Official Press Release of the worst kept secret https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...i-named-head-coach-of-us-womens-national-team
I'll be interested to see how much slack posters here are going to be willing to give Andonovski. A lot of posters here were critical of Ellis every time the US women had a slip, from the beginning to the end, even if they won games. Will they give the same treatment to Andonovski?
I would think that his personality will play into it. He seems to have excellent communication skills, which help in such a highly scrutinized position. Jill seemingly struggled, at times, to get her vision across to fans; I don't know how the players felt. Of course winning games always helps, but style of play will be a key factor.
I think they'll cut Coach Andonovski some slack; he's earned a lot of respect for his record in the NWSL.
But they come with a different history, experience and success levels. Jill never won a thing and was known to under-perform with top talent. She was judged closely, harshly for some reason.
I remember when people laughed at FC Kansas City for hiring some indoor soccer coach named Vlatko Andonovski in 2013
Would someone please explain to me who this Dude is?? (0:40) Some might ask after 4 World Championships whats next? ...................... and as I've said before on many occasions, more and more Countries around the World are now investing in Women's Programs. CORRECT RESPONSE - - Frickin winning a 5th World Championship.
I expect to treat him as the same as I did with Jill Ellis, always critical but giving him a chance to showcase himself and prove something is working. The olympics will be the biggest test, I expect to give him hell if the USWNT either don't win the gold medal or don't even medal, the latter being the real concern.
I think it was because people on here automatically judged her for not being an "outsider", she was someone who was friends with April and all these other people that nobody on here really liked or thought progressed the game. Overall what I truly think or at least hope there isn't some weird gender bias on here. The other thing as well is that she had top level talent at UCLA for several years and never once won a championship with them. Then Amanda Cromwell steps in her first year and wins a championship in 2013 with players Jill Ellis was coaching. Also who can forget that disastrous under-20 WWC that I think Jill Ellis was managing where they didn't get past the quarter-finals with amazing talent. She had a wonky reputation before getting the gig and even after winning the 2015 WWC, she still had to prove herself with another WWC 19 win. I think the latter is the one where people really had to shut up and give the woman her dues because that WWC 19 was much more challenging and lots of people, including myself, didn't think the women were going to beat France and then beat England. Anyway, I'll give the new manager the benefit of the doubt until the Olympics when he needs to produce something.
Lauren (Cheney) Holiday tweeted highly complimentary comments on Andonovski But what made Vlatko so special was his character. He set standards for our team on and off the field and he personally felt responsible for each and every one of us. His brilliant soccer mind was just an added bonus.— Lauren Holiday (@laurenholiday12) October 29, 2019 Vlatko is one of 2 coaches (the other Tim Schultz) who I feel developed and shaped me into the player I was. He was by far the most influential person on my professional career. Cheers to you Vlatty! Can’t wait to watch what you work!— Lauren Holiday (@laurenholiday12) October 29, 2019 It's a bit curious who Holiday leaves out from mentioning here, isn't it? Jill Ellis coached her both in college (at UCLA) AND for the national team, right?
And from JonathanTannenwald... Reading for your commute home:How Vlatko Andonovski plans to manage the USWNT’s big stars and big egos ... and why he has to do it right out of the gate:https://t.co/ROmUE40X83 via @PhillyInquirer pic.twitter.com/lPlADE95yl— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) October 29, 2019
It will be interesting to see how Vlatko manages the big, aging stars: Lloyd, Rapinoe, and Sauerbrunn. My guess is they'll all go to the Olympics -- especially since Morgan will be a new mother and questionable to return for the OG. So, who plays center forward in Morgan's absence? Press, McDonald, Lloyd? Probably Press with Lloyd as a sub. But I'd give McDonald a long look before dismissing her. She has a lot of good qualities. I won't be surprised to see Sauerbrunn phased out at CB in favor of Dahlkemper and Davidson, but kept as a reserve to pair with Dahlkemper in case Davidson has to play right back if O'Hara is injured, as she so often is.
I'm extremely confident and optimistic we will win Gold in Tokyo. For me it comes down to three words.....Never Been Done. Talk about waving a red flag in front of a bull !!! I know a group of incredible, amazing, gifted, unbelievable, remarkable, fantastic, astonishing, awesome, check that totally and completely awesome, talented, TWO TIME REIGNING WOMEN'S WORLD CUP CHAMPION American Women who will welcome and eventually conquer the challenge next summer. Of course, the icing on the cake would be if a high profile media type (like Alexi Lalas) would predict they can't do it. BTW - - - we are still waiting on the Wedding Dress.
I told you guys on other thread a few weeks ago that Vlatko is LOVED by his players and I was slammed for it by poster(s) here. I've heard this a long time ago from people. Now as you see by tweets coming out and articles written that I was right. Make no mistake, the players pushed this hire through.
This looks like a good hire, to me. With that said ... I think the players certainly had a voice in this. Remember, however, that one of the complaints some posted about the USWNT in the past was that the players had too much of a voice. If the players have the same amount of voice (or more) under Vlatko, are we going to hear the same complaints? It raises an interesting question about the difference between club and country coaching. At the club level, when the club drafts, trades away, or acquires players, the players can't do much about it (except for a very few who can decide to go to Europe if they don't like a transaction). With a national team, there's a big pool of potential players who are there even if not rostered for a particular camp or game, so the coach is having to do a lot more picking and choosing. This creates a lot more opportunities for a coach to get sideways with players. In the past, that's happened most often when a coach was looking to bring in new players and to phase out veterans. See Caitlin Murray, The National Team (Abrams Press 2019). It will be interesting to see how Vlatko fares in this regard.
This is where personality and player management comes into play. There are many national team coaches who have botched the handling of their veteran players and others who handle it masterfully.
You don't even have to add the qualifier of "I think" to that first sentence. Markgraf readily admitted in the press conference that she talked to present and past players of coaches who were on her list (in addition to talking to other coaches who had interactions with those on her list). And at least in the way she talked about it, I think it was a good and important part of the process. Players' voices should be heard and their opinion should be considered, but they shouldn't have control over the hiring and firing process. How much sway/control players have had in the process (especially the firing) in the past is I think where the line needs to be drawn. With all that said, for those who want to hear a bit more about why Vlatko was hired, apparently he outshone his competitor in his in-person interview, especially with his detailed preparation: https://equalizersoccer.com/2019/10/29/vlatko-andonovski-prepared-uswnt-head-coach-nwsl-analysis/
Also Dawn Scott is staying as is Graeme Abel: In an interview this morning for Sports Illustrated, new USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski said he will retain WNT goalkeepers coach @GraemeAbel and high performance coach @DawnScott06. He's planning to name 2 other assistant coaches.— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) October 29, 2019 Here in written form are all the best quotes from my SI interview with new USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski: On retaining @DawnScott06 & @GraemeAbel, his conversation with Alex Morgan on her pregnancy & the Olympics, his remarkable coaching journey & more https://t.co/FEGvIjlY0k pic.twitter.com/YnE1yC8WXt— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) October 29, 2019
Just found a bit on his contract and need to modify a previous statement I made: his contract runs through the 2023 WWC. So, unless the team is an absolute sh*t-show in the Olympics in Greg Ryan-style, I think he'll be around for this whole cycle. Also a thought: moving to Chicago was reported as a requirement for this job. Andonovski has a wife and three children who all reside Kansas City (they didn't move to Seattle). I wonder if they'll continue to stay in Kansas City while he spends most of his time in Chicago or if he negotiated to still live in KC. His American ties are obviously in the area having played for the Kansas City Comets before starting to coach there.
...surprised nobody got in before me. but let me be the first. fire vlatko!!! what’s he done? i don’t know, i’ll find something.... ...em...no mace on the first roster!!