The coach will have to drop a few players as the Olympic roster is smaller. Hiring a new coach does not expand the player pool.
But don't forget that before she was hired Ellis was very much already a part of the USWNT program having coached youth teams. She certainly had more success with the senior team than with the youth sides. So in a sense they hired from within which was one of the main criticisms of her getting the job at the time. Both on this forum and elsewhere. Youth teams have continued to struggle and I don't think Snow or Klimkova would be popular choices, certainly not here. Then you have Gustavsson. But is he even interested? Harvey also has been involved with the program, although probably a bit more tertiary than the aforementioned youth coaches. Apart from the Sermanni interlude USWNT have shown a tendency to groom successors. The question is will the new GM do that? Rayfield was mentioned upthread as a GM candidate. She was an assistant to Swanson with the U20 winning team. She has scouted and been very involved in the program. Would she or another candidate prefer a coach with connections to the program?
He is a good technician, but not good at tactic changes, he relies on the same 11 a bit too much. I think that's Sampson's weakness.
The next coach/manager has a real problem that they will need to overcome. The team they are taking over is a two time WWC champion and that is simply a setup for failure. The only way that the new person in charge can truly succeed would be to repeat as WWC champs two more times and add a couple of Olympic championships as well. I doubt that anyone can live up to that ideal as the "luck" factor is too great in a tournament and at least once there is almost certainly going to be a stumble when looking at four major tournaments. While it is blatantly unfair to think that a stumble in a major tournament should put a blight on any new coach's record Ellis already used up the "One Stumble is Forgiven" factor and to be perceived as a success the new coach must exceed what has already been achieved. I expect that whoever get chosen will be seen as a failure and there will be still another coach before the next WWC unless they manage to win virtually every match between now and then. Coaching the USWNT at this time is not a job that should be coveted by anyone without a really huge ego and a VERY thick skin. It is a guaranteed way to insure a lot of criticism both fair and unfair and only overwhelming success will be seen as successful. If the team wins pretty easily then that is exactly what should happen and if the team looses more than once or twice in the next year or two or even if they do not win pretty easily most of the time then the coach is a failure.
I love how that’s what I’ve always said in any of my comments/arguments of any of the players, coaches, etc. - simply play and win games. Yet weren’t you someone always arguing with me in regards to all the other fluff nonsense?! Funny how now you change your tune saying “all the coach is for is to win games”. Yet you know damn well, this coach influenced/allowed all the other drama filled crap that goes on.
The Washington Post's Steve Goff is tweeting that: Kate Markgraf is the clear front-runner for the GM position ... Kate Markgraf, former #uswnt defender and current ESPN announcer, is the clear front-runner to become #uswnt general manager, multiple sources close to the USSF said. Some say it's a done deal, others said nothing official yet. Fed spox declined comment.— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) July 31, 2019
Of course the objective is to win the World Cup--but the friendlies should be about more than winning as you want to use them, especially early in the cycle (so the next two years) to integrate some new/younger players with quality and potential into the camps and give some of them some game experience. This will certainly happen going forward given that the WC squad had several veterans that aren't going to be in the next WC. Or maybe I should qualify that. Will Heath (31), O'Hara (30), Morgan (30) be on the squad in four years, when they are all 34/35? You'd think not, given the vast talent pool that we have in the U.S.; one assume that talented youth will step into their positions. But you never know--Lloyd, at age 36 (37?) was on the WC squad, tough of course there's a difference between being on the roster and playing. Sauerbrunn and Rapinoe, both 34 now, are almost certainly not going gradually slip out of the USWNT picture with heads held high, after the Olympics, I presume. It will be interesting to see how much PT in friendlies over the next two years Heath, Morgan, O'Hara, get.
Sorry if the post wasn't clearer - Markgraf is the front-runner for the GM (General Manager) position, not to replace Ellis as coach. Edit: Per (dated?) Wiki. "In 2009, Markgraf was a volunteer assistant coach of the Marquette Golden Eagles. She now only coaches her twins' soccer team." I see a coaching connection to FC Wisconsin.
I'm sure the lockerroom will explode quickly, no thanks. She is the best USWNT keeper in history, I just don't think she's right for the position.
I wonder if the federation is considering Sarina Wiegman. She may not be the most experienced of coaches, but she has a great track record. I think she's done an amazing job in Netherlands.
you are simply confusing the messaging from players on this specific team, in 2019, with the federation and the coaching staff. they are separate. and you are also assuming that the WNT is "political" every year. they are not. Again, re-read the Ellis quote on how she was supportive of her team with out ruffling feathers in the federation or in the news.
wow, what do people feel about this? what experience does Kate have in management? What is her work experience in general??
According to Wikipedia: "She is completing her Masters in Counseling." In other words, she's been prepping for the job.
I especially agree with the underlined statement. I hope posters remember it when experiments with players or tactics bring some losses. Regarding Heath, O'Hara, and Morgan, I'm not sure they won't be around and getting playing time in 2023. Their play in this year's WWC doesn't indicate to me that they're waning yet. And, I don't see anyone in the talent pool yet that would displace any of them. It seems to me that one of the things the US is trying to find out is how long a player can keep playing and be effective. Historically, sports have been for the very young, but it may be that there is some learning to be done about players being able to be effective into their mid-30s. I don't know, but I think there are too many assumptions about age as related to when a player's effective career is over. Of those three players, the one I'd have the most question about being able to continue is Morgan, who seems a little fragile to me.