USWNT’s Lindsey Horan Appears to Blame Staff’s Gameplan for World Cup Shortcomings

The USWNT captain wasn’t a fan of the team’s tactical approach at the World Cup.

USWNT captain Lindsey Horan spoke on the team’s disappointing showing at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The United States’ run in the tournament came to an early end when they suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of Sweden in a penalty shootout.

Speaking on the The RE-CAP Show, Horan discussed what went wrong for the USWNT, going as far as to suggest that the coaching staff didn’t put them in the best position to succeed, at least from a tactical perspective.

Horan suggested that the tactics utilized by former coach Vlatko Andonovski and his staff were ineffective against the Swedes, and the team’s fortunes began to turn when the players took matters into their own hands.

“The game against Sweden, I don’t think we were necessarily set up to play the way that we played,” the captain said, via Pro Soccer Wire. “That was just us finally coming together and being like, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ And then it worked and then it’s like, ‘OK, keep doing it.’ Could that have happened earlier? Maybe. It’s a really tough one.”

Speaking on some of the team’s younger players, whom Horan felt had immense pressure on them to perform, the 29-year-old suggested the team didn’t get the best out of them because of its tactical approach.

“... I don’t think we got the absolute best out of some of them because of the way that we were set up, and some of the things that we did in the game,” she said.

The United States lost 5–4 on penalties after the game against Sweden was scoreless through its first 90 minutes, as well as the 30 minutes of extra time. 

Andonovski stepped down from his role as the coach of the USWNT following their defeat in the round of 16. He had been in the position as the national team’s coach since 2019.