The Interview: Lindsey Horan

The USWNT and Lyon midfielder discusses Saturday's women's UEFA Champions League final between Lyon and Barcelona

Horan has become a regular starter at Lyon after arriving on loan from Portland (Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)

I’ve covered USWNT midfielder Lindsey Horan for years, but the crazy thing is we had never had a one-on-one interview until this week. I’m glad we rectified that! Horan’s Lyon is set to meet Barcelona in the women’s UEFA Champions League final on Saturday, and we had an in-depth discussion about the game, the USWNT and much more. (We recorded this on Tuesday before the news of the USWNT and USMNT equal-pay agreements with U.S. Soccer came out.)

The entirety of the written interview below is reserved for paid subscribers. As always, you can still get the entire free audio version of my podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to go for your pods.

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Grant Wahl:

Our guest now is U.S. women's national team midfielder Lindsey Horan, whose club Lyon meets Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League final in Turin, Italy, this Saturday at 1 PM Eastern. You can see it for free on DAZN's YouTube channel. Lindsey, congratulations on getting to the final and thanks for coming on the show.

Lindsey Horan:

Thank you very much, and thanks for having me.

Grant Wahl:

So this matchup in the final, Barcelona versus Lyon. Last year's European champion versus the five-straight-times winner before that. What kind of game do you think we're going to see?

Lindsey Horan:

Oh boy. Well, I hope an entertaining one for you guys. For me, I hope it's a win for Lyon. But I think you have two quality, quality teams. You see this Barcelona team that's come through the ranks over the past few years, and you see the style of play and kind of the Barça style that you see with the men's team, and developing their own culture and how they want their team run, and it's incredible to see.

And then you come with a team like Lyon, and obviously I haven't been here for that long, but the history here and what they've done in Champions League and then this year again making it to yet another final. It's going to be incredible, and both sides are playing very well. So I think it's going to be your ultimate final that everyone wants to see.

“I don't want it to make it sound like the NWSL is just this kick-it-long type of play, because I think it's really developing and it's getting better and better technique-wise, tactics-wise. But in Lyon, especially in this group, the players are so smart, so tactically smart, so technically smart. They love the game, they love watching the game, everything is about football professionally in that way as well … In the NWSL sometimes it's just purely physical and you have to beat that person to the ball or you're smashing into a tackle. It's just different. One's not better than the other, but for me, right now in my career, this is what I want to be doing and playing like this and playing with these women as well.” — Lindsey Horan

Grant Wahl:

You mentioned it, this Barcelona team has been almost perfect this season. Their only defeat in any game came against Wolfsburg in the semifinal leg two, and they still advanced. Is your team taking anything from what Wolfsburg was able to do in that game against Barcelona?

Lindsey Horan:

Yeah, it's really interesting to see. Obviously, their first leg is unfortunate, this happens in football and most times it's really hard to come out of. But Wolfsburg brought on the second game and won 2-0. They almost could have been back in. And so the things in there, the things they did, even in the first leg there were things, they found ways to exploit them and whatnot. I think for us, looking at that, seeing what was possible and what could be done, but also focusing on what we're best at and how we can exploit them and doing it to the best of our ability.

Grant Wahl:

So you're on loan with Lyon from Portland. How would you describe your experience with Lyon and what you've learned about the team?

Lindsey Horan:

To be perfectly honest, the beginning was kind of a rough spot. Obviously, I don't know if most people know, but I had surgery done in December and it was supposed to be kind of an easy procedure, a month, two months out, getting back into things like normal. But it took a lot longer with my knee. And there were ups and downs, it was kind of a rollercoaster ride for two months there. So that was hard because I wanted to come into this team and come in January and make an impact right away.

And again, this is just how football works sometimes, and you can't always have it your way. So for me, it's been controlling what I could. That's what we always say as athletes. And now I'm playing normally and I'm in the team every single week, and finally I feel like a normal professional soccer player again. And so this last month or two has been incredible for me to be back in the Champions League, to be playing games consistently, and to be in and around these girls is insane. The football, the quality, the technique, everything is just absolutely what I love. So yeah, I think it's been positive towards the end here.

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Grant Wahl:

That's great. I've obviously seen that you've been playing regularly in a team that can't be easy to get into for anybody. And it's interesting because I actually visited Lyon, I think it was October, I was doing a story on Catarina Macario, and even then people with Lyon were talking about Barcelona. And then I visited Barcelona more recently for a story that I wrote, and everyone at Barcelona was talking about Lyon. And it was almost like you all were on a collision course for this game. And do you view it that way? Has Barcelona been talked about a fair amount inside that Lyon team for this season even?

Lindsey Horan:

Yeah, it's hard to say again, because for me it's been kind of just focusing on me and entering this team, and now it's focusing on our team. I mean, you see Barcelona in the headlines every single week because of what they do with their league and whatnot, which is incredible. And again, I hope the league there keeps developing as much as possible and makes it more challenging for them, as I would say the same for the French league as well. But yeah, I don't know if it was always this collision course, that we always thought Barça was going to be in the final. I'm not sure. I don't know what my teammates think, because for me I was just making sure I was healthy every single week and ready to play these games.

Grant Wahl:

So Ada Hegerberg is a global star, and she was out for a long time with injuries. Do you think she's back at her best now, and what's it like playing with her?

Lindsey Horan:

Oh my gosh. It's incredible to see where she's at right now. She might hate me for this, but when I played at PSG, I always thought Ada was big-time when she was coming through the ranks with Lyon. And then going away, you see everything that she's accomplished, and she's still so young. The goals she's scored, the trophies she's won, the impact that she's made on the field. And then you go through an injury like that, and I hadn't heard the full story until I got here. And once I finally came, it's so hard, you go through your injury and when you're coming back, it takes a long time. It took me a long time and I was out for only two months, it's how it goes.

And you always wonder, are they going to be the same player as they were? And I wondered about Ada because you see it, you want her to do more, you want her to score these goals. I was just like, "She's almost there, she's almost there, is she going to get it back to where she was?" Then now, being in full training and seeing her every single day, and now seeing these huge games, massive games, and she's coming up and she's scoring the goals, she's making the impact and she's working her ass off every single day, every single game.

And she's back. It's so cool to see. And I think for anyone suffering an injury, obviously I had my knee years ago, and you just don't know if you're ever going to get it back. So for me, again, it's so inspirational to see Ada out for two years, not knowing if she was going to be at her best again and playing like she was before. And now she's scoring in the biggest games and helping our team win. And not only scoring goals, she's doing everything off the ball as well. So I'm really proud of her, and I'm so lucky to be her teammate. I'm learning from her and she's helping me here as well.

Grant Wahl:

How is playing in Europe with Lyon different from playing in the NWSL?

Lindsey Horan:

It's so hard to say. I don't want it to make it sound like the NWSL is just this kick-it-long type of play, because I think it's really developing and it's getting better and better technique-wise, tactics-wise, whatnot. But in Lyon, especially in this group, the players are so smart, so tactically smart, so technically smart. They love the game, they love watching the game, everything is about football professionally in that way as well.

So we're out on the pitch and just playing a possession style game 5v5, 6v6, you just feel the football, and it's so nice. Everything's so crisp. In the NWSL sometimes it's just like, it's purely physical and you have to beat that person to the ball or you're smashing into a tackle and whatnot. It's just different. One's not better than the other, but for me, right now in my career, this is what I want to be doing and playing like this and playing with these women as well.

Grant Wahl:

I mean, I wanted to ask what your status is with Lyon? Are you planning to stay there longer? Are you planning to come back to Portland?

Lindsey Horan:

Well, as of right now, I'm here for 18 months so I have another season with them. And then obviously I signed an extension with Portland after, so we're just going to have to see how the season goes. But the plan would be after the 18 months to go back in Portland. But I can't tell you what the future's going to be like right after this next season at Lyon. Kind of just going to focus on now and kind of let it speak for itself.

Grant Wahl:

Your U.S. teammate Catarina Macario is obviously at Lyon. How's she doing there from your perspective? And what do you like about playing with her as a teammate?

Lindsey Horan:

I'm so happy she's here in this environment. I think obviously I chose this route to go at a young age overseas, and I think the younger the better to come over here. And she's playing and training with one of the most professional clubs like I talked about and the style of play and the football that she's getting and the people that she's learning from. Look at the team and look at who she gets to train with every single day. 

And it's kind of like she has Ada here who's taken her under her wing as well. So that's really cool for me to see, and to just have another American here is nice and I give her crap every single day. But I think she's doing really well. I think she obviously has so much time and so much potential, so that's the cool thing. It's going to be interesting in the next few years what she can do and what she can accomplish.

Grant Wahl:

And I wanted to ask a little bit about the U.S. women's national team. There's been a lot of change in the U.S. team over the past year. What's your view on all of that and where you're hoping your place is in it with World Cup qualifying, that tournament ahead this summer?

Lindsey Horan:

Yeah. It's been crazy, huh? Every time you see a roster, it's crazy. It's good and it keeps people on their toes. I fully trust in what we're trying to accomplish with our national team and the way we're going and you know, players have to perform, players have to take things seriously. And you look at how we did in the last Olympics and it wasn't good enough, and we all know that, every player that was there knows that. And something had to change. And not that I agree or disagree with players not being here or players choosing not to come, et cetera, et cetera. We hear rumors all over the place, why, what are the reasons, et cetera?

For me, I want to see players working hard, I want to see players performing consistently. And that's always been the role of the coaches. I want the best players in camp, the best players in the league, the best players overseas, are they performing? Are Cat and Lindsey performing? Obviously Tobin at Arsenal, the players need to be performing. So I think that's always been the thing. And then on the other side of things, the culture, it has to get better and better and the mentality and everything.

Leading into this next World Cup, all the other countries are getting better and better and we can't just rely on our pure talent and the mentality that comes down to that final goal being scored or a player making an insane run and goal or Pinoe scoring a PK. These things we can't just rely on them anymore. So yeah, it's going to be interesting because you now have Alex scoring four goals in a game and you have players performing, Christen Press just scored one of the nicest goals I've seen in a while, it looked like a pure Christen Press goal. So it's going to be interesting what happens in the next few months.

Grant Wahl:

So you are dating a former guest on this podcast. Tyler Heaps is currently the Head of Sporting Technology and Insights for AS Monaco. Before that, he spent five and a half years with U.S. Soccer, where he became the Director of Sporting Analytics. What is the story of how you both met?

Lindsey Horan:

You're making him sound so important and great.

Grant Wahl:

As he should be.

Lindsey Horan:

As he should be. We obviously met in U.S. Soccer. This is the first time I'm speaking live about this to the public [laughs]. But yeah, we met at U.S. Soccer. He was in and around the women's team and the men's team, obviously. He was doing a lot for both sides and again, was probably one of the main reasons we won the World Cup after knowing what he did. But we honestly didn't know he's incredible. But to be fair, during our time, we spoke a lot more. I think we were always good friends, he always showed that I didn't know his name at the camps and stuff, but that's obviously not true. But we got to know each other a lot better, and kind of from then on we really developed a good relationship, and the rest is really history.

Grant Wahl:

Thank you for sharing that. It's funny because I was telling you before we started recording that when Tyler came on the podcast a year ago, I think you guys went public right after that. And I sent him a message like, "Yeah, you forgot to mention this in our interview." [laughs]

Lindsey Horan:

Obviously, I'm not that important in his life. Just kidding.

Grant Wahl:

But it's pretty cool. And I guess one question I have is, I know he had a really important role in U.S. Soccer sort of off the field, but did he also play some against you in training?

Lindsey Horan:

He sure did. Jill would always bring him in anytime we needed an extra number or whatever, especially during the World Cup. And we joke all the time because he has all the clips from training sessions or whatnot. So there are times that I took him out, like challenges, and he like rolled around for six or seven minutes and was being a little baby. And then he'll send me a clip of him scooping me and my playing the sweep ball to Carli. Like, I get this every few months or so. So yeah, it's funny to think, we were playing with each other all the time, and he thinks he's so good too. He's not that good. [laughs]

Grant Wahl:

All joking aside, he’s I would think a good soccer resource. Do you work together? A lot of people these days have personal coaches, and I'm not going to go maybe that far, but does he advise you occasionally or provide some feedback on the soccer side?

Lindsey Horan:

Yeah, honestly now, I don't know what I would do without him. I think he's probably one of the smartest guys I know in football, if not the. He just looks at things a different way, and I'm sure you learned a lot from just speaking to him because I listen to your guys' podcast as well and I learn something new every day. But he obviously watches my games and watches me specifically, and he'll give his feedback or we will watch our clips if I want to. 

It's not just like we have a pure soccer relationship, that's not how it is. But whenever I ask for his feedback, I can get it and he challenges me and we argue about football. We have, like, I'm an Arsenal fan, he's a Tottenham fan, so we get in fights all the time with that, so it's not fun. But other than that, he's super helpful and a huge resource for me. So I can't give him too much credit right now, but yeah, he deserves it.

Grant Wahl:

Well, thank you for sharing all of that. It sounds like you should have a reality show, actually, based on what I'm hearing. So for this game, I guess just to wrap up, Champions League final, you know the stakes, does it feel similar to preparing for a World Cup final, or is it different in some way?

Lindsey Horan:

I was actually telling Tyler today. I was just like, "I'm so anxious right now because I haven't really, obviously, before the World Cup final I hadn't been in that spot before, but I had been in a world tournament with the Olympics, and this is just different because maybe at PSG I never got this opportunity. I played in Champions League games, but when we made it to the final I was injured, and I've never really felt this Champions League feeling.

And it's different to the World Cup. And so each game, I've been just a little bit more nervous for, and obviously as the game gets going, it's great and whatnot. But this game is everything, and I think more so because I fell in love with the game at such a young age watching Champions League and watching Barcelona play. And it was always Champions League, you know. These were the biggest games, and now as the female playing in it and it being so huge, everyone's waiting for this game, and Barça-Lyon, it's everything, you know? So I think that's like this feeling that I'm getting, it's just like so much anxiety, I just want the game to be here. But it's good, it means it's important. And again, I'll settle down and know it's just another game, but yeah, it's a really cool feeling to have a game was such importance like this.

Grant Wahl:

Lindsey Horan's club, Lyon, meets Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League final in Turin, Italy this Saturday at 1 PM Eastern. You can see it for free on DAZN's YouTube channel. Lindsey, good luck in the final, and thanks for coming on the show.

Lindsey Horan:

Thank you so much.