Matildas The Matildas Thread

[stax on the mull]

Mackenzie Arnold, Laura Brock, Charlotte Grant and Courtney Nevin were the reserves that were initially named travel with the squad before the official announcement that 22 could be taken. Extra GK and 3 defensive players.

 

[swingdog]

Mackenzie Arnold, Laura Brock, Charlotte Grant and Courtney Nevin were the reserves that were initially named travel with the squad before the official announcement that 22 could be taken. Extra GK and 3 defensive players.

Wonder if that means Gustavsson recognises the weakness in our defence and is going to act on it.

 

[jhong]

Does anyone know what the coach is thinking , i don't . No big surprises in the squad TBO .

 

[acm21]

You can watch the Matildas take on Japan from Sanga Stadium in Kyoto via live stream on our Facebook and MyFootball YouTube with details to be provided before the match.

Match Details
Japan v Australia
Date: Wednesday, 14 July 2021
Time: 8.20pm AEST

 

[Dixie Flatline]

You can watch the Matildas take on Japan from Sanga Stadium in Kyoto via live stream on our Facebook and MyFootball YouTube with details to be provided before the match.

Match Details
Japan v Australia
Date: Wednesday, 14 July 2021
Time: 8.20pm AEST

One of the worst live streams I have ever watched. It's essentially a stream of a stream so we get the buffering, the echoes, the whole nine yards.

Not to mention that I think we have made a terrible blunder hiring Gustavsson. Uninspiring long ball football to Kerr that wouldn't threaten an under 13s team. Somewhat lucky to be only 1-0 down. The USWNT will tear us apart at the Olympics.

 

[swingdog]

One of the worst live streams I have ever watched. It's essentially a stream of a stream so we get the buffering, the echoes, the whole nine yards.

Not to mention that I think we have made a terrible blunder hiring Gustavsson. Uninspiring long ball football to Kerr that wouldn't threaten an under 13s team. Somewhat lucky to be only 1-0 down. The USWNT will tear us apart at the Olympics.

Yeah, that is a terrible stream.

 

[stax on the mull]

Some new/different players - 7 that didn't get picked in the recent Olympics have been named in the squad for the upcoming game against Ireland on Sept 22.

Angie Beard, Emma Checker, Remy Siemsen, Jamilla Rankin, Jenna McCormick, Amy Harrison and Winonah Heatley.

All are defenders except for Siemsen and Harrison. I don't think I've seen Heatley play - or haven't noticed her when Brisbane have played.

Caitlin Foord out injured. Also missing from the 22 that went to Japan is Elise Kellond-Knight. Other two are Laura Brock and Aivi Luik via retirement.

Does say in the article that Elise Kellond-Knight and Karly Roestbakken will also join the squad soon and get their injuries assessed.

Commonwealth Bank Matildas 25-player squad finalised for Republic of Ireland fixture | Matildas

 

[Bradesmaen]

Tony Gustavsson is perhaps the worst coach in our history. I was at the game at Tallaght stadium and the game plans is bonkers. A back 5 as uncomfortable as can be, a midfielder who's not up to it and the whole night was spread the ball wide and cross for Kerr. Dumb. No wonder he's won 2 of 12 games now.

 

[hey shorty]

It was a bit of a disaster.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Tony Gustavsson is perhaps the worst coach in our history. I was at the game at Tallaght stadium and the game plans is bonkers. A back 5 as uncomfortable as can be, a midfielder who's not up to it and the whole night was spread the ball wide and cross for Kerr. Dumb. No wonder he's won 2 of 12 games now.

Didn't watch the game, but I did note that the usual suspects in the media are out in force this morning defending him and his coaching. I did think about pointing out to the media types defending him that the Matildas scraped through by the skin of their teeth in the Olympics group stages, then arguably got lucky against GB and then were outclassed when it mattered in the semi-final. But I just can't be bothered.

Even when we're experimenting, we shouldn't be losing to Ireland. They have two players in the NSWL, a couple of players in the WSL and then a lot of players below the top tier of women's football in the UK.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Good write-up. I'm sure Gustavsson is already discounting the Olympics and looking ahead to the 2023 World Cup. Samantha Lewis puts it well:

These two friendlies, then, are not just a wake-up call to Gustavsson and his squad as the next four-year cycle begins. They are also a wake-up call to Football Australia and the domestic structures – both at W-League and national team level – that must improve if Australia is to develop the kind of depth required to compete in this emerging international landscape.

If that's the case, 2023 might already be a stretch and 2027 should be the target for Football Australia.

Netherlands humbling a reminder of Matildas’ place in world pecking order | Samantha Lewis

The 5-0 loss, following Sunday’s 5-2 defeat by Germany, prove Australia must temper Tokyo expectations

www.theguardian.com

Fast forward five months, and Lewis is Gustavsson's biggest defender in the media.

 

[stax on the mull]

-I'm not going to get worked up over a friendly lost to Ireland on their home turf - especially given the number of inexperienced players out there.

-2nd half was poorer that the 1st in terms of general play.

-There was hardly any play through the centre of midfield. Every now and then we tried a switch and a run down the flanks only to deliver a wayward ball across goal.

- Fowler will be a bona fide star. She can strike the ball powerfully on target with both feet and she can create chances for others. Best player on the night. Only Kerr and Carpenter are the current players in that star category.

-Others like Van Egmond, K. Simon, Foord and Catley can be quality - either starting or off the bench. The rest of the spots in the team are up for grabs. (most of these players didn't play last night)

- Kennedy needs a rocket. She's not a particularly good body on body defender and although she's quite a good distributor of passes she virtually signals where she's going to pass each ball before she hits it . Annoyed me that she tried a bit of fancy footwork stuff near the sideline and then coughed the ball up. Tall and long legs alone don't make her a centre back. Almost put another own goal in following her embarrassing efforts against the USA in the Olympics.

- Arnold's GK continues to disappoint. Despite the ocassional good save, like Kennedy she does stuff that make the opposition sense the brittleness of our defence.

- Some of the youngsters are a long way off. Cooney-Cross has talent but has to learn how to stay in the game, and also has to watch the way she tackles. Nevin and Grant are still finding their way at W-league level - so its understandable that the defence would be weaker. (Ireland, with a weakened squad scored more goals against us than they had in their previous 7 games)

-Beard came on and at least showed she has the mentality of a defender who wants to get aggressive to shut down an opposition attack rather than sag off and be a spectator when a calamity unfolds.

-Some glimpses of good play on the ball from Wheeler

- also wtf is wrong with our players when they have to judge a ball that bounces above knee height

 

[swingdog]

Haven’t seen highlights yet. Who did they start up front with Kerr? Or was she left isolated again?

 

[stax on the mull]

Haven’t seen highlights yet. Who did they start up front with Kerr? Or was she left isolated again?

Kerr, Gielnik and Fowler up front. The Ireland team was pretty poor in the first half and gave us a lot of chances to regain the ball and cross. The shots on goal stat at half time was 6 Australia to 3 Ireland.

Logarzo had a busy start and was the main of instigator of attacks through midfield. Yallop down the right side and Catley down the left in the first half sent some good crosses in. Fowler a couple of nice through balls that should have led to scores. Gielnik got close with a flick across her body close to goal with the GK saved low down from short range.

Kerr had a poor game and marked closely. She had a couple of header chances and one through ball from Fowler that was a good chance but the gk came out and blocked a shot.

Both of Fowler's goals were lucky. She hit them on target. The 1st one the gk spilled into the net (regulation stop or palm around the post) and the second one took a big deflection and looped over the GK.

 

[Bradesmaen]

Kerr, Gielnik and Fowler up front. The Ireland team was pretty poor in the first half and gave us a lot of chances to regain the ball and cross. The shots on goal stat at half time was 6 Australia to 3 Ireland.

Logarzo had a busy start and was the main of instigator of attacks through midfield. Yallop down the right side and Catley down the left in the first half sent some good crosses in. Fowler a couple of nice through balls that should have led to scores. Gielnik got close with a flick across her body close to goal with the GK saved low down from short range.

Kerr had a poor game and marked closely. She had a couple of header chances and one through ball from Fowler that was a good chance but the gk came out and blocked a shot.

Both of Fowler's goals were lucky. She hit them on target. The 1st one the gk spilled into the net (regulation stop or palm around the post) and the second one took a big deflection and looped over the GK.

I mean... who doesn't love crossing to a 5ft 4 person. Anyone would think we had Peter Crouch in the middle. Gustavsson must think that.

 

[stax on the mull]

I mean... who doesn't love crossing to a 5ft 4 person. Anyone would think we had Peter Crouch in the middle. Gustavsson must think that.

Its one of Kerr's strengths though. She's courageous in the air as we saw from the goals she scored in recent matches in the Olympics.

Did think though that when the teams were lining up, the big blonde wearing No 4 in the Irish line up that played on Kerr looked quite imposing standing well above everyone else alongside.

The crosses got worse as game progressed. There were chances to square up to someone supporting from behind and we sent in balls to nobody. In the first half there was connected play through and the best bits were when Fowler was on the ball and turning and passing forward.

Irish gave us a lot of space and the first goal was from a long high across the pitch ball from Nevin to Gielnik who was unmarked and she only had to knock i it down - which she did without much finesse, towards the centre where Fowler had heaps or time to compose herself and put in a long range shot which went through the legs of an oncoming defender but should have been stopped by the gk. That kind of easy goal made it seem like no matter how badly we might defended we were very likely going to score more goals than them.

In the 2nd half the crowd got much louder, cheering the home team on after we conceded that early goal from the corner to go 3-2 down (again poor marking let the No 4 run in unchecked), and the Irish girls brought a physical presence that our inexperienced players seemed to be intimidated by. Ireland often won the ball back pretty easily before we could string together enough passes to mount any attacks or we just bombed it forward and it ended up out of play . Not sure what the 2nd half was like in terms of possession but in the first half we were up around 70 - 30 in possession of the ball.

I can't remember much good play in the 2nd half. There were two shots on target in the 2nd half and a couple of corners. 2nd half was basically crap plus Logarzo copped what looked liked a serious injury.

Checker hit a good one to Kerr in the box but she just knocked it down tamely when she had some support in the box, and there was a through ball from Cooney-Cross after she took some players on with a nice dribble through middle which gave us a scoring chance - and another one from Checker when she chipped/looped a ball forward catching their defenders out and where we had plenty of space and players running forward to construct a pass into the box and someone just whacked it across the goalface where nobody could reach it.

 

[Bradesmaen]

Its one of Kerr's strengths though. She's courageous in the air as we saw from the goals she scored in recent matches in the Olympics.

Did think though that when the teams were lining up, the big blonde wearing No 4 in the Irish line up that played on Kerr looked quite imposing standing well above everyone else alongside.

Sure... when she's got a chance to run onto it... which is how she plays at Chelsea. The cross game is never on when you have a defender 6 inches taller than you. Gustavsson has one way and it's not suited to the Matildas and it's no surprise that he's got a win record of 16.6% so far. Hopeless and how he even got the job is amazing. Another stellar FFA job on this.

 

[stax on the mull]

Sure... when she's got a chance to run onto it... which is how she plays at Chelsea. The cross game is never on when you have a defender 6 inches taller than you. Gustavsson has one way and it's not suited to the Matildas and it's no surprise that he's got a win record of 16.6% so far. Hopeless and how he even got the job is amazing. Another stellar FFA job on this.

Tournament peformances are all that matter to me and the facts are that the Matildas reached their highest placing at an Olympics at Tokyo.

Friendly matches are to try out different players and come up with a better team and system for tournaments.

 

[Bradesmaen]

Tournament peformances are all that matter to me and the facts are that the Matildas reached their highest placing at an Olympics at Tokyo.

Friendly matches are to try out different players and come up with a better team and system for tournaments.

The fact that we were lucky to get that far in the first place. Friendlies are important because it shows how the team is travelling. We knew coming into the Olympics that we were leaky at the back. In the Olympics? Leaky at the back!

 

[stax on the mull]

The fact that we were lucky to get that far in the first place. Friendlies are important because it shows how the team is travelling. We knew coming into the Olympics that we were leaky at the back. In the Olympics? Leaky at the back!

Yeah we knew it before the last olympics and the one before that and at the world cup and at the one before that.

Tell me more about the great Matildas defensive teams. Who were the players in that line up?

 

[Bradesmaen]

Yeah we knew it before the last olympics and the one before that and at the world cup and at the one before that.

Tell me more about the great Matildas defensive teams. Who were the players in that line up?

Tell me more about how this coach is amazing and winning all his games.

 

[stax on the mull]

Tell me more about how this coach is amazing and winning all his games.

Did you even look at the squad he chose and players that got picked.

Nevin started her first game. Grant made her debut as did Beard and Checker has made a handful of appearances. They all played against Ireland. They're all defenders.

 

[Bradesmaen]

Did you even look at the squad he chose and players that got picked.

Nevin started her first game. Grant made her debut as did Beard and Checker has made a handful of appearances. They all played against Ireland. They're all defenders.

Sure I did, because I was there. There was still more talent out on that pitch than Ireland had, but his game plan is pure shit. It clearly doesn't matter what players get picked because we've conceded 3 goals or more 7 times under his leadership and lost 8 of 12. It's also not the just the losses, but the manner of the losses where we let in easy chances, defensively look all over the place and put balls on Kerr's head like she's Dominic Calvert Lewin rather than playing in to her feet where she dances around the opposition. He has to go. The FFA have to come out and admit they have made a mistake because under him this team won't make it out the WC Group stage of a home world cup.

 

[stax on the mull]

Sure I did, because I was there. There was still more talent out on that pitch than Ireland had, but his game plan is pure sh*t. It clearly doesn't matter what players get picked because we've conceded 3 goals or more 7 times under his leadership and lost 8 of 12. It's also not the just the losses, but the manner of the losses where we let in easy chances, defensively look all over the place and put balls on Kerr's head like she's Dominic Calvert Lewin rather than playing in to her feet where she dances around the opposition. He has to go. The FFA have to come out and admit they have made a mistake because under him this team won't make it out the WC Group stage of a home world cup.

Well you can argue about whether he should play a back 4 or a back 3 (or as you reckon a back 5), the 3 goals we conceded against Ireland were from set pieces. One a free kick outside the box and the other two were a corner and a follow up from a poor clearance from a corner.

The best defender in Carpenter was out, Catley was playing further up the field and there were another 4 players in defence who have hardly played for the Matildas before. 2 of them on debut - another that played a few minutes at Tokyo and one that had played a handful of games a few years ago - and a gk in the first half who is in poor form. What sort of cohesion do you expect when they're playing together for the first time. Could be a reason why Beard seem to do best because she's played a lot alongside Polkinghorne at W-League level.

Maybe none of these defenders are going to be up to it, but he has to play them to find out.

I seem to recall people here saying we wouldn't get out of the group stage of the Olympics either where we had Sweden and USA and NZ.
I'm realistic because I know we've always been poor defensively. Without having to go to the record books, Under Stajcic I can remember 3-0 results against England, 3-1 against Chile at home and being played off the park by the French 2-0, and another 4-0 against USA under De Rues and a 5-3 to USA under Milicic. Its nothing new.

Like I said a in a previous post at the end of the Olympics - The top teams in Asia flog us at junior level. We're going going to be punching above our weight to get anywhere near to winning a world cup.

 

[giggler99]

Matildas to bring international sport back to Sydney with Brazil series confirmed for October

The Matildas will play on home soil for the first time in more than 19 months after the NSW government approved Football Australia’s landmark biosecurity measures and accepted hosting rights of a two-game friendly series against Brazil in October.

The decision by the state government to host the games means football will be a test case for the gradual reopening of Australian borders to major international sporting events after the COVID-19 outbreak that has put much of Australia into lockdown in recent months.


It will begin with the Matildas two-match series against Brazil on October 23 and 26 at Commbank Stadium in Parramatta and opens the door for the Socceroos to also return home for November’s World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia.

Football Australia is understood to have been given the green light by the federal government to by-pass the mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine after proposing unprecedented biosecurity measures, including the requirement for all travelling players, staff and coaches to wear proximity tracking wristbands.

After being unable to get approval of a state government to allow teams in for the September or mid-October World Cup qualifiers, the NSW government became the first to accept the proposal beginning with the Matildas’ series against Brazil in late October. The agreement was signed-off on Saturday with the state government that will see the team play in Australia for the first time since an Olympic qualifier on March 6 last year.

“We have made it our priority to bring our national teams home for international football so this is a phenomenal outcome for Australian football and one which we have been working tirelessly towards behind the scenes with both the Federal and NSW Government for a considerable amount of time now and appreciate the efforts of the NSW Government in particular,” Football Australia chief James Johnson said.

Football Australia’s quarantine management plan that has been accepted by federal and NSW government will see team’s arrive in Australia and remain in bubbles before games, having no contact with the general public. They will remain in individual hotel rooms at all times outside of meals, training sessions and games and be assigned proximity wrist bands that provide rapid contact tracing, monitor all movements with data easily provided to the NSW department of health. Large nets will be erected at Commbank Stadium to prevent the match ball reaching the crowd to prevent potential contact with the general public.

The plan also includes strict health monitoring before and during travel to Australia with players and staff tested for COVID-19 before departure. While yet to be confirmed, sources suggest this will likely require all travellers to be vaccinated.

The Matildas also hope to announce a home friendly series against world champions USA for late November. The Socceroos have been forced to play their first two home World Cup qualifiers in neutral territory after being denied entry into Australia without 14-day quarantine. They beat China 3-0 in Qatar and will face Oman at a neutral venue on October 7.

Matildas to bring international sport back to Sydney with Brazil series confirmed for October

NSW government has accepted a quarantine plan to allow the Matildas to play Brazil in a two-game series in Sydney next month.

www.smh.com.au