“I don’t feel like I learned anything new.” This is exactly how Kelley O’Hara described Vlatko Andonovski‘s four-year stint with the USWNT. Blunt and subjective—that’s up to you to judge, but it’s hardly surprising, considering how underwhelming his time coaching the team turned out to be. In fact, after hearing this, let alone looking at the results under his tenure, any remaining confidence in him would likely vanish, and he wouldn’t be favored by many. But surprisingly, that wasn’t the case for Michelle Cooper and her KC Current teammates!

For someone coming fresh off a global-level disappointment at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, landing the next job wouldn’t typically come easily. But exceptions exist in life, and the beautiful game is no different. Andonovski secured a role with the Current just months after the World Cup setback. However, his real challenge was to convince the team of his fresh ideas. More importantly, to seamlessly earn the players’ trust.

Fortunately, he came to the right place as the 48-year-old hardly faced any hurdles. “I think everyone was super excited to be able to get to know him as a coach,” Michelle Cooper admitted during a conversation with Sam Mewis on The Women’s Game podcast. “Of course, you have the outside opinions of people and then you have his previous years in the league. But I think everyone was excited.”

Cooper noted that players like Desiree Scott and Lo’eau LaBonta, who were already familiar with Vlatko, helped speed up his integration into the locker room. Moreover, his previous stints with FC Kansas City and Reign FC helped instill greater confidence among the players to work with him and buy into his KC project 2.0.

“He knew he wanted to come back from his national team stint and then we knew we wanted to come back from our stint the prior year. So I think the two meshed together—determination [of] both staff and players really helped us, continue game in and game out to win and be the best that we could,” concluded Cooper.

Come to think of it, the results speak for itself. Picking up the Current’s steering wheel in the midst of the 2023 season, he couldn’t help them with their 11th-place finish in the table. However, the 2024 season was a complete turnaround for the Missouri-based team. They finished fourth in the regular season with a tally of 55 points to qualify for the playoffs.

Though they managed to defeat NC Courage in the quarter-final stage with a narrow win, a close 3-2 defeat was endured at the hands of Orlando Pride, who ended up becoming champions as well. Likewise, on the individual front, Michelle Cooper earned significant chances. Meanwhile, her teammate Temwa Chawinga won the NWSL Golden Boot by notching 21 goals.

This season, the graph has only gone up, occupying the top spot within the opening seven games. But they are tied with 15 points against Pride. Then again, it’s still safe to say that putting faith in Andonovski has indeed helped the Current. And honestly, we aren’t surprised, considering how he helped Emma Hayes‘ ongoing USWNT project as well!

Not all have Vlatko Andonovski in their bad books!

After the 2023 World Cup disappointment, almost every USWNT fan was convinced that hiring Vlatko Andonovski was a mistake. However, current manager Emma Hayes thinks otherwise. “We look at negative experiences or setbacks as something that shouldn’t happen. I feel the opposite. I feel Vlatko developed a group of players that may or may not have been ready at the World Cup,” said the 48-year-old.

The former Chelsea boss indeed managed to uplift the American ladies by guiding them to the 2024 Paris Olympic gold. Not to mention all of this happened within months of work. Yet, she believes that Andonovski’s gig with the USWNT was nothing short of a “perfect storm and perfect timing for everyone.” Surprising as it may sound, that’s the truth.

In the end, it has worked out just fine for both the USWNT as well as Vlatko Andonovski. No wonder they say everything happens for a reason!