Chelsea’s Missed Chances and USWNT Stars in WSL Weekend
Chelsea’s dominance, familiar frustration
Chelsea had the ball, the territory, the tempo. What they didn’t have was the finish.
For all their control on opening weekend, the champions walked away from a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa and a sharp reminder that possession without ruthlessness doesn’t win titles. A late Villa equalizer wiped out what should have been a routine three points and turned the afternoon into an early-season warning.
Alyssa Thompson was at the heart of it. Handed a start, she repeatedly found herself in the kind of spaces that make defenders panic: breaking lines, darting into the box, popping up on the shoulder. The movement was there. The end product wasn’t.
Chelsea will demand that last part comes quickly now. With Millie Bright, Guro Reiten and Sam Kerr all gone, there is both a vacancy and a spotlight. Thompson laid a solid platform in her debut WSL season, leading the club with seven league goals. That output was impressive for a first year. Now it’s the baseline.
The team around her is changing, the hierarchy in the dressing room is shifting, and the attack needs a new focal edge. Thompson’s task is clear: turn those promising positions into the kind of cold, decisive finishes that close out games instead of inviting late drama.
On the international stage, her trajectory looks steadier. Thompson has carved out a role on the right wing with the USWNT, scoring four times and strengthening her grip on a roster place heading into qualifiers. The trust is building there. If she can marry that cutting edge with her club form, Chelsea’s wasteful afternoons could quickly feel like a thing of the past.
Coffey steps back into the fight
While Chelsea were left stewing, Sam Coffey’s weekend was about something simpler: being back on the pitch.
The midfielder returned from a knee injury in Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Birmingham City, her first WSL outing since last season’s campaign was cut short. She entered in the 73rd minute for Laura Blindkilde Brown, a late cameo that meant far more than the clock suggested.
Coffey arrived at City from Portland Thorns midway through last year and needed time to adjust. By the run-in, she had grown into her midfield role as City mounted their title push, offering control, bite and a reliable outlet in possession. The injury halted that momentum and kept her out of the USWNT’s June friendlies.
Now she has a clean slate. Fit again, with a full season ahead, Coffey has the chance to turn those glimpses into a full body of work in England’s top flight.
Emma Hayes will be watching closely. Coffey’s absence left the USWNT without a trusted holding midfielder against Brazil, a gap that was felt in the balance of the team. Getting minutes again is the first hurdle cleared. The next is rhythm: reading the game a half-second quicker, snapping into tackles, dictating tempo. If she finds that groove, she can put herself right back in the center of Hayes’ plans.
Fox quietly locks it down for Arsenal
Some players chase the spotlight. Emily Fox rarely needs it.
Whether in an Arsenal shirt or with the USWNT, her game is built on reliability. Sunday’s season opener fit the pattern. Fox started at outside back and helped Arsenal grind out a 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion, a scoreline that owed plenty to the team’s structure and her discipline.
Arsenal held a high line, compressing the pitch and daring Brighton to play through pressure. That approach demands total concentration from full-backs: step at the right time, recover when the press is broken, and still offer width going forward. Fox handled it with the calm that has quickly become her trademark in North London.
Since joining Arsenal in 2024, she has become a fixture at both ends of the field. She picks her moments to surge forward, yet rarely leaves her side exposed. It wasn’t an explosive, headline-grabbing performance. It didn’t need to be.
For a title-chasing side, having a defender who almost never dips below a solid seven out of ten is a quiet luxury. For the USWNT, that same consistency makes her one of the first names penciled in when tournament football looms.
Tullis-Joyce’s rough start, bigger stakes at United
Phallon Tullis-Joyce’s first WSL outing of the season unraveled quickly.
The Manchester United goalkeeper made a couple of early saves against London City Lionesses, but in the eighth minute she was caught out of position as Alanna Kennedy rose to head in from a corner. A routine set piece, punished. United were chasing from there.
The defensive frailty resurfaced late. In the 82nd minute, slack marking inside the box gave Daniëlle van de Donk the space to improvise a clever finish behind her back, sealing a 2-1 defeat and leaving United with more questions than answers from opening weekend.
For Tullis-Joyce, the performance carries weight beyond the league table. She is firmly in the race for the USWNT’s No. 1 shirt, but the margins at that level are brutal. Shot-stopping alone won’t separate her. Her footwork and distribution remain under the microscope as she tries to convince Hayes she can launch attacks as confidently as she repels them.
A strong season with United could tilt that debate. Show that she can command her box, tidy up the positional lapses and play with authority at her feet, and the path to a starting role with the national team stays wide open. Let those flaws linger, and the battle for that jersey only gets tighter.
