"How does the National Women's Soccer League stack up against its top competitor leagues? At what point should the league be worried, if top USWNT talent trickles across the Atlantic? And what, if anything, can be done to stop the flow? The questions swirling stateside have been around for quite some time, though they once operated in much different conditions a less competitive global landscape, diminished investment abroad, NWSL's formal management by US Soccer. Those conditions have drastically shifted over the past decade."
"Since winning Olympic gold at the Parc des Princes, some of the USA's biggest names moved abroad. That includes the starting right-back Emily Fox (Arsenal), the centre-back and sometimes captain Naomi Girma (Chelsea) and the ascendant winger Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea). Key players such as Catarina Macario, the captain Lindsey Heaps (who has signed for her home town club in Denver this month), Phallon Tullis-Joyce and Lily Yohannes were already abroad."
Trinity Rodman's uncertain club future has intensified debate about the NWSL's competitiveness compared with top European leagues. Several high-profile USWNT players have recently signed with European clubs, including Emily Fox, Naomi Girma, Alyssa Thompson and others already abroad. If Rodman departs, she would join multiple Olympic starters now playing in Europe. The NWSL regards the outward flow of marquee national team talent as a significant concern due to historic links between national team stars and attendance and marketability. The league's past ability to retain top players has weakened as global investment and competitiveness have increased.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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