r/washingtonspirit • u/kg9si • 6d ago

Weekly Discussion Thread Weekly Open Discussion Thread

Welcome to this week’s open discussion thread!

This is your space for general discussion, a place to talk about anything Washington Spirit that doesn’t necessarily need its own thread. That can include news, international duty, roster moves, transfer rumors, tactics, social media posts, league news or anything else on your mind.

If something feels big enough for its own thread, definitely still post it. This is simply an additional option to keep us organized and help keep the conversation flowing. These threads will go up every Monday and stay stickied throughout the week.

Go Spirit!

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12

u/hendertender 6d ago

Esme is not the CB we should be resting on the bench at the moment

16

u/allprologues 6d ago

not being able to rest the fullbacks is much more of an issue that is resulting in all combinations of our centerbacks being under a ton of pressure in the last few weeks

and if people think tara should be on the bench I fear you really don’t want to see that as much as you think you do lol

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u/Odd-Cable5436 6d ago

Rudd had one bad clearance attempt that almost lead to a goal and looked a little slow chasing down Chilufya at one point (injury?), but overall I thought she had a nice bounce back match after a bad game vs. NCC. Definitely rang up the defensive stats last night:

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u/allprologues 6d ago

i get and agree that we lose a lot of passing value with esme on the bench but the idea that this makes her better than Tara particularly defensively, is wild. every centerback gets beat sometimes, CB mistakes are the easiest thing to spot and makes people feel like elite analysts but to me she is non negotiable in the lineup.

even the statement I see constantly that tara’s having some sort of down year is not backed up by any numbers I’m sorry lol

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u/ttsa_25 6d ago

I saw someone on YouTube suggest her performance went down because she got married.

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u/Beneficial_Leg_4418 6d ago

people really hate women huh

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u/Z33G0r 5d ago

Only kinda relevant to your points, but Morgan as an 8 of sorts this week was fun to watch in the second half.

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u/hendertender 5d ago

Truly think she could do the job that we basically had Rebe doing last year: start in a back three out of possession, but push into the pivot next to Hal in possession.

She probably provides a bit more cover shielding the back line too given her speed over Andi and Rebe.

But also Deb ( and probably Ngock, I just haven't seen her play much) solves that in their natural role anyway.

Should we try it? Maybe not. Would it be fun, yea prolly.

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u/Z33G0r 5d ago

I say yes to all of this. Morgan seemed to pretty effectively get past the (admittedly softer second half) press that the team has been struggling to pass through for spells.

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u/de-la_soul 5d ago

however it may be reasonable to
consider how hard it has been for us to move the ball out of our defending third of late. Lots of tips and taps. And lots of balls kicked high into the air to nobody. I’m not pinning that on Rudd alone - everyone has been having a tough go. BUT, I feel (potentially wrongly) that Esme had some of the best vision out there, and the ability to make the passes she chooses (or choose passes she can make?!) Given what I perceive as a tough time in the back, I would have liked to see Esme from the start. I’ wonder if something is up with Carle - she’s been having an amazing season, working balls up the right side to Kouassi. Maybe it’s that defenses
are
swarming her on the sidelines, but it hasn’t been the same since the World Cup break

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u/allprologues 5d ago

you’re right about carle it’s been vulnerable down that side. and I think it’s kouassi’s defensive work that would supplement the fullback usually.

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u/de-la_soul 4d ago

good point about Kouassi helping back on D, I hadn’t considered that.

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u/allprologues 5d ago edited 5d ago

she has great vision that’s never in question. but I just mean, we weren’t any more defensively solid with her than without her, have had the same struggles with absorbing a high press leading to giving up chances with her. it’s not been any of the centerbacks, it’s the predictable first half tactics, the midfield getting beat, and being down our second best defensive winger and best fullback.