”Such an amazing experience that you don’t have in Europe—or in the UK, at least,” is how Gotham FC defender Jess Carter once described her time in the NWSL so far. Mind you, this comes from the very player who has enjoyed the highest tides of success with Chelsea, even securing prestigious silverware. But within months of her time in the States-based women’s soccer league since 2024, it has been the remarkable atmosphere that remains a highlight for Carter. So when the new Angel City boss, Alexander Straus, also joined from Bayern Munich earlier this month, we may not have had similar expectations from the Norwegian tactician.

And boy, do we stand corrected—it is the eighth day for Straus as the new ACFC head coach, and guess what, he is already in love with the passion of ardent NWSL fans. Well, this heartfelt confession was made during the post-match presser. Despite his first game ending in a 2-2 draw against the Chicago Stars, Alex’s highlight of the day remains witnessing the emphatic nature of the crowd at the BMO Stadium.

“It was a great experience coming here,” Straus began. For someone who comes from managing a European giant like Bayern Munich, one can only imagine what he might have witnessed during his time with the German club; the allure of the foreign beautiful game, iconic UEFA Champions League nights, and clashes with some of the biggest teams across the continent; everything you associate with elite European soccer.

Yet, in the eyes of Straus, it’s the NWSL action that stands out the most, even after just experiencing a single match day. “I’ve played at big stadiums before in Europe, but the atmosphere here, you felt like it’s 50,000. You really want to perform for the people and everybody here. Nice experience to get the first game out of the way,” said the 49-year-old.

Sure, 50,000 sounds like a dream number for any team to host at their stadium. But for context, the actual attendance for the Angel City vs. Chicago Red Stars game was around 17,538 in the 22,000-capacity BMO Stadium. If a venue filled to nearly 80% was enough to leave such an impression on Alexander Straus, just imagine the atmosphere of a fully packed stadium with even greater capacity!

Surely, it must be something that the former Norway U19 and U23 women’s coach wouldn’t have witnessed before. Then again, it’s interesting and honestly not so surprising how yet another foreign arrival be mesmerized by the game atmosphere in the States. The NWSL and its fans indeed seem to have a profound effect after all.

Then again, even though it was fascinating for Straus to be a part of this experience, his day still was bittersweet, something which the former Bavarian boss isn’t too thrilled about!

Alex Straus sends a warning to Angel City FC

Being a part of such an unforgettable experience is all fun and games until you end up enduring an unexpected result in your first match. Expectations had been high from both Angel City and Alexander Straus ever since he was announced as the club’s new head coach. However, the debut rather ended in an unfortunate draw.

Though the former Sandviken boss is happy about his team’s goal scoring attribute, he remains frustrated over conceding enough goals to stop him from securing his first three points. “The goal we scored; fantastic build-up and combination play; exactly what we are starting to work on here,” he added in the post-game interview.

“We gave it away in the first 25-30 minutes of the second half and that’s not normal. That’s new to me. I need to look at it, how we can help the players,” added Straus, insisting to have found the pain points of the team and rather expressing his confidence in fixing them as soon as possible. Perhaps that is something we get to witness in Angel City’s next game vs NC Courage.