Here's a head-scratcher: Is it possible, at the international level, to have a coach whom the players love off the field and perform to peak on the field?
Nobody is faulting Vlatko for his relationship with the players. So, clearly that's not a team chemistry or player mindset problem.
I don't know that players are going to be too eager fo…
Here's a head-scratcher: Is it possible, at the international level, to have a coach whom the players love off the field and perform to peak on the field?
Nobody is faulting Vlatko for his relationship with the players. So, clearly that's not a team chemistry or player mindset problem.
I don't know that players are going to be too eager for a return to Jill Ellis, and Caitlin Murray lists that as an option worth considering.
Personally, I think the chemistry problem is part injuries, party we're-in-transition. There's more too it, sure, but I think it's important not to overcomplicate this.
As to the player mindset problem (which is what Caitlin Murray called it in her ESPN piece), I think that has much more to do with the enormous pressure weighing down the team and individual players going into the WWC. Hard to play with joy (and looseness) when everything is telling you that anything less than a semifinal appearance is a disaster and not winning the Cup is a failure.
The expectation of a championship sort of comes with the job, both for players and manager. That’s baked in.
I think the troubles here have been a long time coming. While the European and Asian federations have been moving to a more professional model we’ve stuck with the setup gifted us by Title IX. That worked then…but it produces both players and coaches that have a pretty inward-looking mindset.
Vlatko's selection had to have been in part a product of the era in which he was chosen, with the player abuse scandals, so many scandals, the equal pay initiative and lawsuit, the BLM protests, and and and. IDK if he was a consensus selection among players but will guess collectively they supported the choice.
And while he's a good coach overall, his strategic abilities when it comes to playing top-tier international foes is frankly, suspect. His WWC squad represented a self-painted corner because unlike, say, Ellis who consistently made wholesale changes among her starting XIs, Vlatko was pretty stuck with a very shallow rotation. It was a problem at the Olympics and fatal flaw at WWC.
Wiegman is as handy an example as I can name who both has the support of her squad and is an excellent tactician and strategist. Her polar opposite is the Spain coach and for that reason alone I hope the Lionesses kick arse on Sunday and send him on his way out the puerto.
I think you have put your finger on two problems. His strategy playing international foes with very different styles and shallow rotation. He had a very talented roster top to bottom, but he played very few of them and often not in their best position. He seemed to believe that the best thing was to start his eleven best players and kind of shoe horn them into a spot. I was very supportive of his choice of DeMelo, because, well she was a hot hand in the NWSL, but in retrospect that was not a good choice as she was really lost in the two games she played. He didn't take Sophia Smith to Toyoko, even though I am sure he knew she would be going to the World Cup, that experience would have helped the young woman who was expected to be the "cheat code" at the World Cup.
Yes his tactics and strategy limitations are very apparent (Monday Morning Quarterbacking here). I think the next US coach needs to be familiar with the international game and look at the lack of success of our U17 and U20 to see what is lacking.
Here's a head-scratcher: Is it possible, at the international level, to have a coach whom the players love off the field and perform to peak on the field?
Nobody is faulting Vlatko for his relationship with the players. So, clearly that's not a team chemistry or player mindset problem.
I don't know that players are going to be too eager for a return to Jill Ellis, and Caitlin Murray lists that as an option worth considering.
Personally, I think the chemistry problem is part injuries, party we're-in-transition. There's more too it, sure, but I think it's important not to overcomplicate this.
As to the player mindset problem (which is what Caitlin Murray called it in her ESPN piece), I think that has much more to do with the enormous pressure weighing down the team and individual players going into the WWC. Hard to play with joy (and looseness) when everything is telling you that anything less than a semifinal appearance is a disaster and not winning the Cup is a failure.
The expectation of a championship sort of comes with the job, both for players and manager. That’s baked in.
I think the troubles here have been a long time coming. While the European and Asian federations have been moving to a more professional model we’ve stuck with the setup gifted us by Title IX. That worked then…but it produces both players and coaches that have a pretty inward-looking mindset.
Vlatko's selection had to have been in part a product of the era in which he was chosen, with the player abuse scandals, so many scandals, the equal pay initiative and lawsuit, the BLM protests, and and and. IDK if he was a consensus selection among players but will guess collectively they supported the choice.
And while he's a good coach overall, his strategic abilities when it comes to playing top-tier international foes is frankly, suspect. His WWC squad represented a self-painted corner because unlike, say, Ellis who consistently made wholesale changes among her starting XIs, Vlatko was pretty stuck with a very shallow rotation. It was a problem at the Olympics and fatal flaw at WWC.
Wiegman is as handy an example as I can name who both has the support of her squad and is an excellent tactician and strategist. Her polar opposite is the Spain coach and for that reason alone I hope the Lionesses kick arse on Sunday and send him on his way out the puerto.
I think you have put your finger on two problems. His strategy playing international foes with very different styles and shallow rotation. He had a very talented roster top to bottom, but he played very few of them and often not in their best position. He seemed to believe that the best thing was to start his eleven best players and kind of shoe horn them into a spot. I was very supportive of his choice of DeMelo, because, well she was a hot hand in the NWSL, but in retrospect that was not a good choice as she was really lost in the two games she played. He didn't take Sophia Smith to Toyoko, even though I am sure he knew she would be going to the World Cup, that experience would have helped the young woman who was expected to be the "cheat code" at the World Cup.
Yes his tactics and strategy limitations are very apparent (Monday Morning Quarterbacking here). I think the next US coach needs to be familiar with the international game and look at the lack of success of our U17 and U20 to see what is lacking.