“I woke up this morning with a feeling that I was going to score”: What They’re Saying after the Spirit’s match against Angel City FC

The Washington Spirit fell to Angel City FC, 4-3, on Friday night. After the match, Assistant Coach Adrián González spoke to the media about the Spirit having to play from behind, goalkeeper Sandy MacIver’s NWSL debut and Esme Morgan’s brace. Defenders Esme Morgan and Gabby Carle also sat down to provide their thoughts on the team’s tough loss and how they can bounce back.

 

Adrián González, Assistant Coach

On the turbulence of the match: 

We need to learn from this situation, again. To Be honest, we haven’t had the performance that we wanted. Again, we haven’t started as we wanted and we haven’t ended the game as we wanted. I think we’ve done the most difficult thing, flipping the situation because starting with 2-0 was really difficult and then we could score. Those details that you need to [have] in this league. We’ve lost three points and again, to be honest I think [it was] a crazy game, too broken and we wanted to have more control especially in possession to be more compact because we know that they were so dangerous in counter attacks, and we couldn’t. Again, [we need to] try to review what we’ve done good, things that we need to improve, especially in our own box we need to be more aggressive in marking and defending those situations and try to move forward. This is the beginning of the [season] and I am positive that we are going to change the situation. 

 

On starting Sandy MacIver: 

That’s a decision that we’ve [made] as a coaching staff because Sandy was doing a really good job in training sessions and, as we always do with all players, we want to keep them involved and be ready to help us. We thought that today was a good day because she’s been doing really good and we decided that. 

 

On the five-back formation: 

It is too easy to say it is because of the formation. To be honest we’ve been playing with different shapes, different formations last season and this season and it’s not about the formation I think it is more about the energy that we have now, sometimes you go through situations and decisions. We are not [playing with] full backs, we are playing with Gabby and Makenna as wing-backs because Casey is not available, we know Paige is injured. So we need to adapt those two according to the performance that we are seeing  during the training sessions. So according to the players’ profile, we also adjust the shape but again you can feel or think that we are playing with five, but I feel that we can play with three, because when we attack we build up with three and those wing-backs are helping [to give us] width. I don’t think it’s a matter of the shape or the formation.

 

On players like Croix coming back from injury and the starting line up: 

It is so positive that Croix is getting minutes, she’s training good, she’s getting more confident. And that’s positive, we are working to bring players from injuries and now we can have more options. [Croix] needs to keep working because it’s been awhile out of the team and we don’t like to have the same starting eleven [every week]. So players need to be aware they need to be able to help the team in different positions. We are going to continue changing the shape, changing the formation according to what we feel or what we see during the training sessions. All of them need to be ready. 

 

On Sandy’s progression over the course of her first game: 

It [isn’t] easy when you first debut. I’m sure there are a lot of emotions and it’s not easy but I think it was a good day playing at home and she’s ready, she’s prepared so we wanted to give her that chance because she was ready. Going through the game she’s been doing really good and getting more confidence. I think that’s positive because that’s going to help her, that’s also going to help Aubrey, that’s going to also help Kaylie and Lyza so we need to have as many options are possible and be as competitive as possible as a team. 

 

On the impact Esme had on the game: 

She is a player that brings that energy and she’s very passionate and she’s a fighter, she’s very competitive too. She’s doing really good honestly, she’s helping us build up and bring in that energy that we need sometimes when we are going through some bad results and she’s doing good so I am happy for her. It’s not just about her I think that we all now can see the worse things, we are conceding goals but there are also positive things that we need to emphasize and we need to keep doing.

 

On the first conceded goal and how it is similar to the first conceded goal against Gotham FC: 

I agree it was similar and we’ve been watching that action before. We know how we need to defend the box and we’ve talked about it and those [spaces] and who needs to occupy those situations and those spaces, but when the ball is moving it’s a matter of details, it’s a matter of time, maybe we are jumping late or maybe they are not recovering in that moment and its just a matter of seconds that you have not arrived and we are unprotected. Again, we need to review that, we need a range of improvement especially in defending our box. We need to be more aggressive marking and defending those critical spaces. We are going to work on that, we have been working and I’m sure we will improve. 

 

On Gift Monday having success in the NWSL: 

We knew her, her potential, I think she’s a really good player for this league as you said she’s able to play in different places, dropping receiving in pockets, [a] threat behind. She’s really good also in the box, heading, she’s amazing. We knew that she would need some time, but players are helping her and I feel like she’s getting more comfortable, more confident and she’s doing really good. She gave us that strength, attracting center backs and being a threat in their box, really happy for her.

 

Defenders Esme Morgan and Gabby Carle

 

On what Esme and Gabby saw on the pitch that resulted in goals:

Gabby: On my side of the field we saw Los Angeles was disorganized in their defense so there was a chance to send it to that back post and get a goal. Both times those opportunities were taken, Esme was there to score.

Esme: Gabby did a great job of finding the space in order to get a great ball into a dangerous area. Ashley Hatch did amazing just flicking the ball in on the first opportunity she had. As I saw it come in, I just anticipated where it was gonna be and thankfully was able to put it away. The second goal was similar because Brittany Ratcliffe did a great job heading the ball across and I just managed to get a toe on it to get it in. It was a bit heartbreaking when they called it offside but I’m glad they overturned it. 

 

On what was missing for the Spirit to be able to maintain control throughout the match:

Esme: It was a super transitional game, really fast-paced and the distances between both back lines were really large. The space in midfield for either team was quite big, and obviously Angel City FC took advantage of that with having the space for their 6 and then pushed the ball behind us. At halftime we talked about being a bit more aggressive and trying to get to the midfield to close those gaps. When the game is so stretched and both teams have runners that can threaten behind it ends up opening massive gaps in the midfield and the game being much more transitional which is what we saw today. I think even with that we could do a better job retaining the ball for longer periods of time and being more patient when we do have possession. 

 

On the emotions in this particular match for Esme, who scored two goals:

Esme: Yeah, it feels a bit surreal to be honest we just looked at each other after the final and asked ourselves “How did that happen?”. We defended poorly in the first 20 minutes but we did fight to get the  momentum back to our side and obviously tie the game for halftime. We didn’t necessarily take that momentum with us in the second half so we allowed them to gain a better foothold on us. In games, you work so hard to fight back, you just have to keep your foot on the throttle and push for the goal. But maybe that’s what hurt us at the end because after getting that equalizer we kept going because we wanted to win the game. It left us a bit exposed at the back which allowed them to score. It is frustrating because we feel like the goals we conceded were soft and just small details that we could’ve done better. All we can do is take the learnings from it into next week and rectify those things. 

 

On the frequent switch in positions and the impact that had on the match:

Gabby: It definitely goes both ways, it’s good we have players who are able to switch positions. However there’s a mental charge when you have two positions in your mind and you get switched and are left with “What’s my role now?” It is early in the season so we have time to learn but it is somewhat hurting us right now which is not what we want. 

 

On Esme’s on-field dynamic with Sandy MacIver, who made her NWSL debut in the goal this game:

Esme: We’re best friends but she didn’t tell me she was starting even though she’s been named for a little while so when we found out with the team I was excited and surprised that she was making her debut. I’m really happy for her, I was just trying to make sure she was okay and felt really comfortable and confident. I thought she did great, she made some really incredible saves. I don’t think she could’ve done anything about any of the goals they scored on us so I feel really proud of her that she stepped into her [first] NWSL game and did that. Obviously playing together for so many years, from youth-age groups to Manchester City and now here – we have a great understanding on how we both see the game so a lot of the conversations were just about what we were seeing and communicating. 

 

On if having Sandy in goal lead to Esme’s success in the front of the field:

Esme: I woke up this morning with a feeling that I was going to score. I literally said to my boyfriend that I was gonna score today, and then I did! I’m not sure that had anything to do with Sandy but I’m sure she would love that insinuation. Aubrey Kingsbury is obviously such an important key to our team, but so is Sandy and they’re both great communicators. Sandy and Aubrey maintain a great presence in goal so I feel very secure with both of them in that role. Sometimes you just get a good feeling about the game so it’s nice to have that thought going into the match. When you’re optimistic you go in playing with a lot more freedom and feel a lot of energy.

 

On Esme’s redemption from last week when she had a missed opportunity for a goal:

Esme: I was really upset with my miss last week, especially in the state of the game because I felt like if I had scored that, it would’ve given us such a swinging momentum. I got the perfect opportunity this week to redeem myself with being two down and just setting us up for a comeback. I was really thrilled at the time. The excitement has died down a bit with the result being what it was. It would’ve been a lot nicer if it had contributed to a win or a draw. I haven’t scored a goal in a very long time, so I’m grateful I broke that streak and hopefully the floodgates are open now.

 

On the camaraderie of the back line after scoring two goals today:

Gabby: I absolutely love it when I see a fellow defender score, and with two goals – it’s amazing. I’m thrilled for Esme. Like she said, sometimes you just wake up in the morning with a feeling and when you’re a part of a team it’s good to know you can rely on each other and on any given day someone is going to step up and Esme did that tonight.

 

On a fan giving Esme a Jacksonville Jaguars jersey after the game:

Esme: I support the Jaguars because my favorite color is teal so I’ve been a fan for 7-8 years since I started watching the NFL. A staff member came over to me and said a fan wants you to have this because he’s leaving the country and wanted me to have the shirt.

 

On if Esme had been training specifically to score a goal:

Esme: I knew that Hatch was likely to win that header so I kind of just snuck around the back and hoped that she did so I would be there for a chance of scoring. I wouldn’t say scoring is a training ground routine but our attention is more on the second phase and when there’s disarray in the second line it gives us an opportunity to jump in.

 

On playing under Assistant Coach Adrián González’s coaching supervision:

Gabby: Adrián is experienced as we had him for six months last season so it felt very familiar. We trust him, he’s a good presence on the bench. Adrián is very motivating so I think we’re lucky to have him and that he had that coaching experience with us last year.

 

On finding consistency as a team despite the amount of position changes:

Esme: We’re learning from the things that don’t work and reviewing the games to see what we need to work on. Getting on the same page as a team with what we need to fix and having an understanding with everyone on the team so that no matter who is on the field and in what role, we know what to do in each situation. Having that response clarity is really important so that when we’re in stressful situations in the game we have those principles to fall back on. It’s about learning from our errors today that led to Los Angeles’ goals. We’re working together to make those things right on the training pitch and hopefully the consistency will come with that greater understanding.

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