Tag: Vlatko Andonovski

Three issues the USWNT must solve to save their World Cup

Some achievable changes that can give the USWNT a real shot at turning this World Cup around

It’s safe to say the U.S. women’s national team has not impressed anyone at this World Cup.

To be fair, things could be worse. Germany and Brazil have already packed their bags, as have the the defending Olympic champions Canada. Australia and Norway had to get their respective acts together to vault themselves into advancement at the last gasp, and a global power like Spain has suffered a 4-0 loss. It’s been wild.

None of that excuses the performances of the U.S. though, which have been extraordinarily frustrating. Setting Canada aside, all of the teams listed above also have had at least one good game at this tournament, a showing that most would agree deserved a grade better than a C-plus. The USWNT can’t say that.

Much of the discussion has centered on lineup choices and substitutions. Should Lynn Williams be in there? What about moving Julie Ertz back into the midfield? People want to see Sophia Smith playing centrally, they want a team that brought three different No. 10s to somehow find playing time for all of them, and on and on.

Pro Soccer Wire has good news, and bad news. We’ll start with the bad: none of these popular talking points would impact much of anything, save possibly disrupting the one bold choice (Ertz partnering Naomi Girma) that has paid off. Putting your fave into the next game isn’t going to save the day.

Why? Putting it bluntly, the USWNT’s tactical approach has mitigated so much of what these players are all good at doing. Swapping starters isn’t going to solve that, because the new player coming in will run into the exact same problem. On The Re-Cap Show, USWNT great Christen Press said it better than anyone: “Every single player, in every single line, is not being set up to succeed.”

When a coaching staff is doing that, shuffling the personnel is rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking ship. The problems with this USWNT, other than one aspect that we’ll get to at the end, are on a whiteboard, a PowerPoint presentation, and so on. They’re taking the field with a plan that leads them in the wrong direction.

With a round-of-16 match against Sweden (possibly the single team most familiar with how to slow them down on the planet), showing up with the same plan is asking to be sent home ASAP.

Here are some achievable changes that can give the USWNT a real shot at turning this World Cup around.

Andonovski on Portugal game: ‘The performance was crap’

The coach knows his side needs to improve a whole lot heading into the knockouts

U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has evaluated his team’s display against Portugal in succinct fashion, saying bluntly: “The performance was crap.”

Andonovski’s side struggled in its Group E finale against the World Cup debutants, as it was pushed all the way in a nerve-shredding 0-0 draw that barely secured qualification to the knockout round.

The USWNT failed to generate many scoring opportunities against the underdogs, and was nearly sent home when Ana Capeta hit the post deep into stoppage time.

The match against Portugal was the latest underwhelming display as the U.S. set all-time program lows for wins (one) and points (five) in a World Cup group stage.

After beating Vietnam and drawing the Netherlands and Portugal, the USWNT could only manage a second-place finish in Group E, representing just the second time in nine World Cups the team has failed to win its group.

Ahead of a difficult last-16 game against Sweden, Andonovski said he was heartened by his team’s reaction after an admittedly poor display against the Portuguese.

“I think it’s been great actually,” the coach told Fox Sports. “I was a little bit worried after the Portugal game [about] how they’re going to feel and where they stand, but the group has been incredible.

“Some of the more experienced players actually from the get go were very energetic and very positive about the fact that we have [another] game. Nothing changed — like, yes, the performance was crap. We all know that. We have to own it. We have to take accountability. And we have to focus for the next game. Let’s make sure that we don’t have the same performance again.”

Watch Andonovski’s Portugal assessment

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Andonovski hits back at ‘insane’ Lloyd criticism of USWNT mentality

The USWNT head coach wasn’t having any of his former player’s criticism

U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has hit back at Carli Lloyd, saying his former player questioning his team’s mentality is “insane.”

Andonovski’s side only managed a 0-0 draw with Portugal on Tuesday, advancing to the World Cup knockout stage as the Group E runner-up after a disappointing performance.

In addition to calling out USWNT players for their over-exuberant post-game celebrations, Lloyd also questioned the team’s mentality, saying on Fox after the game: “I’m just not seeing that passion. I’m just seeing a very lackluster, uninspiring, taking it for granted, where winning and training and doing all that you can to be the best possible individual player is not happening.”

In his post-game press conference, a reporter relayed Lloyd’s criticism to Andonovski. The USWNT coach admitted his side was far from its best against Portugal, but bristled at the notion that it was lacking desire.

“The one thing I want to say is that this team wanted to win this game more than anything else,” Andonovski said. “They’ve put everything they could in preparation for this tournament and every game that they go into, so to question the mentality of this team, to question the willingness to win, to compete, I think it’s insane.

“I’ve never seen this team step on the field and not try hard or not compete. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, they can say whatever they want, but I just know how this team feels.

“It’s not like we played well by any means. We owned it. We know it’s not good enough. We’re not happy with our performance, but we qualified for the next round. We’re moving on.”

Andonovski was named USWNT head coach in 2019, coaching Lloyd for two years before her retirement in 2021.

Upon Lloyd’s retirement announcement, Andonovski said: “Carli Lloyd is a true legend. Her career was unique, and her success on the field is something all current and future national team players should aspire to achieve. The way she approached her everyday training and career as a professional is truly impressive and I’ve been honored to coach her.”

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USWNT player ratings: Lack of ideas as U.S. barely survives Portugal

Lots of not-great, and some quite bad!

The U.S. women’s national team, by a margin of about three inches, survived a feisty Portugal side to get through to the knockout round of the World Cup.

That’s about all the good news there is to discuss. The USWNT were totally unable to solve the Portuguese midfield diamond throughout a troubling 0-0 draw, struggling for possession and also lacking chances to break out in transition.

The stats may show the USWNT holding a 17-6 shot advantage, and this is another game in which a U.S. opponent were held without a shot on goal. However, anyone that watched the match would be able to tell you that the Portuguese troubled the U.S. from start to finish, seeing the game’s best chance end with Ana Capeta hitting the post deep in stoppage time.

It was a dispiriting and disappointing showing in which no player really looked like they’d been given a platform to be their best. If the USWNT is to go on and make history as the first team to win three consecutive World Cups, this has to be by far their worst performance of the tournament.

Here’s a breakdown from a game in which no one looked particularly good.

As a reminder, here’s the Pro Soccer Wire player rating scale:

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of our staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Carli Lloyd vs. Japan in the 2015 final.

USWNT lineup vs. Portugal: Rose Lavelle, Lynn Williams in for high-pressure Group E clash

Not many changes, but both likely popular ones for the USWNT

The U.S. women’s national team has made two changes for a decisive World Cup group stage match against Portugal.

Rose Lavelle and Lynn Williams represent all of the changes Vlatko Andonovski has made to the USWNT starting 11 that drew 1-1 with the Netherlands last week (a selection that was unchanged from the team’s opening 3-0 win over Vietnam). Lavelle will replace Savannah DeMelo in the U.S. midfield, while Williams replaces Trinity Rodman on the front line.

Lavelle has performed well in two substitute appearances, but has not started a game for club or country since doing so for OL Reign on April 1 in NWSL regular season play. It is unclear how long she can play after getting 27 minutes off the bench against Vietnam, and then entering at halftime against the Dutch.

Sophia Smith has, after spending most of the last two years on the right wing, been playing on the left with Rodman more comfortable on the opposite side. It wasn’t clear until kickoff, but Andonovski has simply replaced Rodman with Williams, keeping Smith on the left for a third straight game.

For the USWNT, this match against Portugal has huge importance. A win may or may not be enough to secure the top spot in Group E: the Netherlands could overtake them if they can beat Vietnam by three more goals than the U.S. margin of victory at Eden Park.

A shock loss would — barring an even more monumental upset win for Vietnam in the other game — end the USWNT’s World Cup far earlier than expected.

All 23 players in the U.S. squad are, per U.S. Soccer’s game notes, listed as available and in uniform.

USWNT lineup vs. Portugal

(4-3-3): Naeher; Fox, Ertz, Girma, Dunn; Lavelle, Sullivan, Horan; Williams, Morgan, Smith

Portugal lineup (4-3-1-2): Inês Pereira; Ana Borges, Carole Costa, Diana Gomes, Catarina Amado; Andreia Norton, Tatiana Pinto, Dolores Silva; Kika Nazareth; Jéssica Silva, Diana Silva

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Andonovski ignoring critics ahead of massive Portugal match

“I’m pretty sure that if I knew everything outside of our bubble, I wouldn’t be smiling right now”

U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski knows there is probably a lot of criticism of his coaching at this World Cup — he’s just trying to ignore all of it.

The USWNT is off to a stuttering start at the tournament, beating Vietnam 3-0 in a game it was expected to win by more and then only managing a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands.

Most concerning for Andonovski’s critics was his decision to use only one of his five available subs in the Netherlands match.

The two results have left the USWNT facing a vital Group E finale against Portugal on Tuesday. A loss would almost certainly see the two-time defending champions eliminated at the group stage, while a draw would likely only be good enough for second place and a more difficult path in the knockout round.

With the U.S. level on points with the Netherlands and carrying a two-goal advantage on goal difference, even a narrow win over Portugal may not be enough for first place if the Dutch beat Vietnam by enough goals.

With more pressure on the group-stage finale than he was likely hoping for, Andonovski told a pre-match press conference he’s taking everything in stride.

“I don’t know how it is with the other coaches and the other national teams, but the moment I sat in this chair in 2019 is when the pressure started,” Andonovski said. “It’s not like this is something new. I knew this was how it was going to be and I know what the expectations are.

“The only thing that changed from 2019 to now is I just learned how to turn the pressure into excitement. I came into this World Cup not thinking, ‘Oh my gosh’ — it’s actually, ‘We’re having a chance to compete for a title.'”

Andonovski said that he’s managed to form a bubble during the World Cup, trying to cordon himself off from any outside noise.

“One thing that I do is I don’t have any social media, I don’t read anything,” Andonovski said.

“Our press officer is my main source of information. … He has been very good to me in selecting the things that I need to know and selecting things that I don’t need to know. Because I’m pretty sure that if I knew everything outside of our bubble, I wouldn’t be smiling right now.”

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Three things on the USWNT going through peaks and valleys in Netherlands draw

Despite a performance that wasn’t as bad as it seemed, there are major questions for Vlatko Andonovski

The U.S. women’s national team didn’t expect a straightforward path to another World Cup final, and that instinct looks like the correct one.

The USWNT found itself in a serious battle against a feisty Netherlands side in a 1-1 draw that saw head coach Vlatko Andonovski under fire for a lack of substitutions, among other issues.

The Dutch, on their first attempt at anything resembling an attacking foray, took a surprise early lead through Jill Roord on a sequence featuring four or five errors. That goal left the U.S. reeling, but just as importantly served to inspire the Oranje, who proceeded to threaten to run the USWNT off the pitch.

The U.S. managed to avoid letting the Netherlands turn their control into a ton of chances, and after a conflict between Lindsey Horan and Daniëlle van de Donk, flipped the tables. Horan scored seconds after that dispute was broken up, and as much as the USWNT showing drew criticism, the team will look back and wonder how their dominance of the game’s final half-hour didn’t result in a game-winning goal.

It was intense, breathless, controversial, and everything else people want out of high-level sports…except, if you’re a U.S. fan, it didn’t end with the expected three points.

Let’s dig into the most charged-up game of this World Cup thus far:

USWNT player ratings: Disappointing showing vs. Netherlands ends in draw

A good start and finish sandwiched some worrying stuff for the USWNT

The U.S. women’s national team was far from its best against the Netherlands, struggling for a long spell in the middle of the match before recovering for a 1-1 draw.

Jill Roord’s goal on the first shot conceded all tournament by the USWNT deflated the group, and until Dutch star Daniëlle van de Donk clattered into club teammate Lindsey Horan, it was starting to get hard to see a way back in for the favored Americans.

However, Horan — after a fairly heated argument with van de Donk in the seconds that followed — powered home a header, and the U.S. took the game over for the final half-hour.

The good news? Those final minutes were the “real” USWNT. The bad news? They arrived for a reason the team can’t control, and since a winner didn’t arrive (nor did any substitutions after Rose Lavelle’s entry at halftime), the flaws on the day aren’t going to be papered over by three points.

With all that in mind, let’s dig into who delivered, and who didn’t.

As a reminder, here’s the Pro Soccer Wire player rating scale:

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of our staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Carli Lloyd vs. Japan in the 2015 final.

USWNT lineup vs. Netherlands: Unchanged 11 sees Rose Lavelle start on bench

Fans hoping to see Lavelle will have to wait

The U.S. women’s national team has named an unchanged lineup for its attention-grabbing World Cup clash with the Netherlands.

The pairing, a rematch of the 2019 final, had been eagerly anticipated since the draw placed both sides in Group E, and Vlatko Andonovski has decided to make no alterations to a side that opened the 2023 edition with a 3-0 win over Vietnam.

That means no starting role for Rose Lavelle, despite speculation ramping up that the star attacking midfielder would get the nod after she appeared in the team’s pre-game press conference. Lavelle scored a triumphant goal against the Dutch in the 2019 final, and has been working her way back from a knee injury for months. The OL Reign playmaker played 27 minutes in the USWNT’s opener.

Per U.S. Soccer, all 23 players in the squad remain available, meaning that the USWNT has not picked up any knocks in training or that may have materialized during a physical battle with Vietnam.  Striker and co-captain Alex Morgan acknowledged that the U.S. was not “always clicking” in that match, but Andonovski apparently saw enough positives to retain the exact same starting lineup to take on the Oranje.

USWNT lineup vs. Netherlands

(4-3-3): Naeher; Fox, Ertz, Girma, Dunn; DeMelo, Sullivan, Horan; Rodman, Morgan, Smith

Netherlands lineup (3-5-2): Daphne van Domselaar; Sherida Spitse, Stefanie van der Gragt, Dominique Janssen; Victoria Pelova, Daniëlle van de Donk, Jackie Groenen, Jill Roord, Esmee Brugts; Katja Snoeijs, Lieke Martens

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USWNT player ratings: Smith stands out as U.S. eases past Vietnam in World Cup opener

Smith was at the center of most of the USWNT’s best in their win

It may not have been the blowout some expected, but the U.S. women’s national team started the World Cup off with a 3-0 win over Vietnam.

A first-half brace from Sophia Smith — one goal was clinical, the other needed a fairly hefty slice of luck — set the USWNT on their way. After some missed chances, including an Alex Morgan penalty kick that was saved by Vietnam’s Tran Thi Kim Thanh, Lindsey Horan added the third on an assist from Smith.

In the context of Vietnam’s recent results, including only falling to Germany 2-1, it’s a decent result. It’s also not the rout that fans may have thought was coming, though on another day the goals may have been flowing with just a touch more sharpness from the attacking players.

As a reminder, here’s the Pro Soccer Wire player rating scale:

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of our staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Carli Lloyd vs. Japan in the 2015 final.