The U.S. women’s national team will look a bit different when it takes the field again this September.
Vlatko Andonovski has stepped down as USWNT head coach, U.S. Soccer announced Thursday. Twila Kilgore has been named interim head coach as U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker begins the search for a new head coach.
Kilgore served as an assistant coach for the past year and a half, and in 2021 became the first American-born woman to earn U.S. Soccer’s Pro Coaching License.
“It’s been the honor of my life to coach the talented, hard-working players of the USWNT for the past four years,” said Andonovski. “I’m very optimistic for the future of this program, especially considering all the young players that got opportunities over the past few years who will no doubt be leaders and impact players moving forward.
“While we are all disappointed by the outcome at this year’s World Cup, I am immensely proud of the progress this team has made, the support they’ve shown for each other, and the inspiration they’ve provided for players around the world,” he added. “I will be forever thankful to the U.S. Soccer Federation for giving me the chance to coach this remarkable team.”
Andonovski took over as USWNT head coach in 2019 after the second of two-straight World Cup triumphs and only lost five of his 65 matches in charge of the program. However, the program’s underwhelming World Cup performance in Australia and New Zealand this summer likely played a part in U.S. Soccer’s decision to part ways with the 46-year-old.
The USWNT opened group stage play in Australia and New Zealand with a 3-0 shutout win over Vietnam but would struggle in later matches. The Netherlands held the Americans to a 1-1 draw in their second group stage match before a goal-less draw vs Portugal helped the USWNT inch itself over the advancement line.
Andonovski’s reign as head coach finishes with a 51-5-9 record across all competitions, which included a Bronze Medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics and four SheBelieves Cup titles.
The USWNT’s schedule is set to resume in September with a pair of home friendlies against South Africa.
personally i see half the USSF problem as they seem to want some long term project leading missionary to change everyone’s doctrine over a long period of years — next year’s olympics merely being a milestone on the long path — as opposed to do what 99% of teams do and hire a proven winner of a coach who will try to win scheduled games “next week” and the olympics next year. because they are on a project we ignore warning signs up front or poor results. they don’t even have to achieve much in the major event that 99% of teams hire them to succeed in. no, we have a longer horizon than that. they are Changing Everything. which is fairly absurd with adult soccer players. 10 year olds, maybe. 23 year olds, are you nuts?
i also think this excuses the neverending lengthy hiring processes, including kvetching over both GM and HC jobs. we then having spent aeons watching the dinosaurs emerge then fall away, hire wet behind the ears third raters willing to endure the lengthy process as opposed to just take a good job someplace else that can act in short order. we then get confused why the third rate hire, way over their head, can’t seem to accomplish either short term results or the project they promised. we may even hire the head back for a second goround as their project continues.
when we figure out that most NT hire for the game next week to have better coaching than the other team — shock and dismay! — this will take off. as long as it’s a religious experience to change their lives over a period of years, run by a mediocre preacher, don’t expect glory. you wanna fix it, hire a winner, ask them what they think we should be doing with our pool to win the game this saturday. you will have a job if you win these games. if you start to lose, i will assume you don’t know how to make this win. i will not assume your project needs more time and will win if only i give it 4 more years. QED.
I think where you misunderstand is it’s Crocker who is the missionary. The managers he hires are charged with the winning. I also think you can’t put the MNT and WMNT in the same box. If you hired Pep or Mourinho for the men they still aren’t winning the next WC. The women you could hire almost any coach and compete for the title. However, if you go to lower levels the MYNT are far more competitive than the WYNT. There needs to be a significant look at why our girls teams are struggling. Building a cohesive youth setup that wins and develops players is what Crocker did with England, can he transfer that to the US is what he’s charged to do.
Markgraf is out too. My guess is it will not be replaced. My guess is they will hire another exec but it won’t be specific to women’s team just as Gooch’s role is different from McBride.
the olympics start july next year. we just wasted 10 days letting the coach stew on things when the conclusion was obvious the day he lost. i don’t buy that USSF’s belabored hiring processes turn out better than waving numbers around at agents for leading coaches. there are already rumors of an interim for at least september. this process wastes time. just hire someone good and be done with it and get started working on next year.
The best candidates were pretty busy this week managing their teams in the WC. If your candidate list comes from NWSL then sure I guess you could do that but if you want the best you need to let the WC end. There are 7 windows before the WC including the Gold Cup window there’s no need to rush just for Sept. friendlies with South Africa.
you straddle both sides with your arguments on this. when i discuss how quickly klinsi replaced bradley you’re like we were negotiating while the gold cup 2011 was going. now you want to act like they are all still busy — 4 teams are left — and like they don’t have agents, and like no coach ever announces they will soon be at B while finishing up A. so are you saying they can or can’t multitask? they don’t even have to announce it until after.
plus, you know very well some of the people i have suggested are men’s coaches or otherwise uninvolved in this. and to be blunt, i wouldn’t be the one advocating random NWSL coaches. let’s be real, in reality what we need to guard against is a long hiring process followed by hiring precisely the sort of NWSL value candidate i never have advocated — have dismissed vlatko as — that you’re joking about. to me when you drag the process out the elite candidates do not want to be bothered and i think our GMs drag the process out and get cute with value ideas.
rumor i heard was the women’s GM’s job herself is under review. you’re like, “but 7 windows.” how many windows to decide if the old GM stays? to replace her? to hire the new coach? do you get we sucked, need a refresh, and need all the time we can get to sort out better tactics and personnel? we’re under a year to the next one and you’re like oh we can blow off some more time. pffft
short version: anything that sounds like how USSF has run its shop lately: run from.
No manager still managing in the WC is going to send their agent out to talk to the US. Sorry not happening. They aren’t going to give a second of their focus during the biggest chance of their life. Weigman should be candidate #1, and Gustavsson has to be on the list they aren’t going to destroy their teams focus and chemistry with their departure. Remember when Lopetegui got fired right before the 2018 WC after arranging his next job, he was undefeated as Spain’s manager 14-6-0 and got sacked days before their first game.
My list is probably Weigman, Emma Hayes, Gustavsson, Laura Harvey, Sonia Bompastor in that order, but you have to wait for Weigman to be done because you can’t skip #1 just to get done for a friendly series. I hope because Crocker is in place they won’t wait for Markgraf to be replaced. Worst case you need the new person in by November then they have a camp before GC that includes Colombia and Brazil and up to 6 matches. I think you’ll see a similar process to what they did with the men but with Crocker now working full time it should move fairly quickly after this week. Markgraf had no quotes in the official story from USSF which might not mean anything but seems like it probably does.