More of the same expected in Washington in rebuild year

Will new head coach Richie Burke be able to return the new look Spirit to the playoffs after a two-year drought or will the woes continue?

The 2018 season was not one to remember for the Washington Spirit. Despite getting the number one overall pick and the addition of Rose Lavelle, the Spirit just never clicked. Defensive struggles sank the boat for the Spirit but the issues ran much deeper. Heading into 2019, they have a new coach at the helm and a revamped roster that will look to get back to the playoffs after missing out the past two years.

At the draft, the Spirit made a number of trades to help improve the roster. One of the biggest was with Sky Blue. The Spirit sent Estelle Johnson, Caprice Dydasco and DiDi Haracic to SBFC for the third overall pick. This really changed the shape of the roster for Washington as they got rid of the team captain and two starters on defense. Washington would go on to draft five players that day, an attempt to bring in new blood to the club.

The defense will once again be the biggest question mark for the Spirit. None of the starting four from 2018 are on the roster so bringing in so many new faces will be the primary challenge. This was one area that the Spirit did draft for, though, picking up Sam Staab and Tegan McGrady in the first round. It’s no secret the backline will be young and inexperienced at the professional level, but expect the left side of the defense of Staab and McGrady to play well for Washington. The good thing for the Spirit is that Aubrey Bledsoe will be returning in goal. After breaking the previous saves record in 2018, Bledsoe will probably be in for another busy summer between the pipes.

When it comes to the midfield, the Spirit are in a unique position. They really struggled last season in this portion of the field, despite having some of the biggest names. Andi Sullivan did not have the year many predicted and Rose Lavelle missed or was limited a good portion of the season due to injuries. This was another position the Spirit did a good job upgrading in the offseason. As mentioned before, the Spirit traded up to the number three spot to grab Jordan DiBiasi from Stanford, where she played alongside Sullivan. They also used two international spots to get Australians Chloe Logarzo and Amy Harrison.

On the front line, not much changed for the Spirit. Francisca Ordega left to play in China and Estefania Banini chose to stay in Spain. In the offseason, the Spirit didn’t add any true forwards, but they did have a few return to the roster. Ari Ship is officially back and healthy after missing a good portion of last season due to a knee injury. Cheyna Matthews also returned to the team after giving birth to her first child last year.

When the national team players are still with the team, the Spirit should be able to hang around in the league. The Spirit should be missing four to five players for the World Cup depending on if Andi Sullivan makes the final roster. It will be interesting to see how they do without the national team players, especially at forward, where they are already thin.

Another thing to keep an eye on is how Richie Burke does in his first stint as a coach of a women’s professional team. It appears the Liverpool native will be trying to implement a more nuanced tactical setup rather than the more traditional American style of run-and-gun soccer.

The Spirit probably won’t make it back to the playoffs in what appears to be a rebuilding year, but don’t expect them to hug the bottom of the table like they have done the past two seasons.