FAQs about the Spirit's coaching shuffle. Plus: USWNT meeting Hayes' deadline

New York Times

2 days ago

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Meg is off today enjoying a rare sunny day in Vermont, so it's me, Emily Olsen, here with Tamerra Griffin — welcome to Full Time!
Another coaching change in Washington
Stop me if you've heard this one before: The Washington Spirit have changed coaches.
Two-time UEFA Champions League-winning coach Jonatan Giráldez is headed to OL Lyonnes, another club under owner Michele Kang's umbrella. Let's start with the news.
I've covered the Spirit in some capacity since 2015. If I had a nickel for every coaching change I've seen in that decade, I'd have nine. NINE! Sure, it's not enough to afford the new Inciardi art prints the team sells on game day, but that's still a lot of change for one team.
Those changes include coaches dismissed for misconduct, interims, a single-game stint by Angela Salem in the ill-fated 2022 season and now the give-and-go situation happening with Giráldez and González.
Spirit forward Trinity Rodman, one of the faces of NWSL, has yet to have a single coach for more than one season at her club. When I asked her at the end of last year how the team was able to get to two NWSL championships (winning one), she took an approach à la Bane's 'I was born in it' comment in 'The Dark Knight Rises': 'It's almost scarier when it's smooth sailing,' she said.
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What to expect from González
González is no stranger to Washington. In fact, he might be one of the most consistent head coaches in the last few years, even if some of that time was spent as both an interim and assistant coach.
González led Washington through preseason last year and to a 10-1-4 record through the first fifteen games. He helped the team to some of its best expected goal stats since 2021. (He did so with a healthy roster, something the Spirit haven't had recently.)
During the Olympic break last year, Giráldez took over. He built on González's strong start to lead the Spirit to the 2024 NWSL Championship, which they lost 1-0 to the Orlando Pride. Now, a year later, the reverse will happen.
The Spirit have dealt with a spate of injuries this season, headlined by Rodman, but are currently fourth in the NWSL table with a record of 6-1-3, five points behind No. 1 Kansas City Current.
González will have the international break, starting June 23, to reset with the team. However, the organization saw his familiarity with the players as a positive. Kang said González 'knows the team and has earned this organization's trust.'
Is this a bad thing?
Multi-club models have long been seen as corporate cash grabs at best and sportswashing at worst (on the men's side).
Kang has been well aware of that perception since she first looked to create Kynisca Sports International, a multi-team global women's soccer organization, by purchasing OL Lyonnes in 2023. She later purchased the only independently owned team in England's second tier of women's soccer, and her investment helped the team get promoted to the WSL.
The businesswoman told Forbes last year that the multi-club model is a 'necessity' in the women's game, especially when it comes to resource sharing. However, Kang has made it clear that players don't fall into that category.
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Despite the awkward optics here, González has a strong track record as Washington's coach, so Kang seems to be keeping up her promise not to sacrifice the good of one team for the other. And she isn't the only one expanding, as Kansas City Current owners Angie and Chris Long showed last week with their investment in Danish club HB Koge.
Whether women's soccer is paving a new way forward or adopting the bad habits from the men's side will take time to become clear.
Hayes' team 'on track' for June deadline
Head coach Emma Hayes said last week that the USWNT is still 'on track' to meet her June deadline for establishing a core group of players that will lead the U.S. in World Cup qualifying next year. She's even found the space to start developing the under-23 group the way she hoped she could at the start of the year (more on that in a sec).
Despite not having Triple Espresso (Rodman, Sophia Wilson and Mallory Swanson), this team isn't totally without its caffeine. Sam Coffey scored her second U.S. goal with a wonder strike in the team's 3-0 win over China on Saturday.
Pick out that corner, Sam 🔥#USWNT x @VW pic.twitter.com/bfxjDGty7s
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) May 31, 2025
Coffey — who leads with devotion, as she recently told Tamerra — is part of a midfield that's finally jelling, alongside Lindsey Heaps and Lily Yohannes. The team also has its 'security blanket' back with the return of Naomi Girma.
A fun aside: Coffey's game-worn jersey from the match, along with several other U.S. players' jerseys, were up for auction during the game (and there's still time to bid). Coffey's jersey is currently a great value pick for a goal scorer.
Keep an eye out for the youths
Hayes has been as adamant about developing this younger national team as she has been about narrowing down her group for 2027 World Cup qualifying. She sees the two projects as interdependent. That's why players like Jaedyn Shaw (20 years old), Korbin Albert (21) and Mia Fishel (24), who have senior caps (and in Shaw and Albert's case, Olympic gold medals), were named to this camp.
This is your reminder to start paying attention to the U-23s, made up almost entirely of professional players, during this camp. They played in two very fun (and refreshingly well-attended!) matches against Germany near Stuttgart on Friday and again today. The teams split results, each side claiming a dramatic 2-1 victory sealed in the final minutes.
Ironically, in the May 30 match, it was Evelyn Shores — the only collegiate player on the roster — who netted the go-ahead in the dying seconds of stoppage time to give the U.S. the win.
Today, in the second fixture, Albert converted a penalty drawn by the Portland Thorns' Caiya Hanks to get the U.S. on the board. But this time, German midfielder Tuana Mahmoud was the national hero with a soaring strike that U.S. and Bay FC goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz managed to only get a few fingers on.
Props to the German Football Federation for streaming both matches on YouTube. — Tamerra
📺 USWNT vs. Jamaica
Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on TNT, Max and Peacock
The U.S. closes this window with a friendly against Jamaica at Energizer Park in St. Louis, Mo. The game was originally scheduled to be a second against China but had to be changed due to a scheduling conflict for the Chinese.
📺 Spain vs. England
Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET streaming on Fubo
UEFA Nations League continues tomorrow with the final round of matches before this summer's European Championship in Switzerland. And after an emphatic 6-0 win over Portugal to silence the Mary Earps chatter from the public, England take on Spain for a final test before Sarina Wiegman unveils the squad she's taking to the Euros.
Never too late: USWNT midfielder Lo'eau LaBonta became the oldest player to debut for the U.S. women when the 32-year-old took the field in place of the 17-year-old Yohannes on Saturday. Meg Linehan caught up with the KC captain last week to discuss her first call-up.
Teaming up: The Mexican Football Federation will join the U.S. as co-host for the 2031 Women's World Cup, a federation spokesperson confirmed to The Athletic on Friday. The two nations originally went in on a 2027 bid before backing out. Brazil will host that year's tournament.
Tears, anger, end of hope: Blackburn Rovers' senior Women's team have been demoted from the Women's Super League 2 after the club decided against meeting the required licensing criteria to retain their tier-two status, plunging the women's set-up into an uncertain future. Megan Feringa reported on the anger, sadness and loss of trust from those impacted by the decision.
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