How incoming Washington Spirit coach Jonatan Giráldez became a coaching prodigy

“In Vigo, the mentality is the only thing I need is work,” Giráldez said. “I have my salary, I can maintain my family — that is enough. But the real love he had was gardening.”

Giráldez decided from an early age that he didn’t want to put his own passion on the back burner. So the soccer-obsessed Spaniard left his hometown, traded one coast for another and moved to Barcelona around age 20.

The plunge paid off. Now 32, Giráldez has arrived in Washington as a coaching prodigy with an unparalleled track record. Over three years managing the FC Barcelona women’s team, Giráldez went 130-5-4 in all competitions, claimed a trio of Spanish league titles and led his squad to the UEFA Champions League final each campaign — winning the past two.

Having seen through his final season with Barcelona, which concluded in mid-June, Giráldez arrived in D.C. six months after the Spirit announced his hiring. Although he has not yet taken over official coaching duties — interim boss Adrián González will call the shots when the third-place Spirit (10-3-1) welcomes the North Carolina Courage (6-7-1) to Audi Field on Saturday — Giráldez is easing into his role by breaking down film, helping run training sessions and building relationships.

“Any of us that have the background in the game recognize the quality with which his teams play and the beauty that they play with,” Spirit General Manager Mark Krikorian said. “They’ve been just wonderful to watch. But for me, there are other elements that I thought were really important … and part of it is his humility.”

Growing up in Vigo, a port city of about 290,000 near the Spanish-Portuguese border, Giráldez only ever wanted a life in soccer. He remembered learning the sport’s intricacies by watching games with his grandfather before he could even read. In his youth, he would roam the field with his friends every morning before school and every afternoon after.

“I just was playing football,” he said, “my entire life.”

By the time Giráldez was a late teen, he had given up his dreams of making it as a player and focused on sharpening his mind for the game. After studying sports science — first at the University of Vigo, then at the University of Barcelona — he landed a job as an assistant coach and physical trainer for Spanish club RCD Espanyol’s academy. Gigs as a trainer, analyst and assistant coach for the Catalan Football Federation’s youth programs followed. He also taught UEFA courses for coaches pursuing their licenses, got a master’s degree in sports performance from the University of Barcelona and dabbled in TV commentary.

“The only thing I had 100 percent sure was I wanted to be part of a professional structure around football,” Giráldez said. “If I was playing football until now, maybe we wouldn’t be having this kind of conversation.”

In 2019, Giráldez joined Lluís Cortés’s FC Barcelona staff as an assistant coach and rapidly developed a reputation as one of the game’s elite tactical minds. When Cortés stepped down after leading Barca to the 2020-21 Champions League crown, the club tapped Giráldez to fill his shoes. Giráldez promptly steered Barca to a 30-0-0 record in Spain’s Liga F in his first season and another Champions League title in his second, and the desire to escape his comfort zone resurfaced.

This past winter, Krikorian and Spirit owner Y. Michele Kang pitched Giráldez on their vision for building the club into an NWSL and global power. In January, he agreed to take over as the team’s fourth full-time coach since its 2021 championship season. Although Giráldez and his partner, Olaya, welcomed a son in May 2023, he said she didn’t bat an eye at the transatlantic relocation.

“It was easy,” he recalled, “because at the moment that I explained the project, she said to me, ‘Okay, I am doing the luggage to move.’”

The decision courted controversy in Barcelona, where Giráldez was accused of doing his then-team a disservice by turning an eye toward to his next one. While Giráldez acknowledged watching some of the Spirit’s matches and staying in touch with González, he insisted that his focus remained “100 percent” on Barcelona.

The results never relented: Barcelona won all four trophies it was up for this past season. Along the way, the Blaugrana edged a Chelsea team led by new U.S. coach Emma Hayes in the Champions League semifinals and topped Lyon in last month’s final.

“Many people criticized me in Barcelona about that, but they don’t know me,” Giráldez said. “People try to find small things to hurt you, but I think this is a situation I can cope with. I can cope with the pressure.”

With the Spirit, Giráldez wants to maintain a familial locker room culture while still demanding focus and discipline at training. He also said it’s important for him to practice unflinching honesty, trust and delegation. But Giráldez won’t hesitate to put in the hours himself. “When I come to the facilities,” he said, “it’s like I could be here all day.”

Tactically, Giráldez models himself after Spanish-born Manchester City mastermind Pep Guardiola. Inheriting a team loaded with individual game-changers — U.S. national team spark plug Trinity Rodman and NWSL assists leader Croix Bethune, among them — Giráldez emphasized wielding those weapons within a team-centric philosophy built around possession, intelligent spacing and constant communication.

“He’s been adding to what we’ve been doing, and you can tell right away how high his standard is,” Spirit midfielder Andi Sullivan said. “Obviously, we already have a high standard here, and I know it’s going to be even elevated with him coming in. So it just feels like kind of a recommitment to the journey.”

Off the field, Giráldez and his family have found a home near the club’s Leesburg training facility. He’s still working on his English, which he honed in a friendly “competition” with Barcelona star Caroline Graham Hansen as the duo crafted tests for each other — Giráldez’s in English, Hansen’s in Spanish — to see which one could learn a new tongue faster.

The Spirit formally introduced Giráldez at a news conference earlier this week, during which the coach was accompanied by his partner and young son. He spoke of “improvement,” not “changes,” while taking the reins of a club on a 5-0-1 tear. He marveled at the speed and physicality of the NWSL. He pledged to start saying “soccer” more than “football.” And though Giráldez preached short-term patience, he didn’t hedge on his ultimate goal: “To be the best team in America.”

As Giráldez laid out his ambitions over 40-plus minutes, there was no translation necessary.

“When you speak about football,” Giráldez said, “it’s a universal language.”