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.
Not on Bluesky so I don't know if you already have this info or not, but the team's stance is that they can't do anything because it was a DC Scores event at Audi rather than a Spirit event at Audi. Which seems like bullshit based on my reading of the code of conduct.
the players who traveled to Uganda or DRC over break can't return for 21 days/pretty much the rest of the season. thankful our front office was on top of it keeping Rose out of her first match. this was known for a long time (since the men's world cup at least, inexcusable from the other front offices if they had the option to not send their players
Maybe they should have let her take the PK. Kidding - she was all over the pitch in G1 playing her usual bailout the defense role as well as getting up top. She looked a bit muted in G2, but didn’t lose her spot. She’s incredibly tough fighting for possession.
wanted to share Blair Newman/Second Ball’s breakdown of the second match where they push back on attacking third/the entire internet’s assessment of trin’s “attitude problem” and what her actual job (obviously, to me) was on the day: https://secondball.medium.com/on-the-uswnts-2-2-draw-with-spain-225269b9efae
I’m not on the Trin is in poor form train- I think she’s still great. I also am not a MZ fan. I do think both at the Spirit and the national team (more so at club) Trin visibly shows a lot of frustration with her own teammates and it’s worse this season. This is not an opinion but an observation and it’s every game now. She might be the best teammate and those are just frustrations.
it's your right not to want to watch her be frustrated, but i'll put it the same way lesley ryder did on her bluesky: "I’ve watched enough Traitors and Survivor to know that way too many people think they know how to read body language."
Great read. Thanks for sharing. I would not have been as charitable to A3, or Zerboni in particular...
WoSo is too afflicted by this vibes based commentary, in my opinion.
When it is deployed to unfairly give a player a little more praise than they deserve, fine, but I really hate it when it is deployed to rip a player who is (as the article shows) playing well in a tough assignment.
I love Lavelle, but it seems like people are way easier on her than Trin. Trin doesn’t score. “ Her attitude.” Lavelle doesn’t do jackshit and it’s “ But she’s sooo smooth on the ball.”
Went to the Spirit Huddle event today and got to hear from Trin, Tara, and Leicy. Happy to report that Leicy was not wearing a boot and seemed well! I asked them if we were going to win this weekend and Trin said, "Hell yeah. We literally have to." Later on Trin explained that if we win we clinch, but if Gotham wins they may win the shield at Audi. They were adamant that they could not let that happen. I was impressed by the mentality they were displaying. They were talking about bringing home the championship and having a parade. They seemed locked in and it gave me a little hope that things will start coming together on the field. Leicy in particular insisted that she re-signed partly because she wants to win the Championship and she wants to do it with Spirit.
Love hearing that they're so locked in!! Just wanted to point out that Gotham actually can't clinch the Shield at Audi this weekend, even if they beat us. They'd be at 58 points, but San Diego could still mathematically reach 60, so the Shield wouldn't be decided at the end of our game. Either way, love that the players are using that as motivation because we NEED this win 😭
Trin is getting cooked online by everyone. I was going to say this prior to these games but I think her game has been pretty mediocre lately, Medina in her Spanish senior debut was exceptional against her. I hope she steps it up in the playoffs and doesn't choke in the finals if we get there.
Well, that's what comes with having a big profile and a big salary. Naturally, expectations are going to be high, but there are also people who just can't wait for a chance to dunk on her...
Obviously, 95% of the time she was receiving the ball with her back to goal, so there's only so much she can do in those situations. But yeah, she was bad in these games. Just really sloppy on the ball. What concerned me most was seeing her have back-to-back games where her first touch, passing, and overall technical level were just off.
I really hope she's not dealing with back issues or smth physically, because idk, she just looked irritated or like she wasn't up for these games. Something seemed off.
the entire team needs to step it up looking at their form recently, but she has scored or assisted half of spirit's goals this year so this is a confusing thing to say
I said the other day that despite the loss I thought Trin looked good in the first NT game but I’ve since learned from r/NWSL that not only is she washed and useless but — yes ,really — she should be 7th on the forward depth chart.
(One sane person pointed out that this same general crowd pronounced Mal’s career over a year and a half ago….)
I think she was not as effective in the 2nd game offensively as she was in the first game, but to my eye she was playing even more defense in the 2nd game, esp. with Spain's left OB pushing so high.
This prevented her from joining the attack as readily. In the criticisms I saw, there was barely any accounting for that.
Seems to be a tactical decision more than a performance issue -- that is, I suspect EH is asking Rodman to play deeper compared to the other players at the RW/RF spot. Heck Rodman, per fotmob, had as many defensive contributions as CB Davidson (5) and more than DM Hutton (4)!
If I get a chance to rewatch, I'm also going to see how often Rodman got double, triple, and quadruple teamed when in possession in the attacking third. That would also reduce her offensive contributions.
other things we learned from the geniuses on woso reddit/twitter are that her fame has gone to her head, she’s lazy, and has no technical ability and she shouldnt be a starter. also she fell off after getting her contract (pay no attention to her 19 goal contributions).
We need to raise the bar for what constitutes “cursed.”
USWNT got beat by better team. Dc United sucks. Defenders something somethin’ summin’. And fuck DC Power. That just leaves the Spirit.
WS has been better on the road than at home for a few seasons now. But no one would have taken this “curse” talk seriously as recently as last November when we’d clinched home field and knew that we’d be loud and psychotic in the quarterfinals. We’re seeing a good team go through some growing pains. That’s not a curse, that’s a privilege.
hey do you know if the travel restrictions have cleared for kouassi/in general? she’s posted a photo to her story in CIV training kit but can’t tell if it’s current
Ivorian coach said in his press conference today that the players who were absent from the first leg have joined them. I don't think they discuss Rose specifically, but one of the other players who missed the first leg was at the press conference.
Do you think we’re going to get Mars candy at fan appreciation day again or are we going to get dog/cat treats this year since iams is on the jersey sleeve now lol
Positive for no major reason. They looked better against Houston. Sometimes that’s all you need. Tons of people out but Hal, Clara, Hatch, Andi, Monique, and looks like Leicy in training (among others.)
Uneven perfomances have obviously been the theme of the second half of the season. And Gotham is the exact opponent that knows how to slow down our attack and make it stagnate as we can’t progress the ball from the wide areas into more dangerous ones.
However I think they’ve only played well lately on against all odds type of games so I wouldn’t be surprised if they win Gotham (H) and KC (A) but tie Chicago.
Regardless of the outcomes of those games I just hope they’re fun to watch. That would be the biggest gift no matter where we end up on the table and how we do in the knockout games to come.
with lot of international fatigue/minimal training, plus our poor form I don’t really have any expectations for a win. gotham have injuries but worst case they can go for a draw which means they can do nothing all game but pester us/make it really hard to move the ball. and their plan A is still in tact which is get one goal through shaw or rose and let the defense handle the rest.
Having watched the NT run through a "Spirit against Gotham" match... that is, decisively the better performance with a bad result nonetheless, on our own pitch no less!
I guess it makes me very...
I suppose I will be right just as soon as I see Howell or McCaskill put in their first borderline tackle... :)
I mean just because it is 2.1 of AKB's 2.9 goals saved above expected.... No reason to feel like the universe favors the Bats.
Yeah, that is right... A normal GK in goal in that game, and Spirit wins 2-1. AKB's performance against the rest the league, and it is at a minimum a 1-1 draw.
4
u/de-la_soul 10d ago
Vamanos!!!