Photo credit: Canada Soccer

Canada kicked off their two-leg Paris Olympic qualifying series with a 2-0 win over Jamaica on Thursday night in Kingston. After struggling offensively and defensively at the World Cup this summer, Canada put forth a vintage Canadian performance against the Reggae Girlz.

Canada’s defense looked much more organised and cohesive as they earned a clean sheet. At the other end of the pitch, Bev Priestman’s squad was also able to create several quality scoring opportunities throughout the match. 

A switch in formation to three defenders at the back played a vital role in how Canada was able to attack and get forward. Overloading the midfield helped Canada get out on the flanks and move in transition with ease.

HIGHLIGHTS:
Jamaica 🇯🇲 0-2 🇨🇦 @CANWNT

Nichelle Prince and Adriana Leon give Canada the lead heading into the second leg in Toronto on 26 September.

🎥: @OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/3gSTvbYug1

— CANWNT (@CANWNT) September 23, 2023

Canada’s 3-4-3 formation was a success.

Photo Copyright Vincent Carchietta for USA TODAY Sports

The deadline has passed for team options and now NWSL free agents can officially start their negotiations ahead of the 2024 season.

There are two distinct types of free agency coming into play, unrestricted and restricted. Unrestricted free agency is what we traditionally think of with free agency, the players have the right to choose the team they want to negotiate and sign with. There are 55 players who fall under this category for the upcoming season.

This year, as per the CBA, players only need five NWSL service years in order to qualify. A service year means that a player is signed with a team at any time during the league season except for players on player-elected leave or players on leave for the entirety of that period. Free agents cannot actually sign with new clubs until the December 5th deadline given by the league.

Restricted free agents can negotiate with any team, but once they have an agreed-upon SPA, their current team gets seven days to match the qualified offer. If the originating team decides not to match, the player is free to join the new team.

Looking at the per-team breakdown, we can see that Chicago and Houston have the largest number of free agents overall with both with 10, while Orlando is on the other side of the spectrum with only 2 total. Gotham and the Reign have been the most active teams trying to lock down potential free agents with four apiece.

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The United States women’s national team defeated South Africa, 3-0 on Thursday in Cincinnati, in the Americans’ first game since a penalty-shootout loss to Sweden in the Round of 16 at the 2023 World Cup.

Interim coach Twila Kilgore, who is in charge following the resignation of Vlatko Andonovski last month, rolled out a mostly familiar lineup as the U.S. turned the page toward an Olympics that begins in 10 months. Kilgore will be in charge for at least these two games this week and two more against Colombia in late October, which serves as some uncertain context to any deeper analysis of the U.S. right now.

Still, it’s time to move forward. Here are three big talking points from the U.S.’ win on Thursday, which saw Lynn Williams score a brace and Trinity Rodman add a goal in the first half.

The 4-2-3-1 makes sense right now

It’s hard to talk about formations and systems when the U.S. women are without a coach or a general manager (the latter of which is unlikely to continue to be a role that even exists, as previously reported). Who know what the next coach will prefer to try, or which players they will favor?