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The Spirit picked up its first win of the season in its home opener at Audi Field against Bay FC last weekend. Interim Head Coach Adrián González met with the media on Friday, March 29, as the team prepared for a home game against Utah Royals FC. He fielded questions about the mood, the lineup, evolution of the rookies and the team’s shape.
Spirits are high
“Another week, same like last week, we are preparing the same way. Especially with winning, everything is much better. The team continues improving and players are getting better every day. Very happy with the performance that we had the other day and also how the week is going. So, again, [we’re] ready to compete. It’s going to be a different game but the feeling is very good.”
Home field advantage
“To be really honest, it was amazing. The environment that we had at Audi [Field] was great. We were very happy because a lot of people just came to support us. We know that also for us it’s really special playing there and we need the support from our fans. I want to say thank you because they were an extra player. Also the players, they were excited. They were so happy with the environment too. I think, especially for young players also, they had a really good performance; Croix [Bethune] and Hal [Hershfelt] even they could score [their first career goals]. It was an amazing start [for] everyone. Great environment and I hope people also can come next week. Really happy for that.”
Injury report
“Casey [Krueger] is fine. We were just checking her the other day. She’s fine. She’s been training fine. Paige [Metayer] also, she’s doing good. Kate [Wiesner], we need to check her tomorrow. She’s improving. She’s getting better. Tomorrow we will make a decision for the next week.”
No lineup until after training
We need to wait until tomorrow because for me, to be honest, I’m not joking, I decide the team the minus one day. Tomorrow I know a lot of things are going to happen during the training session. So we need to adjust those details. I cannot tell you the lineup. For me, it’s very important that players need to be ready to go start and maybe help us during the second half in different spaces and different positions because every game is different. We always say that during the game also, there are different phases so maybe we need to adjust, we need to change something. Players, they need to be ready for that.
Adjustments in the forward line
I think we are happy to have different profiles, different players, that they can adjust in different spaces. We know that Ouleye [Sarr] can play maybe as a no. 9, maybe as a wing. Hatchy [Ashley Hatch] too, even Trin [Trinity Rodman]. That’s for me, good, because according to the game, according to the team, and also according to the profile that we have, we can adjust those situations. For that [Bay] game, we were just looking [for] something particular, with Hatchy also playing a little more inside sometimes. Just modifying that height sometimes and Ouleye being more of a no. 9 for those runs behind. But again, every game is going to be different. We need to be ready to adapt ourselves.
The talented and evolving Croix Bethune
We’re working with her just to understand which positions she can be, just to have more chances to be close to the ball because we need her close to the ball. I think we also, the talent that she has, especially between lines and also i think she’s a player that can help us with the last pass and the last third too. She has huge talent, understanding the game, she’s very, very clever. In terms of positioning, we are helping her to understand where she needs to be to try to participate more because I think that’s important for her to get involved more, and also the team needs that.
The Washington Spirit plays its second home match of the 2024 season this Sunday, March 31 at Audi Field against the Utah Royals. Tickets are still available. Fans in the DMV can watch Sunday’s match against Utah Royals FC on Monumental Sports Network, which will broadcast on linear tv as well as streaming in their app. For fans across the country and internationally, the match will air on NWSL+. The NWSL+ app will be available on AppleTV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, the App Store, and Google Play.
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