The LA-based team has not yet been able to match their magic of the tailend of the 2023 season—which under some decision day chaos had them finishing 5th out of the 12 teams—compared to the 2024 or 2025 seasons where the club finished 12th and 11th respectively. 

At a high level, the output of the team in 2025 closely matched 2024, both seasons with 7 wins, 6 draws, and 13 losses. The 2025 season saw two more goals scored by the club, and one less conceded compared to 2024. 

December 9th, 2024 the club announced it was parting ways with then head coach Becki Tweed (who coached the team in the crazy run to the 2023 playoffs as the interim-head coach and was named to the head coaching job ahead of the 2024 season start) and Eleri Earnshaw became the interim head coach. 

A month later on January 15th, the club named Mark Parsons as the club’s new sporting director and one week later Sam Laity was announced as the new interim head coach. Just a few games into the 2025 season, Alexander Straus was named the new Angel City head coach, but his start date was pushed back to June 1st so he could finish up his current season as head coach of FC Bayern München Women.

With 20 players signed for 2026 — including Claire Emslie on maternity leave and Savy King on medical leave — Angel City has some opportunity to bring in some key components—but they are going to be limited in the international spots—and having the preseason bonding time for some of the late-season adds will help build some cohesion under Straus’s strategic identity. 

The Positives

From the Secondary Transfer window on, eight players were added to the club either via trades or transfers, meaning Straus has already started transitioning the club and the players he wants to match the play-style he’s bringing to the league. And with 13 matches under his belt, the players have already begun to build on that identity. 

Although Alyssa Thompson is irreplaceable — will hit on this in the Negatives section a bit — the club should have a good chunk of transfer funds from Chelsea to burn in 2026 for additional player acquisitions. 

The argument could definitely be made that the club does not need any more forwards in the offseason — there are already 8 rostered for 2026, but rather needs to figure out how to consistently get the forwards they have into dangerous positions. 

Some more things to be excited about in 2026 is the potential return of Savy King, who was fitting in swimmingly into the backline in the front half of the season.

The Negatives

After Alyssa Thompson transferred to Chelsea at the beginning of September, Angel City’s offensive output dropped from averaging almost 1.3 goals/90 to 0.88 goals/90. The team really needs to figure out what their offensive identity is and how to build that through the midfield. 

The 2025 season saw an incredible turnover in the midfield with only one midfielder starting in more than half of the matches in the season (13)  — Kennedy Fuller with 21. It’s hard to consistently build through lines when the personnel in said lines is changing that much. 

With the retirements of Ali Riley and Christen Press, Angel City is losing a lot of its veteran presence and will be relying on Sarah Gorden to continue to fill that role as well as needing some other players to step up into the role. 

A big question mark for the team is around the potential return of forward Sydney Leroux, who signed a 3-year contract extension in October 2024, but announced she was taking a step back from soccer to focus on mental health after the 2025 season opener. Leroux didn’t take the pitch for the LA-based club in 2025.

Roster Flexibility 

Outside of the front line, Angel City has a solid amount of flexibility to add players during the offseason with the expectation of 18 players from the current active roster available for the 2026 season opener and with some cash to spend without too much concern about the net transfer fee threshold. 

One potential hurdle for Angel City is going to be the fact that for 2026 they have all seven of their international spots occupied. 

Of the team’s six current free agents, the club's end of season update implied that they would not be returning to the club in 2026. 

Offseason Priorities

During the offseason, Angel City should be focusing on acquiring 3, maybe 4 defenders to add depth and strength in the backline between both the centerback and outside back positions. 

They will also likely want one more midfielder, and, of course, there is an opening for the third goalkeeper (if you don’t count Nealy Martin).

Other than talent additions, the offseason needs to prioritize creating chemistry and stability in the starting lineup.