Angel City’s 2025 playoff hopes now hang on by a thread after falling to the Kansas City Current at home 0-1.

Kansas City clinched the Shield more than two weeks ago, and since then Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski has been rotating his squad in preparation for the playoffs. I believe only four of the Current’s typical starting XI lined up at the beginning of Monday night’s match.

On September 30th, the club announced a trade with the Portland Thorns. Angel City received midfielder Hina Sugita in exchange for outside back MA Vignola and $600,000. Sugita impacted the squad immediately and slotted directly into Head Coach Alex Straus’s starting XI.

Angel City adopted a similar shape to this the first time they played the Current. Out of possession Gisele Thompson and Miyabi Moriya would drop into the backline alongside Evelyn Shores, Sara Doorsoun, and Sarah Gorden, while in possession they would try to get high and wide to combine with the forwards, Nealy Martin, and Sugita. It wasn’t the Current’s deadliest forward line, but Angel City’s defensive game plan paid off as the opposition didn’t even register a shot or earn a single corner in the first half. For most of the game, Angel City was organized and in control.

Despite missing the likes of Temwa Chawinga, Bia Zaneratto, Michelle Cooper, and Debinha in the starting lineup, Angel City approached the beginning of this game as if that level of threat was present. They looked a little timid in the beginning and it took them quite a while to start being more aggressive. After quite a large chunk of the first half had elapsed, Shores stepped high and put in a great tackle to win possession. This seemed to energize the team with Sugita and Sveindís Jónsdóttir coming in to force some saves from Lorena toward the end of the first half. To be fair, Kansas City’s defense was doing a pretty good job keeping Angel City’s right channel quiet and causing just enough disruption to Little Japan FC on the left channel. The Current’s defensive effort kept Angel City from notching any quality chances.

Angel City came out in the second half a bit more aggressive, but Kansas City has one of the most stacked rosters in the league. In the 58th minute Bia and Cooper came in and made an immediate impact. Literally immediate. Like… Less than one minute, immediate. A flick from Bia off a throw in caused Doorsoun to whiff the clearance. The Current’s breakaway from there resulted in Ally Sentnor and Cooper colliding in the box while going for the cross. It was a bit messy but it resulted in a goal for the opposition.

Around the same time, Kennedy Fuller came in for Jun Endo and turned up the gas to try to get a goal back for Angel City. It didn’t pan out but they continued fighting and kept the momentum going against a suddenly much stronger Current side until the final whistle.

Angel City are now in a position where they need to win the rest of their games to even have a sniff at the playoffs. Despite that disappointment, I think there were things to like about Angel City’s performance.

It was nice to see an Angel City midfield midfielding. A long lost sight at this point. Martin and Sugita did a good job getting involved in the press, winning balls back, and linking play going forward. Once the team decided they needed to turn it up, it was much easier to progress the ball forward with those two in the middle of the pitch. There were some fun passing sequences, but none turned into a goal. I think the connections between all of these players isn’t quite there. Considering how many changes this team has gone through since the international break, it’s fair enough. However, I think this game was a good peek at what Straus wants this team to look like in the future. He said as much in the post-game press conference.

The final piece is the attack. Angel City continues to struggle getting into dangerous areas and haven’t had some of the finishing luck they had in the first half of the season. My observation is that when bedding in a new system, coaches tend to move from the back to the front. Hopefully that’s what’s going on here. There are still problems defensively, but overall it has improved from hopes and prayers. Now the midfield is providing defensive cover and pushing the ball forward. The team just needs to figure out the final third.

Over the past couple of days I’ve accepted that this back half of the 2025 season is basically a pre-season that is open to the public for their viewing (dis)pleasure. New coach. New system. Players leaving. Players coming in. Taking apart the plane and rebuilding it while it’s still in the air. Only five of the players in Monday’s starting XI were even with the club at the beginning of the season. It’s frustrating to watch, but the players seem bought into the process and my hope is that this struggle will pay off next season. Some of the biggest changes have already happened, the framework is established, and now it’s repetitions and building and adding pieces in the offseason.

It’s not really what fans want to hear when the message over the entirety of the club’s existence has been “just wait, it’ll come,” but here we are. The difference this time is that I think there are actual bones to believe in.

**Images courtesy of Angel City