The USWNT has a new coach, as new GM Katie Markgraf announced the hiring of Seattle Reign boss Vladko Andonovski. He's "only" 43 years old, but has been an NWSL lifer as a coach, guiding FC Kansas City for 3 seasons before their demise when he moved on to Seattle to replace Laura Harvey at Reign FC. Vladko has a background as both a player and coach in men's professional indoor soccer and is a native of Macedonia. He's also fairly beloved by his former players as well as the soccer media for his candor and good humor. He's a decent tactician, but is more of a pragmatist than he is a dreamer. He's a "figure it out" kinda guy and seems a really good fit for the job at hand ... which, for the record, is to win the Olympics and then settle in a new roster for a run at another World Cup.
He's already named his first roster, with friendlies against Costa Rica and Sweden coming up quick. And he went straight to the well for some high level NWSL performers who hadn't figured for Jill Ellis ... keeper Aubrey Bledsoe, defenders Imani Dorsey (also a midfielder) and Alana Cook and forward Margaret Purce are all uncapped and we haven't seen Casey Short or Lynn Williams much with the national team of late. Some of the vets are unavailable for this camp due to injury or other concerns ... for example, Alex Morgan announced she's pregnant which will likely take her out of the picture until after the Olympics.
He's already named his first roster, with friendlies against Costa Rica and Sweden coming up quick. And he went straight to the well for some high level NWSL performers who hadn't figured for Jill Ellis ... keeper Aubrey Bledsoe, defenders Imani Dorsey (also a midfielder) and Alana Cook and forward Margaret Purce are all uncapped and we haven't seen Casey Short or Lynn Williams much with the national team of late. Some of the vets are unavailable for this camp due to injury or other concerns ... for example, Alex Morgan announced she's pregnant which will likely take her out of the picture until after the Olympics.