A Season Of Rebirth

A Return To Normal

A breakdown of Thursday's players-only meetings:

* Morgan Brian admitted she was wrong in marrying Fabrice, but had no firm option for a replacement at the time. She apologized to Emily Sonnett and the others who felt she ignored them with her intransigence. After patching things up, Morgan asked Emily if she would help her bridge the gap to Danielle Colaprico for a possible Week 9 meeting when the Red Stars visit the Reign.

* Julie Johnston accepted the outcome of her fight with Christen Press, and the new reality of her and Kelley O'Hara being a couple. The two Royals accepted her remorse and made plans to go out together with her in Houston on Sunday night.

* Becky Sauerbrunn, Alyssa Naeher, and Megan Rapinoe rallied the troops into some sense of unified force prior to lunch and the afternoon's training session, knowing that all had not been resolved but things were good enough to move ahead with the remainder of camp and the two friendlies.

***

The NWSL Week In Review show was taped on Friday morning for first airing that evening, with subsequent repeats on Saturday morning leading into a replay of the Week 4 match between the Portland Thorns and Utah Royals. After a short intro, the show began with Dalen Cuff.

Dalen Cuff: With the NWSL off this week due to international friendlies, our show will focus first on what has transpired off-the-field in the past several days, including an update from US National Team camp from Tobin Heath, before moving onto a recap of last Saturday's matches and a report card of the season's first quarter.

Dalen: The usual action we expect during league breaks started on Monday morning when the Washington Spirit dismissed head coach and general manager Jim Gabarra, citing the team's rapid decline from 2016 NWSL runners-up to last place in 2017 to an 0-4-1 record to start 2018 as the main reason for the change. Spirit president Chris Hummer also mentioned the team's lack of will in the second half of their 6-0 loss to North Carolina two days prior was a sign that "he lost the locker room". Top assistant Tom Torres has been promoted, but Hummer did not confirm that he would have the job for the remainder of the season.

Dalen: Thursday was a busy day of movement, as things started with Washington sending forward Cheyna Williams to Philadelphia for the Victory's second-round pick in the 2020 NWSL Draft. Later in the day, the Chicago Red Stars sacked head coach Rory Dames in the aftermath of a social media fight between him and a number of his players, a continuation of the tirade he laid out last week leading up to the team's 4-0 loss to Utah. Not to be outdone, of course, Laura Harvey dealt Alexa Newfield and Alex Arlitt to St. Louis FC for their position at the top of the NWSL Allocation List. To break down the good and bad of this, I am joined by Lori Lindsey. Lori, tell the viewers what might have been behind the trades and what else could be coming down the line before the league resumes play next Saturday.

Lori Lindsey: Williams going to the Victory gives them a legitimate forward on a team that has scored just two goals this season. It also reunites her with her new husband, Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews. I don't think Philly is done with making moves to fix their lack of scoring, so expect at least one more player to join the club between now and the 19th. As for Utah's move for the top spot in the allocation order, I am presuming that someone in either the US or Canadian National Team player pool is planning to enter the league, with the names on my radar being Kadeisha Buchanan, Crystal Dunn, Jessie Fleming, and Sophie Schmidt. None of these will provide depth for next year as all will most likely be in France for the Women's World Cup, but Buchanan fixes the Royals' one slight weakness, which is the lack of a week-in, week-out center back partner for Becky Sauerbrunn. Keep your eyes glued in case Harvey clears out other players in expectation of their new arrival. What Newfield and Arlitt get out of this is the ability to rejoin St. Louis FC coach Vlatko Andonovski, who they played under at FC Kansas City, and a chance to see meaningful minutes.