Control: A New Look (and Approach) in Midfield
Digging into the Washington Spirit's midfield so far in 2026.
It turns out I haven't had as much time to write about the Spirit as I'd hoped. That doesn't mean I haven't been watching and thinking about what's happened on the field to this point. So I'm going to try to do some catching up on things I've found interesting over this break in the schedule.
Despite a rocky (but really just unlucky) start to the season, the Washington Spirit enter the month-ish long World Cup break playing like one of the best teams in NWSL. The attack is producing as was expected, but head coach Adrián González's team has reinvented itself as a defensive force in 2026, doing a much better job limiting opponents' scoring opportunities compared to last year.
Through eleven games, the Spirit conceded the third lowest xG per game (0.90) in the league, trailing only Gotham (0.83) and San Diego (0.74).
To do that, the Spirit have controlled games by monopolizing the ball close to the opposition goal, and then after turnovers, winning the ball back quickly, often still higher up the field. That combination leads to pretty good defensive - and attacking - outcomes. The Spirit's new look midfield goes a long way to making it possible.
Coming into the season, the depth chart in midfield had perhaps the most questions on the roster, following the departures of Croix Bethune and Narumi Miura who combined to play just more than 3,400 minutes in 2025. With additional roster resources allocated elsewhere on the roster (more to come on Claudia Martínez at a later date), the Spirit rolled into the season more or less with the options they had available.
The lineup that González has relied on consists mainly of Rebeca Bernal in a double pivot next to Hal Hershfelt, with the former sitting deeper while the latter operates much more as a box-to-box midfielder. They're joined by Leicy Santos, who has slotted in more or less full time at the top of the midfield triangle, playing as a #10.
Defensively Stout
Down the stretch in 2025, González relied on a lineup with three center backs - Bernal, Tara Rudd, and Esme Morgan - that morphed between four and five at the back. But this season, Bernal has been playing as a true midfielder, albeit a one that occupies deeper positions. Though she will join the press, Bernal shields the backline, limiting the potential for opposing counterattacks as the Spirit's outside backs push forward.
Hershfelt frequently operated as a destroying #6 in previous seasons, but Bernal sitting deeper has allowed Hershfelt to push higher, which has been especially effective in pressing situations. As much as the Bethune-Santos midfield combination surprised down the stretch of last season with its defensive competence, Hershfelt provides a different level a ball-winning.
When the press is really cooking, the Spirit exert a level of control over the game, either by winning the ball directly in the attacking half or forcing a hopeful long ball to be won by the team's two center backs and defensive midfielder who is also an adept center back.
Safe with the Ball
In possession, the Spirit's midfield has been pretty boring - not in a bad way - and likely by design. Again, it all comes back to control.
Santos isn't as incisive in the final third as Bethune, but really, very few players are. Rather, Santos is more of a ball mover in possession, good for the occasional progressive pass, but more often a safe outlet to keep the ball and get it to more dynamic on-ball attackers. Of the Spirit's midfielders, she's been the most aggressive in the final third, but still isn't pushing to make things happen.
Hershfelt has shown a little more juice playing higher up the field than in previous seasons but she still doesn't need to be primary or even secondary option in the final third for the Spirit's attack to hum.
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Bernal and Hershfelt have been very secure in their passing, both in the top ten in American Soccer Analysis' xPass percentage (measuring the expected pass completion of any given pass) among midfielders with at least 500 minutes played. On top of that, Hershfelt and Bernal are completing more passes than xPass would expect - not by a huge margin - but each is completing more than 80% of the passes they attempt.
Pass completion percentage is often a pretty empty stat for measuring a player's impact on the field. Moving the ball into dangerous positions on the field often comes lower percentage of success because, well, that's what the other team is trying to stop. The opposite case, a backwards or horizontal pass in a team's own half is likely comes with close to a 100% pass completion rate, but the team isn't in a better position to score after it in the best of circumstances.
For Hershfelt and Bernal, maintaining control of the ball and keeping the Spirit's possession moving seem to be their chief concerns rather than breaking lines or creating chances. And with Trinity Rodman or Rose Kouassi always a threat to beat a defender one-on-one on the wing, caving in a defensive shape, the impetus doesn't need to be on either to break an opposing team wide open with one pass.
As long as the Spirit can rely on other players to carry a larger attacking burden, the team's midfielders can play a valuable role maintaining possession, winning it back when needed, and then repeating the process again and again over the course of 90 minutes.
Looking Ahead
Deb Abiodun would likely have been in line for more minutes in the first part of the season had injuries not had an impact. However, when she's ultimately back at full fitness, her profile fits seamlessly into what the Spirit have been doing. She should be able to spell either Bernal or Hershfelt, as her ball winning and safe passing will play in either spot. Andi Sullivan continues to ramp back up following her return from family leave, and brings similar qualities.
Even with rotation in the second part of the season, I'm not sure the Spirit's game model is going to change all that much. After all, it's hard to lose a game when your opponent rarely has the chance to score.
