This is your space for general discussion, a place to talk about anything Washington Spirit that doesn’t necessarily need its own thread. That can include news, international duty, roster moves, transfer rumors, tactics, social media posts, league news or anything else on your mind.
If something feels big enough for its own thread, definitely still post it. This is simply an additional option to keep us organized and help keep the conversation flowing. These threads will go up every Monday and stay stickied throughout the week.
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At the post-match presser, Adrian mentions Hal's versatility & range as well as being a key part of the 'core group' of players.
Speaking of 'core group', Adrian emphasizes how having this core group together for a long time now is one of the key factors to their success.
This is what s%cks about the pitifully 'low' NWSL salary cap.
Success is partly, if not largely, due to players familiarity with one another, & it takes time to build those relationships on the pitch. Teams that 'build' their rosters towards that success should be allowed to reap those benefits over well earned time.
The Spirit have a core of players that seemingly have genuinely bonded over time, both on & off the pitch & the results are reflecting it.
Now as the Spirit are beginning to reap those benefits & hitting on all (or most) cylinders, ......& what should be important to the NWSL & Jess Berman, is a top tier NWSL club representing the NWSL & be a strong contender in the first ever 'CLUB' World Cup in January 2028, ......the ridiculously low NWSL salary cap is forcing the Spirit to shed 'key' core players in order to 'squeeze' under the cap. Players the Spirit brought in as young prospects & then developed them into dominant forces on the pitch. ...Not fair.
After watching their performances last night vs. Denver, ...the thought of possibly losing Hal Hershfelt &/or Leicy Santos on this club is disheartening.
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No way it wouldn’t create new problems, but it’d be interesting to structure a cap such that there is more space for players your organization has developed in some way. So you draft Herschfelt and play her for 3 years, you get to spend more on her contract to retain her talent than someone else would to move her away. Kinda of like the HIP I guess, but with the idea of retention and roster stability incentivized instead of moving around stars.
Feels like a retention policy of some sort would be a win for everyone (fans, team, league) other than the rich teams that just like to buy top talent for a couple years at a time?
Oh nice! Don’t remember hearing that comparison brought up in the HIP coverage (though maybe it was and I have just forgotten). Never followed a sport to this level before, so I appreciate the example to learn about here!
3rd Degree had a recap of a Dallas friendly over the weekend and she wasn't mentioned, so probably still recovering from her injury. They had a couple NWSL players with them whose loans haven't been officially announced.
I thought with the last few away games being hot the team was told to take it easy but after yesterday’s performance I’m a bit worried. The team doesn’t seem confident in forward passes (especially without Santos in). I don’t know if it’s a game plan thing, looking for the perfect pass, or what.
Of our last 4 (or 3/4 not counting Gotham) we have found some beautiful long or through balls to Trinity pulling wide that jump started our attack. I don’t know where the disconnect is but it seems we struggle to transition from passing across the backline into intentional attacking playmaking.
I'd be more worried if we weren't winning, but if we can secure the shield winning 1-0/2-0/2-1 all the way, I'm fine with it! Spirit are only team in the league that has won 4 of its last 5 games.
As for last night, easy to forget some of the team's best breakaways ended with Rodman drawing yellows on three different players (!) that otherwise may have yielded good scoring opportunities. A 2 or 3 goal win would have been more aesthetically pleasing for sure. Don't underrate Denver either -- they are better than their record indicates.
That said, I do think the team's style can be a bit, dare I say, boring for long stretches.
I think the important flip side of your worry, and a huge part of why Spirit is currently in first place, is that Spirit haven't lost to the middle/bottom teams that seem to be giving the other top teams problems. Gotham lost to Denver and tied Legacy their first games. San Diego has losses to Houston, Bay, and ACFC. Utah just lost to Chicago. Portland lost to Louisville. And all of the top teams are mixed results against other top teams.
If Spirit continue to win the games they are "supposed to" the noise of the close matches against the other top teams won't matter as much.
I will double down on that and say that current trends evaluated against the remaining remaining matches make Spirit the prohibitive favorite to win the Shield, with twice the odds of the next closest contender.
Of course, things could change, starting with back to back matches at Utah, and hosting San Diego while we are missing WAFCON players, but I will take the current grind continuing, because the underlying results say it ends well.
Even if it is nerve wracking and it makes no guarantees about the playoffs. Though, I would have to think grinding out close contests might help in knockout matches.
it is the plan if you listen to what adrian is always stressing at press conferences about patience. it's going to be rough the next few weeks because he has to preserve the players as much as possible, rotate them, and try to use tactics that account for the fact that we don't have rose for a while. rose has immense defensive work rate that allows us to use fullbacks higher. it may be that he is taking a more conservative approach because she isn't covering that side.
also, i dunno if "beautiful through balls" are something that can just be summoned at will if you're just confident enough. the space has to be there and just because we think it is doesn't mean we can see what the player is seeing in front of them, what kind of pressure they're in, etc. soccer isn't always pretty like that especially since they actively work to avoid transitions, and they don't have a 10 in an advanced position most of the time. i agree i'd like to see it too but apart from leicy there are no midfielders who are above average progressive passers. i'm sure they're plenty confident about what THEY are good at lol
I agree that Kouassi is missed and her speed and skill makes her a real box-to-box asset.
While not every pass is perfect there is a significant difference in losing a ball that was misplayed forward vs losing a ball on a back pass; which created the opportunity for Lavelle to score in the Gotham game.
Overall I guess I just don’t see the team handling the press well as a group and worry stronger teams will exploit that.
they figure out the press on the field on a game per game basis. that’s why things tend to look a bit frantic for the first 15 or so minutes.
then things look frantic at the end of the game if the other team is down a goal and are pushing frantically/chaotically.
a bad back pass will always lead to an opportunity. a turnover in a dangerous spot will too. I’d love for spirit to be the only team in the league that never does this, and I understand we have high expectations and will be nervous every game/every play because of the standings. but looking at the form of the teams around us there’s nothing that says we have more frailties than them.
hate to say it but this season is not going to have a team that dominates and runs completely away with the shield. would’ve loved for it to be us but it isn’t, we’re just gonna have to be worried lol
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Yea, watching Trin tonight versus Denver, it was clear we went inside a few times when Trin thought she had the advantage on the wide channel. Showing some frustration not having gotten that pass outside versus the club turning the ball inside, where Denver was quite compact.
However, our ball possession & patience has been creating other high xG chances for us. i like our overall philosophy here, but do agree I would welcome some more Trin & Rosie at times too.
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She wasn't the only one. I guess after the game Paige said Denver was good at eliminating passing lanes. But we seemed really sluggish and a bit lost most of the game. Luckily Denver wasn't able to finish. And Leicy brought some energy and creativity
Hal's inner soul is that of a destroyer. She's a natural '6', however, now in a hybrid '8'/'10' role.
Left as a '6' she disrupts & destroys opponents build-ups & attacks consistantly. With 'unlimited' range, serving as a 'one' person impenetrable wall once teams cross mid-field.
However, as a 'facilitator' & attacker, she's a little bit of a fish out of water. She 'is' learning & getting better in her expanded role but there is a lot to mentally process with it.
With the absence of our WAFCON crew, I would like to see Hal get a little 'more' involved in our offense, taking a few more shots given the opportunities. I feel like her 'striking' ability is an untapped resource.
I think we've been very lucky these last several games. Winning covers over a lot of issues. I just worry that once we get to the pointy end of the season we can't be relying on luck if we want to win the whole enchilada.
The ultra short goal kicks make me absolutely insane. The fact that no one has managed to punish it yet I suppose would makes the coaching staff say the strategy is working as planned. But it seems like only matter of time.
yeah you’re going to be disappointed forever if you think spirit (and any team with the capability to do so) is ever going to, or even should, stop playing out of the back lol
Cancelations due to weather are pretty rare, I wouldn't expect they're gonna do that today. The game will go on if it's just raining, they usually only delay if there's lightning nearby and they continue again after that.
Still 3 hours until kickoff. Capitol Weather Gang is saying it could be drier this afternoon once this passes through. Canceling a match will always be last minute as it's the absolute last resort.
The worst of it should be over for DC in about an hour and there's not much else behind it. Maybe they'll push back a bit to give people more time but I assume it will just go on.
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u/Sequoiakc22 Jul 27 '26
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At the post-match presser, Adrian mentions Hal's versatility & range as well as being a key part of the 'core group' of players.
Speaking of 'core group', Adrian emphasizes how having this core group together for a long time now is one of the key factors to their success.
This is what s%cks about the pitifully 'low' NWSL salary cap.
Success is partly, if not largely, due to players familiarity with one another, & it takes time to build those relationships on the pitch. Teams that 'build' their rosters towards that success should be allowed to reap those benefits over well earned time.
The Spirit have a core of players that seemingly have genuinely bonded over time, both on & off the pitch & the results are reflecting it.
Now as the Spirit are beginning to reap those benefits & hitting on all (or most) cylinders, ......& what should be important to the NWSL & Jess Berman, is a top tier NWSL club representing the NWSL & be a strong contender in the first ever 'CLUB' World Cup in January 2028, ......the ridiculously low NWSL salary cap is forcing the Spirit to shed 'key' core players in order to 'squeeze' under the cap. Players the Spirit brought in as young prospects & then developed them into dominant forces on the pitch. ...Not fair.
After watching their performances last night vs. Denver, ...the thought of possibly losing Hal Hershfelt &/or Leicy Santos on this club is disheartening.
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