How the Spirit hired Jonatan Giraldez, the coach who led Barcelona to unprecedented success

Former FC Barcelona Femeni coach Jonatan Giráldez has won everything there is to win in Europe. He had one of the most talented rosters in the world too, including 2023 World Cup and Ballon d’Or winners.

So why would the 32-year-old coach leave that behind to come to the Washington Spirit?

For one, he wanted to suffer.

“For me, when you are part of an important process, in terms of building something, and when you suffer to win, that is the best moment to grow,” Giráldez said. “When you win every week, when you know it’s easy victories, that is like, ‘OK, you are suffering, but it’s not so special.’ The kind of feelings when I have to manage the situation, the important moments, when you are playing finals, a Champions League, or important games — I want to have this kind of feeling every week.”

In 2023, after winning a treble that included a Champions League title, Giráldez received an offer from the Spirit to be their next head coach in December. The team had fired previous head coach Mark Parsons after he failed to get the team into the playoffs.

Giráldez had just become a father and was looking for a new challenge. He had a renewal offer from Barcelona, who wanted him through 2026, but going to the NWSL was what he saw as that much-needed challenge. Giráldez also wanted to go to a club where he would never play against FC Barcelona — though a future Club World Cup could complicate that.

Barcelona attempted to keep Giráldez but his mind was made up.

“I won everything in Barca. I was really, really lucky to be a part of the Barca family for the last six years, the first three as an assistant coach, and the last three as a main coach,” he said. “I had the desire to have a new chapter, a new challenge.”

The vision that Spirit owner Michele Kang conveyed to Giráldez about the growing ambitions of the club and her investment were the deciding factors that confirmed Washington as the right place to go.

THAT’S OUR COACH!

Head Coach Jonatan Giráldez on his decision to join the Washington Spirit pic.twitter.com/DCWtxx4Sei

— Washington Spirit (@WashSpirit) June 25, 2024

“We don’t have to put a roof. That will be a big mistake. We have to put focus for me on training every day and try to improve your performance and be professional in and out,” Giráldez said when talking about how successful the Spirit could be. “For me as coach, based on my experience, you have to give all each day, each training session, but you have to take care of yourself after the training, before the training.

“I want to be the best team in America.”

Here’s how the Spirit landed one of the world’s most successful coaches…

Why did the Spirit choose Giráldez?

Before they even created a list of candidates, the Spirit needed to lock in the vision of the team’s identity on the field and what they wanted it to be. The club assembled a committee of four executives to focus on the head coach search and the larger project of growing the club into a global power. Mark Krikorian (president of soccer operations and general manager), Dawn Scott (vice president of performance, medical and innovation), Shameeka Quallo (vice president and general counsel) and James Hocken (head of data analytics) got to work.

Hocken oversaw the programming of an algorithmic function that could assess other teams for their general strengths.

“Basically, the algorithm verified what everyone in the world knows: Barcelona plays a very attractive style of soccer, and their possession-style play and thoughtful play was going to be very important to us,” Krikorian told The Athletic.

The group considered the list of teams they had in front of them and the conclusion was obvious, “OK, well, Barcelona, wouldn’t that be great, right?” Krikorian said.

They presented their list to Kang. “She ran with it, and she ran hard,” Krikorian said. “I will give full credit to Michele for her hard work and persistence and diligence, and being involved in the negotiation to get Jona to see the big picture that we have here in DC.”

Krikorian said much of their ongoing conversation with Giráldez during the hiring process focused on education and understanding what they wanted to accomplish with the Spirit: “What is this club going to look like? What does it stand for? What is Michele Kang’s vision, and how are we going to continue to build and communicate that across the world?”

They knew it would be a big move for Giráldez, not just from a personal perspective, but because he was coaching the best team in the world. But by December, he had notified Barcelona that he planned to depart the club at the conclusion of the season.

While he was their top target for plenty of obvious reasons, they did have to do their due diligence and make sure he’d be the right fit for their objectives, and more importantly, the culture they want to build long-term for the Spirit.

“All of us were struck early on that for a coach of his quality and the background that he has, the humility piece was there. Giving credit to his assistants, giving credit to the club, all of the players, everyone that was in and around him, and realizing that they’ve built something special. It was never an ‘I,’ it was a ‘we.’” Krikorian stressed how important that mindset was to Washington as well. “We want to create a culture that will be a winning culture over the course of a long time, not just a one-year wonder.”

There was another element to making sure the cultural fit was the right one between Giráldez and the Spirit. As Krikorian said, “Someone may be a brilliant tactician, that alone isn’t good enough for this league.”

What did the Spirit do while waiting for Giráldez?

Giráldez will be the fifth head coach, including interims who managed more than one game, for the Spirit since winning the NWSL Championship in 2021. Stability within the coaching ranks has been hard to come by at the club. That’s why it was crucial to get the transition period right.

Washington announced Giráldez would be its next head coach in January, which left a gap to fill until June while Giráldez finished the 2023-24 season in Liga F. Before the month had ended, the club and Giráldez had selected Adrián González to serve as interim head coach, with the plan for him to shift to a role as an assistant under Giráldez upon his arrival. The selection couldn’t have gone better.

“Jona handpicked Adrián,” Krikorian said. “He made a great choice.”

Much like the transition happening on the U.S. women’s national team with Emma Hayes’ delayed arrival, the key was communication and clearly defined roles. The Spirit was watching Barcelona but allowing Giráldez to focus on maximizing results across multiple competitions — and the team achieved those results, winning the quadruple (league title, the UEFA Women’s Champions League trophy, Copa de la Reina and Supercopa de España Femenina). While he maintains his focus was on Barcelona for the remainder of the season, Giráldez was also in contact with González most days, working to implement a new possession-focused style of play with a young Spirit squad.

“Adrián has been amazing. All the staff members are working together, and I’m really happy to be part of it because the connection we have with the players, on team, with the staff, is very good. That is the base to grow,” Giráldez said. “Trying to be focused 100 per cent on Barca, that was my priority until the end of the season. But yes, I was connected with Adri, especially with Adri, with Mark, with other staff, speaking about what we want to do in terms of training (and) preparing games.”

Gonzalez led the Spirit to 10 wins in 14 games. (Photo by Ira L. Black, Getty Images)

González turned up a few days into preseason willing to listen, open-minded about the players and the NWSL. Anyone in the league will tell folks there’s a learning curve across the board. Krikorian acknowledged that NWSL games can look hectic at times. “The idea of tempo, it’s one tempo. Or maybe fast and faster,” he said laughing. “So two tempos. But the plan with Adrián coming in, and Jona behind him, and them working together behind the scenes, it worked well.”

Worked well might be an understatement, considering that the team is in third place in the league standings, only a point back from the top two teams KC Current and Orlando Pride, who are both still undefeated. The Spirit are the first club to 10 wins this year and have benefitted from breakout performances from rookie Croix Bethune. All of this means the pressure is off for anything hasty when it comes to the transition between González and Giráldez.

“If we were sitting at 3-10-1 instead of 10-3-1, it would be a little less comfortable for us to be a little patient and allow for this slower, smoother transition,” Krikorian said.

What was Giráldez like at Barcelona?

The news of Giráldez’s departure in December took Barcelona players by surprise.

He is an orderly and disciplined coach and in his head, the order was: make the decision, tell the club and then the players. But the news was leaked before he could tell his players. There was an atmosphere of sadness in the dressing room and also a desire to help their coach leave with full honors. Giráldez also wanted to try to achieve the unheard of with Barcelona, winning a quadruple, and give the club time to find his replacement.

The team accomplished that first goal, completing the quadruple, a fitting farewell for a coach who had to convince the club to give him a chance.

Giráldez’s connection to players helped lead Barcelona to success. (Photo by Alex Caparros, Getty Images)

He came to Barcelona as one of Lluis Cortes’ assistant coaches in 2019 after the dismissal of Fran Sánchez. In his three years as an assistant, Giráldez’s importance grew, encompassing a more strategic role in training sessions. He helped lead the team to the Champions League final in 2020-21, collecting domestic trophies along the way. When Cortes left the club amid growing tension between the head coach and some players, Giráldez stepped up. In him, the players found the ideal manager and he won the Best Coach award in his first year at the Marca Women’s Sports Awards Gala.

Giráldez’s communication with his players is one of his strengths and he has a strong, clear presence in press conferences. However, NWSL presents another challenge of speaking in a language that isn’t his native Spanish. Speaking English is something Giráldez said he is working to improve quickly to communicate better with his players, though he handled his first press conference with the Spirit expertly, speaking mostly in English for nearly 45 minutes.

What’s next for the Spirit and Giráldez?

With their number one target acquired and the Spirit firmly looking like a serious playoff contender, it would be fair to think that Giráldez’s arrival comes with immediate expectations. But that’s not the case for the Spirit, according to the man in charge of soccer operations.

“We don’t expect Washington, all of a sudden, to just look like Barcelona,” Krikorian told The Athletic. “We have players that are from so many different backgrounds, and so many of them coming out of the college game with wonderful coaches and wonderful programs. But it’s very different, and you go from one playing style in one college program to a completely different one, and a different one, and a different one, whereas in Spain, from a philosophical point of view, most of these teams are playing and having a similar mindset.”

Neither Krikorian nor Giráldez would commit to saying when he will officially take charge on the sideline.

For Giráldez’s part, he promised no big changes off the bat. He’s still in introduction mode with the team, trying to connect with players, knowing that he’s coming from a different system, a different country, a different language.

“Every day, try to connect a little more,” he said on Tuesday in his press conference. “Everything that I do, it will be the best for the players, for the team.”

Giráldez will slowly transition into his role as head coach with the Spirit (Photo courtesy of the Washington Spirit)

The good news for the team’s incoming head coach is that NWSL is about to get a clear break between the first half and second half of the season. The league has a mandated break from July 8-14 before regular league action stops during the Olympics and the NWSL shifts to its new Summer Cup against Liga MX Femenil teams. The Spirit is in a group with Gotham FC, the Chicago Red Stars and Chivas for the Summer Cup. The tournament could essentially act as a second preseason with Giráldez at the helm.

Just like with González, there will be an adjustment period for Giráldez. “It’s a really competitive league,” Giráldez said. “All the games I am watching, everything can happen every game. A lot of goals in the end of the game.”

The specific challenges NWSL presents have attracted plenty of talent before, whether coaches or players. Giráldez is no different when it comes to this. But the hope for the Spirit goes beyond winning games in the short term. Only time will tell if Giráldez is afforded the patience to be the one to help build the bigger vision.

“Here, it’s going to take a little bit longer to get everyone on the same page, in terms of being willing and able to take some risk with the ball, playing with a lot of courage, playing through pressure and solving it, both technically and tactically,” Krikorian said. “That’s not always been a strength here in the U.S. and hopefully, we can help with that.”

(Top photo: Getty Images)