Jorge Vilda has a complicated week ahead of him. After the resignation of 15 internationals to be called, the coach must announce this week an unusual list for the friendlies against Sweden and the United States of the next break. The coach is in the spotlight, questioned about the level of his training, his game approaches or the excess of control over the soccer players. As Spanish players and clubs have traveled the path of professionalization, voices are growing that are beginning to wonder what Jorge Vilda's credentials are to be national coach.
Son of the renowned physical trainer Ángel Vilda, who worked with Johan Cruyff or Luis Aragonés, he was introduced to the Spanish Federation (RFEF) by the hand of his father, with whom he made a tandem directing the lower categories. Before turning 30, Vilda was already a U-17 coach. For four years he directed soccer players like Alexia Putellas, Patri Guijarro or Aitana Bonmatí, winning two European Championships.
In 2014 he relieved his father at the head of the U-19 and a year later he would make the jump to the absolute. After the Quereda scandal at the World Cup in Canada, the RFEF needed a renewed image and they saw in Jorge Vilda, a man of the house, the ideal candidate. Three years later, his power grew when he was named the RFEF's technical director of women's football.
Before landing in the Spanish Federation, Vilda's only experience on the bench had been Canillas, a modest club from Madrid where she arrived at the age of 22. The current coach has had no contact with professional football, which is highly unusual among the world's women's football powerhouses.
The first five teams in the FIFA ranking are all led by coaches with a proven career. Vlatko Andonovski had coached seven seasons in the NWSL – the US top division – and won two league titles with Kansas City before taking the reins of the US national team.
Peter Gerhardsson (Sweden) coached for more than a decade in various Swedish categories and also at Hacken, one of the most prestigious women's clubs in the country, before taking charge of the senior team in 2017. Two years later he won a bronze at the France World Cup.
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, Corinne Diacre and Sarina Wiegman are also three clear examples of experience. All of them have been pioneers in their countries by directing professional benches, Diacre led Clermont in the French men's second division for three seasons and Wiegman was interim coach of Sparta Rotterdam, a club where she was an assistant. The Dutchwoman has won the last two European Championships, the one in 2017 with the Netherlands, and the one this summer with England. A reality that contrasts with what happens in Spain, eighth in the ranking and without any great title in the absolute category.
