After sitting near last place during the 2023 NWSL season, the Kansas City Current is off to their best start in franchise history. The club is unbeaten through six games, with a new coaching staff, new international players, new rookies and a new stadium, the first to be built for an NWSL team. Among all the newness in Kansas City, the keys to its early success include outstanding performances from its veteran players.
Current midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo has been in the league since 2014, having previously been drafted by her “hometown” team, the Chicago Red Stars. After spending nearly a decade in Chicago, the Naperville, Illinois native signed a new contract with the Current as a free agent ahead of the 2023 season. The excitement of her offseason quickly faded as she had to endure a long arduous period during her first year in Kansas City, where she suffered a concussion injury and lost her season.
“I think our mentality from the beginning was, ‘Let’s take this one game at a time, a long season.’” If we can just focus on the next game in front of us and learn from the previous game, what can we do to be successful in the next game,” DiBernardo said.
“It’s been really good because we’re not looking too far into the future. We’re not looking at past successes because it’s over now. So what can we do to learn from the past but be ready for the next game? I think that’s our mentality. “That’s where the energy goes.”
She notes that her preparation for this season was very different. Her personal goals were simplified. She doesn’t just make you feel healthy, she makes you feel healthy. I want to feel good and play consistently again, build my fitness and get back on the pitch.
“After my injury last year, my mindset changed. I realized how quickly it can be taken away from you,” she said. “I think it just took some of the pressure off of performance and success and thinking, ‘Okay, I don’t know how long this is going to last. Let’s just enjoy it.’ So I think that was kind of a mental shift for me.”
Kansas City’s offense
Kansas City’s hot start to the season is already exciting, with high-scoring games and 11 different goal scorers. They are only the third team in league history to have 16 points in their first six games of a season, while the previous two clubs to set the record (2014 Seattle Reign FC, 2018 North Carolina Courage) went on to win the NWSL Shield. In each season.
DiBernardo jokes, laughs, and notes that everyone needs to “calm down and settle down” to avoid getting too far ahead of their long-term plans. But even she is off to an incredible start to the 2024 season. The NWSL veteran scored three goals, dished out four assists and was second on the team in chances created (14) while dominating play.
To her, Kansas City’s recent success is the sum of all its parts, all of which have finally come together to play a 26-game season long, game by game.
“The offseason has brought a lot of change for us, and what we’ve done really well here among everyone is leverage the long preseason to get everyone on the same page, I think, with new players, new staff, new briefings. Through it all, we learned and grew together on all kinds of things, and we used that time to lay the foundation and foundation for what we wanted to do going into the season,” DiBernardo said.
“We know where we start is not where we want to end up, so I think it’s just going to be a process and we know it’s going to be a process (and) I think we’re excited about it. . I think that’s what we felt like we missed last year.”
Thank you for the progress of the league.
It’s a well-founded point of view. This is coming from a player who has had to navigate many ups and downs in his NWSL career. A Chicago franchise that plays on college turf, shares lockers with students, deals with nagging injuries, the disappointment of missing out on the playoffs and championship finals, and operates under a dysfunctional micromanaging previous owner.
She’s seen where the league started, its current rise, and where it’s headed. The Kansas City Current is part of a long-term vision and hope for higher standards in the league. Current made league history by scoring his first goal in the new stadium in the opening match of the 2024 season at the CPKC Stadium. The first game made more history as the scoreline ended with nine goals in Kansas City’s 5-4 win over the Portland Thorns, the highest score ever for a NWSL season opener.
It was also the first win for former U.S. women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski back in the NWSL after Current hired him as its new head coach and sporting director in the offseason. Both coach and player had lengthy NWSL careers, and prior to his return to the NWSL, DiBernardo played more games against Andonovski than with him as a rostered player.
“It’s no secret. I knew personally that he was good in this league. He showed that he could be successful. When he was appointed manager I was delighted because I had heard good things about him. I hope you have that experience. “She explained.
“He’s leading us in a way that someone has been in the league for so long. I understand that. It’s a tactic he uses to make sure we’re where we want to be in the end. So it’s been good. I think that’s a role that’s hard to find in this league. I don’t think there are many experienced coaches who have been in the league year after year and have shown success, which is something we’ve really enjoyed.”
The influence of Temwa Chawinga and Brazil’s Bia Zaneratto
Playing alongside two talented overseas players helped DiBernado and Current rise to the top after just the first month of the season. Malawi international Themwa Chawinga and Brazil’s Bia Zanerato have dominated the league with their neat finishing and creativity on the ball, with them each scoring four goals in six games.
Chawinga’s intelligence in timing and positioning is next level and her ability to gauge when to accelerate or hold off consistently demonstrates her mind and tactical awareness. She is a true goalscorer with four goals out of 2.89 expected goals, fifth most in the league.
Zaneratto’s drive to create for others and herself makes her a dangerous player marked by constant movement. He has scored more goals since her standout moment, and her three assists put her behind only DiBernardo himself and Washington rookie Croix Bethune, who each had four assists. Their history playing together overseas in China has broken some of the “learning curve” narrative that exists around international players when they arrive in the NWSL.
“I actually didn’t know they had ever played together before, so I thought, ‘Ha, I get it now!’ So I think that definitely helps.” DiBernardo said jokingly.
“They’re both experienced players and they have different qualities. We all have different qualities, so I think that’s why we complement each other. The coaching staff has kind of given us that quality. The blueprint of the idea is something we all have. It’s helpful to be able to be on the same page but still allow ourselves to have our own individuality and creativity in how we play. As players, it’s really about growing as a team.”
Kansas City has been through a bit of a roller coaster since re-entering the league as an expansion franchise in 2021. After finishing in last place in their first season, they quickly rebounded to finish as runners-up in the 2022 NWSL. It ranks second worst in 2023 after the Championship.
Andonovski is the fourth person to take on a management role with the team in its four-year history, but DiBernardo credits franchise components, resources and the coaching staff for helping the roster get off to a strong start to the season.
“One of the things that attracted me to this club was their passion and resources to grow the game and the expectation that this should become the standard. We had training facilities in place and that was like the first step. Having a stadium would be really cool. It feels like it’s ours, and when we come out to the stadium, we show the fans, ‘This is our home and we want to protect it.’
I’ve really grown since I first entered the league. So it’s been really cool to see some of the younger players coming into the league know that this is all they’ll ever know and I’m very happy for them. “It’s been a lot of work for our older players, but hopefully they can learn (from it) and continue to develop their game,” she elaborated.
DiBernardo’s hope for the league is that the success occurring in Kansas City becomes the standard moving forward. The next generation of players will take the field and understand that the current league environment is newer for the NWSL, and that while it’s exciting to reach goals, it’s important not to stagnate.
“Look what we have done, what we have experienced. Now this is what we have, but we are not satisfied with it. We still want to grow the game and take it to the next level.”
