Still reassessing and rebuilding the remnants left from a stormy 2024, new San Diego Wave coach Jonas Eidevall was honest after suffering his first loss in the NWSL.
"Like I said before the season, I think we need to have a really developing mentality. We need to grow stronger every week physically, technically, mentally, and this is no exception to that," Eidevall told ESPN following a 2-1 away defeat against defending champions Orlando Pride on Mar. 29.
"We know that: that's the story, that's the journey of our season here. We have lots of things left to develop, to grow and mature into, that's natural for us where we are at."
Hired in January, the former Arsenal coach is one of many fresh faces who have stepped into the organization that is seeking to move beyond the nightmares of the previous campaign. On and off the field, last year was a disaster for the 2023 NWSL Shield winners that were once one of the vanguards of the league. Through a rebuild with new owners, staff, and players, San Diego are hoping to leave behind the rocky waters of 2024 and find familiar sunny skies in a new spring.
And despite that latest loss on the pitch, there is reason to feel optimism.
To the credit of Eidevall and his squad, it was easy to spot a number of silver linings from the latest narrow defeat that featured a majority of the possession, a clear style of play, and standout moments for promising young players. Coupled with a win and draw in their two previous matches to kick off 2025, the Wave appear to be on the cusp of a turnaround. Nevertheless, it's far too early to make assumptions about how things will go for the team after just 270+ minutes of play.
With plenty still to prove on the pitch and beyond, can San Diego get back on track?
"It was a tough year for the club, there's no kind of sugar coating that," sporting director and general manager Camille Ashton told ESPN about 2024. "This is a club that has always had a lot of ambition and expectations to do well and be successful."
Months after finishing at the top of the table in 2023, San Diego endured a disastrous season that involved three different managers (Casey Stoney, Paul Buckle, Landon Donovan) and a 10th-place finish, which left them outside the playoff picture. Key figures and U.S. women's national team stars such as Naomi Girma and Jaedyn Shaw headed for the exits, eventually leaving the club (for Chelsea and North Carolina Courage respectively) after the conclusion of 2024.
"On the field, that's always tough to get out there and cheer all the time, to get as excited as you want to be when the team isn't coming through the way that you're trying to will them to be," said Sean Dreusike, a member of the Sirens supporters group.
Behind the scenes, the team also made negative headlines after former employees sued the club and the NWSL, citing allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination. The suit followed accusations in the summer that president Jill Ellis, who has since left after being hired by FIFA, had led a toxic workplace environment.
By January, a sixth former employee also joined the lawsuit, alleging sexual harassment by a male supervisor at the time.
"The off field stuff, being a fan, leaves questions that need to be answered by the team and fans are some of the right people along with media and whatnot to ask those questions and try to get either answers or change," said Dreusike. The Sirens released a statement in October in which the group announced they "no longer trust the front office's decision-making nor do we believe in the current leadership's ability to oversee the positive changes that are desperately needed."
As part of broader front office alterations, Ellis' December exit marked a significant pivot in direction for the Wave, as did the completed purchase of the club late last year by the Levine Leichtman family.
Looking back on the pitch, Ashton, who was hired last summer, was tasked with rebuilding the squad that not only had Girma and Shaw soon heading out the door, but also superstar Alex Morgan hanging up her boots in September.
"When you're new in an environment, you want to be able to not take too much time, but take time to really understand where things are at, evaluate how things are working, where there are development areas, what are the things that are most important to sort of tackle, and take a little bit of time to digest all of that before you start to implement and make changes," said Ashton.
"We had a very busy off season."
The first major step of business? Bringing in Eidevall. According to Ashton, the Swedish coach won over the Wave due to his tactical knowledge, ability to win titles, experience in a high-pressure league in England, know-how with building teams, and ambition. Importantly, there was a sense he could translate those skills into the NWSL and create sustainability with the Wave.
For goalkeeper and captain Kailen Sheridan, the hiring of Eidevall and his staff was the most vital piece of the team's new puzzle for 2025.
"The coaching change is going to be huge," Sheridan told ESPN during the preseason when asked which modification at the club will be the most impactful. "It's a complete new staff, which kind of is an opportunity to start over. Obviously, players is massive as well, but with the coaching change, that's a whole tactical change."
"If we had some staff that stayed with us [from 2024], the players obviously would be a big difference. They would have to come in and adapt to the style. But now we're starting with a new style, so it's an opportunity for the staff to kind of make their mark, and the players to learn and to grow together."
Part of that process has also meant reinforcing the roster. Along with a list of intriguing up-and-coming names, ownership hasn't wasted time with the incorporation of noteworthy figures like France international Kenza Dali, Canada international Adriana Leon, and Colombia international Daniela Arias.
Another key aspect of Eidevall in this rebuild is his ability to influence the players with a move to San Diego. Dali, recently with Aston Villa, wasn't sure at first if she wanted to leave England, but was swayed after a conversation with the coach.
"I had a call with Jonas. I know Jonas, I played against him a lot," Dali told ESPN. "I know what he is trying to do in terms of football, and that's what really attracted me is the way he plays, his philosophy. That was [what] convinced me."
With reinforcements in tow and new players from last season stepping up, the change in the starting XI from the season openers in 2024 and 2025 was a dramatic one. Of the XI that took the field for last season's first game, only three returned to the starting lineup for 2025's opener.
Looking back at the old formation, it's impossible to miss marquee stars and leaders such as Girma and Morgan. And while it's near-impossible to replace what some of those names represented beyond the confines of Snapdragon Stadium, the Wave's latest additions have notably boosted the team this season.
"Those players [who left] obviously leave their mark and I think they're the type of players where you feel when they're gone," midfielder Makenzy Robbe told ESPN. "But I think at the same time we've really been able to kind of keep the intensity and the standard high."
It's a small sample size, but the underlying numbers look decent for the team that has kicked the season off with a 1W-1D-1L record that has included just one match at home. With the aim of dominating the ball and building out from the back, the team has averaged 57.3% possession per game, creating 18 chances along the way, scoring five times, and accumulating a total xG of 3.59. When regaining the ball, they're currently averaging a success rate of 56% in tackles.
Against Orlando, in what Eidevall claimed to be his biggest challenge to date with the team, there was much to like from the squad that was at first able to keep the title-holders silent. Through a high press and using possession as the best form of defense, the Wave appeared ready to snap Orlando's 21-game unbeaten streak at home.
"There [are] a lot of things in our performance we can be pleased with and I think we can be a little bit angry and irritated that we don't get any points away with us from this game," said Eidevall post-game.
By the second half, Orlando figured out the San Diego press and were given a lifeline through a goal in the 50th minute from Haley McCutcheon off a corner. Although youthful substitutions helped level things out for the Wave, with a goal from 19-year-old Chiamaka Okwuchukwu less than two minutes into her debut, Orlando would eventually take back the lead with a dramatic game-winning penalty from Marta in the 76th minute.
Soft penalty or not, which was retaken due to Sheridan stepping off her line, the reality of the match was that Orlando's second-half tactical changes helped wrestle back the momentum San Diego once had. Indicative of how Eidevall's side is still a work in progress, the result also marked the second match in a row in which the Wave ran into obstacles after half-time.
It's far from perfect soccer, but Eidevall's willingness to maintain his possession-heavy style of play -- especially against the reigning champions -- was a commendable decision. With teenage prospects like Melanie Barcenas, Kimmi Ascanio, and Okwuchukwu putting on a show once coming off the bench, there's also reason to feel hopeful that the club already has the next generation of game-changers in the mix.
"I'm pleased with the mentality that we have in the squad. [Chiamaka] is a great example of that," said Eidevall post-game. "Haven't being fielded at all for the first two games, now she had a good opportunity coming in here for the third. I definitely think that we have a lot of good players in the squad. We have healthy competition and I'm really pleased with a lot of players' contributions at the moment."
USWNT's Jaedyn Shaw discusses dealing with expectations following her move to North Carolina Courage from San Diego Wave.
Whether those contributions include more minutes for prospects, the next step for Eidevall & Co. is finding the right balance for a roster that's struggled in the second halves of games. Of course, that's only the sporting aspect of the new era for the Wave.
Behind the scenes and in the front office, there's nothing that has yet to bring negative attention in 2025, but it's still incumbent on the organization to learn from last season and prove to their supporters that they can be trusted once again. Given that Eidevall, Ashton and others represent the start of a different era, there's an opportunity to showcase that the detrimental problems of the past won't return, and doing so will only benefit the sporting side for the former Shield-holders, who are eager for much more than just a regular season trophy.
"Expectations for us, we wanna be competing in [the playoffs of] November this year. That's something that I think everyone across the organization would say and feel strongly about. So for us, that's our goal," said Ashton.
"It's constantly evolving and growing and trying to get better and that's on and off the field here."