After one day of lingering reports of an ‘astronomical offer’ tempting Barcelona coach Jonata Giráldez to head stateside, things appear to have escalated. Earlier this morning, Sandra Riquelme was back with another report in Relevo which not only names the Washington Spirit as the once anonymous U.S. club, but that it’s actually happening.
Included in the report are quotes from a Barcelona press conference the club scheduled for Giráldez to address his future. When speaking about his future, Giráldez stated “The only thing I can say about my future is that it won’t be in Europe.” Adding that it was important for him to not have to face his soon to be former club.
Laia Cervelló Herrera of The Athletic published a piece with even more quotes from Giráldez. He spoke of not being ‘worn out’ but being intrigued by a new challenge and opportunity to grow. “I am moving on due to the restlessness that I have, to grow, to be a better person and professional, to have better skills,” he explained. “I am a 32-year-old, and the experience at Barcelona, as an assistant and then as head coach.”
Crucially, for Spirit supporters, the interview has multiple quotes about Giráldez looking forward to adding to Barcelona’s trophy cabinet this season, which would make him unavailable to take the helm for the Spirit until July at the latest. That could change depending on Barcelona’s league position in Liga F (they won by ten points last season, and are currently ahead by nine points) and whether or not they make the Champions League final on May 25, which they’re expected to do.
When reached for comment, the Washington Spirit delivered this statement: ‘The Washington Spirit head coach search has been ongoing for several months with multiple candidates. We look forward to sharing the news when the final candidate is confirmed.’
There’s a lot to do before the tweet graphic can be deployed and an introductory press conference can be announced, but at this point, given the movement on this in Spain, it would be a shock if this hire didn’t come to fruition.
While we all have no choice but to wait for confirmation or an official announcement, it’s far enough along to start looking at other puzzle pieces that’d need to fall into place. Obviously the main one is just what the heck are the Spirit going to do until Giráldez lands at DCA. There’s no clear answer, but it may turn out to be a situation similar to U.S. Soccer hiring Emma Hayes, who also won’t be taking charge of the USWNT until the end of Chelsea’s season.
Sounds simple enough, but Barcelona play a distinct possession-based, intricate passing style. While Giráldez hasn’t been baptized in Barcelona’s holy waters for multiple decades a la Pep Guardiola, he’ll surely be hoping to implement something as close to similar as he can get. Which leads us to another puzzle piece to ponder: the squad.
Barcelona have two Ballon d’Or winners, the most expensive women’s transfer to date in Keira Walsh, a bevy of starlets (including World Cup hero Salma Paralluelo), one of the best fullbacks in football, Ona Batlle, Caroline Graham Hansen who is arguably the best winger in the world, and on and on and on and on. News of Houston’s big money re-signing of María Sánchez suggests the NWSL’s salary cap is set for a massive increase, there’s still no way under the league’s current rules to construct a team with a similar level of talent.
Trinity Rodman, Ashley Hatch, Ouleymata Sarr and Ashley Sanchez is a very capable and versatile front four, but upgrades behind them will be required to give Giráldez the best chance of implementing a possession based system. Namely, a midfielder with exceptional passing range and accuracy to complement Andi Sullivan. Another center back with comfort on the ball and quality forward passing (one supporters group had an idea that sent Barcelona Twitter into a frenzy), plus a marauding right back. With Kang’s ambition and willingness to spend, the transition in style would be easier if Giráldez had a player or two who want to follow him to the States.
But now to turn to the man himself. This will surely be one of the biggest challenges of Giráldez’s very young coaching career. His first job was to coach the Catalonia U12 squad, and from there he became an assistant under Lluis Cortes in 2019, eventually stepping into the main job in 2021. While coaching Barcelona looks exceptional on a résumé, he’s also had advantages in resources, talent and the infrastructure required to establish and ingrain a highly technical style of play.
None of this is meant to diminish his accomplishments – he’s still lifted a bevy of trophies in his young career, including the biggest one in Europe last season – but if he does eventually become the next Washington Spirit head coach, replicating a similar success in the NWSL will be a different challenge altogether.
Excellent work, Andre!
Great piece of soccer writing, I know next to nothing about women’s club soccer, but this was an engrossing piece.
Great piece, Andre!
First, it would be interesting to get more details from the current Barca players what they think of him. Cortes was very successful–and the players wanted him gone. Vilda won a WWC–and the players wanted him gone–he was part of the old regime. My point is: Giraldez is a superb candidate on paper. I hope that Kang, etc. dug past the resume.
Second, the Hayes example works in theory when applying it to the Spirit. But the reality is going to be a lot more challenging. Ideally you’d have someone coming in to assist Giraldez who would arrive in time to start the initial preparation, provide direction, begin to roll out the system. Ideally this person would be someone who knows what Giraldez wants to do and will be part of his staff going on BUT…also has a feel for NWSL. Otherwise you’re talking about Giraldez hiring someone who is coming in cold to NWSL and the players/league. OR…hiring an interim coach who is a placeholder until Giraldez gets here and only then does the team get oriented on how he wants to play. So this is a big challenge.
[…] by the only two bits of news about the club’s offseason recruitment. Barcelona coach Jonatan Giráldez being lined up as next Spirit coach is a flashing neon sign, and so would be the signing of Casey […]