Matildas The Matildas Thread

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For all match commentary, discussion and analysts in relation to the Matildas Olympics campaign please post in the Matildas Olympic thread link below, Which has been moved to the Olympics board. Thankyou.

 
Tony gone:

A few hours after being knocked out is brutal. Understandable, but brutal
 
Tony gone:

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.
 
I think they are the most overrated sporting side in the country going past the wallabies.

The coach is finally gone but i worry about the new one and what it has to come into.

There still isn't enough talent there and i dont think the inflated popularity which lets be honest would have boosted a few egos in the side its only human is hard to reign back the egos once there inflated.

By the sounds of it they were too pampered at this Olympics by FA.

Until we get a decent production line coming through from Grassroots which could be 5-10 years i think the WC last year will be an outlier when it comes to performance for this generation of girls.
 

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Never read or heard a bad word written or said from players or media about Tom Sermanni but it is a surprise to have a 70yo as interim Matildas coach.

Some other news: Katrina Gorry named captain of West Ham after 1 season there.
 
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Never read or heard a bad word written or said from players or media about Tom Sermanni but it is a surprise to have a 70yo as interim Matildas coach.

Some other news: Katrina Gorry named captain of West Ham after 1 season there.

yeah bit of a what da...? decision but it is only interim.

Former coach Tom Sermanni back for third stint as Matildas boss​

Tom Sermanni is set to take charge of the Matildas for a third time, with the veteran coach announced on Tuesday as the team’s interim coach to enable the search to continue for Tony Gutavsson’s full-time replacement.

Sermanni will steer the team for next month’s international window - which includes a clash against Olympic bronze medallists Germany - and possibly through to the end of the year in a surprise move by Football Australia, which had flagged last week that a short-term appointment would be made to remove some of the time pressure off their recruitment process.

This one will have the enthusiastic backing of the Matildas’ senior players, most of whom came through the system back under the affable Scottish-Australian, including injured skipper Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley and Mackenzie Arnold, among many others.
Sermanni, 70, would be unfamiliar to many of the team’s newer fans but is one of the most influential figures in the history of Australian women’s football, having originally moved here in the 1980s to play for Marconi in the old National Soccer League.
Currently the head of women’s football at the Western Sydney Wanderers, he first served as Matildas coach between 1994-1997 and then again between 2005-2012, steering them to their 2010 Asian Cup crown during his second stint.
He was also coach of the United States in 2013-14, who were undefeated during his tenure, and last worked in the dugout for New Zealand between 2018-2021. Sermanni was a technical advisor to Canada during their preparations for the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
“It’s an honour to return to the Matildas, even in this interim capacity,” Sermanni said in a statement.
“I’m looking forward to working with this talented group of players and helping to ensure a smooth transition as Football Australia continues its search for a permanent head coach.
“My immediate priority is to prepare the team for the upcoming international window.”

FA chief executive James Johnson said: “We are conducting a thorough and comprehensive search for our next permanent head coach. Tom’s appointment allows us the time and space to make the right decision for the long-term future of the Matildas’ program, while ensuring our team remains in capable hands for the upcoming international fixtures.”

With Kerr in the final stages of her comeback from a long-term knee injury, it could be that Sermanni, the coach who blooded her in the national team back when she was 15, is the coach who helps re-integrate her with the Matildas.

“We’re in contact with Sam. We continue to be in touch with Sam. There’s no defined timeline on when Sam comes back,” Johnson told this masthead in an interview last week. “Right now, she’s got to get herself fit. She’s got to play at club level. And as soon as she’s done that, we can’t wait to have her back in the team.”

 
I expect he'll continue to give young players opportunities at National level, although probably more in the 17-21yo age range than 15/16yo's like Kerr and Foord were. That's what he did in the past, and even though he wasn't coaching WSW he was Head Of Women's Football there last season and they did give debuts to a couple of 15yo's to make them the youngest ever players in the Women's A League history.
 
Good thing about the Sermanni interim is that he doesn't have to give in to the player clique. Offload the power attitudes and bring on the new generation.

He won't have the ability until the interim tag is removed. He's just keeping the seat warm while the Federation does its due diligence and negotiates a contract with their preferred target(s).

As the SMH article suggests, Sermanni knows a lot of the senior players and they know him. I very much doubt he'll dump the likes of EVE and Yallop if he's only coaching the Matildas for two games in December against Taiwan.
 
Switzerland equalized after some repeat pressure around the box. Good goal but could have been avoided. Hunt in the middle of a box had a regulation clearance that ricocheted off the body of a forward a metre in front of her and everyone was out of position and they had repeat build ups and crosses into the box till eventually we cracked by not being able to clear it out of the area.
 
1-1 Draw. Switzerland hit the crossbar with a shot from about 25m at about 90min. Only watched the 2nd half via youtube with French commentators. Australia seemed to have the ball much more in their forward half because the crowd would roar whenever Switerland looked like getting a break and there wasn't a lot of that. We did slip the odd pass through to attacking positions but created no real chances for shots on target. There was one clear opportunity where Freier ran down the left and had the chance to send it to where Foord was unmarked but the cross was overhit.

Game was played at high tempo. Seemed like we went with a 5-3-2. but the two wide players were very attacking so often it was 3 at the back but defending you could see the line of 5. Quite conservative selections to begin with, especially with Yallop starting in the midfield, but there must have been about 6 changes and Galic got on for a debut and had about 15-20min of game time.
 
Cooney-Cross gets her 1st International Goal. Spotted the Germany GK off the line and whacked it from 40m. Fantastic.

Score was 1-1 Just before half-time, but I've lost my stream atm. Germany were dominating. Scored an early goal and have missed some good chances too. Foord made 2 good runs and had 2 clear chances that the keeper saved, so it's not all one way. Matildas generally having trouble keeping possession.

Heyman came on because Torpey looked like she copped a serious injury as she was looking very despondant on the bench afterwards. Aust played with 10 for a few minutes. Seems like Foord has dropped back a bit and Heyman is the lone striker upfront.
 
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