LONDON — Plenty runs through the minds of players when they uproot their lives and move thousands of miles away; a new country brings new teammates, a new culture and countless small adjustments. Yet for Chelsea defender Naomi Girma, one challenge when she landed in London from NWSL side San Diego Wave in a world-record $1.1 million transfer in January wasn’t about football at all; it was about using roundabouts.
A staple of British roads but a rarity across the United States, the circular junctions became an unexpected hurdle when the 24-year-old USWNT international was learning to get around her new country, and she enlisted the help of teammate Catarina Macario.
“She taught me how to drive through roundabouts, when to exit,” she told ESPN, breaking into a fit of giggles as she sat next to her compatriot while recalling the whirlwind of her first six months in England. “Cat’s been so helpful. And yeah, I think now I’ve come back I feel really settled, found my footing and have a place, have a car, know where I’m going. That’s been really nice to come back and feel like I’m settled.”
The memory sparked a wave of laughter between the pair. “I definitely told her just to follow the flow of traffic. [It’s] not that hard to follow the flow, which is true,” Macario said. “See where the cars are going, let’s follow them … I guess you weren’t prepared for the roundabouts, my bad.”
– WSL preview: Chelsea, City, Arsenal for title? Liverpool, Spurs in danger?
– Summer transfer window: Grading big signings in women’s soccer
– Keogh: Inside Chelsea’s transfer plan to become ‘America’s team’
Having been in London since signing for Chelsea from Lyon in 2023, Macario offered Girma lots of advice when she first touched down, but it wasn’t the usual clichés of “don’t forget your boots” or recommendations to try a Greggs steak bake; this was far more practical. “I just hit her with a Uniqlo [clothing store] link-up; this is what need from Uniqlo to survive the winter,” Macario explained with a grin. “That was very important.”
Those early weeks of mastering British traffic — the roundabouts, narrow country lanes and confusing motorway exits — became their own crash course in adaptation. But of course, no matter how settled London life might feel now, there are some creature comforts that England simply can’t deliver.
“A really good, iced-vanilla latte,” Girma and Macario blurted out in perfect unison, when asked what they missed most about America, before bursting into laughter again. The speed of the reply made it clear this wasn’t a new complaint, more of a running theme.
Girma admitted she has aired her frustrations plenty of times that the iced coffees back in California are leagues ahead of the questionable versions she has been handed in England. And then there’s the hot sauce situation. Unwilling to compromise, Girma enlisted her brother as a personal supplier, bringing over bottles of her favorite brand from America. One such bottle now lives in the Chelsea canteen, shared generously with teammates; the other is kept at home, very much off-limits to anyone but her.
A summer reset and family time
With no international tournament on the schedule this summer, the USWNT’s stars were able to enjoy a rare stretch of extended downtime, with manager Emma Hayes granting many of her European-based players additional leave between training camps. And, although friendly games filled the calendar for some, Girma and Macario were among those given the chance to properly recharge.
For Macario, the break was a chance to reconnect with home. After trips to Spain and France — where she celebrated the wedding of teammate Ellie Carpenter to former Lyon teammate Daniëlle van de Donk, now of London City — she returned to San Diego to spend time with family and friends.
Girma followed a similar path, crisscrossing the country before a few stops abroad. She began in San Jose, California, her hometown, before heading to New York to see family, then returning west to Los Angeles and San Diego. The 24-year-old even carved out time for a getaway in Cabo, Mexico, a welcome slice of sunshine before the grind of preseason resumed.
“We had two camps, so I guess we weren’t fully off,” she said. “But it was nice to just get to travel, see family, see friends, create your own schedule, train when you want, and I think it’s just made me more excited to be back.”
1:28
How crucial will Emily Fox be for Arsenal this year?
Emily Keogh believes Emily Fox is “getting better” as Arsenal prepare for the new WSL season vs. London City Lionesses.
USWNT and Arsenal defender Emily Fox, meanwhile, embraced her downtime in a slightly different way. A self-proclaimed bookworm, she admitted to going “rogue” this summer, swapping her usual diet of sprawling sci-fi and fantasy sagas for standalones and historical fiction.
“I think there’s been a lot of talk over the last few years of player welfare, being able to have a little bit of off-time amid the crazy seasons,” she told ESPN at Arsenal’s training center. “Being able to represent club and country, you do kind of find yourself just playing all year round, which is great, but I definitely think player welfare, mental well-being, and then physical recovery is so important.
“It was great to be able to have that this year and get that break, even just be home, be with your family, go on a vacation, little things like that. So it was really great to be able to recharge. Then we’ve had a very gradual, pretty long preseason, so that’s also been nice and rare. I feel like I’ve been trying to kind of soak it up and use it to my advantage.”
Fox’s summer family time came early, as her parents made the journey from America to Lisbon to cheer her on in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final against Barcelona — which turned out to be a successful trip as Arsenal won 1-0 and lifted the trophy.
The Virginia native, who started playing soccer when she was 5 before becoming the first pick in the 2021 NWSL draft after starring for the University of North Carolina, felt it could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her parents to experience the atmosphere of the biggest game in club soccer.
“Coming from the U.S. and growing up, soccer wasn’t everything for my family, in the sense that my parents didn’t play,” she said. “So I think now I feel like they’ve really invested and just love watching games.
“[It was] such an amazing experience [for them], both obviously coming to watch us and then just exploring a new city and getting to be with the families, getting to celebrate with us afterwards. The stadium was amazing. A lot of it was Barcelona fans and had that away-crowd feeling. But [it was incredible to have my family] able to come on the pitch with us after.”
Although the comforts of familiar surroundings were grounding for the USWNT trio over the summer, they ultimately reignited a hunger for the season ahead.
1:56
Can Macario nail down a starting spot with Chelsea this season?
The Futbol W crew discuss how Catarina Macario’s form last season will play a huge part in nailing down a starting place in Chelsea’s midfield.
A new kind of preseason bonding
Preseason training camps are one of the few chances players get to enjoy the lighter moments with teammates before the chaos of competition begins, and everyone makes the most of them in their own way. But neither Girma nor Macario was prepared for what manager Sonia Bompastor had in store for them when they returned.
Forget the well-worn classics of trust falls, beach volleyball or a trip to “Go Ape.” The French coach instead took the team to the Dutch countryside for something truly unique: sheepherding. The task? Work together to maneuver a herd of sheep across a field, a scene that prompted as many raised eyebrows as it did bursts of laughter.
“Sonia did say that it was going to be something that no one had ever done before,” Macario recalled, still incredulous. “I think someone gave her a mix of options in terms of team-bonding exercises, and sure enough she was like: ‘Yeah, herd some sheep.'”
Clips from the outing quickly made their way online, revealing a string of hilarious moments: players darting after runaway sheep, huddling in tight circles to draw up game plans, and even pausing for exaggerated deep-breathing exercises as if preparing for a final.
Girma couldn’t keep a straight face — when asked if she was doing all right, she burst into laughter before shouting “slowly!” in a desperate attempt to keep her composure while guiding the flock. Chelsea captain Millie Bright leaned into the chaos with a memorable mantra: “Think like a sheep, act like a sheep.” Erin Cuthbert, ever the realist, summed up the spectacle perfectly: “The plan … there is no plan.”
As bizarre as it sounds, the session worked, and what began as a slightly surreal outing turned into the kind of memory that can weld a squad together amid laughter, confusion and wool. Chelsea’s U.S. contingent can certainly add another string to their bow in terms of adaptation to the British way of life, but it remains to be seen how it will help them on their path toward a seventh successive WSL title.
