The United States women's national team were eliminated by Sweden in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in penalty kicks, leaving the future of many members up in the air. The squad suffered their worst-ever finish in the tournament, having made the semifinals in every previous edition. They advanced to the knockout rounds after clinching second place in Group E as head coach Vlatko Andonovski was criticized for his lack of substitutions and poor tactical adjustment while the players struggled to generate goals in the attack. On Wednesday, news broke that the coach is stepping down, meaning a new era is close for the USWNT.
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So who could replace the coach if he leaves?
The World Cup candidate
Lorne Donaldson is currently making history with Jamaica in the World Cup. The Reggae Girlz also advanced into the round of 16 and will face Colombia on Tuesday. It's the first time the island has ever advanced into the knockout rounds of a World Cup in men's or women's soccer history. The Carribeans advanced on the efforts of stingy defensive performances, but that's not the only area Donaldson has excelled.
He is familiar with the American youth soccer club setup, has coached Real Colorado and famously helped develop Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith. His ability to train and mold two present attackers on the U.S. national team (Swanson missed World Cup due to injury) shouldn't be overlooked. But a lot will depend on what happens with Jamaica and whether or not their federation also wants to retain Donaldson's services.
The NWSL candidate
The truth is, I don't think any NWSL coach at the moment is particularly suited to lead the national team program at this time though others might want to clamor for Laura Harvey or Casey Stoney.
San Diego's Stoney is currently navigating a deep drop in form while their World Cup players are gone, and Harvey has the most ties to the national team. Harvey has coached in the league since its inception, with nine of those seasons in Seattle with OL Reign. But she has had extensive experience with U.S. Soccer.
She's coached two youth teams, U20 and U23, and was even an assistant with the senior team under Andonovski during 2020 and 2021. She was with the USWNT during the Tokyo Olympics and was even direct competition for the head coaching role alongside Andonovski after Jill Ellis departed from the team in 2019 before Andonovski ultimately got the job.
Unfortunately, I think that ship has sailed. Between a long process with U.S. Soccer and a new contract to continue with the Reign, I can see her passing on the role unless the offer is too good to pass up.
The college candidates
The real long shots here are the college candidate. There might be lots of debate on the variables that led to this World Cup exit for the U.S. but the one absolute is that being stagnant is out of the question if they want to improve further. Hiring a coach out of college could be considered a lateral promotion, or at this era of the game, a step backward.
UCLA Margueritte Aozasa is an excellent young prospect who is more than ready to take the next step in the coaching field but that might also be why she could miss out on the most prolific coaching position in women's soccer. She might have her pick in what will eventually be two domestic Division I leagues in the U.S. next year between NWSL and USL Super League.
But in the event that there's a coach with literal national team experience that could get interviewed, it might be Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak. She's currently coaching at the University of Central Florida and has spent time as an assistant coach under Andonovski. She made 112 caps with the USWNT and is a former Olympic Gold Medalist and 1999 World Cup champion.
The Galaxy brain candidate
There's always room for out-of-this-world and never-in-your-wildest-dreams takes so here is one to have some fun -- Thierry Daniel Henry. A former France international, he won the World Cup, the Premier League and the Champions League as a player and has experienced managerial roles at the club and international levels -- as an assistant to Belgium. His name was tossed around as a potential U.S. men's national team coaching candidate before Gregg Berhalter returned -- even expressing an interest himself. There could be worse directions to go in.
