CHICAGO – In a surprise announcement at U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) headquarters this morning, U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) head coach Gregg Berhalter announced the hiring of a new “assistant coach for in-game strategy” for his coaching team – Vlatko Andonovski, last seen leading the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) at the World Cup (WWC) in Australia/New Zealand this year.
“I’ve watched with interest all of the [USWNT]’s games this year,” said Berhalter, “and after seeing how Vlatko saved his substitutions only for emergency situations, mixed things up by playing his star players out of their natural positions, and made sure the team gave playing time to well-known veterans who were part of the advertising promotions for the World Cup, I knew he and I had similar coaching philosophies.” “Now that [Andonovski] is available,” Berhalter continued, “I made it my highest priority to get him on-board before he was snatched up by some other team.”
Berhalter and Andonovski will now begin preparations for selecting, training, and fielding the USMNT for the next Men’s World Cup, scheduled to be held jointly in Canada, the United States, and Mexico in 2026. Although Berhalter noted that it was too early to predict how Andonovski’s strategic insights would impact the USMNT in 2026, he did mention that Andonovski had already suggested several changes under consideration, including: 1) no substitutions except for compound bone fractures or major organ failure; 2) switching Christian Pulisic to a central defender role; and 3) starting USMNT veteran and Atlanta United goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who will be 42 years old in 2026.
USSF officials were said to be pleased with the latest announcement. Said one official, “Gregg and Vlatko both got second in their group, and then got eliminated in the first knockout game. This is the sort of consistency that [USSF] is looking for from our national team coaches.”
Andonovski’s hiring is also seen as addressing another concern that has plagued the USMNT for many years – that hiring decisions are based not on sporting merit, but on the insular and incestuous nature of USSF, where old friends and family members are favored for key positions. “We think that Vlatko’s hiring will finally put to rest the idea that you have to know someone, or be related to someone, to get a good job with the National Team,” the Nutmeg News was told by USSF spokesperson Zlatka Andonovski.
The Nutmeg News will have more on this as Andonovski calls Geoff Cameron about a possible return to National Team action.