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Could Vlatko Andonovski be the next KC Current head coach?

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3 years ago

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Photo: Thad Bell | KC Soccer Journal

Vlatko Andonovski has stepped down from his position as head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team, which was expected as the team exited the Women’s World Cup in the Round of 16 after their loss to Sweden, their earliest exit ever. Even before the official announcement tied to his resignation, Meg Lineman from The Athletic reported that “Andonovski has interest from multiple clubs already.”

Jeff Carlisle from ESPN then later reported that Andonovski “is a candidate to become the next manager of the Kansas City Current.” And Caitlin Murray, also from ESPN, also added that the NWSL coaching job that Andonovski is up for is for the Current coaching position.

By the reports and speculation, Vlatko Andonovski could be the next head coach of the KC Current. It wouldn’t be a surprising hire, and perhaps why the Current have continued with interim head coach Caroline Sjöblom, despite sitting at the bottom of the NWSL standings this far into the season. Sjöblom took over after Matt Potter’s dismissal after a 0-3 start.

Maybe, just maybe, the Current have had Andonovski as their next head coach, at some point. His contract with the national team was due to expire at the end of the year or likely not renewed if the USWNT had not won the World Cup or simply if his cycle had just come to an end, even if the U.S. had won.

Andonovski still resides in Kansas City and has been sighted at Current games since their return to the city. His hiring would be a good choice, and he is, despite his lack of success with the national team – winning an Olympic medal & a World Cup in his 4 years, the best candidate for the Current. Some may disqualify him based on his record with the USWNT and the latest result in the World Cup, but his resume in the NWSL is among the best in the history of the league.

Time will tell, of course. Nothing is official at this point. All the news on Andonovski is that he is a candidate for KC, and the Current will likely give Sjöblom an opportunity to finish the 2023 season before making an any sort of announcement, and should she somehow succeed to get the Current to reach the NWSL playoffs and win the Challenge Cup, she could very well likely be a good candidate herself.

 

 

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Eric Vidoni

Agree with you, Cindy. He’d be a good choice. Hard not to strongly consider a guy who considers himself a home-towner, who also has 2 NWSL championships and a bronze medal on his shelf.

I’m a big proponent of not retreading coaches (it drives me crazy in college basketball and football), but this level of success is hard to argue with.

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KCOutsider

The only thing I wonder is, does that perpetuate the ongoing issue of there being so few female coaches in top positions? Recycling coaches already suppresses up-and-coming talent, and it seems especially fraught when gender comes into play. Then again, as you say, it’s hard to argue with the unique resume and circumstances here.

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Chad Smith

I like the Vlatko idea as well. With it being a different ownership group and a different franchise (although I’d argue it’s kind of the same one KC > Utah > KC), I imagine they don’t consider it a retread.

And I don’t think you should hire a woman just to hire a woman. No offense to Caroline, but I don’t think it’s worked very well. I hope she proves me wrong down the stretch and makes this decision super tough on the ownership group.

If they were looking for a woman, someone I’ve been super impressed listening to is former assistant Ella Masar. I don’t fully know the dynamics of why she left, but how she wants to play football/soccer feels like an evolution that Americans need. I think Vlatko would be a fine coach, but I don’t know that he’s suddenly going to change his style and have his players pinging the ball around like the Spanish or Japanese national teams, which I’ve loved watching.

Thad and I had a good discussion post-game last night in the parking lot after the Current’s win about American coaching maybe hampering the development of some of our women and it showing up at the World Cup. And English coaching with their propensity to just lump the ball long and go chase it. Probably a longer discussion for another day.

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Bryan Flores (aka Chzbro)

I have been thinking Vlatko was all but signed for a while now, mostly because of the way they’ve handled the current head coach situation. At the same time, I’d love to see the team move forward tactically. They have a bit, but it’s still mostly counterattacks and hero-ball, which just isn’t great to watch (especially when the defense isn’t up for it).

I’m still completely bewildered by how poorly this season has gone, so as long as Vlatko or whoever winds up coach turns things around, I guess I don’t care how (tactically) it gets done. I’m glad some of our rookies have been stepping up in the challenge cup, because I haven’t been too impressed by what I thought at the time was an amazing bunch. Since about half the vets we sign get hurt and never play a game, we really need the rookies to >insert funny soccer activity here<.

(sorry, KC soccer has pummeled the hilarity out of me this season)

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Eric Vidoni

Chad, I agree that you shouldn’t hire someone just for demographic reasons. However, I think Keaton has made some great points on the TBT podcast. A few of the dynamics of a women’s team are different and it’s possible/likely that a woman coach is going to be better tuned in to that. Whether that is essential to success is up for debate.

In fact, just having Keaton on the podcast itself brings new perspectives and ideas both because of her age and her gender. Sort of the point about inclusive personnel being made in miniature. Again kudos to everyone at KCSJ for an ever increasing set of perspectives (including Sheena’s “casual” perspective).

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Chad Smith

Yeah, Keaton has been really good. Crazy she’s 18!

I definitely would anticipate a diverse staff, even if Vlatko gets the jobs for the very reasons you mentioned.

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Thad Bell

Keaton is great to have on the pod, a fresh perspective, and a good soccer mind as well. She is starting college now so it will prob be hard to get her as involved as we would like. She is also working with a sports group that covers high school sports as well but we will do our best to keep her contributing when we can.

We also have a young photographer that has shot a couple of games with me. We used one of her photos for an article and hope to use more. She is back in school locally but is also playing college soccer.

It will be a struggle for both of them to find a lot of time.

From my perspective, I like finding the younger, next generation of media that can help the sport grow and give me something to read when I am too old to keep doing this. The fact that they can give a different perspective is even better.

Both Keaton and Jess have a good future and hopefully, they can look at us as a good launch pad.

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