Over the past few months, as Bay FC has struggled on the field, head coach Albertin Montoya has repeatedly stressed in postgame press conferences that his team was “that close” to turning the corner and saving their hopes to make the playoffs. However, Bay FC’s unsurprising announcement that Montoya will ‘step down’ as the head coach is all about finding the leader who can actually take the Bay’s NWSL team to that next level.
Although Montoya said it was his plan all along to step down as head coach after his initial two-year contract was complete, it wasn’t surprising that he was shown the door by Bay FC management. The team hasn’t won a game in the NWSL since June 7th and has steadily slid down the standings, now sitting in 12th place in the 14-team league.
On the field, Montoya could never find a group of players he could rely on from week to week. Almost every game, the head coach fielded a different starting eleven, trying to glean goals from a side that appeared to have enough firepower, but never could turn their offensive potential into actual scores.
Montoya tried to be flexible with his formations and game tactics, looking to play defensively and counter against the top sides, while trying to be aggressive on the attack against teams he felt Bay had a talent advantage over. However, during his two-year tenure in charge, Bay FC had the uncanny ability to earn poor results by blowing leads or making a comeback effort that just fell short.
Part of the issues this year with Bay FC were out of the coach’s control. The centerback pairing of Abby Dahlkamper and Emily Menges, which was so instrumental in turning around the club’s defense in its inaugural season and earning them a playoff birth, only played a handful of games together due to Menges’ and Dahlkamper’s pregnancies.
The offensive partnership of the highly touted Racheal Kundananji and Asisat Oshoala never came to fruition after two years of attempts to make it work. It’s clear that Kundananji has the greater upside, and Bay FC finally threw in the towel with Oshoala, sending her off to Saudi Arabia to a club that was most likely willing to pick up her contract cost.
Surrounding Racheal is a group of competent players, but no real standouts, except perhaps for last year’s mid-season signing Penelope Hocking, who also picked up her own injury. The midfield also lacks a creative player who could help unlock Bay FC’s attack.
Bay FC’s press release announcing Montoya’s departure used words like “moves into its next phase,” also announced that Kay Cossington, one of the first ever Women’s Technical Director of the English Football Association, will take over control of the team’s technical department.
“Thanks to Albertin and the sporting staff’s efforts, Bay FC has established a strong foundation on the pitch, and I’m excited to help elevate the club further and put Bay FC in the best position to compete at the highest level for years to come,” Cossington said in the press release.
In the end, it’s clear what this move is all about: winning. One can only imagine that Bay FC’s owners saw the impressive success of the WNBA’s Valkyries in their first year and don’t want to get sucked under the wave of attention their neighbors are attracting among Bay Area women’s sports fans.
In other words, it was time to take the training wheels off and demand results. With an ambitious ownership group, Bay FC needs to find a coach who can take the quality already on the team, add a few more elements, and push Bay FC to become one of the top clubs in the NWSL. And that meant saying goodbye to the club’s first leader.
