Vlatko Andonovski has been building a firewall around himself for a while now by design. 'I don’t want anything that is said outside to influence my decision.' Before the World Cup began, itsmeglinehan explored a seldom-seen side of the USWNT coach.
But sitting in that Austin meeting room back in April, Andonovski thought he was still the same guy — the one who had balanced multiple teams at the same time, would stick around an NWSL draft just to show you his draft board because he liked sharing his process or who’d pause his morning jog or coffee run to say hi to someone who crossed his path.“I don’t know if I have changed, but things around me have changed a lot,” he said. “The environment, obviously, is different.
“I really, sincerely believe coaching in the NWSL will help you prepare for any other experience in coaching, more than any league or national team that I have seen from a distance or I’ve experienced myself,” Parsons told. “I really believe that. The demands and challenges and nuances are so unique, which means you just have to build skills in so many different areas.”
“Vlatko’s very good at allowing each player to put their stamp on the game and bring what they do best to the table,” Balcer said about the strange 2019 season. “To have an environment that fosters that but also be able to come together as a unit and still have a goal, still have a game plan and be able to accomplish it.”“People think this environment is tough because it’s stressful and the expectations are high,” Andonovski said. “That’s not the only thing that makes this environment tough.
“The thing about Vlatko is that he’s an unbelievable human being,” current OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey said. She’d know. Her own career has been interwoven with Andonovski’s, both as NWSL rivals — both of FCKC’s championship wins came at her team’s expense — and as U.S. Soccer coworkers. Maybe the biggest challenge as the head coach of the No. 1 ranked women’s national team is that it pretty much comes down to all the other stuff — roster management decisions, tactical adjustments in matches, a turn of phrase that might just be Andonovski’s usual blunt honesty or even a joke that doesn’t carry into written form., on this World Cup roster and a player he drafted in the first year of the NWSL, said back in 2021 that Andonovski is transparent and blunt.
His wife, Biljana, decorated it with some of those little motivational signs; Andonovski says she likes making those small touches.“I haven’t been home for more than two days,” he said in April, though he thought he might get a three or four-day window once that camp wrapped up. He had flown to London to catch a Women’s Champions League match.