Sveindís Jónsdóttir and Head Coach Alex Straus Discuss Preparation Ahead of Away Match against Seattle Reign FC
NWSL Angel City FC

Sveindís Jónsdóttir and Head Coach Alex Straus Discuss Preparation Ahead of Away Match against Seattle Reign FC

July 31, 2025 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Angel City FC News Release


LOS ANGELES - Angel City Football Club (ACFC) prepared for their upcoming away match against Seattle Reign FC on Friday, August 1, streaming live on NWSL+ and Paramount+, and regionally on FanDuel Sports Network (7:30 p.m. PT kickoff). Forward Sveindís Jónsdóttir and Head Coach Alex Straus were made available to press today to discuss the match.

Please see below for quotes from forward Sveindís Jónsdóttir and Head Coach Alex Straus:

ACFC Forward, Sveindís Jónsdóttir

On ACFC playing style at friendly ahead of her first regular season match:

"The friendly was really fun and I'm happy that I got to play in a match with ACFC before the league starts. The game was nice, we scored four goals, and the team played really well.

"We played really direct and that's something for me. We want to go directly to the goal. I like running as well, and I think this league is really physical. Just to be honest, I think that this move was the perfect fit and I'm just really excited to start the league."

On her personal goals and being coached by Alex Straus:

"I came here to get better, personally as well. I think the coaching staff is great, and I know that Alex is a great coach. I know him from his time in Bayern, and just to see how and what he did with the team there, it's just amazing. I was playing at Wolfsburg, and played against him often. The team wasn't really the best team when he got there, and after his arrival to Bayern, they just dominated the league.

"It's just nice to see what he can do, and I think he's a perfect fit for Angel City. The team wants to get better and is willing to learn what he has to teach us, and that will give me a lot personally, for my career, and to get better. I'm just excited to let him teach me more things about football and improve with the team. We want to win games, so that's our goal as a team to progress and get to the playoffs."

On upcoming match against Seattle Reign FC:

"[I don't know] too much honestly, but I think that's good for me as well, not to know too much about the team, go in with an open mind and just do my thing. We've been going through what they do in meetings. We know that they are a good team and they've been playing well recently. For us, it's just to focus on ourselves and focus on what we've been doing in training. We want to get better as a team and not focus too much on the opponents. We're just going to go in open-minded, wanting to win the game."

ACFC Head Coach Alex Straus

Thoughts on facing Seattle Reign FC tomorrow:

"They are fluent and have a team of very high speed players in the front line that can hurt you on the counterattack. They are also very dynamic in midfield. They have different options with who they play and who they're going to play together.

"It's difficult because they can rotate the team and change their shape from the start of the season. They do not play with the three or the five at the back, depending on attacking and defending.

"They are also very structured in every shape. There are spaces that you give up when you play like that, and we need to be able to exploit those spaces and identify those key opportunities with the right timing.

"I believe that we also have players that can give Seattle problems. We have speed on the first line and in our attack. It can be a very exciting game but obviously a tough one. It will be a good balance of experience and young players coming up. I hope that we are composed, showing stability and courage to go out and win the game."

On his approach to the second half of the season:

"We are still in that process to see how we can optimize and utilize every player that we have. That's our job going forward. There is going to be a little bit of new thoughts, some wrong and some right.

"We have been in the phase of trying and failing this season. When you come in a situation like we did where the head coach arrives in the middle of the season, it's going to be a season with trial and error to find the right things that we want to do moving forward.

"Make no mistake, we still want to challenge ourselves to go to the playoffs. We still want to win in the short term. It's not like we're only talking about next season, because I really do believe that we are very close to be competing for high positions on the table."

On what he was able to accomplish during the summer break in training:

"We had a week and a half where everybody was there. We had a big break that was cut up in different pieces. However, what we did focus on was our model of play and how we want to attack. We also worked on how we want to defend, to give more clarity for the players than we had before.

"We are trying things to see if it's the best fit for the team compared to the team that I've arrived from in Bayern Munich. We have been very successful in doing it one way and then trying to change to utilize the quality of the players here."

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