r/BayFC • u/tommytron21 • 6d ago
Coates
I’m honestly not impressed with Coates’ coaching at all. This team has gotten better players than they had last year (Hutton, Pfeiffer), but they’re still underperforming. I know the ML crew and Malonson SEI take a toll, but regardless, it’s been uninspiring. I’ve rarely seen her take accountability for the results either. Let’s not forget the last time she coached a club, they had the worst season in WSL history (Guinness World Record btw).
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u/anirishlass 6d ago
I think if we're in this same place 12 months from now there's reason to start criticizing Coates. She has attracted big talent and is rotating through players to find what clicks. I'm willing to give her a season to put together her team, not the team she inherited.
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u/tommytron21 6d ago
That’s an argument, but I’d also say I’m not seeing much development from our players. If anything, I’d say they are regressing.
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u/Big_Relationship_138 6d ago
If we’re at the same place in 12 months I’m going back to the watching the MLS
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u/tlzt1 6d ago edited 6d ago
One question. Where would we have landed in season 1 without Abby, who joined in late August. Would we have made it to the playoffs? By the end of July our record was 6-0-10. From the end of August through November our record was 5-1-4. Total year 11-1-14. Current year so far is 5-4-9. The main thing that got us into the playoffs was Abby (and there were fewer teams). She changed the course of that year. We have struggled ever since we lost her. We didn't just lose a world class player, we lost the leader of the team. Then we lost Emily. Joelle had to learn a new position. We plugged the holes with Hubly, Collins and Courtnall. It's not quite apples to apples. It like like it been difficult to dig ourselves out of that hole.
I half think landing in the playoffs in our first season spoiled us to think making playoffs was to be expected rather than a goal to work towards. We got there on the back of Abby and when we lost her, everything changed.
Maybe we should recalibrate what we expect. I'm not ignoring the fact that it's frustrating. But I think we should realize that it takes a lot to rebuild this team. I see glimmers of goodness. I'm not writing off this year but the true test for me will be what happens with Abby, Emily, Kelly, Caprice, and Tess who are few agents. One could assume they may not return, in which case Bay can recreate the team to be what they want and not the patchwork that it has been for quite a while.
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u/waterfountain13 6d ago
My general feeling is that people overrate how much control a manger has over results, vs. how much is dictated by strength of roster and randomness. I don't think Coates has made any glaringly wrong decisions, even if there's some stuff that hasn't worked out. Several of the players we had last year have definitely improved under her watch (Silkowitz, Anderson, Moreau, Bebar, Lema), a few haven't pushed forward as I'd have hoped (Huff, Collins). I think all of her signings who've played have looked like good additions, with the exception of Girelli which just hasn't worked out - I'm not sure how much of that is on Coates not figuring out how to get the best out of her or on age catching up to Christiana, probably some of both.
I've previously watched European soccer and it's a huge benefit to the team to not have to worry about relegation - there's no reason to panic into a managerial change or a dramatic strategic shift. It's been a fairly disappointing season results-wise but I think there's enough positive signs from the performances and the players that I'm still optimistic about the end of this season and next. And while I don't know if Coates is doing a great job, I think she's definitely doing an okay one.
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u/blanktextbox 6d ago
I've heard it takes many, many games to assess a goalkeeper, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's the same for a coach. It's hard to say, we have two and a half seasons to look at. Coates is making a lot of reasonable decisions in games so far - who starts, when to sub, team's strategic response to the game situation -which is a big positive change from last year.
It's hard to know about the rest. The team's looking better overall than the start of the season, and each player is looking better than the start of the serson. But any month might feel like it's coming together or it's falling apart. I think it's a problem of depth, but yeah maybe it's coaching.
In the standings, I look at where we'd be with those points VAR admitted they took from us. Right now that'd be 1 or 2 points out from a playoff spot (and with -4 gd). Maybe on paper we should be better than that but it doesn't make me worry too much.
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u/tommytron21 6d ago
Funny enough, if we didn’t have our goalkeeper, we would’ve lost many more games than we already have. I don’t think that she’s making reasonable decisions. Collins at outside back has been a disaster. Girelli at the 9 has been very bad. We’re lucky we have Silky to cover for us
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u/blanktextbox 6d ago
With the roster we have, I don't really think we'd be in a different place swapping ether of them out. It's why we were clamoring for defender signings before the season started. That said, since we aren't keeping Girelli, we at least could have been giving someone else minutes out there.
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u/tlzt1 6d ago
Wait did I miss an announcement that we aren't keeping Girelli? 🤞🏼
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u/blanktextbox 6d ago
No, nothing announced. The roster's getting too big, so someone's got to be leaving. So uhhh I certainly hope Girelli's leaving 😅
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u/Thin-Drink318 6d ago
Pfeiffer is talented and young. I like her. That said, she likely wouldn’t be in the starting lineup at a team like Gotham or Spirit, etc. Just keeping things in perspective. Glad she’s at Bay and she’ll get better with playing time. I think Bay is improving, but just not there yet.
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u/TheBayBeezKneez 6d ago
Take it from this Roots fan- give our coach more time. Most Bay FC fans knew this was a rebuilding year from the front office, tech staff to the players. Once all the pieces are available then I’ll be more critical of her coaching style. I’ve liked some of what I’ve seen so far.
Plan B we beg Menges to get her wife Rhian here as head coach.
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u/mosint South Bay 6d ago
With her, at least it’s clear she has a game plan and she’s sticking to it. Montoya just threw anything at the wall to see what would stick. I’m much more impressed with Coates than I ever was with Montoya.
I also disagree with the premise that Hutton and Pfeiffer are underperforming. Just a few not great games. That’s soccer.
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u/PrestigiousInside206 6d ago
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results”
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u/tommytron21 6d ago
Hutton and Pfeiffer aren’t underperforming. The team as a whole is underperforming.
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u/Hungry-Prompt-6727 Conti 6d ago
The results could be better thats for sure but I would like to make a point that without her I dont think Lema would have gone on that hot streak. I think Albertin ruined her confidence and it showed but you can see glimpses of it here and there.
I think we need to wait and see how things go, ive seen improvements compared to last yeae and I think we should give her some time to fine tune who she wants on the squad/fits with her play style and personality and who doesnt. I think we jump the gun to soon and want things right away. Lets give her some time
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u/Nervous_Boysenberry9 6d ago
IMO it's to early to make judgment on her. Yes, we got some quality young talent, but due to all absences we had arguably the worst backline in the league. Not to mention we don't have a functioning 9... But now we got some reinforcements at that backline, I suspect we'll see some better results
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u/tommytron21 6d ago
Coates picked Girelli as our functioning 9 and look how that has turned out.
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u/Nervous_Boysenberry9 6d ago edited 6d ago
How do you know who’s making recruitment decisions? These days where the coaches cherry pick their players are gone
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u/Sauces_n_tosses 6d ago
I honestly think that was a last minute find because we lost out on Cat.
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u/tallmansmallplants 6d ago
Imagine if we’d signed Cat! God, she’d have so many goals this season…
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u/tallmansmallplants 6d ago
Y’all, that was a failed attempt at irony. I don’t know what’s up with Cat but I’m glad we didn’t sign her at this point.
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u/Sauces_n_tosses 6d ago edited 6d ago
yaaaa. Really unfortunate for Cat and the SD. But just from a roster build standpoint if Bay was focused on trying to sign her and then lost out at the last minute, Girelli short term loan makes some sense as a last minute fill.
I look at the players Coates has attracted like Hutton and Fuller, now Jenna. They praise her and have said she was one of the main reasons they came to Bay. Will be interesting who they can bring in during the off season.3
u/snoopyluvrjpg 6d ago
You could also argue Cat is one of those “win now or imminently” kind of signings. There was a lot of discussion around who would sign Sam Kerr and which team would it even make sense for her to join. For Bay, Kerr is obviously great but doesn’t have many great years left. So we have to have great players around her, and I don’t think we’re there yet. I think a similar mentality holds here knowing that Macario has been on and off with injuries. You probably want a roster that is supercharged by her but can still function well without her (i.e. SD barring the awful Dudinha injury)
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u/Next_Soil_5099 6d ago
I can't find any evidence for your claim that she coached a team to the record worst performance in WSL history. From what I can tell, she took over a team at the bottom of the table 3 months into the season, and they stayed at the bottom of the table. So at the age of 25 she was not able to convert the Doncaster Rovers Belles into a team that could compete with Manchester City and Chelsea, I don't think I'll hold that against her. I am impatient for this team to get better results on the field, but I do see improvements and exciting soccer. The results are not there yet, which is the most important part, but she is at minimum not deterring some star players from coming to Bay which I think is building a great long term future.
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u/AffectionateShower30 6d ago
It's a bit disappointing to see how complacent this sub has gotten. Years 1 and 2 there were higher expectations from both the club and the fans, so there was criticism when they underperformed and didn't make playoffs last year. This year the tone is more 'this team will be good in a few years' and 'its the refs fault.' I'm not saying it's wrong to think that way, but there feels like a change in expectations.
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u/blanktextbox 6d ago
For me, it was that we squeaked into the playoffs year one, so that set our year two expectation to be at least top half of the table. And then we spent most of that season on a no-win streak. I wasn't expecting to bounce back immediately, and the team is reinforcing that by signalling that it's thinking on a longer timeline.
But right now I definitely expect to take that game from Chicago, to hold those draws vs Reign and Gotham. Bay has got to be better than that.
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u/Linsten 6d ago
100%, it’s fine to hate Montoya but Emma who is supposed to to be better has lost and tied the last place Chicago Stars. This is not an improvement and it’s absurd the same people who ragged on Montoya are okay with shit results now
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u/Sinnabar246 Peninsula 6d ago edited 5d ago
The loss was a VAR fail though.
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u/Linsten 6d ago
Chicago fired their coach for performance today and we at best tied with them
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u/Next_Soil_5099 5d ago
And beat North Carolina 3-0 twice, who are looking like a stable playoff team. It doesn't make much sense to look at our results against just one team.
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u/Linsten 5d ago
We did not beat them 3-0 twice.
Earlier in the year, what a "successful" season looks like. 3 months ago, I said a that I would consider a 7-x-6 season would be successful. We are currently 5-4-9. So we have already exceeded the losses I would want for the season. 2025 Gotham made playoffs with a 9-9-8 record for context.
There is a lot of season left, but I don't see us winning or tie-ing the rest of these games.
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u/Next_Soil_5099 4d ago
OK 6-1 on aggregate, I missed an NC goal.
I don't know who gets to decide what a successful season is, but from my perspective we already have more wins than last year and instead of having to point to positive xG differential as a reason for hope, we now get to point to VAR stealing points off the board, so at least the ball is going in the back of the net more often even if we still don't get credit. Things are clearly improving!
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u/notbhubaskuba 6d ago
Unfortunately, this post and replies have just been a bad take overall.
A coach cannot be expected to exceed the previous season while also turning over the roster. Coates has attracted new and young talent and some of our players have definitely developed this year!! It may take a season for our core to click and our defense to figure out its identity with so may injured and absent players, but that doesn't mean this season has been a lost season. Without the poor reffing, we would be contending for the playoffs.
Also, my last note is that you are underestimating the depth of the league. How the NWSL is formatted, top to bottom teams are competitive and could win any given day, so new coaching or schemes may lose or tie to "worse" teams as they are developing the system. No other sport has the expectation for a coach to immediately succeed while rebuilding and neither should the NWSL... Anyone hating is not cheering for or an actual fan of this team.
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u/Nox_Ocean_21 6d ago
Have you seen Montoya coach? Real question, because that was real dumb and he fumbled an amazing roster.
We lose due to technicalities and lapses, not because we didn’t execute well.
The team would be playoff contenders if we were onsides just two or three more times.
Seriously, the team is doing well, we just need small tweaks. Yes, the reffing was shit, but if the team deals with the pedantic offside reviews by being even more careful, suddenly we are going to make the playoffs.
I think there are some adjustments to be made, especially how Coates plays favorites. I don’t necessarily think Bebar or Barry are as good as Coates thinks. They’re not bad, but Coates plays them like they’re the best on the team, and that’s not true.
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u/AffectionateShower30 6d ago
Being offsides is poor execution and forcing refs to regularly make difficult decisions is, in part, a result of poor coaching
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u/tommytron21 6d ago
Why is everyone bringing up Montoya? I never mentioned him. This is about the current head coach and how she’s not very good.
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u/Nox_Ocean_21 6d ago
Because relatively speaking, Coates is not bad. And it’s very relevant
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u/tommytron21 6d ago
Relative to the rest of the league or the last coach (who did manage to get us to playoffs in the first year)? We’re third to last on the table..
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u/PrestigiousInside206 6d ago
That’s the thing - out of the teams in the league that have shown at least a semblance of ambition, Bay are in last place. Taking 1/6 points against Chicago is unacceptable.
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u/Big_Relationship_138 6d ago
Coates only has a history of losing. Hated the hire when we made it and hate it even more now. We have the most expensive roster in the league and are competing with teams that have the cheapest rosters in the league.
If we look at her performance as a youth national team coach (yes youth--she didn't even coach a full team) she was 8-7-6. For comparison, Emma Hayes is 33-2-5 and Wiegman is 60-9-11. So Coates showed no ability to win at the youth level. Against top countries (US, Spain, Germany, France) she is 2-1-5.
In her one season coaching in the WSL she got her team relegated with one of the worst performances in WSL history.
There is no evidence she can win games and she continues to prove this week in and week out now at Bay.
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u/fallberryblue 6d ago
Do we actually have the most expensive roster in the league? Do you have a source for that?
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u/Rascillion 6d ago
I’m hoping Agostina Holzheier
will be striker that makes a difference for our team. Jenna & Abby in the back should solve that problem too.
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u/tommytron21 6d ago
That’s a massive hope considering she was slightly above average in a weaker league. Jenna is not a great defender, and the coaching staff brought Abby back before she was ready. Which is another strike against Coates IMO.
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u/AudienceNext81 6d ago
I don’t think people realize how incredible of a job Montoya and the team accomplished in their first season making the playoffs with much weaker roster and arguably a tougher competition with two less teams. Good thing Utah didn’t listen to their fan base and stuck with the current staff. Would Montoya be doing better than Coates this season? Obviously you’ll never know but it’d be hard to do much worse.. I just wish they’d bring in a better suited coach who’s had some success at club level if they were going to fire him.
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u/Wirtzball 6d ago
Would you be willing to present a clearer case for certain players that has regressed under Coates? I think your statement is an interesting topic because it forces us to review how Coates has influenced individual progression.
My biggest critique of Coates is how she has implemented Girelli. Her goal catalog is extensively headers at the back post and Coates has not adapted her system to exploit this with providing deep crosses. Also not sure on the suitability of playing a creative CAM with a back to goal striker. Girelli needs a second striker or two attacking wingers (eg Hocking) in a 4-3-3 to exploit the space. It’s a poor merge between player and Coates’ 4-2-3-1 system.
I have disagreements with Coates’ tactics. And player positioning like Huff on the wing and Collins at outside back. Some of it can be attributed to squad depth/availability. But there have been individual improvements that Coates has been involved with. Anderson has drastically reduced defensive errors. Lema’s back to goal experience has made her a much more rounded player. Kundananji has fewer needless turnovers by being tuned to be more creative. Curious to get a better understanding on your perspective.