Summer Paris 2024 - The Matildas Thread

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Positives - Surely the end of Tony G

Negatives - Tony G wasting a golden generation of talent. World Cup was a pass after a poor start, but let’s not forget the disastrous Asian Cup and now this.

No plan B, tactically inept and we were disjointed the whole tournament. Kennedy (and Heyman when she finally got on) only two players to enhance their reputations.

Need a new coach with a new system that gets Fowler on the ball more and isn’t as reliant on our full backs sprinting forward then hopefully getting a good cross in (something Ellie in particular has struggled with).

We’ve got plenty of time until 2026 Asian Cup, and it’s here so really we should be expecting to win it. Sack Tony tonight and get someone in place so we can have a good runway.

Knowing FA they will either re-sign him or wait months before lining up a low cost replacement.
 
Looking back at my initial posts when they announced Gustavsson as the coach of the Matildas, taking over from Milicic, I was happy with his appointment. Been an assistant coach in the USWNT and had been part of the coaching setup that had been very successful. And I thought Milicic was a poor coach for the Matildas, given his stodgy tactics.

It was pretty clear early on, however, in Gustavsson's tenure that he was absolutely not the right person for the job. Assuming that he's not re-signed (and he absolutely not should be) he has the lowest win-percentage since the abysmal tenure of Hesterine de Reus in 2013-2014. Under de Reus, the Matildas won six of 13 games played for a 46.15% win percentage. Under Gustavsson, the Matildas have won 30 games from 59 played, for a 50.85% win-percentage. By comparison, the Matildas won 35 of 63 games played under Stajcic (55.56% win percentage) and 11 of 16 games played under Milicic (68.75% win percentage).

Gustavsson has been carried by some very fortuitous results in his tenure and some serendipity - none more so than the fact that Australia was one of the co-hosts for the 2023 World Cup, because our early exit during the Asia Cup would have seen us not qualify for the World Cup had it been hosted by any other country. Heck, even in the World Cup, we definitely rode our luck. Losing to Nigeria was a disastrous result, and they were able to rescue the situation against Canada (I was at that game, incidentally - great night of football).

He is a consummate media performer and loves to spin results in their best possible light. But when you drill down, it's clear that he's in over his head. His method of throwing debutants together against the wolves backfires every single time, so he has an excuse to revert to the ageing players like Yallop, Van Egmond, and Polkinghorne. Four years after being appointed the Matildas' manager, the fact that we're still naming those three in squads for international tournaments boggles the mind (especially Polkinghorne, as she is a shadow of herself). Giving a precious spot in the World Cup squad to Kyah Simon was laughable at the time, and made even worse by the fact that Sam Kerr basically missed most of the tournament with her calf injury and we had no forwards in reserve able to take her place.

His defenders will point to the fact that the Matildas have never been so popular, that he's given opportunities to Torpey, Sayer, Hunt, Arnold, and the like, and that he's guided the Matildas to fourth place finishes at the World Cup and at the Olympic Games. His detractors will point out that he's tactically poor, forgets to use his bench, we still don't know how best to use Mary Fowler and the cupboard is very bare for central defenders four years after he was appointed.

He's had a good run and it's time to move on.
 

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"Golden Generation" is such a nonsense. It implies that there's never going to be a better group of players and that everyone before them wasn't up to it.
 
Either way, the Goldern Generation run has come to an end. We've got to start blooding new players from the Young Matildas in the main team.

There's the basis of a good team to qualify and reach the next World Cup:
  • Carpenter (make her captain, she's heading that way at Lyon)
  • Hunt
  • Torpey
  • Grant
  • Cooney-Wheeler
  • Wheeler
  • Fowler
  • Sayer
  • Vine (maybe, depending on how she goes in the US)
The others are transitional players, who may or may not be there:
  • Kerr
  • Catley
  • Foord
  • Raso
  • Arnold
Others are finished or likely finished:
  • van Egmond
  • Heyman (badly used)
  • Kennedy
  • Gorry
  • Yallop
We desperately need another proper striker (or two) - someone who is all about scoring and greedy for the ball. We need to emphasise blooding the new generation - the push to get talented players to leave the A League and go to Europe and the US has been good and needs to continue.

I'd also like to see a coordinated approach to coaching that emphasises technical skills over physical strength and fitness - this is for the long term. I want to see us winning junior international competitions the way Spain did before they emerged as a powerhouse. That should be do-able. It's not a matter of money for players. It's about talent identification that emphasises foot skills and positional play. Spain are effectively an extension of one club, Barcelona. If we can't match that as a nation, then we're stuffed.

No idea on the new coach but someone who continues some of Stajcic's professionalism approach (Joe Montemurro?). Enough of them play in big clubs now to know what is expected on and off the field.

This result is neither here not there for me. I've always thought the mopst interesting time was going to be post-Wrold Cup and Olympics.
 


Good riddance.

Eleven months to late everyone could see after last years World Cup that the squad needed fresh eyes and new ideas. He's let this squad become stale and stagnate, now we are twelve months behind in development. Gonna be a long hard road back.
 
It's easy to say transistion the team, and that refreshing the squad should have already started but who are the players coming through that anyone can identify to replace Foord, Catley and Kerr. They'll all around 30yo give or take, so they have to stay on for 3-4 more years at least. I can name some promising juniors, but most of the players in the A-League Women are just way off it.

Someone like Grant who I see a future for and has looked promising in the past (like 18 months ago she had a good run when Carpenter was injured) hardly gets any game time at Tottenham who aren't even one of the top teams in the English Women's comp, and really when she's played cameos as a sub for the Matildas of recent times has come on and made mistakes.

There should be an upsurge in participation from last year's home world cup, but how long it takes to identify and develop talent here is an unknown. The great players like Kerr, Foord and Fowler were picked for the national team before they were ready as 16yo's. That's not going to happen now. Teams around the world have invested in Women's football.
 
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We're no chance when our captain is wearing a back to front shirt.
 
Sounds like the players are the issue.

Might need a coach who'll just pander to the egos.
Why cant there be both?

There may be a lot of truth in the player driven group dynamic but thats on the coach to manage

Push hard and get harder pushback

Happy for the heads of FootballAus to conduct a review but also look for a coach that commands respect and determination but also people management skills
 
Why cant there be both?

There may be a lot of truth in the player driven group dynamic but thats on the coach to manage

Push hard and get harder pushback

Happy for the heads of FootballAus to conduct a review but also look for a coach that commands respect and determination but also people management skills

Except that review wont look at the heads of Football Australia. It will be more of the same.

The women's team did well when the sport was relatively new and all countries were on a fairly even footing. Now the good countries are developing far better than the poor.
 
I think it will be a good thing once Kerr is totally out of the picture.

Just doesn't come across as a good enough leader.

There are reports suggesting that Kerr was the unofficial coach in the World Cup for many of the players while she was injured because Tony G was such a nincompoop.

Who really knows what went on behind closed doors. I doubt the reporters who were breaking these stories have a clue.
 

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Summer Paris 2024 - The Matildas Thread

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