Credit: Melissa Tamez-Imagn Images
The Chicago Stars are currently in Murcia, Spain, for the club’s first-ever international preseason camp. The trip is just one of many new things for the club this season, as new manager Martin Sjögren takes over an updated coaching staff and squad. The day before the team was set to take the field against Danish side HB Køge in a preseason bout, Sjögren and third-year forward Jameese Joseph spoke to the press about their perspectives on the season ahead.
Both spoke about how grateful they were to be able to be in sunny Spain; Joseph said energy was high amongst the players, and Sjögren discussed how the trip is helping the team gel.
“We’re a new group of players, we’re a new team, we’re a new staff, so being able to spend time together — I think that’s really important,” he said. “I really appreciate the club making this investment so we can actually be here and in Spain for such a long period.”
Sjögren mentioned that coming into his role, with the help of former interim coach Anders Jacobson, “I knew the players as players. I didn’t know them as people, and we’re still getting to know each other, which I think is really important; if you’re going to work together in a good way, you need to know each other: not just the footballers, but also the human beings.”
Those players range from grizzled veterans — Alyssa Naeher, who has been with the club since 2016, opted to sign a year-long contract in December — to green rookies, as Chicago’s front office has been busy scooping up rookies in the offseason.
As for those young players, Sjögren said the key to supporting them is understanding that development sometimes involves drop-offs in quality. “We all know that it will take time and it will take a lot of work, but I think we have some really interesting young players in the squad,” he said.
One such youngster, Aaliyah Farmer, comes to Chicago from Tigres UANL Femenil, where she spent a year following a strong college career at USC. Sjögren described Farmer as “a player that we can use in several positions, mainly as a center back, but also maybe as a center midfielder, as a six.”
Joseph herself is in the early days of her career, but that hasn’t stopped her from standing out as a top forward in the National Women’s Soccer League and in the U.S. women’s national team pool. Indeed, she was one of Chicago’s few bright spots last year, when they finished in dead last, and the USWNT coaching staff noticed it. “I think that it’s really nice that the coaching staff is seeing that, regardless of the season that we had with Chicago, they could [see I was] playing somewhat well for them in their eyes,” she said. “That meant a lot to me.”
As she endeavors to make a consistent impact on the pitch, Joseph said she’s focused on “expanding my knowledge in my game.” She cited last season, when an injury sidelined her for almost three months, in helping her through the process. “It really opened my eyes and I could really see myself in those positions when I got back on the field,” she said.
Sjögren said Joseph has many “world class” qualities, and noted that he spoke with her about being a consistent impact player for the squad, “for the entire season — for many seasons, because that’s what we want from Jameese.” Per Sjögren, he believes that if the forward can continue on her path, “we will talk about Jameese for a long time.”
Joseph and other young players have older players to lean on for support. Joseph spoke about how players with international experience like Naeher and Mallory Swanson helped her get through her “nervousness” before her first USWNT camp. And Naeher’s decision to stay with the squad “meant everything.”
“Alyssa has had a big role in my career here at Chicago so far; just her experience, knowledge, that she’s had, really has helped me,” Joseph said. “I would say I’m pretty hard on myself, so having Alyssa just talk to me and tell me it’s okay to make mistakes, and you have to give yourself grace, really means a lot.”
As useful as older players are as resources for a new coach trying to get his bearings at a new club, Sjögren seems to understand that the Stars need a fresh start. “You always have ambition when you come on as the coach,” he said. “You want to do, more or less, all at once, but that’s impossible. You just have to take it step by step by step.”
One of the standards he’s raising at the club is the intensity of training, both in the gym and on the field. “That’s a part of laying the foundation to actually be able to compete at the level we want to compete at when the season starts,” he said.
The preseason games will be a good test for the rejuvenated squad. In addition to playing HB Køge on Friday, Chicago will face Spanish side Alhama CF on February 11 and expansion side Boston Legacy FC on February 15.
Sjögren’s first priorities for the games are “wins and no injuries” — forward Natalie Kuikka tore her ACL on the first day of preseason back in Illinois — and aside from that, he’d like to see players start to implement the structures they’ve been working on in training. “It will take more time before I’m 100% happy, I think, but I think the players do a good job in training, so hopefully we will see some glimpses of that tomorrow,” he said.
Joseph says that playing non-NWSL teams will be helpful as they prepare. “The NWSL is a really fast, fast league, so maybe these teams will be a little more slower paced, technical,” she said. “You really have to think tactically, which will be important for us with Martin’s philosophies that he’s trying to implement for us.”
The new experiences will keep coming for this rebuilding squad. They’re playing their 2026 season in Evanston rather than Bridgeview, which is much closer to Chicago and is expected to attract more fans. “I think the atmosphere is gonna be amazing, and then I’m also really excited for the performance center as well,” Joseph said, referring to the club’s longer-term plans for a custom training center. “I think that’s the next step that the ownership is really doing for us, which is on the right track of growing the club.”
As much as the team is looking ahead, the disappointing past few seasons are not so far away. “What’s exciting me is maybe not a lot of people are believing in us,” Joseph said. “… I like to be an underdog. I think we have a really good group of girls and players, and I think we could really be a force in the league this season.”
Sjögren is hopeful too: “I think we’re on our way, but of course we need a little bit more time.”
