da supremo： The 30-year-old tells GOAL about playing outside Germany for the first time, what makes women's soccer in the U.S. so different and playoff ambitions
da aviator aposta： When Maxi Rall talks about her life in Chicago after signing for its NWSL side, the Red Stars, you wouldn’t think she was having a good time. “It’s really busy, noisy, loud, a lot of traffic,” she says, in that matter-of-fact manner that reminds you she is from Germany. But despite wanting a little more nature to walk her dog in, she is keen to clarify that she is indeed enjoying herself; she’s just living an experience which is quite different to what she is used to.
After all, until her decision to move to the United States in January, Rall had spent her entire career at home, first with Sindelfingen, then Hoffenheim and, most recently, Bayern Munich, with whom she became a Bundesliga champion. Aged 30, she chose to try something new. Some 4,000 miles west, in Illinois, that’s exactly what she’s found.
“It is really different, but that was the reason why I came here to be honest, because I was my whole life in Germany and I knew everything about it there,” Rall tells GOAL. “It was nice, but it was my comfort zone and I had to leave it. If I look at the last five months, it's so crazy to start somewhere completely new. You have no idea how it's going in another country, another culture, another language. I mean, I have to speak in English the whole day. This is different. But it brings me so much. That's why I love it.”
GettyChange of scenery
The differences between Europe and the U.S. are often discussed in the women’s game. While the former has an historic soccer culture, the latter boasts the most successful women’s national team. Debates are frequent on which side of the pond has the better domestic league then, and while some may agree to disagree in that respect, there’s no argument that the two have different strengths and benefits for players.
Rall describes moving to Chicago as a “jump in the cold water” because of how different it is to what she knows, a jump she decided to make as she knows that she doesn’t have too many years left of her career. “In Europe, I was not that interested,” she says, talking about other options she had for a new adventure. “I don't know why, because I wanted something completely different maybe. I've been to a lot of countries in Europe and I just wanted to see the U.S. I had some context with Babett [Peter, Red Stars assistant general manager] because she's also German, so that's why the connection to Chicago came up. That's why I ended up here.”
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Coming into a roster predominantly made up of American players, it has been a little strange being “the other one”, in Rall’s words, but it’s a welcoming group that “made it really easy to feel good”. Off the pitch, she’s been able to settle as well. “I'm 30, so I'm grown up. I can handle some different situations.”
It’s on the pitch that she describes as “a little bit more difficult” because of the contrast between soccer in the U.S. and back home in Germany. “I think the style of playing where I come from, and what the girls are maybe used to, is different. It's way more transitional and we're not that all-possession team, so this is a big difference for me, I have to say. To adapt to this style of playing will take some time, for sure.”
USA TODAY SportsDifferences off the pitch
That leads us on nicely to talk about those differences, and Rall is particularly well-placed to discuss them. Though she does note the style of play being an adjustment, the big things she picks out when asked to compare and contrast are actually cultural. There is “the entertainment around a game” and also the consistent numbers that come through the gates to watch matches unfold in the NWSL.
“Of course, the stadiums, because there are not that many people watching these games in Germany,” Rall notes. “Sometimes, okay, one or two times a year you have also big stadiums, especially when you play Champions League, then more and more clubs getting into the big stadiums. But otherwise, when you play the league… In some clubs, there are almost no people to watch the games, so this is completely different.”
It's certainly an area where Germany, and some other top leagues across Europe, need to improve – and are trying to do so. The average attendance in the 2023-24 Frauen Bundesliga sat at 2,876, with Wolfsburg boasting the best club average at 5,691 and Duisburg the worst at 991. Meanwhile, the average attendance in the NWSL so far in 2024 is 11,322 and the lowest club-specific average is 5,652.
USA TODAY SportsAnyone can beat anyone
There’s a huge difference in the competitiveness of the NWSL and the leagues in Europe, too. In Germany, England, France and Spain in particular, there are often the haves and have-nots. There is a group of really top teams with a lot of resources, some competitive upper mid-table sides that battle hard for Champions League spots and then there are sides that most expect those towards the summit to beat.
In the NWSL, which has factors like a college draft, for example, that try to keep the league close and competitive at all times, any team can genuinely beat any team. Last year, former Real Madrid striker Esther Gonzalez, now at Gotham, said that every NWSL game was "like a Champions League game, at the highest level". As the division enters its mid-season break in 2024, even the bottom team – the Utah Royals, a new expansion side – is only nine points off a playoff place.
“In Germany, you have three or four [teams], so they are on top, and then there is the rest, and there are the lower teams, maybe two really bad teams. It's almost or often clear who is winning each game,” Rall explains. “Here, this is completely different. This is also really nice and this is making the league really fun to watch.
“But if you play for Munich and you play against a lower team, you know you have to win. There is no question. You're not allowed to lose, so this is then something different. You have a little bit more pressure, you know you have to and if you don't, then it's burning this week in the facility. This is another kind of pressure I think you had, especially at Bayern, but here, you never know. You can beat anyone and you can lose against everyone.”