The American coach was criticized for criticizing his students after the Vietnam match
"You don't suddenly become a good finisher after a few days of practice. Before that there has to be preparation. You need to understand your teammates and also the quality of the passes," Lloyd told Fox Sports.
Lloyd played for the US team for two years under the guidance of coach Andonovski. She retired after the 2021 Olympics. In 16 years, Lloyd won the World Cup twice, won two Olympic gold medals with the US team.
The United States is the number one team in the world, winning the last two World Cups, while Vietnam is a rookie and is 31 ranks below FIFA. When the two teams faced each other in the opening match of Group E, many people predicted that the US would win boldly, possibly even breaking the record of 13-0 victory achieved against Thailand in 2019. However, the defending champion team only won. 3-0 thanks to a double from Sophia Smith and a goal from Lindsey Horan.
After the match, coach Andonovski said that the home team should have taken advantage of the opportunity better and scored more goals. He thinks that the students need to improve the finishing stage. However, according to Lloyd, bad finishing is not a new problem for the US in the Vietnam match.
"To be precise, the US has had problems in finishing since Vlatko took office in 2019," commented the midfielder, who scored 134 goals after 316 times for the US team. "Two years ago at the Olympics, we had a lot of chances but then we missed. That's worrying. Because the deeper you go, the fewer opportunities there are and the harder it gets to score. You can have 20 or 30. opportunities before Vietnam but not against strong opponents. It is very important to make the most of the opportunities."
Despite being criticized at the finishing stage, the US has only won 11 matches since the appointment of Andonovski. Their strength will continue to be tested when they meet the Netherlands in the second round, taking place on July 27. This is the rematch of the 2019 World Cup final when the US won 2-0 thanks to Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle.
