The big USWNT revitalisation project – how is Vlatko Andonovski getting on?

The US Women’s National Team is now halfway through a revitalisation project begun in the embers of disappointment in Japan. The US performance at the Tokyo Olympics was seen as woefully lacklustre, though they did grasp bronze medals. The veteran-heavy roster did not perform to expectation, and the manager, Vlatko Andonovski, has overseen an ambitious transition scheme in the year since.

With less than a year to the World Cup we take a look at where he and the team have got to.

Following a drawn-out “victory tour” featuring the emotional retirement of Carli Lloyd, Andonovski’s roster revolution began in earnest last November (in the precise location where its final iteration will be ultimately tested: Australia). Announcing the new roster, Andonovski told media: “We’ve turned a page toward World Cup qualifying”. He made clear the aims of the programme in Sydney, in Newcastle and in the months cascading from those friendlies would be integrating new talent and testing them.

Of the 22 players invited to the Australia camp only 10 had been in Tokyo and only six were present for the World Cup victory in France 2019. All over the field, Andonovski introduced (or reintroduced) names whose consistent club performances had earned them a look. So began the mantra of the Andonovski era: if you’re killing it with consistency in NWSL, you’ll get a look. Veterans and stars will need to perform there too.

The forward line saw the greatest shift of any, as veteran stars Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath and Christen Press were all left out. Players with only a handful of caps were brought in. The pattern continued in the next two camps, as Andonovski called in fresh rotations of players balanced by a few veterans. Asked where