r/washingtonspirit • u/kg9si • Aug 24 '26

Weekly Discussion Thread Weekly Open Discussion Thread

Welcome to this week’s open discussion thread!

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.

Go Spirit!

8 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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3

u/ACW1129 Aug 27 '26

We could be anywhere from 2nd to 6th by Monday.

9

u/NarrowPiccolo9069 Aug 26 '26

Spirit IG has pics of Bethi at training today.

7

u/allprologues Aug 28 '26

and Ngock in full training today!

5

u/Glittering-Dish-7434 Aug 25 '26

At the post game press conference, the journalists that were present were saying that Paige said that they had a issue communicating on the field during the game. AG did not look too comfortable when he was asked about it. I think the line up and subs were not it for this particular game. I find it odd that Andi or Rebe were not given minutes.

3

u/Odd-Cable5436 Aug 25 '26

"Hey Spirits" podcast was very harsh on Spirit's offense. AC: "They make scoring goals look very hard."

  1. They were critical of not getting a backup AM to replace Bethune and substitute for Santos. Which, clearly yes. People in this sub have been harping on that all season. One point I'd add: They talked about Bethi serving that role but didn't talk about how she likely would have been with the team much earlier had WAFCON not been rescheduled at the last-minute. I'm sure that messed up the team's planning, so I'm a little forgiving of that.

  2. They also were critical of the coaching -- not finding a good counter measure for the low block, not adapting the style of play for the situation, and the team not seeming to be connected very well in the final third, even the players who have been together all season. They didn't straight up say it, but their criticisms made me wonder if they privately don't think AG is *the* guy to get this team a trophy. Could AG's seat get hot if the losing continues or they don't reach the championship? Is just being good but not great enough? Does AG get some slack until the roster is more balanced and the new players come on board, regardless of their record?

5

u/allprologues Aug 25 '26

it's valid to have questions about AG's approach. you could say overcomplicates tactics and that's what makes it hard for players to settle back in and harder to swap lineups. but i think by playing more controlled he has (or had mostly) fixed the defense we had under jona, and suddenly going more transitional would make us very vulnerable in transition, something we already aren't great at. instead he strikes a balance of being counter-attacking when necessary which is where a lot of our goals do come from.

so overall it's fine given that he is working with a roster that is not the most balanced rn. my issues are mainly with his game management when up against the more crafty coaches like JCA, seb and eidvall. if anything will keep losing us championships, it's that.

hot take: i don't think coaching is that important when you have the right/enough talent in place (just look around the league), but game management in high pressure situations is. making the right subs, wasting time, etc.

but sorry, them saying it's a problem that the team created more from setpieces than open play was the point i had to stop listening for now. setpieces are one BIG way to get around a low block where the opponent is getting a foot to everything everyone knows this. i get everyone's frustrated but it's nonsense and you're just crashing out at this pt

3

u/Odd-Cable5436 Aug 25 '26

Hard agree on your last point that the podcast underplayed the significance of being good on set plays vs. open play. Was surprised they even made that point, frankly.

RE: coaching, I see what you're saying, and I guess I mostly agree, although I think player development is something coaches should be accountable for when a team like the Spirit is sort of relying on younger players' growth (vs. a team like Gotham which is mostly just cycling in and out stars and vets).

I have wanted to take a deeper look at how many Spirit players have clearly improved since they got here, but haven't had time to do so -- maybe someone out in the media world will take a crack at it.

5

u/allprologues Aug 25 '26

two big ones i'd point to are kouassi and esme, they have skyrocketed. monday has had some kind of a disruption which is unfortunate but not sure what it comes from. sylla got onto her national team from being with us. tse is developing well. the team is presiding over the biggest evolution trin has ever had, currently.

but anyway. those who want AG out, it's safe to say will get their wish sooner or later. NWSL coaches are turned over at a crazy rate. For now, as long as he does not lose the locker room, this team could use the stability. he has performed better than most, finished both seasons higher than most, and i'm in no rush to get whatever weird scandiavian guy this league manages to find next

5

u/Odd-Cable5436 Aug 25 '26

Whenever the "AG may not be the guy" crosses my mind, I also quickly wonder "but who would be better?"

It could be -- and has been in the past with this team -- so, so much worse.

2

u/SceneResident2090 Aug 24 '26

I'm sure this was discussed in the post match thread but I'm just realizing we now have the same number of losses as we did in the 2024 and 2025 seasons when we went to the finals. 😬

7

u/Murph2244 Aug 24 '26

Really sucked to get home from the game yesterday and see that Sillowitz, whom we face next week, had a 10 save clean sheet as Bay won. Obviously there are differences between Orlando’s and Bay’s defenses, but after not scoring on Orlando’s backup goalie I’m not feeling too great about facing the NWSL save leader lol

3

u/allprologues Aug 25 '26 edited Aug 25 '26

context matters; spirit only got three shots on target on sunday so there wasn't a ton for backup goalie to do, lol. if the attack is functioning and there's a decent volume of shots on goal and setpieces, they'll be fine.

defense just has to be careful of the balls over the top to lema and keep it tight in the first 20 minutes for once

7

u/RacingTeddyR Aug 24 '26

Everything about this upcoming game should favor Spirit.

  • Bay is a struggling bottom of the table team

  • Spirit already won against Bay this season

  • Bay has to travel 3,000 miles cross country

  • Jetlag: 12:30 kickoff means Bay will be getting to Audi at what feels like the crack of dawn with a 9:30am kickoff in their local time

And yet despite all of that Spirit is carrying a ton of negative momentum. If this isn't a Spirit win I'm going to be mashing the panic button.

4

u/Ill-Fall-9823 Aug 25 '26

Those last two bullets are potentially important. Those first two are literally irrelevant. You could have made the exact same points about Orlando this time last week.

8

u/Financial_Double8104 Aug 24 '26

Can one of the players or someone burn some sage around the field, specifically the goal posts. Please and thank you😭

9

u/Square_Independent81 Aug 24 '26

Has anyone else noticed that Jose hasn’t been seen in a while?? 😭 I’m not saying our rough stretch is because the lucky coyote disappeared, but I’m also not ruling it out lol. Where has he been?? Has anyone seen him recently or know if he’s still hanging around Audi?

7

u/Specialist_Pay_6768 Aug 24 '26

Help a superstitious fan out: been on the fence for a while between wanting to buy a Santos jersey and not wanting to be a walking billboard for CVS. If I buy the jersey will that Fix All Our Problems, or will that Bring About The Bad Scenarios?

3

u/FanNervous6773 Aug 25 '26

That really depends on your luck. I bought a Bethune jersey last year 😬

3

u/Specialist_Pay_6768 Aug 25 '26

Username checks out

7

u/Cold_Chemistry_1579 Aug 24 '26

Definitely buy it, I have been convinced she’s staying. She’s really an incredible asset and I don’t see her leaving for a while.

6

u/allprologues Aug 24 '26

Reminder that you can keep voting for leicy even if you already have!