck into the playoffs in the final spot before winning it all.
• Top teams have dominated regular seasons before, but the twist of two teams on unbeaten runs this far into the season provides some real intrigue for neutrals, too.

Nothing is guaranteed by any stretch, but I’m ready for a championship between these two teams even though it’s only June. We won’t have to wait too much longer to see if their first faceoff might result in the end of either streak — expect some bonus fireworks when they meet on July 6. 🗓️

Full Time First Looks

Open the window: The WSL summer transfer window opens today in England. Teams can officially start signing players for the 2024-25 season, which starts on Sept. 21. The window closes a week before that, on Sept. 13. The Athletic’s Jessy Parker Humphreys tells us what to expect this offseason. But will Arsenal get a deal across the line for Keira Walsh from Barcelona?

Streaming now: “Copa 71”  tells the story of the unofficial women’s World Cup held in Mexico in 1971. The tournament featured players from six countries, drawing massive crowds to Latin America and unprecedented coverage of women’s football. Yet, all the footage from the pioneering event was lost to history… until now.

What to expect when you’re expecting: The Athletic’s Charlotte Harpur dives into what it is really like being a pregnant soccer player and what needs to change.

Leaning in: Yesterday, Fox announced it will air the 2025 Women’s European Championship. The men’s version of the tournament is nearing the end of its Group Stage this week. Ahead of the tournament this summer, Denmark’s men’s squad refused a pay rise to ensure the women’s team received equal pay. A new four-year agreement was reached with the Danish Football Association which will see both male and female national team players receive the same fee for representing their country.

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(Top photo: Orlando Ramirez / USA Today)