Whenever recalling the year 2023, we bet USWNT fans would gladly skip the month of August. Why, you ask? Pardon us for revisiting old wounds, but that was when the American ladies suffered a heartbreaking Round of 16 exit at the hands of Sweden in the 2023 World Cup. While the entire squad came under fire, much of the criticism was aimed at the then-head coach, Vlatko Andonovski. Fast forward to now—many might have chosen to move past that chapter, especially with things looking brighter for the team. But it seems like Kelley O’Hara hasn’t quite let go of her experience under the former boss, even as figures like Emma Hayes and Carli Lloyd have come to his defense.

Having endured heartbreak in her first World Cup in 2011 under Pia Sundhage, O’Hara went on to lift the trophy in the next two editions—2015 and 2019—under Jill Ellis. So, when she received a call-up for what would be her fourth appearance in the prestigious tournament, it was only natural for the former winger to set her sights on a hat-trick of World Cup titles. But sadly, fate had other plans, and she never got to win anything under Andonovski. And for that, she places the blame squarely on the Macedonian-American’s shoulders.

“I don’t feel like I learned anything new from Vlatko,” began O’Hara while speaking on the Just Women’s Sports podcast. “and I actually post-having him as a coach was like, ‘Wow, is that on me? Did I stop learning or did he not coach or teach me something?'”

“I had conversations with other players about it and they were like, ‘No, no, no, that was on him [Vlatko],'” added the former NJ/NY Gotham FC star. Come to think of it, one can trust Kelley on this one. As someone who was always open to coaching, she never really felt the connection that a coach and a player should have.

“I was like I want to be coached. As a player, yes, you become the type of player you are but like, you’re never perfect. You’re always trying to strive for excellence. But to me, to the day that I left football, I was like, ‘I can always get better. There’s always room for improvement here,'” concluded O’Hara.

Who would have thought that this unfortunate heartbreak would affect the Peachtree City, Georgia native so deeply that she would announce her retirement from international duty right after the conclusion of the tournament, even though her time with the USWNT was up anyway? In fact, her performance in the 2023 edition pretty much sums up her resentment towards Vlatko.

She made her tournament debut in the 84th minute of the group-stage opener against Vietnam. While she didn’t feature in the following two games against the Netherlands and Portugal, O’Hara made another late appearance in the stalemate against Sweden just before the penalty shootout. Unfortunately, she became the third player, alongside Sophia Smith and Megan Rapinoe, to miss her spot kick, allowing Sweden to advance with a 5-4 win.

No wonder to this day, O’Hara remains quite against Andonovski. The same, however, cannot be said for one of her former teammates and even the current USWNT boss!

Vlatko Andonovski still had a motion of confidence despite failure

The US Women’s National Team’s 2023 upset was too close to heart, later announcing the arrival of Emma Hayes. Within months of her arrival, the American ladies regained their lost image, confidence, and dominance, with the English tactician guiding them to triumph at the 2024 Paris Olympics. While this might suggest that Vlatko Andonovski shouldn’t have been given another chance, Hayes thought 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,” admitted the former Chelsea boss earlier, describing all the KC Current boss’s work with the USWNT as a “perfect storm and perfect timing for everyone.”

Joining the chorus was also iconic forward Carli Lloyd. Ironically, at the time her former teammates, along with a mix of young stars, were competing in the tournament, she raised doubts about Vlatko’s team, claiming they lacked “passion.” In response, Vlatko Andonovski called her assertion “insane.”

But after some time, she eventually decided to cut the 48-year-old manager some slack, acknowledging that his timing was “really tough” as the team was in the midst of continuing an equal pay lawsuit, with everyone on the edge and many players taking the lead on key decisions. “If you didn’t have a strong enough leader or person to come in and really set the tone, it was just going to spiral out of control,” Lloyd said, emphasizing that not all the blame can be placed on Vlatko Andonovski. While calling it a combination of several factors that contributed to the USWNT’s downfall, she rather termed the 2023 upset as a blessing in disguise.

“At the end of the day, you do have to be humbled in some fashion and pushed to continue to want to be successful and dominant,” Carli concluded. While Andonovski seems to be in the good books of both Emma Hayes and Carli Lloyd, the same cannot be said for Kelley O’Hara for the unapologetic reasons, of course!

Regardless, share your thoughts in the comments.