Sermanni Fired

After less than 16 months on the job, U.S. Soccer has relieved Women’s National Team coach Tom Sermanni of his duties, effective immediately.

Hey, that's what happens when you lose...

So much for him coming to speak next Tuesday for International Cup at SMU.

Should be interesting as the 1st and 2nd level 'why' stories start to emerge?
. wins?
. player development?
. player issues?
. playing style issues?
 - changing too fast
 - changing too slow
 - change at all
. player transition issues  
 - changing too fast
 - changing too slow
 - change at all

This is a story from April 3rd that seems to be the smoking gun.  

With nearly every camp the U.S. Women’s National Team has had since coach Tom Sermanni took over, a new player has been called up to train with the senior squad – and next week will be no different.

As qualifiers for the 2015 World Cup loom seven months away, Sermanni is thinking even more long term, which means we shouldn’t expect to stop seeing new faces with the USWNT.

“The World Cup is still over a year away,” Sermanni told SBI on Wednesday. “And there’s always value in looking at players who may potentially come into consideration for the squad.”

The USWNT will face China in a pair of friendlies April 6 and April 10 in their first matches since placing seventh at last month’s Algarve Cup, the USWNT’s worst finish in the annual tournament.

Sermanni has been on a roll, handing out first caps to 12 players in the 16 months he’s been on the job – but, he says, it’s been a necessity at times. With injuries, pregnancies and European club duty, the pool of players has varied in size. That’s not to say Sermanni wouldn’t have called up young players eventually, but the timing has just been ripe.

“Because of these things, it’s much more valuable to have players in the squad now so that we can assess them rather than having to assess a player two or three months out from the World Cup,” Sermanni said. “Then, she’s under tremendous pressure coming into the squad for the first time with the World Cup so close at hand.”


Of course, part of bringing in new players means changing lineups – and there has been plenty of that under Sermanni. In seven matches this year, Sermanni has fielded seven different starting 11s. Last year saw the same kind of shuffling, including 14 different back lines in 16 matches.

That wasn’t a exactly a controversial talking point, perhaps, until the USWNT lost for the first time ending a 43-game unbeaten stretch last month – followed by another loss where the team set a record for most goals the USWNT ever conceded in a single match.

“We haven’t really been really been playing the way we normally play,” Abby Wambach told Sports Illustrated this week. “I think there’s been a lot of factors. I know Tom likes to switch up the lineup quite a bit, which is very different than what we’ve been used to. So, learning how to play with new players game after game, after game, it’s harder to get a rhythm. ”

So Wambach and existing players didn't like him changing the lineup, bringing in new players and challenging the status quo after they had a huge disappointment in the Algarve cup.   This shows the players are fully in charge and are given the ability to fire if the coach rocks the boat.

System works players like it. System doesnt work, players don't like it. Obviously, as stated above, unhappy WNT players = a new coach.

I think he got fired because he instructed them to work on possession once they got a 1-0 lead. They also they turned down wide open shots, put a defender in goal, etc.

db10 wrote:System works players parents like it. System doesnt work, players parents don't like it. Obviously, as stated above, unhappy WNT players parents = a new coachthe team blows up.

Kind of like when a U10 team blows up?

Lefty wrote:

db10 wrote:System works players parents like it. System doesnt work, players parents don't like it. Obviously, as stated above, unhappy WNT players parents = a new coachthe team blows up.

Kind of like when a U10 team blows up?

coaches are easily replaced, highly skilled women players not so much...

That last point could be heavily debated. Every NT has 1-3 special players, but after that, it could be argued the next 50-150 players in the U.S. could perform equally well and to similar results. After all, when a player finally hits the mainstream public radar, they have likely been performing at that level for a period of time (thus earning the right to get on the field in the first place).

I think there is a chance the connection between players and Tom had more relevance too. Tough act to follow as Pia really seemed to connect with this group. Add in the generational sun setting of some long-time players (Wambach, Rampone, Llyod, Box, etc.) and the tough timing of transformational years to a new chapter of players. Similar scenario with MAN U. David Moyes is an outstanding coach and has the same talent as SAF had the year prior - but a retired Scholes, Vidic, Rio, Giggs, Evra, etc. all a year older past their prime and this stuff happens (not to mention an injured RVP and missing his 20+ goals).

If it is for these reasons, he should have been given more time. If it is truly a connection problem he couldn't fix in 16 months with the players (both old AND new), then it can seem logical to pull the ripcord and start anew.

jsullivan81 wrote:I think he got fired because he instructed them to work on possession once they got a 1-0 lead. They also they turned down wide open shots, put a defender in goal, etc.

They were discussing the firing on the Sirius XM FC channel this afternoon and they mentioned the coach trying to change the style of play.  They said the team's performance might suffer while they learn to play more of a possession style.  Then they said, "Well, I guess it depends if you care more about development or results."  

I nearly drove my car into a tree!  The USWNT has the same problems as NTX!  I figured the development v results question eventually went away.  Guess not.

PlanoBound wrote:

jsullivan81 wrote:I think he got fired because he instructed them to work on possession once they got a 1-0 lead. They also they turned down wide open shots, put a defender in goal, etc.

They were discussing the firing on the Sirius XM FC channel this afternoon and they mentioned the coach trying to change the style of play.  They said the team's performance might suffer while they learn to play more of a possession style.  Then they said, "Well, I guess it depends if you care more about development or results."  

I nearly drove my car into a tree!  The USWNT has the same problems as NTX!  I figured the development v results question eventually went away.  Guess not.

I think the difference with USWNT and youth soccer is Tom can't teach an old dog new tricks. Those women have been playing a certain style of soccer for 10-15yrs now at a very high level. Trying to get them to switch isn't going to be an easy transition. This might work better once your older squad has retired and you have a fresh new crew to work with and very limited old squad. In squads (Wambach, Rampone, Lloyd, Boxx, etc...) they feel they have already developed their skills. They just need to maintain that high level. They are after results and if the results are not there that once was they need to fix the problem. In their minds that problem was the coach.

Here in NTX at the ripe age of 6-18ish it should be about development and not about results. If a coach is only coaching for results and not helping their players grow as an athlete then they need to go.

Players saying it was coaching differences with US Soccer Federation, not them...

Part of the ESPN article:
CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- Abby Wambach quickly dismissed any notion that players on the U.S. women's soccer team were behind the surprise firing of coach Tom Sermanni.

"Everybody out there who may think the players made this happen, none of it's true," Wambach said Tuesday after a spirited workout on a cloudless, 90-degree day, the team's first since Sermanni was fired Sunday after an exhibition victory against China in suburban Denver.

Wambach said it appeared that Sermanni's philosophy wasn't matching up with that of the U.S. Soccer Federation.

"That's not anyone's fault. That's the hard part," she said. "I wish he was a jerk in some ways because it would be easier. But that's just not the case. He's such a good guy. He treated us all with the utmost respect and we couldn't wish him nothing but the best of luck."

Sermanni addressed the team after he was fired, Wambach said.

"It takes a lot of courage to get up there and do what he did," said Wambach, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who was named the women's world player of the year by FIFA in 2012.

"The hard part is Tom is such an amazing guy and he is so classy and the way he handled himself even after being told he was being let go was maybe some of the best people experience I've ever seen," Wambach added. "He handled himself with the utmost respect, wished us the very best. He did the very best that he could. He's brought us along for these last 15 months to here. We love and care for him so much and we appreciate everything that has happened."

Wambach and goalkeeper Hope Solo said that if the players did have a role in Sermanni's firing, it was by not playing better during a disappointing seventh-place finish in the Algarve Cup in Portugal last month.

"We didn't play our best soccer in Portugal," Solo said. "We came in seventh place. That's not good enough for this team. At the end of the day, we failed Tom. We didn't put together a great tournament."



Solo said it's been "a somber couple of days. It's been tough. This is our first training without Tom here. Anytime you go through change it's going to be hard. But through the thick and the toughest of times, this team always bounces back. We still have a good 15 months before the World Cup and I have no doubt we're going to be on top of our game next summer."