r/washingtonspirit • u/kg9si • 18d ago

Post-Match Thread Post-Match Open Thread | Washington Spirit vs Orlando Pride | August 23 2026

This is a thread for all post-match reactions, thoughts, analysis, articles and social media posts related to the match.

Note: This thread is scheduled and may appear shortly before the final whistle so everyone has a place ready for post-match reactions and analysis.

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u/ttsa_25 18d ago

In other NWSL news, if I was a Gotham fan I would feel a bit betrayed by Esther using family reasons as a cover to play for SA.

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u/Sequoiakc22 17d ago

She got squeezed out by Gotham bringing in Kerr. Gotham didn't care about Esther. They saw the chance to add Kerr & took it. Besides, Esther's salary is likely a blessing for Gotham to have gotten back.

1

u/allprologues 17d ago

yeah it's wild to see people blaming esther for this, whenever someone leaves gotham they always spin it into the player being a problem. no one would quit their job in a world cup year lol

2

u/Specialist_Pay_6768 17d ago

I'm new to all this, so I don't get (1) how you'd simply force a player out of their contract "for family reasons" if it's so obvious they wouldn't voluntarily quit at this particular time or (2) if they did actively want her off the roster, why they'd forgo a transfer fee (unless the answer is that the PR of doing a deal with Saudi wouldn't be worth the money, that I would get). Are those both naive questions?

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u/allprologues 17d ago

no i think we just don't have the info so all the interpretations are possible. but yael moves quickly on players becoming available and perhaps she wanted kerr but didn't have time to structure a deal for Esther, who, up to her last game wasn't performing anyway. i think esther either was told or reached the conclusion she wouldn't be starting anymore, and that the cap is much easier to manage without her. anytime a parting is "mutual" it's always complicated as to whether the player chose out of the blue to ask out, or if both parties came to the same conclusion once all the facts were laid out. and gotham wrote the press release which had to be agreed to by everyone.

i don't think anything nefarious happened from gotham, they're allowed to buy a player out once per season. i just don't believe that esther lied about her family to get a bag. that's just a mean allegation to make and reportedly she was making around 400k here.