A new NWSL season is almost here, and for Washington Spirit that means the start of a campaign to improve on an already impressive 2024. Last year, the Spirit finished second in both the shield race and championship, and they capped it off last week by beating Orlando Pride in the Challenge Cup.

While head coach Jonatan Giráldez has said he doesn’t like to fixate on a particular outcome, preferring to emphasize daily improvement, it’s clear he and his team won’t be happy with less than winning it all. At an end-of-season fan event, he declared, “We want to give these people [the fans] what they deserve, which is a f—ing trophy.”

Have the Spirit done what they needed in the offseason to nab that trophy? We’ll soon find out. For now, let’s look at some of the changes and development at Washington leading into the new season.

Offseason departures

The Spirit said goodbye to an unusually small (for them) number of players this offseason, clearly looking to build around the core group of players that saw them to the Championship last year. Captain Aubrey Kingsbury spoke in preseason about how good it felt to come back to “a strong foundation.”

“We’re just getting started. I think that with Michele [Kang]’s leadership, Mark [Krikorian], and Jona [Giráldez], we’re building something stable,” she said.

That doesn’t mean the offseason was without any heartache. Anna Heilferty, Lena Silano, Annaïg Butel, Civana Kuhlmann, Jenna Butler, and Waniya Hudson departed the team after their contracts were not renewed. Nicole Barnhart also announced her retirement in December but was shortly thereafter announced as the team’s newest assistant coach.

Roster

For a team without many open roster spots, Washington Spirit made a lot of pick-ups in the offseason. They signed two rookies, two free agents (one returning), and five players from other leagues (including one on loan from Olympique Lyon). To manage roster numbers and develop some young talent, three new signees have been loaned to Dallas Trinity FC in the USL Super League. Lingering injuries have also led to the signing of three players on short-term contracts.

Here’s the full breakdown, with new Spirit players in italics.

Goalkeepers (4): Kaylie Collins, Lyza Jessee (SEI), Aubrey Kingsbury, Sandy MacIver (INTL) 
Defenders (10): Rebeca Bernal (INTL), Gabby Carle, Kiley Dulaney (STR), Casey Krueger, Tara McKeown, Paige Metayer, Esme Morgan (INTL), Shadia Nankya (LOAN), Kysha Sylla (INTL), Kate Wiesner 
Midfielders (10): Deborah Abiodun (LOAN), Croix Bethune (SEI), Meg Boade (STR), Courtney Brown, Hal Hershfelt, Narumi Miura (INTL), Chloe Ricketts (U18), Leicy Santos (INTL), Heather Stainbrook, Andi Sullivan (SEI) 
Forwards (9): Tamara Bolt (LOAN), Margie Detrizio (STR), Emma Gaines-Ramos (SEI), Ashley Hatch, Rosemonde Kouassi (INTL), Makenna Morris, Brittany Ratcliffe, Trinity Rodman, Ouleye Sarr (INTL, SEI) 

These new signings fill in gaps in the defensive midfield and center back roles left by Andi Sullivan’s injury and Butel’s return to France. However, recent injuries and the continued recuperation of Ouleye Sarr mean that the forward line feels a little less complete.

UPDATE: Shortly, after this preview was published, the Spirit announced Croix Bethune has been removed from the SEI list ahead of the first match of the season. Expect this to change a few things, including the projected Starting XI below.

Likely lineup

Some factors make predicting Washington’s standard lineup difficult. First, Giráldez is known to make regular changes to his Starting XI to encourage competition among his players and ensure as many as possible are game day fit when called upon. Second, the team currently has nine players unavailable due to injury. Many of them are expected to return later in the season, but it’s not clear who will be available and when.

That said, here’s our guess for the Starting XI of Choice in the early season.

Morris – Hatch – Rodman
Miura – Santos – Hershfelt
Carle – Bernal – McKeown – Krueger
Kingsbury

The back line looks pretty similar to last year’s, with an upgrade from Rebeca Bernal (more on her below). Meanwhile, Narumi Miura replaces Sullivan in the midfield, where she can partner up with Hal Hershfelt to share defensive midfield and box-to-box roles. The forward line will look most similar to the one Spirit played in the 2024 playoffs, but Rosemunde Kouassi’s injury could elevate Makenna Morris to the Starting XI on a more consistent basis.

Players to watch

Rebeca Bernal — The Spirit prepared to take their back line up a level by bringing in longtime Rayadas and Mexican National Team center back Bernal. Bernal is a proven leader who can score goals and begin the attack with an insightful pass as well as making a strong partner for Washington’s young CBs. She made her debut in the Challenge Cup at her second-best position, defensive midfielder, and brought an immediate sense of calm and control to the game, helping change it from one in which the Spirit were being outplayed into a victory.

Makenna Morris — Returning for her second season with Washington, Morris has a chance to have a big impact this year. She made the most of limited minutes last year, scoring five goals and making two assists in just 536 minutes. She’s also shown a strong understanding of space and a knack for being in the right one at the right time, resulting in her finishing sixth in the league on goals added when receiving the ball, according to American Soccer Analysis and first in non-penalty expected goals per shot, according to FBRef. A versatile player, Morris is capable of playing anywhere along the wing but expected to play primarily as a forward this year.

Trinity Rodman — Even as the Spirit develop new players and improve their depth, this team runs on Rodman. Whether scoring, assisting, or running back to defend, the MVP and Ballon d’Or nominee provides value all over the pitch. In particular, her explosive attacks and ability to create chances propel the team, and they’ve struggled to perform as well on the attack whenever she isn’t on the pitch. Between club play and her Olympics performance for the U.S. Women’s National Team, Rodman showed of lot of growth last year, leading all NWSL players in expected assisted goals and progressive carries.

Playing style

After they hired a successful Barcelona coach in 2024, many expected the Spirit to play in a traditional Barcelona style. While the team did improve their passing and use of space, they were about average in the league in pass completion and only possessed the ball 50.6 percent of the time, according to FBRef stats. The Spirit’s showed their superiority instead through the talent and adaptability of their athletic young players and their ability to react quickly on the counterattack.

While none of those strengths are likely to go away, Giráldez wants his team to have more control in their matches this year.

“I was happy, being honest, with the end of the season in terms of confidence, position, technical execution… and I think we improved in the second part the level of the team, especially in possession, but we need to give some tools to the players to make sure that we can improve that phase [out of possession],” he said. For Giráldez, that involves making sure they maintain intensity and position themselves correctly after losing the ball.

He’s also focused on changing the team’s tendency to drop points while playing away and, of course, creating more chances.

Predictions

After using the offseason to build on last year’s campaign and add some needed depth, things are looking bright for Washington Spirit. The one thing that could hold them back is the thing that kept them from reaching their peak last season: injuries. They’re building a system where depth and the ability of any player to step up on game day can see them through the absence of superstars, but player health is bound to have an impact on how well the Spirit can perform in their toughest matches.

Even with injuries, Washington can be expected to finish in the top four again this year. And if players like Rodman and Croix Bethune are able to return to full health, the Spirit should be lifting another trophy or two in November.

Lead image courtesy of the Washington Spirit