Racing and Björkegren part company
Coach Björkegren and Racing Louisville officially parted ways on Friday. The press release mentioned his desire to return to Sweden to be with his family. It has to be difficult to relocate halfway across the world, regardless of the salary and opportunity. That being said, there was always something “temporary” in the was Coach Kim carried himself. I consistently ribbed him about his choice to wear long-sleeves in the brutal summer heat. He always attributed it to his time in Cyprus, but fair or not, I always interpreted it to some degree as an indication of his closed-off nature. He would always make it a point to speak with me at practices. A few times I was the only person in the room asking him questions at media availability (a particularly painful time was directly after the Challenge Cup final loss). I can only give you my impression, but he seemed like a person that would be hard to read or really know what was on his mind. He seemed private, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes private people aren’t the best communicators. I think we have enough examples from interviews with players to indicate that maybe his message wasn’t always getting across to players. I get that I am not the best oral communicator (I talk too fast, mumble, and say “uh” too much), so I am probably not the right person to talk about communication. The only thing that ultimately matters is if the player/coach communication relationship is working. I don’t think it was, especially in the latter half of the season.
For those who think parting ways was the right decision…
Full disclosure: This is the camp in which I find myself. Therefore, let me share my reservations and maybe touch on a few other items to ponder. Racing’s press release mentioned a “global search” for a new coach. I understand why they (must) say that, but I have to believe that Ryan Dell already knows his 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ideal choices and has probably had some informal communication with them, even if it isn’t about the current coaching opening. Whenever there is a coaching change there is some non-zero probability that the next coach will be worse that the last one. We all know that there are plenty of lousy people who have had head coaching positions in this league, and I guarantee you there are some coaches who slithered under a rock after the Yates Report came out and who are just waiting for the heat to die down. There will be some who will be willing to hand the job to Bev Yanez with no questions asked, but frankly that is insulting to both the players and Coach Bev. It is entirely possible that she isn’t interested or doesn’t consider herself ready. Of course, the opposite could be true too. I said as much in one of my previous pieces, but this also puts more pressure squarely on the players’ shoulders. Personally, I thought they had the look of a team that didn’t quite “quit” on their coach, but definitely weren’t playing to save his job. It is the responsibility of the players to be coachable. If the next coach comes in and isn’t able to make much progress, you have to wonder if some of the players (even the star ones) might deserve more criticism than they received this season. Finally, lest we forget, Coach Kim saw something in Lauren Milliet that I don’t think even she saw in herself. Who knows if a different coach gets as much out of Savannah DeMelo as he did from pretty much day one. He did some good things here.
For those who think parting ways was the wrong decision…
Two years is a long time in the football world. Two 9th places finishes in a row is enough evidence for me to know that the club isn’t moving in the right direction quickly enough. Does anyone think Coach Björkegren was on the verge of some great breakthrough that was going to turn things around? Plus, I can pretty much guarantee you that he is happier today than he was two weeks ago. He frankly looked miserable to me in the last few months. Maybe he wasn’t but I have to think he is somewhat relieved to be going back to Europe. This club needs a coach who can communicate their system to the players more effectively, AND a coach who can get the most out of ALL of their players. I do believe that Björkegren made some questionable decisions to stick with players whose reputation might have been greater than his other options, but whose form definitely wasn’t up to par. His rotation/substitution patterns will always be up to debate, and I am not sure what choices he had due to player availability, but we do have evidence that what he did, didn’t work.
And now to the future…
At today’s media availability Ryan Dell was open about where Racing is in the hiring process. I asked specifically if he would be the final decision maker in the hiring process, and I am not sure I got a direct answer. He mentioned that “stakeholders” would be involved in the hiring process. I would imagine that while he might not have “final” say, he will be the primary decision maker. I think it bodes well for the team that the job (and the talent that is signed into 2024) is appealing enough to have agents already reaching out. It sounds like they would like the process to be fairly quick, although as Ryan hinted the NWSL background check is usually the bottleneck in the process. It is more important for there to be a coach in place who is able to talk player retention/attraction strategy than there is to be a formal announcement. I expect that the club will move rapidly even if we don’t officially hear a name for a while. I become more and more convinced that philosophy and strategy are less important in the NWSL than getting the absolute maximum out of the talent on the pitch. I hope the next head coach focuses on getting all of the players on the same page and I care less about which page or what book. I believe that being cohesive unit on the pitch is this team’s next hurdle and that finding the right coach who can unlock that challenge will be the correct hire.
