Spirit announces Adrián González as interim coach

“Adrián is a highly qualified coach with an impressive background in high performance soccer. He is the best fit to lead the Spirit because of his technical expertise and his leadership skills as a great manager,” Giráldez said in a news release. “We worked together in the past and we share the same idea of what and how we want to help develop our players to bring the team to the next level.”

González worked in numerous coaching and sports science roles at the youth men’s teams of Barcelona-based Espanyol, in addition to coaching stints in Greece and Japan. He announced this month that he would depart Espanyol to accept an offer outside Spain and coached his final game with the club Sunday. Giráldez, who will remain in his role at Barcelona until the end of its season, got his coaching start in Espanyol’s youth academies.

“I am so excited to join the Washington Spirit. Michele Kang’s vision is huge and ambitious,” said González, who brings experience with Giráldez’s preferred possession-based style of play and will remain on staff as an assistant after the interim stint.

Players reported Tuesday for the Spirit’s first day of the preseason. González will join the team in San Diego for camp.

The biggest moves of Washington’s offseason came at the NWSL draft this month, when the club traded stalwart defender Sam Staab and star midfielder Ashley Sanchez for draft picks and cash.

The Spirit has not released its full preseason roster, which is expected to include its six draftees and the 18 players under contract. On Monday, free agent midfielder Bayley Feist departed Washington for the Kansas City Current, and defender Camryn Biegalski joined the Chicago Red Stars.

The regular season begins March 16.