TBH I don't really know much about Jen but what I find interesting about her's and Ali's social interaction vs ali's and ash's is that for JA it is fun and lighthearted as Ali is pretty private while when she was with Ash it felt sometimes performative due to ad sponsorships to help Ash out. The one hill I will die on is that Ash was/is professionally jealous of Ali. In a preath interview Tobin and Christen were asked about how hard it was navigating playing together and competing for the same spots and Christen immediately responded that it wasn't that much of a struggle because she knew Tobin was better than her. This level of maturity is something that Ash lacks. Ali can feel safe in her relationship with Jen because even though they are both retired, Jen is accomplished in her own right. She isn't in competition with her partner. But with Ash, I felt like she felt she in was in competition. Remember, even before Ali's retirement, she was planning ahead by taking coaching certifications while Ash... I don't feel like she was thinking about what next. Ash keeps talking about how she didn't like football that much, it was just fr survival, but to date, she hasn't done things meaningful outside soccer.
🙌 Yes anon! Here for this! And I completely agree- I think AH was always pretty insecure about her NT role- 2 straight world cups with NO playing time is rough. Meanwhile Ali was pivotal in 2015- I think starter and played every game, right? Then came on for the final 45 in 2019. Pretty badass. Tho in their defense, I think the whole NT environment was cutthroat and brutal, so maybe both felt in competition with everyone.
And correct, she’s really done nothing of note outside of soccer. And it totally boggles my mind how she keeps ripping on the sport that opened so many doors for her. I sense very little appreciation for her former profession. Which is so sad- imagine spending that many years doing something you actually hated.
