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1 month ago
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On Sunday, Aug. 25, the Washington Spirit executed a dominant and decisive 4-1 victory over the second-best team in the NWSL, the Kansas City Current. For anyone wondering if the Spirit would be able to bounce back from an underwhelming few weeks during the Olympic break, they received their answer – a resounding yes.
The team that showed up on Sunday to take on a big opponent was consistent, versatile, and hungry for a win. The profoundly dominant performance begged the question – how has the team become so confident so quickly under a new head coach?
When head coach Jonatan Giráldez joined the Spirit after wrapping up his tenure with Barcelona Femení in the spring of 2024, players and fans alike were excited that one of women’s soccer’s most successful leaders would bring his skills to the NWSL side. The Spirit was particularly excited for Jona, as he is often called, to bring his “sophisticated approach and soccer IQ,” as Jackie Gutierrez wrote for The Equalizer earlier this summer.
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And Giráldez’s approach, influenced by his intelligence of the game, is working. The Giráldez method, which includes prioritizing maintaining possession and pressing with pressure, has proven to be successful, especially so when the team’s best players are on the field. And while it’s taking some of the younger players a little longer to adjust, the fact that Sunday’s scoring was broken open by the 23-year-old Paige Metayer proved that, under the Giráldez method, the learning curve for the youths is pretty quick.
Furthermore, Giráldez has made some executive decisions as coach that have helped round out the team as it heads into the second half of the season. The Colombian star Leicy Santos started and scored in her debut with the Spirit on Saturday, and the team’s newest star, Rosemonde Kouassi, got some minutes on the field as well. Santos was particularly useful in the midfield, working with veteran Andi Sullivan and young phenom Hal Hershfelt to push the Current out wide and dominate down the middle. In just under two months, Giráldez has not only shaped the Spirit into a truly dangerous side, but he has also shown he is capable of lifting them back up when they go through slumps.
However, Giráldez cannot take all the credit for the turnaround. The first three months of the season were led by interim head coach Adrián González, who laid much of the groundwork for Giráldez to inherit. Under González, the team was a little shakier, but they improved on crucial areas in their game, like scoring early and preventing early goals from their opponents, that helped solidify the team’s foundation.
González also emphasized the importance of quickly fixing mistakes, a value that has clearly been carried into the Giráldez era. González helped the team learn some crucial lessons, and now, when fully staffed with their best and healthiest talent, the Spirit are capable of playing at the highest level in the league.
Sunday’s results moved the Spirit into second place, leapfrogging over the team they just beat. With the regular season winding down and the playoffs looming around the corner, the already-successful Spirit seem to be activating their true potential at the exact right time.
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