Adapting to the NWSL: Jonatan Giráldez's New Journey with the Washington Spirit

[Music] this is Spirit Spotlight Bon Cuts in bth now finds Rodin flag stays down Rodin off the posted in the first shot of the game produces the first goal of the game and the spirit go on top your official Washington Spirit source for exclusive interviews official postgame show and all things Spirit throughout the season here's Bram Weinstein you've been here for what a couple of months now now you coached the last match before the Olympic break and there was a friendly this past weekend what do you make of the spirit now as you kind of get started in Earnest with them um yeah it's it's a difficult situation to manage in the beginning because I only be uh I only was on the on the bench for one game and then you you have a big break you know between so everything what we were doing so far was to prepare again uh the most important game against Kansas so not having the whole rosta it's not easy sometimes because you you need to adjust many things specific in terms of position but uh my feeling right now is okay I think we were patient in terms of game plan uh develop the player individual players and that is what we try to do uh the last eight weeks uh try to have the players to develop and improve the the level modific modificate um some roles some specific roles in some specific players so I think right now we are in a good shape I know the performance in the last games was not good enough but was not the the the focus you know we were not competing to win that game we were competing to prepare the most important game which one is coming so when you accepted the job to come here what did you know about this league and what have you learned about it since coming over here yeah um I didn't know a lot uh but yeah for sure Spanish player Spanish coaches the last seasons you know this feeling is It's Time Players and coaches are coming here so I know how important is the nwsl it's not so important Shield cup because uh my feeling is okay in the second part of the Season all teams are competing to achieve the best possible level in the most important part of the Season anything you know uh in Spain is you have to show a great performance during the whole season to deserve to win the the the championship so I think it's challenging for me uh because you can you have to adapt um in terms of load when do you want to achieve your highest performance so I know right now it's coming right now is the moment that we have to keep improving keep growing to to get the the the final uh season in the best possible shape and yeah I think this is interesting because it's totally different to Europe esec especially stylistically it's different than what was being played over there there yeah is it is it different stylistically here in the nwsl versus what's being played in Europe yes it is it's it's different um there you have to you know pay here you have to pay attention a lot on the transition you have to pay attention a lot on lumos you have to pay attention individual skills especially the strikers here I think there are the best strikers in the world so there in in Spain I think you need to be a little more you know technical with the ball pay more attention the position but yeah for me in the end is have a good balance in terms of position pressing and uh everything to I think is important to win but here I think the the rhythm of the game is higher than than Spain and that is is been challenging to me um so everybody knows what your record was over there you you come here with these numbers that are outrageous that you'd won your first 58 matches over there you you lost very rarely how do you kind of think about that as you change leagues and bring this resume with you but obviously this is all very new yeah is completely new for sure but I personally have to face the competition thinking that we want to win everything we have to win everything this is the mentality before each game you know then maybe you can have a good bad day uh the opponent is better than you okay that can happen but the way to face the the training and the competition for me the same I am not going to change anything because I think the the the desire how we Face the competition must be highest uh but yeah in the end I have to cope with the feeling that maybe we are going to lose more games than i l in my past but for me one of the reason to come here is you know to be more uh competitive myself um the feeling when you have to suffer a lot to win each game I think will be challenging for me is one of the reason that I decide to to join Washington because I know you have not easy games every single week so for me I have to make sure that the 90 minutes must be it's it's mandatory for me be connected you know try to have the players and have a good I think have a good U uh management of emotions you know especially when you are losing when you are not able to have that feeling so many times it's easier you know to move forward but here for me it's a a good situation a good position to to face the the defeat as a positive way to keep learning and to keep growing uh what do you mean by that I may need to suffer more to win like I used to can you kind of explain what you mean by that yeah um look for me when you are training when you are competing if everything is like equalized equal uh it's easier that you have to demand much more yourself when you are winning 3 four five 6 nil easy yeah maybe you can be 5 minutes 10 minutes 15 minutes 45 minutes relax because it's not so necessary show a highest possible performance and in my past for for example if we were winning 3 4 5 nil I decide to make changes I was thinking on the next game not on the saying that I was playing so this way of face the competition here is different you have to face the game just thinking of that game not thinking about load about share volume about he just thinking about that uh so for me uh have that feeling make me better Coach uh and even better person because when you have to manage your emotions you have to show what you want to say when you are winning when you are drawing when you are losing so that's for me I mean I am 32 years old I'm young maybe in 10 15 20 years i s you other thing but right now I need that I need the feeling that I have to suffer to win that games because in the end I think it's the better for me for my development being selfish you know is is what I need right now because in my past I won a lot I want to keep winning okay I want to keep winning but uh have of their feelings to to face the competition in the way that you have to be focused 100% just thinking of that game obviously though your record it's not an accident so clearly you have a very high Acumen for this what about it stuck to you immediately that you knew you would be good as a coach for me I'm not thinking about that I promise you I just for me the players are the most important thing I always put the players in front of everyone you know because they have to play they have a lot to do they have to play I just need to help them in the process and be the most possible Carter competitive in terms of competitiveness you know I need to to spread my my desire for the competition I think for me that is one of the most important thing in my past try to have face the the training with uh you know with the desire to compete in any in any drill so for me putting the players in front of me always I need to spread my desire for the competition into the competition you know I love uh the way that we have to compete but not only talking about the games it's just at the same time speak about uh about trainings and for me I know I am here because I won a lot on the past and for sure I had a beautiful players and a good staff and I think I could help at the same time you know in the way that tactical position are good to attack and defense and at the same time for me in the you know spread that feeling for football football in Europe soccer here in in America uh I want to give my best you know to achieve the highest possible performance playing it sounds like to me a little bit like obviously you know this makes you extremely credible the record that you have but you don't want it to like hamper the players themselves they need to go through their own process here and not expect that what happened there is definitively going to happen here it's it's just what I said to the players every day uh be focused on training be focused on improve the small details are key for me in the process in the develope and uh I never like to speak about the past I just want to analyze what happened yesterday to be better today and show to the players the clips to okay that is what we have to do that is what the way to keep improving and face every day with that feeling you know H get up every week every every morning saying okay what I should do today to be a better player in the end of the training that is what I try to do and spread to the players to understand you know which is the role they have and what is the character they have and what they can uh improve and then when you face the competition understanding that the most important thing is what you are doing I think you are winning a lot then you can win you can lose but every day you have to face the training thinking what can I do better today in The Pitch Out of the pitch you know a good recovery for be ready for the next training if you have cramps in the 75 80 minutes what happened what did you did yesterday did you have a rotation supplementation whatever everything for me is important in high performance uh training you need to achieve your best in the whole areas so I never speak about my past I just speak about what you have to do every day to be the best and then the competition will say if you are the best you are not uh let's just talk about the recent past then um Adrian Gonzalez did a fantastic job with this team this was a really unusual situation there were a lot of Trades it's a very different roster a lot of young players were playing the expectations were in the middle somewhere I don't think people knew what to expect he comes in we know you're coming at some point it felt like let's wait and see what happens and yet here this team is can you kind of talk about the job that he did while we were waiting for you to come to the organization yeah for sure I I was working in barcel 100% focused on that but yeah I had free time sentence I tried to speak with adre almost every day at least to have a good report I remember the beginning of the prision here to set the base to to work you know in terms of training how do we have to be organized in terms of Staff in terms of players because I wanted to arri here making sure that everything was under control in the way that I think is the best to training and and competing and I have to say thank you because adre and the rest of the staff they did a really good job uh they qualify they are in a good uh position and right now I'm being here try to you know improve in the small detail that because being far away is not easy for me it was not easy how to be honest with you it was not easy for me because in the end you are watching the game you are watching the training is like maybe I should but in the end you have to give your confidence in the person that who we managing so far and AD did an amazing job and right now I think he's helping me a lot to keep growing as as a team give me advice about about the players about the staff um and this I think this is not about me it's what we have to do to the players to be the best what what I hear from you though is details really matter all of them so that what's important to you it sounds like is to put as many processes in place so that you have answers to all the issues that will come down the road yeah um sometimes uh for me it's a way a way to coach uh sometimes coaches just talk about intensity about tactica yeah uh for me everything is important and the SM DET tasts which is your body shape when you are closing down uh which is your angle of pressure what what the pass means when you are playing slow when you are playing harder you know that is mod DET t for me are very very important what I say in terms of H game model is about the communication with the ball and without the ball so that is the base to build important things and everything what I am doing H so far is about that so the small details for me are key in the process to give tool to the players to improve you know sometimes the situation in the games are different but in the end they have to take this own decision so the experience that you are having in training uh will give you the chance to to to take the best decision in the game so I want to make sure every training that the players feel like okay I am training just not physically give tools to the players to find the solution during the game so when I am analyzing I don't care the result I am just thinking about what you should do uh in this action so we have um IDP coaches I have a I have Tony analyze you know just analyzing the players the individual performance uh because what I consider in my past in my experience when you are working on what do you have lack you know what you can do better yeah uh analyze all of that the technical execution the Tactical execution and how are you involved with around the game plan but just putting the focus on you so everyone who is working around the players specifically for me means a lot and that's this more DET okay um did you watch the Olympics and you've got four members of this team that came back with a gold medal what what do you uh make of what happened in Paris yeah I think they were the the best team they deserved the the victory the go medal I'm very happy for them because I know how they are working here all the staff all the players are very very very happy because it's a big achievement uh that is not easy sometimes people forget H too quick what they what they did and that in in Spain is very is very usual you know you win but you have to keep winning the next tournament and some sometimes we have to enjoy about what we did and here my feeling is they are enjoying they are being aware that they did an amazing amazing job uh time to enjoy but now time to be back with the team and try to help us to acheve aeve our goals I want to ask you about two specific players One Trinity Rodman who had a terrific tournament we know here what level of player she is what do you think her potential is as you kind of watch her matriculate through her career yeah she impressed me a lot um in terms of uh physical condition she's powerful uh in the first meters she's Unstoppable um yeah the the tournament he did was I think was one of the best players in the in the squad for sure H she was crucial in every single game so I want to help her to keep improving to keep growing and for sure try to achieve the best possible performance in the end of the season because right now for sure she will be tired you know mentally physically but we need to you know recover as soon as possible that feeling to have the team because I think she will be she is one of the most important players in the team but she she needs to be the best or one of the best in the end of the season how about Cory bethon who's having just a tremendous rookie season and went as an alternate with the United States team what do you see for her potential here in the near term and the long term for her yeah first first of all I think we need to be careful uh in terms of um yeah she has a personality for sure she wants the ball she she she leads you know she likes that but we need to spread that uh that feeling around the other players because she's young is the first season as a pro H so it's not easy maintain the level during the whole season so we have to help her to be fit uh during the whole season and not give the responsibility to her all the time every second game that she has to show the best skills to win the game you know we play as a team we play for the team and everyone must be together understanding that the individual performance of each one are important but the most important thing the team so being so gen we need to take out for me the pressure and let it go uh in terms of keep growing keep learning she did a good job so far but we have to keep help him her to to keep growing uh physically tactically technically she has a big big potential to be one of the best she being one of the best but we need to protect her you know take care uh being around her and for me especially have a good uh communication with her you know uh be with the foot with the legs on the floor and help the players help the teammates every day and keep helping until the end that's not about two or three months it's about the entire season uh in the intrum this team added a few new players as well International Players so how are you thinking about incorporating them into the roster in this next part of the Season Lacy SOS is fit he's 100% fit uh she wasn't lacking the beginning of the season because she she was three four months out due to Big injury she had but now she end the season very well with Atletico Madrid and she did she was the best or one of the best players for Colombia in Olympic Games and right now she's so in a a great great shape in training and the other games she played against Arsenal I think she did a good job too as me she will need a little more time you know because the last season she didn't play a lot and she's coming from a preseason so we need to take care about the physical condition just in the beginning because we need that she has to be important but you know not give her too much responsibility right now because she's getting getting better uh every training and Rose H she's better than I expected because she did not uh she did not make the the Precision with the team almost two months out but yeah the really that she shs been good the game she played against Argin was good and I think she she's ready to help us she's ready to to compete and for me the most important thing you know when you improve the the roster you will have more tools more chances to modify your shape attacking defending they are going to give us other characteristics in terms of playing uh soccer so I am very happy because they are good ones and we need to help them to help at the same time to the teammates and and try to world together I mean I know you're process oriented so I'm going to ask this question anyway and expect not sure exact an exact answer to it but this team's in position right now off of this break they've had a really great first half plus of the Season you've added some players what are your expectations for this team moving forward here my expectations is uh are always the same is uh come here to the facility every day to help the players to the process to grow and then the competition face the competitions to win uh I like to train managing the motion when you're winning when you're losing in training and I don't want to put a roof because that will be a big mistake for my side uh if we are here if I if I am here is for winning every sing game uh that is the the the main goal you know but this is the consequence so what you have to do every day is uh make sure that you are training in the right direction make sure that you are making good recovery after the training and to make sure that before training you are ready to train and give your best so if you make that three points seems easy looks easy but sometimes not so easy keep that performance every single day uh we have more chances to get what we want but if we if we just uh speak about uh performance for me will be a big mistake is try to improve every day not put the roof uh just thinking about Improvement think about face the competitions to to win and I know we need time but the competition means a lot so the competition need to face it to win so let's see in the end of the season but for my weight of win I want to win every single game I play uh just last thing I heard you used to call games so if you ever get bored down on the sideline you come up in the booth with us we're happy to have you see G please you can come up into the booth with us anytime you want and call the games with us if you want if you're ever not if you're never not too busy to come up and actually call the games again it was a big big big experience because you know on that I remember 2016 more or less I just start to analyze the game you know in another uh in other way when you have to say something to the spectators you have to uh spread with your speaking what the people is hearing from you you know I I remember as a as a great great experience and I had the chance on that way to know women's football because I had to come in the league the uh World Cup Europeans tournaments and everything so it was a big big experience for me I'm very happy on my past you never know you know in the in the future you need but always open to the invitation is there for you always if you want to stop by we know you're a little busy down on the sideline good luck this weekend and good luck the rest of the season thank you so much for all the time thank you for your time I appreciate it this has been Spirit Spotlight an official presentation of the Washington Spirit radio network listen live every Friday afternoon with Bram Weinstein at 3 40 on ESPN 630 in DC and anywhere from the ESPN 630 app