"Vlatko was not prepared" “There’s no development" | The Attacking Third crew react to Carli Lloyd

The Attacking Third studio squad re-watch Carli Lloyd's episode of 'Kickin' It' on the CBS Sports Golazo Network and bring up key points in their reaction.
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ABOUT THE SHOW: A soccer podcast from CBS Sports covering the NWSL, US Women's National Team and more. Attacking Third will bring you insider analysis, commentary, preview & recaps while tackling the biggest news stories from the sport you love. Hosts Sandra Herrera and Lisa Roman welcome a rotating cast of guests from former and current players for interviews and analysis. This is your podcast for the latest news and stories from the world of soccer.

[@asweenter1142]

As a European, the fact that club teams are so fractured it’s wild.

[@scott4482]

Vladko spent three years auditioning players yet never formed a unit. He failed to develop a " style " for this team, they never had a plan for how they would play. Look at 2019, those players knew that if they played tough defense and then used their pace on offense, there wasn't a team in the world that could stay with them. Ellis took the talent available and gave them an identity that allowed them to win consistently, Vladko threw together a bunch of players and expected them to win on pure talent only.

[@transmatized]

exactly

[@winnie4509]

Completely Agree!

[@asweenter1142]

Kinda: I think he built a system around Malory Swanson. When she got injured he didn’t pivot.

[@pnwesterner6220]

@@asweenter1142he was also counting on Catarina Marcario

[@ahazzy2314]

You don’t have to love your coach/manager but you do have to respect them. Vlatko wasn’t respected and couldn’t meet the demands of a national team. Maybe a NWSL team because he has experience but definitely not WNT. Jill Ellis wasn’t liked by some players but brought 2 worlds cup home because she and her staff made those hard decisions on growing the team and bringing in players that were new and outside of the comfort zone of the national team. I.e, Lavelle

[@residentxgc]

Really? He won many world cups but you throw him under the bus when you lose, lol. When is team going to take personal responsibility for their loss?

[@Ralph_Smith0724]

*Back on August 2, 2021, Hope Solo gave an interview after the Olympics debacle and more or less she said the same as Carli said in the current interview. Hope basically said to the reporter as follows: "I think there's just a cultural shift, right now. The players are becoming more stars and less winners. We're focused a lot on our appearances on commercials, we are focused a lot on fighting for equal pay and the other side of it is we're focused more on the science aspect of being a professional athlete. What I'm hearing is there are more rest days, there are more recovery days, and sometimes you just need your players to get on the line and run a couple 120s and remind everybody that it's about fighting no matter what. Because that's the culture of the United States Soccer Federation [and] the United States women's team - fighting for everything. I wonder sometimes if Vlatko is falling victim to wanting his players to like him, sometimes the nice guy doesn't win major tournaments. Sometimes you need somebody who's cut-throat. Sometimes you're on the bench for 90 minutes, even as a star, if the star isn't playing well, and it's a tough pill to swallow. It doesn't make players really like you as a manager, but I don't think managers should be liked by every single player on the team, honestly, because I think you're doing something wrong at that moment."*

[@brucerehberger9080]

Any one who thinks all of the players liked Vlatko is smoking too much weed. That is the most simplistic explanation of the team's problems.

[@CMJames]

The olympics wasn’t a ‘debacle’ they just lost. Teams lose, and they are not exempt

[@pnwesterner6220]

@@CMJamesThe Olympics were a debacle because of how poorly the team played

[@ldd9672]

Carli is so right.

[@patman9419]

The last month before the WC he sent players home to play in their league games. Ignored training, scrimmages together, playing together. He didn’t know what to do with them. It took three games before they got the glow. He brought players in that had no experience with national team.

[@pnwesterner6220]

NWSL teams have to release the players for national team camps

[@hunterhamer286]

I'll say it again, Vlatko knew how to pick talented players, but had no clue how to manage that talent and put it together into a cohesive system. There's always one thing I appreciate with Carli, and it's the fact that she's honest and blunt and won't beat around the bush for anybody.

[@pnwesterner6220]

He didn’t select Casey Krueger but took O’Hara instead. O’Hara barely played club games since the Japan Olympics but Krueger was playing with her hair on fire

[@hunterhamer286]

I completely agree. O'Hara still should have went, but they should have left Huerta at home for her. In my opinion, not taking Krueger was the biggest snub.@@pnwesterner6220

[@andrewilson3150]

It's Carli's JOB to analyze! In other words, it's what she's paid to do. She gave up the "friend-pass" when she took an analyst job.

[@pnwesterner6220]

The current USWNT fans are no better than Swifties and the Beehive, they have the players they love to hate.

[@transmatized]

y’all act as if carli is only offering constructive criticism when in reality she’s being disrespectful and operating like she’s the only person who understands the uswnt when she’s not. it’s her narcissism that puts people off.

[@pnwesterner6220]

Carli is saying the quiet part out loud, and you need to go study what the word narcissism is before you run around using it.

[@amirahchandler]

I have a problem with commentators describing Vlatko as too nice and implying that was the reason the squad lost. In reality he was just tactically inept. You bench player x for player y and nothing changes. The squad played like crap all cycle, didn't matter who was on the pitch they were bad. So Vlatko being nice had nothing to do with it, him not having a well thought out game plan is the reason the team failed in the manner they did. It's almost like they are trying to rewrite history.

[@aaburga]

He didn't know how to manage them. That's what Carli LLoyd meant by "nice"

[@kevinkanter2537]

@@aaburga ok - didnt hear that - even going back over her phrasing -- but semantics are important & the how is more important sometimes than interpersonal 'engagement'.

[@RJ420NL]

Some people, usually insecure men, don’t like women who speak their mind. I think Carli is spot on.

[@brucerehberger9080]

I like women who fight against social injustice and for equality for women. I am not fond of any person who is on a revenge tour.

[@pnwesterner6220]

@@brucerehberger9080so you just showed how ignorant you are, Carli was one of the players who put their name on the equal pay lawsuit and fought for it. But I guess you think Rapinoe kneeling but doing little else but getting paid millions in endorsements and speaking fees (which is only enriching herself) is better and not narcissistic.

[@mlsarchitect]

First you need to know who and what you are before you can change for the better. I'm not convinced anyone knows what the USWNT is and what stage it's at. The reverence for Carli Lloyd's 'analysis' and opinion on the subject is what leads me to doubt. Lloyd seems like a political animal looking for a scapegoat for every current failure and with a rose coloured view of past success. It's probable that this Barca/Spain team would have whipped the floor with the best of Carli Lloyd & Co. If that's true then we're back to square one: trying to recognize who you are, where you are coming from, and where you're at. Truth be told, a lot of people (outside of the USA) saw the freight train a comin' well before the World Cup and now it seems like everyone in the USA is wondering around in circles like Wiley Coyote with a massive concussion.

[@pnwesterner6220]

Did you not listen and comprehend what was said? Carli is not a political animal, Rapinoe is. Carli says it like she sees it whether or not you are ready to hear it. She had the mentality to score a clutch goal when the team was in desperate need of one. Didn’t see Smith do that.

[@mlsarchitect]

@@pnwesterner6220 I beg to differ, Carli Lloyd is the worst example of a political animal; the type that finds a 'political' excuse for any and all failures. Even when those failures have nothing to do with 'politics' and everything to do with technical understanding and capability. Being straight and shooting straight are too different things -- ask Megan.

[@kirkanderson1353]

Where is Sandra ????

[@ahazzy2314]

Also ECNL isn’t what people think it is especially in SoCal with incredible soccer players. A lot of teams in good clubs that didn’t have the ECNL, DA, title were just as competitive if not better than those teams. It’s so dumb

[@pnwesterner6220]

A big part of the problem in the US is the pay to play system. Upper middle class families are the driver of the US youth system. And they want their kids to win. The result is the proliferation of direct play and limited technical skills. European academies take kids from any income group and train them on the ball.

[@erobinsonii]

USWNT 2023 record - World Ranking #3 (2051.21 total points, 0.63 of a point behind Spain), 11 wins, 0 losses, 3 draws. Attacking Third can support Carli Lloyd. Good luck with that.

[@kevinkanter2537]

good - reality for the doom-sayers

[@megabox44]

Kate Markgraf was a DISASTER. She always made the wrong calls as a commentator and they made her run the program and hired Vlatko. They should hire a Carly Lloyd or Abby Wambach or Tobin Heath who have way more experience in recent times than a Kate Markgraf whose sensibilities were so out of date, it showed.

[@mturner89]

But the version of the team did not have many icons on it. The team did not have Press, Heath, Lloyd, and other "icons' onit. So he had a bunch of younger players he could mold. BUT...some of the things LLoyd says are not accurate. He didn't make decisions like you said. There were people who didn't play AT ALL and that is a problem. Then over the course of the last two years, he played Cook all the time despite her specializing in just passing back and forth to her other defenders. But to not choose hatch? to not even consider Morgan Weaver. To not play Huerta, K. Mewis, and others... How did some of these younger players develop? Don't have to be a champion to develop. Players like Thompson, Weaver, Smith, Fox, Trnity Rodman,.... aren't these younger players who developed? I understand the points but there are younger players developing DESPITE this problem? Laura Harvey has been a youth development coach.....? Being critical though is one thing. Being accurate is more important

[@kevinkanter2537]

for the USWNT they are hi-calibre athletes --- a coach has to know his system and his players and go where he needs to go ---- the USWNT will be able to sort themselves out. there is just no time in the build-up to a world cup to NOT be as direct as Carli is. athletes are increasingly mentally tough. I look forward to the Olympics in 2024 and a re-energizatiion for WC 2027 --- i believe off to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

[@hayesdabney]

I knew it! The body language between Vlatko and the players was off.

[@stephencrewsjr]

Carli Lloyd is bitter that even though she accomplished great things she was never loved like Rapinoe and Morgan. She will always have shade to throw and not support to share, it is the type of person she is. She is basically saying when we won it was because of me and the people I like on the team and not the players that are still there even though her role in 2019 was very small.

[@pnwesterner6220]

Are you serious? The little girls who grew up into NWSL fans hate Solo, Lloyd, Morgan, and Horan. You don’t know Lloyd personally nor do I, so both of us have no idea if she is bitter but her fellow players on the team who do know her don’t have your take.

[@Delboy0]

We are still on the blame Vladko train? The truth is football nations have started funding their female programs in the last 4 years and their expertise has push the game to a new level that the USA cannot match. England and Spain would have beat every USWNT team over the last 30 years. The USA tactic of being fitter, having sprinters as wingers and big Amazonian blondes on corners and crosses doesn’t win games in this era like it did 4 or 8 years ago.

[@mracer8]

Spain as a federation didn't really fund their women program, it is the club level that did the job for the country!

[@residentxgc]

Easy to blame him...now that he's gone, lol.

[@kurtschwenke1551]

ODP? Even if players play ODP there’s a bias about who gets picked for regional camps. Development of soccer players in this country is a farce.

[@williamgault5009]

Carli uses her platform to slam the next generation of players under the disguise of being supportive. She had her day, now it's their time. Questioning the new generation players mentality is ridiculous. I guess she thinks Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman, Alicia Thompson Naomi Gurma and others don't care about winning. All of these players are better than she was at the same age. This is their time not Carli's. If you don't have anything positive to say publicly then don't say anything.

[@rachaelpage6888]

This is kind of a weird comment because in every other sport fans, commentators, reporters say negative things publicly. Sometimes athletes say negative things about each other publicly. Dealing with criticism is part of the job when you are in the public eye. I think this comment somewhat highlights what Carli is talking about. People can’t handle criticism of any sort anymore. People prefer to just walk around with rose colored glasses and there’s an expectation that everything that anyone says to someone should align with their own personal values and that is not ever going to be reality. Like they said. Listen to what Carli says and not how she says it. She may be abrasive but she’s not wrong.

[@pnwesterner6220]

Such a delicate little flower they are, you as part of the fanbase and all the players you listed. Sophia Smith just choked, Girma and Rodman played gritty games. Thompson should not have been on the team.

[@mracer8]

@@pnwesterner6220 US player doesn't have the basic football skill the European have! once they catch up physically few years ago! it is over!

[@itseveryday8600]

So you want the ex-Spain coach? He was opposite of Vlatko, tactically high IQ & not nice at all.

[@pnwesterner6220]

He took home a World Cup trophy. Winning is the entire point at the World Cup and his team won the tournament.

[@mracer8]

@@pnwesterner6220 Jorge Vilda is now Morocco women head coach! Morocco did well in World Cup but under Vilda didn't qualify for the Olympic because they get beat by Zambia! so much for his tactically high IQ! Emma Hayes seem like a quality coach except during last month in Chelsea, she went from legend to nut job! good luck to USWNT with her!!

[@myronbeavers3161]

Vlatko's four years of poor coaching crashed in front of the entire world. Poor technique, poor formations, and lack of creativity. In the end it looked like he just threw everything at the wall to see what sticks. When you are on the US national team you should be a polished, plug 'n play not "Developing". US Soccer seems to believe putting teenagers on the roster is the answer. Most of it is just hype. Are U-20 team didn't make it out of the group stage during the U-20 world cup. Why the rush to put them on the national team? Players like Ashley Hatch, Morgan Weaver, Sam Staab, and CeCe Kizer. These players perform week after, month after month and get skipped over due to US Soccer wanted hype and flash for publicity over veteran performers. Vlatko was afraid to cut O'Hara. No need to continue with Sauerbrunn at centerback except to giver her due in a send off game. But US Soccer will play them anyway. Sam Coffey, Jaelin, Howell, and Alex Loera should compete for the two midfield positions versus Emily Sonnett and Andi Sullivan. US Soccer isn't all bad. Doesn't need to be blown up and start over. Mediocre players and coaches should not be acceptable.

[@fluffy485]

Vlatco yes , was a weak coach. But he always had success wherever he managed. THE MAJOR REASON FOR THE USA’s FALL IS VERY VERY SIMPLE!!THE NATIONAL TEAM ARE PLAYING WITH-FEAR - THE FEAR OF GETTING HURT. Theirs been so many knee,as well as other injuries. Morgan is no longer putting her body on the line for fear of career ending injury. That’s why the scoring slump. ALL OF THE WOMENS NATIONAL TEAM HAVE DECIDED TO PLAY LIKE WISE. JULIE QUIT THE TEAM BECAUSE IT LOST HEART , and no longer wanted to play to win at all costs . That fear (fear of injury) will keep this team off the podium for many years to come. This fear before has hit football ,basketball and other sports. It’s usually takes years to lose this irrational fear

[@mracer8]

It have nothing to do with fear of injury but football skill level! don't be silly! football is not wrestling!

[@mediainc2498]

Horrific episode validating Carli Lloyd's narcissistic takes. Lloyd would win nothing without those teammates that she has consistently trashed in public. Also disappointing to hear the panel blaming a missed PK in the first game as a reason to not start the player again. That's not the reason this team bombed out of the World Cup. Why not talk about Vlatko's lack of tactics and inability to read the game and sub when needed. Why not analyze how the team looks disjointed because missing Mal Pugh, who was a major part of the front 3 attack. How about the fact Julie Ertz was not playing in the midfield. No, this is too hard for Lloyd to think about. You all should know better tho.

[@pnwesterner6220]

Actually the panel was correct in validating Lloyd, Tobin Heath did as well.

[@pnwesterner6220]

Vlatko was a disaster at the Olympics. People should have seen this coming

[@faceymagee1283]

Carli has had a chip on her shoulder since Hope Solo who she is good friends with. Carli never has anything nice to say.

[@pnwesterner6220]

Maybe you should go learn something about the 99ers and how they treated younger players (which included Solo and Lloyd), but that means you might have to get out of your bubble

[@faceymagee1283]

@@pnwesterner6220 the 99ers had a better manager/ coach. The rest of the world has caught up to them.

[@geoffreypereira8024]

It's not Vlatko's job to develop players. That happens downstream of him. The players weren't good enough to advance at the WC. There were no better options off the bench, other than what he used...

[@pnwesterner6220]

Vlatko selected the players on the bench so it is on him for selecting them. He could have taken Ashley Hatch whose positioning and finishing results in goals. He could have taken Casey Krueger to use as a full back or center back to free up Julie Ertz for the midfield. I think Hatch and Krueger should have gone in place of Thompson and O’Hara.

[@kirkanderson1353]

Carli isn't on the team any more! She is to busy invalidating her former team members while acting like she knows what she is doing. She can only support winners but abandons her team members when they loose or have difficulties‼️what can of team mate is that?🤮

[@fluffy485]

A good sports team needs to hear the truth. These comments may turn this team around , and get them back on the road of success!!!

[@brucerehberger9080]

Hey Fluff, you are assuming you are getting the truth from Carli, but in fact, you are getting Carli's bitter version of reality. Her jealousy of Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe's popularity knows no bounds. @@fluffy485

[@xoomlens]

You know nothing about the sport

[@fluffy485]

Vlatco didn't stand a chance with these Diva's. The older players demanded that Vlatco go lighter on workouts the very first workout they had,that's according to Carli. Any man will not have a chance with this team ,He will be called all of the woke names you can imagine. Hayes from England is the only person who can manage this group of ' children ' The USWNT no longer has the guts to be top DOG

[@kevinkanter2537]

you are misreading the workouts and recoveries plus scheduling --- ridiculous political / ideological diatribe vs a futbol evaluation. go on "fluffy".

[@fluffy485]

​@@kevinkanter2537I I believe Carli, she seems to be a very honest and trustworthy person. While you on the other hand a preoccupied wit the very thing that harmed this club. All of the programs panel agree with me ,not you. Sorry some people just can't look at a situation objectively!!!

[@kevinkanter2537]

@@fluffy485 eveeryone believes Carli believes what she says. However, you are inserting wokeness as weakness and not understanding the changes in the tactical needs of the team requiring more time together and the ability to problem solve a more touch-oriented vs transitional approach. That is what i heard from the team members plus other coaches and it is mirrored in some of the comments of the panel.

[@brucerehberger9080]

Hey Fluff, even someone with limited intelligence should know Carli Lloyd has more than a few axes to grind because she feels she was not treated as the queen of soccer when her game faded in the 2016 Olympics. She is mad at the soccer world including her former teammates. Her only friend during her playing days was a fellow loose cannon, Hope Solo. You need to take a grain of salt when listening to Ms. Lloyd.

[@michelles2482]

⁠@@brucerehberger9080This isn’t true. 1. Her game didn’t fade after 2016. Did she get less minutes? Yes. But she actually scored more goals at the end of her career than she did at the beginning. She set a US (possibly world, idr) record for scoring in 6 games consecutively in the 2019 World Cup. She was at the top of her game towards the end of her career. 2. She had plenty of friends on the team. Was she friends with everyone? No. No one is friends with everyone. But she was friends with Solo, Ertz, Holiday, S. Mewis, Swanson, Brian (now Gutraut), Horan, Morgan, Press, Heath, etc. I’m not going to pretend to know everyone she’s friends with, but the ones I listed, I know for certain because those players have said as much over the years. She was just best friends with Hope Solo. A lot of people want to drag Carli because they think she’s a narcissist, which she may or may not be. She does have a huge ego, but that doesn’t necessarily make her a narcissist. But what she’s saying isn’t wrong. She’s not my favorite player by any means, but I can admit that she’s telling the truth. The players are not developed correctly anymore at the youth level. And I want to be clear that it is not their fault either. It’s the system. Vlatko also screwed their development/transition into the national team by having very few veterans there to help. We always had a system where a few new players were introduced in preparation for each major tournament and the veterans were able to help teach the culture/mindset of the team and develop those players, but Vlatko strayed from that. Tobin and Christen said the same thing on their podcast. If you listen closely, most of the veterans from 2019 and prior say the same thing whenever they’re asked. It’s not just Carli. Carli just makes the headlines because she’s blunt and doesn’t care about sugarcoating anything and, like Hope, people love to hate her. Someone could post a video of Carli or Hope saying they love America or Sophia Smith is amazing (which Carli’s actually said something like this before) and I guarantee you most of the comments would be pure hatred towards them still.

[@hmahdavi]

It is so easy to criticize after the fact. Vlatko was a great coach. Carli is bitter about something. The other teams improved a lot following the US example. See you all at the Olympics.

[@pnwesterner6220]

Vlatko was a crap coach, the team looked terrible at the Olympics, he should have been fired then and I said so at the time. I guess you didn’t notice that the team played only ten players for the last eight minutes because Vlatko took too many off the field and ran out of subs. Completely stupid

[@hmahdavi]

Vlatko had a record of 51-5-9 as national coach. Which is not crap. That is why the Kansas City Current has hired him as coach for the 2024 season. @@pnwesterner6220