Angel City fires Freya Coombe, the franchise’s first coach who struggled to win

Angel City FC, whose star-studded roster has woefully underperformed during its first 1 ½ seasons in the NWSL, fired coach Freya Coombe on Thursday with the team stuck at the bottom of the league standings.

Assistant coach Becki Tweed will serve as interim manager until a replacement can be found.

Coombe, who grew up in Buckinghamshire, England, played and managed at Reading before coming to the NWSL in 2019 to coach New York/New Jersey Gotham FC. Her Angel City teams, plagued by injuries, went 10-15-8 in two seasons, winning once in its last 12 matches in all competition this season. The team is 2-8-4 in all competition this season, having won just once in 12 games since April 2. Its two wins are the fewest in the 12-team league.

“Freya assumed the role of leading an expansion club with some of the most ambitious goals in all of sports and embraced this immense responsibility head on with strength, patience, and humility,” Angel City general manager Angela Hucles Manzano said in a statement. “She established a strong culture and work ethic that helped build the foundation on which we will grow. After considerable deliberation and evaluation of where we are in our season, we have made the difficult decision to make a change.”

Tweed, who was named Coombe’s assistant in January, also was part of Gotham FC’s coaching staff for two years. She has 12 total years of professional coaching experience and is an assistant coach for the U.S. U-20 women’s national team.