The Gotham FC GM has detailed the next step he wants to take to protect players

Gotham FC general manager Yael Averbuch West penned his annual letter to fans this week, expressing his excitement about the club’s upcoming title defence.

But Averbuch West’s words also highlighted the organization’s relentless desire to be the undisputed best.

Gotham has had one of the most dominant postseason teams in recent memory, winning two of the last three NWSL championships. But the dominance seen every November was not the same during the regular season.

By Gotham’s strict standards, that’s unacceptable.

So Averbuch West has publicly revealed what Gotham expects in 2026 as a form of accountability.

“One of our goals is to be a perennial NWSL team and a true Shield contender,” he wrote. “We want to be consistent. We want to play our best football in the playoffs, and we want our regular season performance to reflect the level we are at.”

In an interview with The Post before Saturday’s season opener against Boston, Averbuch West expressed a similar sentiment.

“We feel very ambitious about where we still want to go,” Averbuch West said. “We both felt dissatisfied with the season and obviously we’re very satisfied and happy with the way it ended.”

It’s kind of poetic that Gotham is about to open its title Saturday at Gillette Stadium, home to one of modern sports’ greatest dynasties. Gotham aspires to have Patriots-level success, where opposing fans are enraged by how good the club has always been.

Gotham always seems to be at its best at the right time under the leadership of Juan Carlos Amorós. But club brass expects more.

“We’ve seen bits and pieces of both, but we haven’t put together a full season of dominance like we’d like,” Averbuch West said. “And that takes time, that takes continuous progress, but we have a great desire to reach a new level of consistent high performance.”

That means being bold, like the signing of Norwegian star Guro Reiten from Chelsea FC this week.

Sometimes, it means making tough decisions, like trading forward Gabi Portilho to the San Diego Wave last week.

“We’re always evaluating… What does the future look like here? What does the future look like for the player?” Averbuch West said. “And at the end of the day, we were very sad to say goodbye but I think it was the best thing for everyone.”

Gotham has retained its championship core, bolstered by 2025 leading scorer Esther González, forward Midge Purce, midfielders Rose Lavelle, Jaedyn Shaw and Jaelin Howell, defenders Emily Sonnet and Bruninha and goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger.

Gotham also signed Florida State star Jordynn Dudley, who was supposed to be the top forward in college last season, and Stanford forward Andrea Kitahata.

Gotham had the shortest season of any NWSL team. After playing the final game of the season, the inaugural CONCACAF title winners reunited in January to represent the NWSL in the first FIFA Women’s Club World Cup.

Gotham wanted the Women’s Champions Cup to be an extension of its 2025 tournament. This tournament was an opportunity for Gotham to start 2026 by sending a message to the world stage and becoming world champions.

They failed, being surprised in the semi-finals by Brazilian team Corinthian.

“We learned a tremendous amount,” Averbuch West said. “We’re disappointed with our finish. We wanted to win it, we definitely wanted to get to the finals, so there’s no escaping that…. We knew it was going to be difficult and we couldn’t win that game the way we expected.”

Gotham is looking to apply those lessons this season.

The biggest thing Averbuch West wants this season?

“It’s about consistency throughout the season,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we need to be better in Game 1. The thing I like that we’ve done throughout the season that Juan has been here is that our team has been strong everywhere and peaked at the right time. And I think that’s very important. At the same time, I think we’d like to see a consistent formation and a consistent set of plays to get to the level that we get to get to the level that we know half of every game.”