The “passes in the final 1/3” stat is what has been so impressive about the Spirit lately. They may not always win the possession battle, but they control the totality of matches in a way I’ve never seen this team do.

Rose “I never give up” Kouassi

Also, there was only one call in the entire match where I thought the ref was absolutely out of his mind, BUT… he is the most inconsistent ref in the league. One pull is a foul, the next is a yellow card, and the third is nothing. He loses control of matches and then starts behaving like a child.

Maybe I’m just a fan, but this Spirit team is arguably the hardest to defeat in the league. San Diego had one shot on goal, the Spirit had eleven. The Spirit generated 3.49 xG, San Diego only .82 xG. Complete dominance, despite a shaky end. Also, ROSE!

He’s arguably the worst in the NWSL.

If the Spirit halftime show was just the region's HBCU marching bands turn up, I personally would be delighted

Spirit played most of that half in a 4141 with Hal is the sole DM. Two interesting tactical decisions, though and I think that they’ve generally worked: 1. Deb becomes a 6 in early buildup with Trin going wide. Then they’re fluid in the final third. 2. Rose almost defends as a wingback.

This looks like a 3box3 with Deb and Hal as the two DMs, Trin and Rose as attacking “wingbacks”, and Leicy and Croix as the 10s. It could also be a 4231 or 433 with Deb as a CB. Knowing Spirit and Adrian, probably a bit of all three. Central progression and isolate wide attackers high up the pitch.

her DEBut is unrivaled 😌

Check out this site to see what results your team needs to make the #NWSL playoffs: playoffs.alisongale.com

Man I can’t believe how much the Spirit have changed since the beginning of this year. I’m so grateful for this team and for Adrianabd I love them so much

Gift Monday is special

Yeah, this fits my read of Adrian’s tactics. As I said on here last week, in matches where he doesn’t fear the other team’s wide threats, he wants to play a 4222/442diamond and completely overload the center of the pitch in all phases. It’s smart given how much attacking talent the Spirit have.

READ equalizersoccer.com/2025/09/12/h...

Chelsea won that match by combining a bit of luck with dominance in the air and recovering second balls in key areas. Good win, but the side needs to defend better.

samantha joanne bartholomew kerr, welcome back from war

SAM KERR

Adrian (and Jona) have tried three broad systems this year: 1. Base/3421 - I think this system we’re going to see less and less. It was primarily designed to give the Spirit back cover and play Bernal and Krueger together.

Adrian’s strategy today amounted to overloading wide areas to pin Kansas City back and prevent their wide dominance. It worked really well. With that said, if that’s the plan in the future, I’d like to see Gift Monday start out wide. She drags so many defenders when she goes up against a fullback.

Her being locked down for the next several years is going to be a gem in what they can do with this roster moving forward.

This really has not been Leicy’s night.

I’m pretty sure that the Spirit have decided to spite me by only ever taking short corners.

KC and Spirit always have really physical matches and instigate each other. They’re frankly not fun to watch and it’s a bad look when the league’s two best teams can’t play like UFC fighters.

Abiodun, Hal, and Metayer were fantastic in that half. Feels like if the Spirit go on a run, those three will be key to it.

Washington Spirit at the top 🤑

23 & 5- Since returning from injury in early August, @washingtonspirit.com's Trinity Rodman has attempted 23 shots across all competitions, more than any other #NWSL player, while her five goals in that time are second only to Ludmila (6). Ace.

Honestly, maybe the best first NWSL start from a midfielder that I’ve seen. She was absolutely unreal.

“Everything we’re doing is in service of the player centric vision we have” be fucking serious Berman. You wanted players to risk their safety bc of a tv network slot and then didn’t have the guts to postpone a game where a player was resuscitated on the field. #NWSL

Spirit seemed to want to overload the midfield and use that overload in a passing rectangle on the left or passing triangle on the right to get their wide attackers 1v1. It worked brilliantly, especially after Santos became the false nine allowing Trin and Cantore to play wider.

Two big takeaways from the Spirit’s win against Seattle: 1) using Leicy or Croix as a false nine when Monday isn’t in the match may be the smartest decision. It adds space for Trin and Cantore. 2. Abiodun and Hershfelt may be an unstoppable midfield combo.

Spirit started in a 532 that became a 3142 in possession and pressed high in a 4222. It wasn’t really working on either side and they changed to a narrow 433 with Santos playing as a false nine around the 20th minute.

Yeah, best to lockdown your best players and not let them leave for below market value with only five years left on their deal.

Macario helps Chelsea so much. Completely unlocked Man City’s press and key in that goal.

My last point is that Thompson+Girma leaving does not signal the death of the NWSL. There are enough fans that the league will remain strong. But the U.S. isn’t the only powerhouse country that cares about WoSo and wealthy clubs elsewhere will start frequently coming for the NWSL’s best players.

Thompson is one of the best players in the league on a wealthy team and she just got scooped for about $1.5 million. Chelsea are not the only team. Lyon, Barca, Arsenal, Man Utd, Man City, Liverpool, Bayern, Real Madrid and Wolfsburg will come for Rodman, Chawinga, Banda, Sophia, Mal, Bethune, etc.

Also, I fully acknowledge that some teams (Rahsing, Courage, Dash, etc.) may get totally screwed by having no salary cap and that sucks for their fans. To some degree, the league needs to decide where it wants the league parity <———> quality point to lie.

This is the thing to me. Removing the salary cap makes the NWSL a more attractive league.

I want to do genuine women’s soccer/sports stuff. I want to write/podcast/anything about women’s soccer/sports in some slightly more professional capacity than I post

Oh man, do I feel bad for these kids from Vancouver Rise Academy. Adrian is starting Trinity Rodman, Gift Monday, Naomi Miura, Tara McKeown, and Paige Metayer. He has absolutely no chill. 😬

Adrian is so fucking pure

Hal completed 87% of her passes, was tied with Esme for most total and completed passes on the team, completed 3/4 of her passes over 20 yards, won 5/9 duals, was dribbled past only once, and had one error. She wasn’t the best player on the pitch, but she played well and had one really bad error.

Hey so the thing is the players have a great CBA now and if AT wants to move it is her right to do so and her CHOICE to do so. If this goes through it’ll be because she wanted it to

A lot of talk about the KC Current is about the attackers, and rightfully so. But let's have the team defense have a moment too. They're on pace to concede 15 goals...in a 26-game season. More here: www.kansascity.com/sports/socce...

Good for her. It is time for NWSL to consider designated player approach to stay competitive with European teams.

It would be a massive blow. The NWSL can also prevent this from happening to the degree that it will in the next 1-2 years by removing the salary cap and/or adding a designated player exception. I know, parity… but if NWSL stars can make 2-5x what they make here in the WSL then they’ll leave.

Hopefully this is good re: Spirit keeping Trin. Lyon don’t make sense for a ton of reasons, L. City probably can’t sign her without breaking salary/FFP-style requirements, and Man Utd won’t sign her. Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea, Barca, and RM (maybe) are the only ones that still can and make sense.

Thorns, Courage, Current, Pride, and Spirit are a tier above the rest of the league when it comes to xG generated. Out of that group, though, the Spirit have far and away the worst xG allowed. It feels like when the Spirit try to tighten the screws defensively they stop creating. Needs to change.

The commentators praising the physicality and the amount of yellow cards that have been given is what is wrong about this league. I watch every week and love that there is a great women’s soccer league in the U.S. This match has had 27 total fouls, 7 total yellow cards, and zero reds. It’s immoral.

If I had a dollar for every time this broadcast cut to a full-screen shot of something that was not The Actual Soccer Being Played while Actual Soccer was Being Played, I'd have three dollars. Which is too many dollars