San Diego Wave FC found itself in desperate need of stability and a reputable rudder. To say things had unraveled would be like saying Mia Hamm could play a little bit.
The team hemorrhaged offensive punch, winning just three times in 16 games while scoring the third-fewest goals in the 14-team National Women’s Soccer League.
Club president Jill Ellis fired coach Casey Stoney a season after the team won The NWSL Shield as the league’s best team. Then came accusations by former players of a toxic work environment under Ellis and leadership, leading to a defamation lawsuit.
No ordinary Band-Aid would do.
This called for a triage.
That’s why the Wave picked U.S. soccer icon Landon Donovan to be interim coach throughout the end of the year. The hire, first reported by SanDiego_Futbol on X (formerly Twitter) andconfirmed to the Union-Tribune by sources, could be announced as soon as Friday.
Donovan is expected to be in charge when the Wave faces Santa Fe FC on Tuesday in Panama City, Panama, for a matchup in the Concacaf W Champions Cup.
Have resume, will travel.
As the team and league dot the final I’s and cross the remaining T’s, Donovan represents a common sense no-brainer.
Experienced? Check? Accomplished? Check. Offensive-minded and attacking? Check.
Donovan, 42, is the biggest name in U.S. men’s soccer history. He’s tied with Clint Dempsey for the most goals ever on the USMNT and is the only American with more than 50 goals and 50 assists. He was a 14-time Major League Soccer All-Star choice and a six-time MLS Cup champion.
On the international level, Donovan leads the U.S. Men’s National Team in goals (57) and assists (58) and is the only American player to surpass both 50 goals and assists in his career. His 157 appearances are second most in U.S. soccer history.
He’s a Hall of Fame voice. There will be no acclimation period to earn the ears of players. He will be heard.
Momentum like that cannot be underestimated on a team with Alex Morgan, the biggest U.S. women’s star across the last two decades, USWNT anchors Naomi Girma and Jaedyn Shaw, and Canadian national team goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.
Talent oozes.
That’s what makes explaining how things unraveled so quickly, so spectacularly such a head-scratcher. To get to the bottom of it all, leaning on eyes like Donovan’s seems a savvy start.
This is not an unceremonious and panicked ouster of interim coach Paul Buckle, those in the soccer know say. Buckle had agreed to coach the team only through the end of the summer and Olympic cycle.
A change was coming.
The timing meshes. Girma and Shaw will return, Olympic gold medals in tow, when the team dives into the NWSL regular season against Angel City FC on Aug. 24 at Snapdragon Stadium.
Might as well hit the fresh-start button.
Donovan’s experience is as far-reaching as anyone in the game. He’s played for his country, piling up the second-most caps in U.S. history. He’s played MLS. He’s played in Liga MX. He’s played for the San Diego Sockers.
He coached the San Diego Loyal. He’s got his fingers in the current international game, including his work as a strategic advisor Lincoln City FC, whose ownership group includes Padres minority owner Henry Jabara and former team chairman Ron Fowler.
Donovan has experienced the game with a few hundred fans in San Diego and tens of thousands under the white-hot lights at the World Cup.
Did Stoney deserve more time? Probably. The hook seemed sharp and quick. That water, though, has rushed under the coaching bridge.
This hire signals that the Wave are committed to moving forward boldly. Unless Donovan is not interested, it would be easy to see the interim tag melting away if results solidify. The Wave, despite their record, can win a playoff berth with a strong finish.
If the ride is rocky, it’s still a risk worth taking. Donovan’s roots in soccer run so deep that it’s a fastball you swing at before it passes. He brings brand credibility if nothing else.
And there’s much more that he brings, of course.
The Wave showed that yesterday’s success in no way guarantees the same thing tomorrow. Donovan not only understands that, he’s lived it. He’s seen elite teams coalesce and the unique glue it required.
Donovan is a Southern California guy who has made San Diego home. The fact that he played so extensively for the U.S., in such huge moments, also can benefit Girma, Shaw, Sheridan and others as the spotlight shifts from the Olympics to World Cup preparations.
It’s so easy to keep checking boxes.
The Wave needed to stop the ground from shaking under their weary feet. They had to shift the focus from dysfunction and disarray to putting the product on the pitch back on the tracks.
Donovan does that.
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