Soccer newsletter: Uncovering NWSL scandal doesn’t happen without women in charge

Hello and welcome to the weekly L.A. Times soccer newsletter. I’m Kevin Baxter, The Times’ soccer writer, and today we look at an emotional performance by the women’s national team in Wembley, at the Galaxy coming home for the playoffs and whether LAFC’s season-ending stumble was a warning for the MLS Cup playoffs.

But we start with the fallout from last week’s shocking report by former acting U.S. attorney general Sally Q. Yates, who detailed systemic sexual and verbal abuse and harassment in the NWSL that have been going on since the league’s establishment a decade ago.

The Yates Report was commissioned by U.S. Soccer last fall after stories in the Athletic and Washington Post of players being subjected to years of dangerous and inappropriate conduct and homophobic comments, behavior that team and league executives, the report concluded, did little to stop. The revelations forced the resignation or removal of the league’s commissioner, its general counsel and, eventually, five of the league’s 10 coaches.

But the report proved the culpability went far beyond the league office and individual coaching staffs.

“Teams, the league and the federation not only repeatedly failed to respond appropriately when confronted with player reports and evidence of abuse, they also failed to institute basic measures to prevent and address it, even as some leaders privately acknowledged the need for workplace protections,” the report said.

It’s worth noting that most of the main players in the investigation are women while most of the coaches and executives accused of wrongdoing are men.

Yates, many of the lawyers working on her team and Cindy Parlow Cone, the U.S. Soccer president who ordered the probe, are women.

Coaches Rory Dames, Christy Holly and Paul Riley, who have denied any wrongdoing, and two of the Portland Thorns executives who were fired this week are men.

Why does this matter? Because Yates’ investigation found that players had been complaining, detailing and providing evidence of sexual and emotional harassment for years to team and league executives, who either ignored them or, in some cases, openly told the players they sided with the coaches.

The women, including Cone, a former World Cup champion who told investigators she had been sexually harassed in 2013 when she was a coach with the Thorns, listened. Then they acted, releasing a detailed 319-page report and a series of recommendations that left little wriggle room for business to continue as usual.

“The people in authority and decision-making positions have repeatedly failed to protect us, and they have failed to hold themselves and each other accountable,” said Becky Sauerbrunn, captain of the U.S. national team and one of only three women to have played in the NWSL since its inception in 2013. “Every owner and executive and U.S. soccer official who has repeatedly failed the players and failed to protect the players and have hidden behind legalities and have not participated fully in these investigations should be gone.”

“A lot of trust has been broken,” continued Sauerbrunn, who spent the last three years in Portland. “I don’t know what’s going to change. If people continue to fail the players and they don’t comply with anything that gets asked of them or gets implemented because of these reports, then they need to be gone. Gone.”

The teams — some of whom blatantly refused to cooperate with the Yates’ probe — had no choice but to finally act as well last week and some of the people who needed to go are gone. The Thorns fired Gavin Wilkinson, the team’s president of soccer operations, and Mike Golub, president of business operations. Red Stars chairman Arnim Whisler — who for years dismissed accusations that Dames, the team’s coach, was guilty of verbal abuse, emotional abuse, racism and creating an inappropriate “sexually charged atmosphere” — was removed from that team’s board amid calls from fans and players for him to sell the team.

Three members of Portland’s city council have said they would like to see Thorns’ owner Merritt Paulson sell his team as well.

Racing Louisville, meanwhile, got hit in the wallet when the Sherwin-Williams Company announced it was suspending its sponsorship with the team and giving its money instead to a trust managed by the NWSL players association. Alaska Airlines, a major backer of the Thorns, announced it would redirect its sponsorship money as well.

The NWSL, meanwhile, is working on its own internal investigation, one it is conducting alongside the players association. That is expected to be released later this year. But the league did hand out penalties Monday, banning former UCLA women’s soccer coach Amanda Cromwell from working in the NWSL after a months-long investigation into allegations of verbal abuse and favoritism.

Cromwell led the Bruins to a national championship and four Pac-12 titles in nine seasons before leaving for the Orlando Pride last December. To qualify for reinstatement, Cromwell and assistant coach Sam Greene, who was also banned, must participate in training regarding retaliation, anti-discrimination, anti-harassment and anti-bullying, as well as executive coaching.

Cromwell released a statement Monday afternoon saying she was “saddened and disappointed with the results of the NWSL’s investigation,” one she believed lacked “transparency, professionalism and thoroughness.”

“As a result,” Cromwell said, “my character and integrity have been mischaracterized.” She added that she is reviewing legal options.

Sadly, at a time when women’s soccer is more popular than ever, the issues Yates laid bare aren’t confined to the NWSL or even the U.S.

“This report has come out in our country. But the reality is it could be any country in the world,” Megan Rapinoe, a former world player of the year, told the New York Times from London, where the national team played England in a friendly last week.

“This is women’s soccer, this is women in general,” U.S. midfielder Lindsey Horan, who plays club soccer in France, told the Times. “This is all over the world. Being a player in Europe right now, I know that.”

Playing through the pain

The reigning world champion women’s national team played England, the European champion, in front of a crowd of more than 76,000 in London’s Wembley Stadium just four days after the Yates Report was released. And before the game coach Vlatko Andonovski acknowledged some players were focused on more than just the match.

“Some players and staff members need time, need space, need to process all of it,” he said. “That’s why we as a staff are allowing the players to think and process to do whatever they need in order to get over this difficult time.

“If that means they don’t want to participate in a team meeting, or in a team training, or even if they don’t want to play the game, then it’s up to them.”

With that as the background, the Americans’ efforts in a 2-1 loss to England, in front of the eighth-largest crowd to see a women’s game in the FIFA era, were remarkable.

Twice the U.S. fought back from one-goal deficits, although the second goal, from Trinity Rodman late in the first half, was wiped out by a questionable offside call. The winning score came on a Georgia Stanway penalty kick awarded after Hailie Mace inadvertently kicked English defender Lucy Bronze in the face at the top of the 18-yard penalty area.

The loss, the first since last summer’s Tokyo Olympics semifinal, ended a 13-winning streak for the U.S., but it was notable for more than that. New mom Crystal Dunn played 27 minutes just 140 days after giving birth. And Harvard-Westlake senior Alyssa Thompson, 17, who grew up idolizing Rapinoe, replaced her in the 84th minute and became the youngest player to debut for the national team since Mallory Pugh in January 2016.

The U.S. will conclude the brief fall international break Tuesday against Spain, a team experiencing a crisis of its own. In a sign of the times, 17 of Spain’s top players — including Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas, Spain’s all-time leader in appearances, and Pachuca star Jennifer Hermoso, the country’s leader in goals — were left off the roster in a dispute with the Spanish soccer federation over working conditions.

Ten largest crowds for a women’s match in the FIFA era

1. Barcelona vs. Wolfsburg (2022 UEFA Champions League), 91,646
2. Barcelona vs. Real Madrid (2022 UEFA Champions League), 91,553
3. USA vs. China in Pasadena (1999 World Cup), 90,185
4. England vs. Germany in London (Euro 2022), 87,192
5. USA vs. Japan in London (2012 Olympics), 80,203
6. USA vs. Denmark in East Rutherford, NJ (1999 World Cup), 78,972
7. England vs Germany in London (2019 friendly) 77,768
8. England vs. USA in London (2022 friendly), 76,893
9. USA vs. China in Athens, GA (1996 Olympics), 76,481
10. Germany vs. Canada in Berlin (2011 World Cup), 73,680

Source: Soccer America

Note that five of the largest nine crowds were for games featuring the U.S. women’s national team and four of the top eight were at Wembley Stadium.

NWSL playoff pairings

OL Reign and Portland Thorns receive first-round byes

Quarterfinals

Sunday

Houston vs. Kansas City

San Diego vs. Chicago

Semifinals, Oct. 23

Portland vs. San Diego/Chicago winner

OL Reign vs. Houston/Kansas City winner

Final, Oct. 29

Semifinal winners at Audi Field

Regular-season statistical leaders

Goals

Alex Morgan, San Diego, 15; Sophia Smith, Portland, 14; Debinha, North Carolina, 12; Diana Ordóñez, North Carolina, Mallory Pugh, Chicago, 11.

Assists

Carson Pickett, North Carolina, Pugh, Chicago, 6; Yazmeen Ryan, Portland, Ashley Sanchez, Washington, 5; Nine players tied with 4.

Shutouts

Bella Bixby, Portland, Phallon Tullis-Joyce, Reign, 9; Kailen Sheridan, San Diego, 8; Alyssa Naeher, Chicago, 7; Jane Campbell, Houston, Katie Lund, Louisville, Casey Murphy, North Carolina, 6.

Saves

Luda, 112; DiDi Haradic, Angel City, 70; Adriana Franch, Kansas City, 66; Erin McLeod, Orlando, Tulia-Joyce, 65.

You can see the final NWSL standings here.

Galaxy prove you can go home again

Riqui Puig (6) is embraced by teammate Gaston Brugman (5) as they celebrate Puig’s goal earlier this season.

(Cole Burston / AP)

Here’s a few of the things that have happened since the Galaxy last played a postseason game at home:

—Donald Trump went from presidential candidate to president and back to probable presidential candidate again.

—The U.S. men’s national team went from World Cup contender to not qualifying for the tournament, then back to contender again.

—Landon Donovan retired three times, became a coach and had a statue placed in front of the Galaxy’s stadium — a stadium which has seen two tackle football teams, the Los Angeles Chargers and XFL’s Los Angeles Wildcats, come and go without worry of an MLS playoff conflict.

—The Galaxy went through five coaches, three general managers and more than 90 players.

Yet they finally won their way back Sunday by beating the Houston Dynamo 3-1 and edging Nashville on a tiebreaker — total wins — to finish fourth in the Western Conference and earn the right to open the playoffs at home for the first time since 2016. The last time that happened Donovan and Brian Rowe were in the starting lineup, Robbie Keane and Mike Magee came off the bench and Alan Gordon finished with a goal and two assists.

The Galaxy will face Nashville on Saturday at noon at Dignity Health Sports Park, a place known as the Stub Hub Center the last time it hosted an MLS playoff match.

“What players ultimately come to L.A. for is to try to win the championship. Now we have the tournament to go win the championship,” said coach Greg Vanney, whose mandate when he joined the team before the 2021 season was to return the Galaxy to past glory.

Whether he can do that remains to be seen, but he does have the team in the postseason for just the second time in six seasons. The Galaxy (14-12-8) got there with a desperate stretch drive that saw them lose just once in their final 11 games and jumped from ninth place in the conference standings to fourth.

That spurt was led by midfielders Riqui Puig and Gastón Brugman, who both arrived from Europe in the summer, started the final nine games and, fittingly, played big roles in Sunday’s win with Puig scoring the Galaxy’s first goal and Brugman assisting on the game-winner by Javier “Chicharito” Hernández.

“Those guys are winners, they’ve been in big games, as have a lot of our guys,” Vanney said. “These are going to be games that we need that experience because we don’t have a ton of playoff experience.”

“The next game won’t look anything like the last 34,” he continued. “We’re in a tournament where it’s a knockout event and we have to come with even higher intensity.”

She’s back!!!!!!

The Galaxy will welcome an old friend back for the playoffs with Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, 11, arguably the only person to have impressed Zlatan Ibrahimovic during this two-season stay in MLS, returning to sing the national anthem.

Malea Emma, then 7 and wearing a Galaxy jersey that extended below her knees, sang the anthem before a regular-season win over the Seattle Sounders in 2018 and growled her way to the finish just like the big girls do. When she was done, she smiled and waved to the crowd while a bemused Ibrahimovic applauded.

Here’s the video evidence.

Malea Emma did an encore performance at the 2018 MLS Cup final, then returned to Carson for the Galaxy’s 2019 home opener and the 2021 El Tráfico with LAFC. The Galaxy are unbeaten in games at which Malea Emma performs.

Shield may not protect LAFC in the playoffs

LAFC had little to play for in its regular-season finale Sunday, one it lost to Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis, 1-0.

The black and gold already had clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs by winning its second Supporters’ Shield in four seasons, something it celebrated in an over-the-top, red-carpet ceremony after the loss. But Willis gave the team something to think about by making a career-best 14 saves — including one on Cristian Arango’s first-half penalty kick — to hand LAFC (21-9-4) its first shutout loss at home in 42 games.

“The opposing keeper makes good saves, and you don’t do well enough with your chances and one [goal] slides in,” said LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo, whose team took a season-high 29 shots. “I think that’s the story of the game.”

The one that slid in was a left-footed shot from the top of the six-yard goal area by Teal Bunbury after a corner kick in the 53rd minute. It was just the 15th goal LAFC gave up in the second half this season and it felt like a wake-up call.

Dominating the regular season is one thing, but in the single-elimination playoffs a hot keeper, poor finishing and a goal that slides in can mean an early postseason exit. After all, only one Supporters’ Shield winner has gone on to win the MLS Cup in the last decade. It was Toronto — coached, coincidentally, by Vanney — in 2017.

“That tells you how difficult it is,” midfielder Ilie Sánchez said.

But that difficulty will only make pulling off the double that much sweeter, defender Ryan Hollingshead said.

“We think we are the team to beat in this league. The Shield shows it. But we’ve got to now go prove it,” he said.

“We’re going to try to break that cycle.”

Finishing atop the conference standings in the regular season earned LAFC a 10-day break before it opens the playoffs against the Galaxy-Nashville winner on Oct. 20.

MLS playoff pairings

Saturday

Eastern Conference

New York Red Bulls vs. Cincinnati, 9 a.m. PT, UniMas, TUDN

Western Conference

Galaxy vs. Nashville, Dignity Health Sports Park, noon PT, UniMas, TUDN, Spectrum

Sunday

Western Conference

Austin vs. Real Salt Lake, noon PT, ABC, ESPN Deportes

Eastern Conference

Montreal vs. Orlando City, 4 p.m. PT, ESPN, ESPN Deportes

Monday

Eastern Conference

New York City vs, Miami, 4 p.m. PT, FS1, Fox Deportes

Western Conference

Dallas vs. Minnesota United, 6:30 p.m. PT, FS1, Fox Deportes

LAFC, Philadelphia have first-round byes

MLS regular-season statistical leaders

Goals

Hany Mukhtar, Nashville, 23; Sebastian Driussi, Austin, Daniel Gazdag, Philadelphia, 22; Jesús Ferreira, Dallas, Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, Galaxy, Brenner Souza da Silva, Cincinnati, Brandon Vazquez, Cincinnati, 18.

Assists

Luciano Acosta, Cincinnati, 19; Diego Fagúndez, Austin, Kai Wagner, Philadelphia, 15; Cristian Espinoza, San Jose, Carles Gil, New England, 14.

Shutouts

Andre Blake, Philadelphia, Sean Johnson, NYCFC, 15; Sean Johnson, NYCFC, 14; Gaga Slonina, Chicago, 12; Zac MacMath, RSL, 10; Eloy Room, Columbus, Maxime Crepeau, LAFC, Pedro Gallese, Orlando City, Joe Willis, Nashville, William Yarbrough, Colorado, 9.

Saves

Aljaz Ivacic, Portland, JT Marcinkowski, San Jose, 112; Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota, 109; Steve Clark, Houston, Eloy Room, Columbus, 105.

Final MLS standings can be found here.

And finally there’s this …

UCLA’s women’s soccer team, unbeaten at 13-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation under first-year coach Margueritte Aozasa, the woman who replaced Cromwell, faces its toughest test of the season Friday when it plays Stanford in Palo Alto. Aozasa was an assistant at Stanford for seven seasons and helped the Cardinal to two NCAA titles … Former Galaxy coach Bruce Arena will not be managing in the playoffs for the first time in his MLS career after his New England Revolution finished 10th in the Eastern Conference a year after winning the Supporters’ Shield. In 15 previous full seasons as an MLS coach Arena, the winningest coach in U.S. Soccer history, had taken the Revolution, Galaxy, New York Red Bulls and D.C. United to a combined five MLS Cup titles, four Supporters’ Shields, a U.S. Open Cup and a CONCACAF Champions Cup. But Arena’s not alone. Of the four active MLS coaches with at least 160 victories — Arena, Toronto’s Bob Bradley, Kansas City’s Peter Vermes and Oscar Pareja of Orlando City — only Pareja made the postseason. None of the four coaches finished with a winning record in 2022.

In case you missed it

Former UCLA coach Amanda Cromwell banned from NWSL following abuse investigation

Galaxy clinches home playoff date, takes important step in rebuilding legacy

Abcarian: Sexual harassment, name calling, fat shaming by coaches: Just another day in women’s soccer

Podcast

Don’t miss my weekly podcast on the Corner of the Galaxy site as co-host Josh Guesman and I discuss the Galaxy each Monday. You can listen to the most recent podcast here.

Quotebook

“They’re still a team that we feel very confident to beat at home.”

LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead, on the possibility of meeting the Galaxy in the playoffs