Chelsea's Missed Chances and USWNT Stars Under WSL Spotlight

Chelsea spent the opening weekend camped in Aston Villa’s half, the ball zipping around in familiar blue patterns. The control was there. The intent was there. The finish was not.

A late Villa equalizer turned what should have been a statement win into a 1-1 draw and a jolt of déjà vu for a club that has seen this script before. Alyssa Thompson, handed a start and plenty of trust, kept popping up in the right spaces, stretching the back line and finding gaps. The one thing missing was the moment that changes a game — the clean strike, the ruthless touch.

Chelsea need that from her now.

With Millie Bright, Guro Reiten and Sam Kerr gone, the hierarchy has shifted. There is space in the dressing room and on the pitch for new voices and new match-winners, and Thompson sits squarely in that frame. Her first season in England laid the groundwork: seven league goals, a team-high return that hinted at how quickly she can adapt.

Year two is a different test. The cast around her has changed, the expectations have not. She has already shown she can arrive in dangerous areas; the demand now is to turn those half-chances and near-misses into the kind of cold, decisive finishing that defines title runs.

On the international stage, her trajectory looks clearer. Thompson has carved out a role on the right wing for the USWNT, scoring four times and giving Emma Hayes a direct, goal-minded option out wide heading into qualifiers. Her case for a roster spot is strong. What happens at Chelsea over the next few months — those same runs, but with goals at the end of them — could be what locks it in.

Sam Coffey’s step forward

While Chelsea were left to stew over dropped points, Sam Coffey’s opening weekend was about something more basic: being back.

The midfielder returned from a knee injury in Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Birmingham City, her first WSL appearance since last season was cut short. She entered in the 73rd minute for Laura Blindkilde Brown, a short but significant outing after months of rehab and frustration.

Coffey arrived from the Portland Thorns midway through last season and needed time to adjust to the tempo and demands of City’s midfield. As the club chased the WSL title, she grew into that role, offering balance and bite in front of the back line. Then the injury halted everything, ruling her out of the USWNT’s June friendlies and stripping Hayes of a trusted holding midfielder against Brazil.

Now she is healthy, and the path is clear again. Minutes like these — late in a game City are managing, with passes to hit and pressure to absorb — are the building blocks. If she finds her rhythm quickly, she doesn’t just strengthen City’s spine; she reopens the door to being the anchor Hayes can lean on when the USWNT step into competitive fixtures.

Emily Fox, quietly essential

Some players flicker in and out of form. Emily Fox rarely does.

Whether in an Arsenal shirt or the USWNT crest, she brings the same reliability: clean positioning, sharp decisions, a willingness to run all day without demanding the spotlight. Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday was another entry in that file.

Fox started in her usual outside back role and helped Arsenal control the game with a bold, high line. The Gunners squeezed the pitch, pounced on loose passes and sprang forward in transition whenever Brighton faltered. It suited Fox perfectly. She defended her channel, stepped into midfield when needed and still found moments to push on and support attacks.

Since joining Arsenal in 2024, she has become one of those players managers build around. Not because she’s the headline act, but because she makes everyone else’s job easier. The opener wasn’t flashy, and that is exactly the point. Fox’s value lies in the nights when you barely notice her — because nothing on her side of the field goes wrong.

Phallon Tullis-Joyce’s rough start — and bigger fight

For Phallon Tullis-Joyce, the new WSL season got complicated almost immediately.

The Manchester United goalkeeper produced a couple of early stops, then found herself punished in the eighth minute. A corner swung in, Alanna Kennedy rose, and with Tullis-Joyce caught out of position, London City Lionesses had the lead. It was the kind of moment that lingers for a keeper, especially one under close scrutiny.

United never fully settled at the back. With the game still alive in the 82nd minute, more slack marking in the box opened the door again. Daniëlle van de Donk needed no second invitation, producing a clever, behind-the-back finish that sealed a 2-1 defeat and left United with a long list of defensive corrections.

For Tullis-Joyce, the stakes stretch beyond Carrington and Old Trafford. She is firmly in the conversation for the USWNT’s No. 1 shirt, but the modern job description goes beyond shot-stopping. Her footwork and distribution remain under the microscope as Hayes evaluates who can start attacks as confidently as they can end them.

A strong season with United would shift that debate. If she can pair her shot-saving instincts with calm, precise work at her feet, she doesn’t just answer questions about one bad afternoon. She forces a bigger one for the national team: when the biggest matches arrive, whose name goes on that first team sheet in goal?