Volatile might be the perfect word to sum up Angel City FC’s 2025 NWSL season so far. Talk about patterned perfection—first came two draws, then back-to-back wins, and now, two straight defeats as the latest one came today against the Orlando Pride. While this rollercoaster run has left their form up in the air, fans are more focused on the absence of veteran star Christen Press, slamming the head coach again for not bringing the forward into the fold.

So far, her only appearances have come as a substitute. After missing the opening two 1-1 draws against the San Diego Wave and Portland Thorns, the 36-year-old finally stepped onto the pitch in the third match—a 2-1 win over Seattle Reign—playing just five minutes. In the following two games, a 3-1 win against Houston Dash and a prior 4-0 loss to Gotham FC, she was brought on in the final 15 minutes.

Today’s game against Orlando Pride was a completely different instance where, despite being on the bench, Christen Press wasn’t given a chance to lace up her boots for some action. On top of that, she rather watched her side bottle an easy 0-2 first-half lead by losing 3-2 at full time.

It came after Riley Tiernan scored the opener inside 10 minutes, with Katie Zelem doubling the lead just before the break. While it seemed things were under control for the away side, the Pride wasn’t ready to give. They began their goal fiesta after the hour mark as Marta and Barbra Banda equalized in the space of five minutes.

The pressure kept ACFC on their toes as the home side kept finding chances to find a winner until the stoppage time proved favorable. An unfortunate clearance inside the six-yard box from left-back M.A. Vignola resulted in an own goal. As the match ended, the Angels returned home with nothing but despair. While you would expect the supporters to remain upset over the loss, the attention is on a completely different topic!

Angel City fans fume over Christen Press’ situation

Following the full-time whistle at Inter & Co. Stadium, ardent ACFC fans couldn’t hold their frustration over obvious transpired events. While the unfortunate defeat is one thing, the absence of Christen Press was salt on their wounds.

Just the beginning of this year, the 36-year-old had sent her ardent supporters over the moon by announcing her year-long contract extension at the club. On top of that, a tough ACL tear had already sidelined Press for over two seasons across both club and country. Now, despite appearing fully fit, she still isn’t getting the playing time she deserves:

“We want CP23! She worked hard to recover and come back. She deserves more respect!”

Did you know? After making her debut of the season in the Seattle game, Press shared a heartfelt message saying, “Woke up this morning and wanted to say THANK YOU. I felt so much love from my teammates and fans in the stadium last night in just the few minutes I played. What a gift you all are! Great team win!” which even garnered quite a support from her fans. So you can imagine that fans want nothing but good for their star player:

“Christen Press deserves so much better”

On one hand, there’s a chance fans might give Sam Laity the benefit of the doubt for cautiously using Press due to her injury concerns. Then again, the least he could do is try to give the former Manchester United star more game time. Just imagine it yourself: a 39-year-old Marta is still scoring goals, but a 36-year-old Christen Press can’t? Boy, she deserves better!

“I have no words. I’m proud of the players for their effort. I don’t understand the lack of timely substitutions. It’s obvious that this coach is not ready to lead a team. Not subbing in Christen Press is a choice I will never understand.”

We just hope Sam Laity isn’t holding some sort of grudge against Christen Press. If, hypothetically, he is, then judging by the fans’ reaction, we’d suggest he sort things out ASAP. It’s clear that the team’s attack is struggling despite the younger talents getting their chances:

“Does the coach hate Press? Why is our most proven goal scorer the team was built on not playing when we are desperate for goals?!?!?!”

If you total all the minutes she’s played across three of the six games, it wouldn’t even add up to the first half of a standard match. Yes, you heard that right. For ardent fans, it feels like nothing short of pure disrespect toward the face of the club:

“Christen Press: top 10 forward all time country and league, had better stats in less time than the players starting over her literally last game, says she’s healthy, literally started a game last season post injury yet this Sam Laity guy treats her like she doesn’t exist? He’d rather lose than play the face of the franchise, if that’s not a fireable offense I don’t know what is.”

This is just a glimpse of the reactions from ardent Angel City fans, as many are clearly not impressed with Sam Laity’s decision-making. While it’s true he is set to leave on June 1st, with new head coach Alexander Straus taking over, there have already been calls for the interim manager’s immediate sacking.

Then again, it’s only a matter of time before that change officially happens. Until then, all one can do is advise Laity to sort things out—especially when it comes to the playing time surrounding Christen Press.