The U.S. women’s national team did not set its players up for success heading into the 2023 World Cup, captain Lindsey Horan said.

The 29-year-old midfielder reflected on the USWNT’s World Cup run in conversation with Christen Press and Tobin Heath, her teammates on the 2019 title-winning team. During that tournament, the coaching staff prepared players to come up big in the biggest moments. But that did not happen in 2023, Horan said on “The RE-CAP Show.”

Head coach Vlatko Andonovski resigned after the USWNT’s Round of 16 exit. While Horan did not mention him by name, she did share what she wants to ask his successor.

“(How do you plan on) getting the best out of your team without overcomplicating everything? Because I could talk about the last four-year cycle, and we don’t need to get into every single thing, but that’s not what we did,” she said. “We did not get the best out of every single individual. I don’t think everyone was fully prepared.”

Horan did not absolve the players of guilt, noting that any lack of preparation falls on their shoulders as well. She also shared her individual regrets, saying she has asked herself constantly in the weeks following the tournament: “What more could I have done to help the team?”

As the captain, Horan had taken it upon herself to mentor the younger players, particularly Sophia Smith, as they dealt with the pressures of their first World Cup.

“Could I have done more to help those players? Because I don’t think we got the absolute best out of some of them because of the way that we were set up,” she said, referencing the structure put in place heading into the tournament as a potential limiting factor.

Still, Press and Heath, who sat out this year’s tournament with injuries, praised Horan for her leadership.

“I think that you shined in an environment where there was very little light,” Press said. “And I think that you can have a lot of peace with how you carried the team through that tournament.”

The U.S. women’s national team has a winning formula, Briana Scurry said. But former head coach Vlatko Andonovski botched that formula at the 2023 World Cup.

The former USWNT goalkeeper, who won the 1999 World Cup and two Olympic gold medals with the team, spoke with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Tannenwald after the U.S. was eliminated from this summer’s tournament. And she did not hold back in her evaluation of Andonovski.

Andonovski resigned from the USWNT after the Round of 16 exit, the earliest ever for the program. And the disappointing World Cup finish came after a third-place finish at the 2021 Olympics.

“Vlatko had two bites at the apple and didn’t get it done,” Scurry said. “And a lot of people might say, ‘Well, that’s ruthless,’ but I think it’s just how we organize and how we work with the women’s team. The standard, the bar, is so incredibly high, and he obviously wasn’t up to the task.”

Scurry, 51, also questioned Andonovski’s overreliance on younger players in his starting lineup, especially when compared to the more experience-heavy USWNT lineups of tournaments past.

“I have no problem with the younger players,” she said. “They deserve a chance, they should be expected to be in there. But they should not be tasked with carrying the load, because it’s too much.

“That’s why we win so much, because we have an understanding [that] there’s actually, like, a formula about it. And he broke the formula.”

Andonovski’s departure leaves the USWNT with a vacancy at head coach, and likely with several other positions to fill as well. USWNT general manager Kate Markgraf, who was a part of the group responsible for hiring Andonovski, will also step down when her contract with U.S. Soccer expires at the end of the month.

When asked if she would be up for a position with U.S. Soccer, Scurry did not say no.

“I would definitely consider it,” she told the Inquirer.

Carli Lloyd, the U.S. women’s national team great turned Fox Sports analyst, made headlines during the 2023 World Cup for her frequent criticism of her former team. Lloyd also offered suggestions for what head coach Vlatko Andonovski could have done differently.

That doesn’t mean Lloyd has any interest in the USWNT’s head coaching vacancy, however. The two-time World Cup champion shut down the possibility in a post on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.

“A definite no,” she wrote of herself as a candidate. “Not qualified, no coaching licenses and no experience. They’ll land a good one. It’s important to get it right.”

Since retiring following the 2021 Olympics, in which the USWNT won bronze, Lloyd has been vocal about her beliefs on the state of the program.

Andonovski’s resignation has triggered speculation about his replacement, ranging from Lloyd to Tony Gustavsson, the Australian head coach and former USWNT assistant under Jill Ellis. Lluís Cortés and Laura Harvey also have been linked to the opening. Harvey, a former USWNT assistant, is currently the head coach of the NWSL’s OL Reign.

“I enjoyed my time at U.S. Soccer. That’s no doubt,” Harvey said. “The U.S. women’s national team is probably the top job in the world, if not a top three job in the world. That’s just reality. And if my name is anywhere near it, then that’s an honor.”

When asked about the opening, USWNT legend Brandi Chastain said she would “love to lead this national team some time in the future,” while acknowledging she is not yet ready for the job.

Whatever direction the USWNT decides to go in, there’s no doubt Lloyd will have an opinion – and she won’t be afraid to share it.

“They need a fresh start,” she wrote on X. “Someone who hasn’t been part of the program. Wouldn’t be wise to recycle coaches. Too much history.”

Jill Ellis, who coached the U.S. women’s national to the 2015 and 2019 World Cup titles, delivered the championship trophy to 2023 winner Spain after Sunday’s final.

The USWNT fell well short in its quest for a three-peat, suffering its earliest-ever World Cup exit with a shootout loss to Sweden in the Round of 16. Japan’s elimination in the following round ensured that a first-time champion would be crowned at the 2023 tournament.

Before 2023, the USWNT had won four titles, Germany had won two, and Japan and Norway had won one each. Either the USWNT or Germany had appeared in all eight of the previous championship matches.

“You’re getting two teams that have never been in this moment before. It’s going to be an extraordinary evening,” Ellis said ahead of the final. “I just can’t wait to watch the images back in Spain and in England, of what their home countries are doing and how they’re celebrating and how they’re watching – I always find that so inspiring.”

In the aftermath of the USWNT’s exit from the World Cup, Ellis’ successor Vlatko Andonovski stepped down as head coach, kicking off a search for the next leader of what has been the premier senior women’s national program. The turnover at the top of the USWNT comes as Spain and England underlined the new reality of the women’s game: The world has caught up with the U.S.

Since 2000, all but one of the major women’s football tournaments — which include the World Cup, the Euros and the Olympics — have been won by teams led by women coaches. That streak may continue this weekend, as Sarina Wiegman leads England against Jorge Vilda’s Spain in the 2023 World Cup final.

The USWNT job has been a different story in recent years, with NWSL championship-winning coach Vlatko Andonovski holding the reins since the end of 2019. His tenure ended this week, as he and U.S. Soccer mutually agreed to part ways after the USWNT’s worst-ever performance at a World Cup. The search for his successor has already begun with the Paris Olympics less than a year away, and a number of strong candidates have already been contacted about their interest in the role, according to reports.

There’s no doubt that the USWNT wants a manager to bring them back to their winning ways. What is less clear is how much gender, for one, should play a role in the hiring process.

As a new era for the four-time World Champions quickly approaches, a familiar question hangs over it: How much should the demographic of the head coach of the USWNT matter? And what does the number of qualified options from traditionally marginalized communities say about coaching development in the U.S. and abroad?

Jill Ellis, former two-time World Cup-winning coach of the USWNT, has said that she believes the next manager should simply be the best fit.

“There’s certainly good female coaches out there,” she told reporters at a FIFA technical briefing Thursday in Sydney. “So what I would hope in this process is it’s robust, it’s diverse, but at the end of the day, this is a critical hire … and I think it has to be the right person.

“We need to make sure we’re creating and providing opportunities for women,” she continued. “But not just giving them the opportunities, making sure they’re supported and they’re educated and they’re ready to take those responsibilities and those opportunities.”

img
Jill Ellis led the USWNT to two World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019. (Harry How/Getty Images)

Adjusting the pipeline

Ellis makes a salient point, which is that the question of “qualified” coaching doesn’t exist in a vacuum. With women’s soccer still an emerging sport as compared to the men’s game, only in recent years have former women’s professional soccer players been empowered with the background necessary for some of the biggest coaching jobs in the world.

The NWSL currently hosts a free U.S. Soccer coaching C-license course for select interested players to start the journey toward higher-level managerial licensing. Those courses run through A-licenses and are increasingly expensive with each tier. There is also the U.S. Pro-license, a newer top-level course that fewer than five women coaches have ever reached, including current USWNT interim manager Twila Kilgore and OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey.

Gaining the expertise is important, but anyone who understands the bureaucratic realities of federation circles also knows that sometimes the most difficult barrier can be simply getting into the right rooms. USWNT legend Brandi Chastain, who holds an A-license and has served as a volunteer assistant at Santa Clara University for decades, spoke about that disparity last week.

“I’ve been asking to participate with our youth national teams for a while and have not gotten any traction,” she said on “The 91st” show. “I’m an A-licensed coach, I’ve been a volunteer at Santa Clara University probably for about 25 years, I coach youth soccer, I’ve been on the national team for 192 caps.”

Even more dire are the opportunities for women of color in U.S. Soccer circles, as the dropout rate for girls of color in American youth soccer is twice that of white girls who live in the suburbs. Steps are being taken to try to bridge the gap at the player level, but with the coaching pipeline still an uphill battle for all women, marginalized identities are sidelined even as the player demographics of the USWNT itself are changing.

“I think it’s essential that we look at putting women and people of color in leadership positions — that’s owning teams, that’s sitting on boards, that’s owning media divisions, being true decision-makers in women’s sports,” USWNT star Christen Press told Just Women’s Sports this week.

Who is in federation decision-making roles, who aligns budgets and sets goals for the future, and who makes sure that the next coach is set up to succeed bear a big responsibility. They must avoid deferring to the easiest choice, while also committing to a healthy coaching pyramid for qualified candidates.

Surveying the landscape

Harvey and Kilgore are clearly educated and qualified for consideration for the role, and Chastain would like to be in that conversation someday. But it is also true that the U.S. both needs to raise their competitive level to remain relevant on the world stage, and will always represent something greater than just goals on the field.

At the 2019 World Cup, nine of the 24 teams were coached by women. In 2023, that number grew to 11 coaches out of 32 teams. While every program has to make their own judgment calls on who is the best-suited to lead their national teams, the global gap appears to be widening.

Since the players union achieved a landmark equal pay deal with the U.S. Federation, there’s clearly demand for the team to further move the needle, and empowering a qualified coach who is also a woman fits that need. There are also highly qualified coaches in the NCAA system who would require substantial contracts in order to leave the relative stability of college for one of the most tumultuous and high-profile positions in women’s soccer. A lot can be solved by greater investment, even at the top.

Andonovski only made a fraction of the salary of U.S. men’s national team head coach Gregg Berhalter. The ability to attract top-level coaching talent — even as the USWNT is possibly seen as a program in decline — is paramount to achieving both short- and long-term goals.

It’s not enough to simply offer a woman a job that itself does not have the resources necessary to succeed. As even Andonovski found, a coach’s legacy can be made or broken on the field, despite whatever progress may be seen off of it.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski’s resignation became official Thursday, as U.S. Soccer announced his departure.

Reports emerged late Wednesday of Andonovski’s intent to resign. USWNT assistant coach Twila Kilgore is set to serve as interim head coach for upcoming friendlies against South Africa on Sept. 21 and Sept. 24.

It brings to an end Andonovski’s four-year tenure, which began in 2019, when he took the reins from back-to-back World Cup-winning coach Jill Ellis. In that time, he struggled to manage the roster, which was undergoing a transition from veterans to the new wave of youth talent. The World Cup put that struggle on full display, ending in the USWNT’s earliest exit ever in a World Cup tournament. That, combined with a bronze-medal finish at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, left the writing on the wall for Andonovski in terms of his future with the team.

“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,” Andonovski said in the news release announcing his departure. “I will be forever thankful to the U.S. Soccer Federation for giving me the chance to coach this remarkable team.”

Despite a record of 51-5-9, his record at major tournaments was just 3-2-5.

During the World Cup run, which ended with a record-long 238-minute scoring drought from the USWNT, he faced criticism for the team’s inability to finish its chances and for his lack of substitutions.

In the weeks since the USWNT’s elimination, U.S. Soccer reportedly spoke with players, coaches, staff and Andonovski himself, ESPN reported. USSF sporting director Matt Crocker led the efforts. In the end, it was decided by both parties that Andonovski would not return. His contract was set to expire at the end of 2023.

“It’s been the honor of my life to coach the talented, hard-working players of the USWNT for the past four years,” Andonovski said. “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.”

The future of USWNT general manager Kate Markgraf is up in the air as well, ESPN reported.

As the sports world waits for U.S. women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovksi’s resignation to be made official, his predecessor Jill Ellis is looking ahead.

From Ellis’ perspective, the gender of possible hires should not be a deciding factor in the search for the next USWNT coach. Ellis led the USWNT to World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, and then Andonovski took the reins when she stepped down at the end of 2019.

While there are a number of high-quality women candidates, the most important thing for the USWNT is to wind up with the right person to succeed Andonovski following a disappointing run at the 2021 Olympics and the 2023 World Cup, Ellis said.

“There’s certainly good female coaches out there,” she told reporters at a FIFA technical briefing Thursday in Sydney. “So what I would hope in this process is it’s robust, it’s diverse, but at the end of the day, this is a critical hire … and I think it has to be the right person.”

Women coaches have found success in the women’s game. Since 2000, all but one of the major women’s soccer titles (World Cup, Euros, Olympics) have been won by teams coached by women.

This year, Sarina Wiegman has the opportunity to add to that streak, having led England to the final against Jorge Vilda and Spain. It’s her second consecutive World Cup final after reaching the championship match in 2019 with the Netherlands.

“We need to make sure we’re creating and providing opportunities for women,” Ellis added. “But not just giving them the opportunities, making sure they’re supported and they’re educated and they’re ready to take those responsibilities and those opportunities.

“So I think it’s a critical hire, it’s got to be the right coach for this position. But in terms of gender, what we know is that in the last however many major tournaments, I think women have done all right.”

Vlatko Andonovski, who has coached the U.S. women’s national team since 2019, has resigned from the position, according to multiple reports. An official announcement from U.S. Soccer is expected Thursday.

Assistant coach Twila Kilgore will reportedly serve as interim coach for the USWNT’s two friendlies against South Africa in September. Soccer outlet 90min was the first to report that Andonovski was set to resign.

The USWNT saw its earliest-ever World Cup exit under Andonovski, losing to Sweden in a penalty shootout in the Round of 16. The team had never been eliminated before the semifinals. Andonovski, 46, also led the team to a bronze-medal finish at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.

During the World Cup run, which ended with a 238-minute scoring drought from the USWNT, he faced criticism for the team’s inability to finish its chances and for his disinclination to make substitutions.

Since the USWNT’s elimination, Andonovski has been firmly in the hot seat. He took the helm in 2019, succeeding two-time World Cup-winning coach Jill Ellis, but he struggled to manage a roster transitioning from legendary veteran players (Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn) to a new wave of talent (Sophia Smith, Naomi Girma).

His contract was set to expire at the end of the calendar year. In 2019, Andonovski signed a four-year deal worth approximately $400,000 per year. He led the U.S. to a record of 51-9-5 in that time, and just a 3-2-5 record in major tournaments.

In the immediate aftermath of the USWNT’s loss to Sweden, Andonovski downplayed the chatter over his future with the team. U.S. Soccer announced at the time that it would “conduct a review to identify areas of improvement and determine our next step.”

Andonovski, who coached FC Kansas City and Reign FC (now OL Reign) in the NWSL before taking over the U.S. job, is a candidate for the current head coach opening with the Kansas City Current, according to ESPN. The former NWSL Coach of the Year is also drawing interest from multiple teams at the international and club levels, The Athletic reports.

As for where the federation could turn for the next head coach, Ellis proposed Australia’s Tony Gustavsson, who just led the Matildas to the World Cup semifinals. Candidates also could come from other World Cup teams (Canada’s Bev Priestman, Jamaica’s Lorne Donaldson) or from the NWSL head coaching ranks (OL Reign’s Laura Harvey, Washington Spirit’s Mark Parsons).

U.S. Soccer will continue to evaluate the women’s program, including the role of current USWNT general manager Kate Markgraf, ESPN reports. The USWNT has under a year to prepare for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, adding urgency to the decision-making process.

U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski’s time with the USWNT might be nearing its end, as his four-year contract concluding at the end of the calendar year coincides with a disappointing Round of 16 exit from the 2023 World Cup.

Andonovski’s tenure has come under review as the U.S. prepares to regroup for the 2024 Olympics. Part of the conversation will include a necessary investigation into the circumstances in which he was hired. Andonovski was a standout coach in the NWSL before taking the U.S. job, succeeding Jill Ellis, who had experience in the NCAA and as an assistant coach within the USWNT system.

One of the greatest criticisms of Andonovski during his tenure has been that he ran the U.S. too much like one of his club teams, a trap that others could just as easily fall into when faced with player development and the high expectations of a winning culture. Despite the USWNT head coaching position being one of the premier jobs in the world of women’s soccer, it is also one of the most difficult.

Those tasked with finding a steady hand for the future will have to weigh the balance of knowledgeable leadership and the opportunity for a fresh start.

img
OL Reign coach Laura Harvey came close to getting the USWNT job in 2019. (Michael Thomas Shroyer/USA TODAY Sports)

The NWSL

In light of Andonovski’s middling record at major tournaments with the USWNT, attention has turned to the league that produced him. At the time of his hiring, Andonovski seemed like a natural fit for the national team. He had seen many members of the upcoming player pool up close every day in the NWSL, and he had a track record of success when it came to roster growth and advancing in the knockout stages of league playoffs.

But following disappointing results at the international level, picking his successor from the same coaching pool might not make the most sense. OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey came close to getting the job in 2019 and is a popular choice to replace Andonovski. Mark Parsons and Casey Stoney are also well-respected in the NWSL, while few other candidates have the experience or successful track record to stand out.

Harvey, Parsons and Stoney aren’t quite home runs, however, for some of the same reasons Andonovski is no longer likely to retain his job. Harvey is beloved by her players and has had consistent regular season success at the NWSL level. But her squads are pulled from top talent she can compile as a manager rather than developed from a young age, and she has never had a particularly strong record in knockout matches. Her teams also play in a similarly pragmatic and suffocating style that Andonovski tried with the U.S., without much success.

Parsons, head coach of the Washington Spirit, already tried his hand as an international coach, in a run with the Netherlands that ended after a lackluster Euros campaign. He seemed to fall victim to similar issues as Andonovski, confusing players with overly complex messaging and leaving them without clear roles in his system. Stoney is progressing toward a strong coaching resume, but her time with the San Diego Wave has not been definitive, as the team has sputtered slightly in their second year.

Ultimately, what makes a good club coach does not necessarily mean that person is right for a national team position. There’s no one who understands that lesson better than Andonovski himself.

img
After leading to Canada to an Olympic gold medal, Bev Priestman has dealt with federation dysfunction. (Alex Grimm - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

Other national teams

As with the end of any World Cup cycle, there will be other international coaches looking for new jobs. U.S. Soccer could decide that the best fit for the four-time World Champions is someone with experience at the highest international level. A number of possible candidates, however, might present more of a lateral move than a step forward.

Pia Sundhage is reported to be on the outs in Brazil, but the U.S. already moved on from her management once, and she never led Sweden or Brazil to a major tournament win in the years since leaving the USWNT. Other national team coaches have either had mercurial tenures or have yet to experience a full cycle with their squads.

So, does the USWNT try to poach a top name? Maybe. Sarina Wiegman has no outside reason to step away from her wildly successful tenure with the England national team, and Germany’s Martina Voss-Tecklenburg would not be a good personality fit for the American group (Germany also crashed out of the World Cup early). Herve Renard has just begun his work as the coach of France, and his commitment to the women’s game remains unclear.

Coaches who might be more attainable are Canada’s Bev Priestman, Jamaica’s Lorne Donaldson or even Australia’s Tony Gustavsson. Priestman is very committed to her current group, but dysfunction under Canada Soccer might prompt a change. Donaldson hasn’t committed to his future with Jamaica beyond Olympic qualifying, and he has Colorado club connections to several USWNT rising stars, including Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson. Gustavsson has experience as a U.S. assistant coach, and has shown his ability to lead as Australia has progressed through their home World Cup.

U.S. Soccer will have to balance the need for a fresh perspective on the team’s player pool and knowledge of talent rising through the ever-diversifying pipelines in the women’s game. Looking outside the insular NWSL or college system might be the best way to guarantee a bold change from the Andonovski era.

Outside the box

It’s possible, if unlikely, that U.S. Soccer will break the mold in other ways when pursuing a new manager. Top college coaches have long been considered for the job in the past, though the further away the professional game moves from the college system, the less relevant their experience becomes.

There’s also a desire to see former players take the reins, but the coaching pipeline is only just now opening up the requisite training and experience for new coaching demographics to emerge. Club coaches from overseas might provide the requisite new perspectives U.S. Soccer is looking for, but they could also fall prey to Andonovski’s issues with international management while also lacking familiarity with the USWNT player pool.

There is a tactic that would open up the pool considerably: Hiring a coach who, up until this point, has primarily coached on the men’s side. As the women’s coaching pipeline continues to grow, the USWNT might need to find someone who can produce results immediately. France’s appointment of Renard is a good example of the free-flowing exchange between sides, and that might be exactly what the U.S. needs.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

Just a few pixels doomed the U.S. women’s national team to elimination at the World Cup. FIFA’s official graphic of Sweden’s winning kick in the penalty shootout shows the ball nearly kissing the goal line, with the tiniest sliver of green in between.

“We just lost the World Cup by a millimeter,” USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher said after the game.

Yet while that assessment may hold true for the 5-4 shootout loss to Sweden, the USWNT lost the World Cup before it even arrived in Australia and New Zealand, Tobin Heath said on her World Cup podcast “The RE-CAP Show.”

“It may seem like we lost this game by a millimeter,” she said. “But we lost this tournament by a mile.”

Heath and co-host Christen Press both agreed on the gut-wrenching nature of the Round of 16 elimination, which ended the USWNT’s shortest World Cup run ever,

“I didn’t see a gap between the line and the ball,” Press said. “It was right at the edge. And you just think, this doesn’t make sense.”

“But the whole thing didn’t make sense,” Heath responded. “Like, the whole thing didn’t make sense. The whole tournament didn’t make sense. If you want to go back to the Olympics, that whole tournament didn’t make sense. Like, something’s not making sense here.”

On the previous episode of the podcast, Press had pointed out the larger issues plaguing head coach Vlatko Andonovski’s system, which extended beyond the World Cup group stage to the whole of 2023. She returned to that point after the shootout loss to Sweden.

“I look at the game and like we did not lose the World Cup last night. We lost the World Cup, over weeks, months, days, whatever the timeframe is,” Press said. “It was a slow burn all leading to that moment where the ball was parried and up in the air and it barely went over the line.”

The misuse of star striker Alex Morgan at the World Cup, including her absence from the penalty kick shootout against Sweden, underscores those larger issues, Heath said.

Morgan was asked to drop back in the attack, taking on more responsibilities as playmaker in contrast to her typical role as goalscorer. She struggled at times to juggle those two sides of her game. And then, in extra time against Sweden, she was removed from the game in favor of Megan Rapinoe, which left her unavailable to participate in the deciding shootout.

“I don’t know in what situation we don’t have Alex Morgan in taking a penalty in what seemingly feels like it’s her last World Cup,” Heath said. “She had to watch that. She couldn’t help the team in that moment… You want your biggest players in the biggest moments. And that was hard…

“Were all the players prepared in the way that (they) needed to be for a world championship? Was the group as a whole prepared in the way that it needed to be for a world championship?”

Press provided a succinct response to Heath’s questions: “Clearly not.”