Twitter Roasts Vlatko Andonovski's Tactics as USA Loses to Germany
The United States women's national team is reeling.
The Americans dropped their third straight contest on Thursday night, falling to Germany 2-1, following losses to England and Spain in October.
This one was particularly painful, as second-half substitution Megan Rapinoe equalized in the dying moments, only to watch Germany almost immediately retake the lead:
While neither Germany, England nor Spain are pushovers by any stretch of the imagination, the USWNT is not accustomed to losing streaks, regardless of the competition. It's the country's first three-game losing streak in almost 30 years.
So as you might expect, angst was high on Twitter after the match, and much of it was directed at manager Vlatko Andonovski:
It's hard to pinpoint what, exactly, is going on with this current iteration of the USWNT. There's no doubt a transition happening from many of the tried-and-true veterans to a young and extremely talented next generation.
There is also the fact that the rest of the world is simply starting to close the gap on the United States in the women's game.
But it's hard to completely dismiss the possibility that Andonovski isn't currently resonating with his players, or his current tactics aren't getting the job done. Something is amiss, and when a team has as much talent as this squad possesses, the gaze of blame generally settles on the manager.
Andonovski will have a few days to figure something out before the United States and Germany tangle again on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET. If the United States loses for a fourth straight time, Andonovski's seat might get a little more than hot.