I will always support the USWNT, and not to be dramatic, but I think this is what heartbreak feels like.
I’m just gonna be so honest. This is not the USWNT that I fell in love with ten years ago. And Vlatko as a coach has been an absolute disgrace to the history of this team. We aren’t getting past Sweden. It just won’t happen.
-The fact that we have had three years to rebuild this team after 2020 and this is what we have to show is horrendous.
-The fact that we haven’t been in a battle with our federation the way other teams have been and this is what we have to show is horrendous.
-The fact that we have more resources and more money than any other women’s team and this is what we have to show is horrendous.
-the fact that we have been world champions for eight years and ranked number one by FIFA for over a decade and this is what we have to show is horrendous and a disgrace to the legacy of this team.
This is just so disappointing. Sure, the players haven’t been as individually brilliant or consistent as we’re used to (in fact they were absolutely terrible individually against Portugal and they have lost all their ability to play with energy and are making increasingly inexcusable mistakes), but the blame for this failure lies with the coaching staff.
- There is no fire or desire to win in this team. The team keeps saying ‘they gave everything’ and I just don’t think that’s true. And it’s hard to watch these players not give it their all when we all know they can achieve so much more.
- our young players are so unprepared on this scale, and our team doesn’t know how to play with each other because Vlatko refused to make any decisions about anyone in the past three years until two months ago. How can a team play well then they’ve never played together?
- Vlatko doesn’t play players where they’re good. Sure Crystal Dunn and Emily Sonnett are good outside backs. But they are absolute beasts in the midfield. Sure Julie Ertz was good in center back when she last played it in 2016, but she is an absolute hazard for other teams in defending mid.
- they haven’t actually made any formation or structural changes since Jill Ellis left. You can’t keep the same tactics for four years and not expect teams to dismantle them.
- They’ve shown a serious inability to tactically adapt to different opponents within the flow of a game.
- They aren’t using the bench players. For years we’ve said that the US has the most talented bench in the world. Why aren’t they being used? To be so far into this tournament and to have not used eight of your players is just bad resource management.
- His lack of substitutes in a game is so worrying in this age when we’re seeing so many injuries. It’s just so frustrating when he doesn’t even try to make changes throughout a game.
- And to top it all off, Vlatko is so massively delusional about this team’s success under his management. He keeps saying “we got the job done”. You didn’t. You hung on by a thread and the only reason you succeeded was purely based on luck. You can’t make positive change if you don’t acknowledge where your problems are.
I will always back the USWNT. Besides what they’ve done in the past on the field, their off the field impact has been immense and I will always be proud of them for that. They have absolutely changed this sport for the better, and I will stand by their work for equal pay, the queer community, and people of color.
But reflecting on this tournament, what little girl is going to be inspired by this performance?
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