NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year Ann-Katrin Berger is at a point in her career in which everything is instinctive

Gotham goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger was announced as the 2024 Goalkeeper of the Year Tuesday. Berger’s achievement comes at the end of what is just her first season in NWSL, where she’s been key to Gotham’s third-placed finish in the regular season. Her quick transition and award-winning success as a rookie in the league is praise-worthy. It’s also testament to a bold, continent-spanning career.

The 34-year-old German keeper has honed her craft in leagues across Germany, France, England and now the United States, where she’s been pivotal to the Bats’ performances. Each stage of that 15-year journey helped perfect different elements of her game, shaping the dynamic keeper aiding Gotham’s hopes of repeat-Championship glory.

Berger's beginnings in Germany

“Germany was all about fitness... As a goalkeeper, I even had to do the fitness tests and everything. So it was very physical back then," Berger told INDIVISA on her roots in Germany, where she played professionally for VfL Sindelfingen and Turbine Potsdam.

From there, Berger moved to PSG, where she moved to get better with her feet.

“I saw an opportunity to go to France, to Paris," she said. "I always loved to play football, and I felt like in Germany, I didn't have that part in my game. That's why I went to Paris, to get better on my feet.”

Her next two stops were both in England, first with Birmingham City and then with Chelsea in the English top flight.

“That was a stage of my career that I just wanted to play. Play. That's it," she said. "Because most of the time I was second [choice goalkeeper], sometimes even third. So I just thought it's the right time to now start to put everything in place, and show the world, and show everyone who I am and what I'm able to do.”

Over the course of two seasons with Birmingham City, Berger was diagnosed with cancer, was treated, and triumphantly returned to the field. As intended, she showed the world what she could do, and was signed to Chelsea after two years in the Championship.

In London, where she played for now USWNT manager Emma Hayes, Berger helped The Blues collect four WSL titles, two League Cup trophies and three FA Cup trophies. She also won the WSL Golden Glove for the 2020-21 season, and was named to the PFA Team of the Year three more times.

“The English League is very physical," she said. "You need a lot of strength. You need a lot of fitness. You need everything, almost combined.”

This April, she opted for a new challenge, moving to play for Gotham FC in the NWSL.

“In America, I had to learn really, really quick, that I have to think quicker," she said. "Because obviously here is quite counter attacking strategies, which I quite like… I can work on my positioning and everything like that, and also feet and [ball] handling.”

Making a jump to the NWSL

Since signing for Gotham, Berger’s on-field transition has looked seamless. In 22 regular season matches, the German shot-stopper faced 80 shots on target and saved all but 16. That’s the best goals against average in NWSL’s regular season (0.727). With an overall save percentage of 82.5, only Almuth Schult, Berger’s fellow German keeper, has a higher save percentage.

But Schult did so in a far smaller sample size, starting just 9 games for Kansas City. Notably, not all saves are made the same. When it comes to the caliber of goals prevented, Berger has the highest PSxG-GA in the league (Post shot expected goals minus goals allowed, which is a stat measuring the likelihood of a goal going in vs. the keeper saving it).

Berger points to her long history of adapting to different styles to explain her smooth move to NWSL, saying “First of all, it's nice that everyone thinks it's smooth and easy. That's already a good sign for me, and I do my work, right? I think because I had to adapt to every single league, and I think that that is what helped me in the future, that I'm really a quick learner and I can adapt to every single play of style.”

And while many international footballers may point toward exhaustive travel in an enormous country as a challenge, Berger seems to enjoy that most.

“You know, I think I'm still a little bit in the honeymoon phase," she said. "I love traveling, so I think I just love seeing different sides of the US. I don't think about, like, 'Oh, the travel, six hours will be long', or, 'We'll be back late.' I think I'm just really excited to see so many parts of America. And obviously with the CONCACAF as well outside of America, and I never thought I would see these kind of countries.”

The 34-year-old has had an immense year on the international scene as well. With Germany, Berger unfurled world-class saves and multiple penalty heroics at the Paris Olympics to help guide Die Nationalef to a bronze medal. She was named Germany’s Women’s Footballer of the Year for 2024.

NWSL Playoffs

In the NWSL playoffs, Berger was key again. The German keeper only faced two shots on target from three-time NWSL Champions, Portland Thorns, in the quarterfinal. She saved one of them.

Against the Washington Spirit, Berger faced a tough task. Two of Gotham’s four losses in the regular season came against the Spirit. And only the Kansas City Current, who broke the single-season team goals record with 57, scored more regular season goals than Washington's 51.

Gotham played that pivotal semifinal away from home, in front of the Spirit’s second-straight sold out crowd. Berger’s nine saves were essential to Gotham’s 1-1 scoreline after 120 minutes. For much of the game, it looked as if Gotham would pull it off, though the Spirit ultimately prevailed in penalties.

The 2023 NWSL Champions finished this season in sixth place. Despite their semifinal loss, they have grown, as they eye more long-term success. And Berger’s reliable saves were pivotal to that achievement.

At this moment in her career, that type of contribution is just instinctive. It’s what she does. Berger had this to say about whether any of her massive stops stick out to her:

“The funny thing is, like, probably I won't remember any of the saves I did. Because in the moment I just, I just do it. I don't think. I just, via my instincts, I'm just making the saves. I actually have no idea.”