Matildas The Matildas Thread

[Munga]

The draw is on now. Someone saying we'll be singing Waltzing Matilda loudly, how embarrassing.

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[Munga]

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Have tickets for Australia v Canada. Very pleased, as it'll be my last chance to see Christine Sinclair live.

 

[stax on the mull]

Caitlin Foord is in good form at the moment for Arsenal playing on the wing. 3-4 months ago I thought she might struggle to hold her place in the Arsenal line up with all the players they'd recruited but recently (including Sunday) she's had a couple of player of the match awards in the Barclays Woman's Super League.

Was also watching her in the UEFA cup games last week (which are available live and free via youtube) and she was giving Arsenal so much drive down the left side that it caused the Lyon coach to make a change at right back 10 minutes before half time. Foord scored 2 of the 5 goals.

Interesting thing in that game due to Arsenal having 2 defenders out with injury was that Catley played really well as one of the centre backs.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Have tickets for Australia v Canada. Very pleased, as it'll be my last change to see Christine Sinclair live.

Lucky you. I went online today to get tickets and only wheelchair seats are available. Hope there is a secondary market

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Lucky you. I went online today to get tickets and only wheelchair seats are available. Hope there is a secondary market

I imagine there will be other staged ticket releases, but you'll have to be quick to grab them.

I was lucky enough to get into the VISA pre-sale for the multi match passes, and even then missed out on the best tickets available at that time. Have tickets to Nigeria v Canada and Australia v Canada, plus a round of 16 match between the winner of Group G (Sweden, South Africa, Italy or Argentina) and the runner-up in Group E (USA, Vietnam, the Netherlands and the winner of a play-off match between Portugal and either Cameroon or Thailand). Outside chance I'll see USA v Sweden, but probably more likely to be Sweden v Netherlands, based on the group draw. Pretty stoked, to be honest. Should be some cracking matches.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Full group match schedule:

 

[juss]

Lucky you. I went online today to get tickets and only wheelchair seats are available. Hope there is a secondary market

Me too, just tried now, and only wheelchair companion seats available.

Does that mean I'm cooked? Won't be able to attend the game?

 

[Rainer_TheBoxSweden]

Hi Matilda fans, tomorrow, I will be interviewing Kyra Cooney-Cross here in Stockholm. The interview will be published on YouTube later next week. Does anyone have questions for her?

 

[stax on the mull]

Hi Matilda fans, tomorrow, I will be interviewing Kyra Cooney-Cross here in Stockholm. The interview will be published on YouTube later next week. Does anyone have questions for her?

If its possible can you post a link to the intervivew here when its published.

 

[stax on the mull]

Squad that was named for the upcoming games against Sweden Nov 12th and Thailand Nov 15th.

Without looking at the previous squads in detail, Kellond-Knight is named for the first time in quite a while - probably since the Olympics where she wasn't fit enough to play.

Emily Gielnik is one name I see missing - not sure whether for form or injury but she didn't get a look in in either of the recent games vs Sth Africa and Denmark.

Tameka Yallop is currently injured.

Amy Sayer - previously a captain of the Junior Matildas is included. Scored 4 goals in one game vs Indonesia in that mini-tournament of Asian Under 23 teams held in the Philippines back in July.

Kennedy as well must be back from injury - but as far as I can recall, she wasn't getting much game time at Man City before injury.

 

[nobbyiscool]

Surprisingly good crowd today for a game that the FFA were apparently trying to keep secret.

I only found out this match was on a couple of days ago when I got an email about discounted tickets.

 

[stax on the mull]

Bloody good game this. Great poacher's goal from Kerr when it didn't look likely from the position she was in.

Reckon Foord has won the ball back in the front half off the Swedes about half a dozen times in the first half and been our best.

A little bit vulnerable down the left and right sides with Nevin and Grant and the Swedes sweep forward into attack quickly. No 7 for Sweden looks like a fantastic player.

Can see Cooney-Cross has improved heaps, especially with protecting the ball when the opposition come at her in numbers - just got to watch her reckless challenges.

 

[nobbyiscool]

This second half has been dominant, it should be 4-0 after that shocker from Raso.

I think this is the best we've played under Gustavsen.

 

[giggler99]

Great performance, Great result!

 

[jhong]

Foord in a great performance. Game changed after our first goal . Good crowd turnout. Morale boost no doubt .

 

[GOALden Hawk]

I went along and really enjoyed it. We started brightly but were on the back foot until the goal. Second half was magnificent, clearly our best performance under Tony, need to build on that, but some great signs against a quality opponent.

AAMI Paark is such a good venue as well, need more Australia games there for the men and the women.

 

[swingdog]

Best all-round performance from this team in recent years. Yes also to more games at AAMI - great stadium and good crowd.

Player comments:

• Micah - solid in goals, only really tested from range a few times, but did the job.
• Nevin - very good at left back and linked up well with Raso, when she was on the left. Lock her in for this.
• Catley - must start at CB. Would prefer if she was LB but DO NOT WANT Kennedy back in the middle. Joy to watch on free kicks.
• Polkinghorne - read play well and put her body on the line when needed. We need one regular CB and she is it.
• Grant - a masterclass at RB, perfect positioning and intercepts. Connected well with Vine on the right.
• Raso - did pretty well on the left, not her natural position. When switched to the right, played too central which cut an avenue of attack.
• Cooney-Cross - growing in confidence, wasn't taking any prisoners and attracted attention whenever she had the ball.
• Gorrie - so much of the play runs through her. She isn't necessarily taking the last pass to Kerr etc but more about setting up the pass before that. Would still like to see KK have a run in this position on Tuesday.
• Vine - kept her width (which is difficult) and provided pace and attack on the right.
• Foord - best on ground. In a rich vein of form, strong physical and running hard at the goals.
• Kerr - body on the line first goal and always a threat. Opposition can't ignore her even on quieter days like today - actually this more like she plays at Chelsea where she is one of a few options, albeit the best.

Subs:

• Van Egmond - not generally a fan but she was good and great pass to Foord for the 4th goal.
• Fowler - prefer her not starting but she did well today. Ran back to tackle after she occasionally lost the ball, which she hasn't done in the past. Much more energetic.
• Luik - came on for injured Grant. Was fine.
• Crummer - thank God she was at least played in attack. Set up a few nice attacks.

We still look most threatening on the break so a good defence can be trouble but at least we're not just kicking long looking for Kerr. Sad to not have Chidiac on today (injured).

 

[stax on the mull]

Thought it was interesting what the Sweden coach said after the game that they were beaten in transistion and how we picked up a couple of yellow cards on tackles, but they didn't.

I'm kind of reading that as him saying that if it wasn't a friendly Sweden would have been more physical.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

I went along and really enjoyed it. We started brightly but were on the back foot until the goal. Second half was magnificent, clearly our best performance under Tony, need to build on that, but some great signs against a quality opponent.

AAMI Paark is such a good venue as well, need more Australia games there for the men and the women.

I was also there, and I would concur with this statement, save that the surface of AAMI Park is actually quite poor when you get up close and personal to it. The venue is used a lot for various sports, so the turf tends to suffer.

As for the game itself, I concur with this statement. Sweden had the better of the early salvos, and in particular were making a lot of hay against Courtney Nevin down Australia's left flank, getting in behind her with a fair amount of ease. Hopefully Carpenter can make it back to full fitness and/or we find another centre half between now and the World Cup (so that we can slot Catley back into left back) because I have concerns about the solidity of the defence otherwise. I thought Grant at right back was very good, though. Probably her best game as a Matilda.

There was one moment in the first 10 or so minutes of the game where Australia had a free kick and Cortnee Vine decided it would be best to stand in an offside position for the free kick. The referee ended up telling her that she was standing in an offside position. I thought that was probably not Vine's best decision (I think she was trying to stand between the Swedish players in the wall, but for some reason couldn't find the space to get in there straight away).

Enough of the negatives, though. The set up of Kerr and Foord in the central positions, and Raso and Vine on the flanks, with Gorry pulling the strings in midfield and Cooney-Cross screening the back four emphasised the talent the Matildas have in attack. Gorry has been amazing for Australia since she returned to the national set up and arguably is becoming (along side Kerr) top two for importance among the players. Playing Foord in her natural position gives her the licence to run directly at defenders and she has the pace really trouble them. Best game I've seen Foord play for the Matildas in a very long time, and against a top quality opponent, as well. Although Kerr did score, it was great to see the Matildas finally display that they're not one-dimensional in attack. Hopefully something to build on against Thailand tomorrow.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

In the meantime, the USWNT are actually struggling for once. Has lost three games in a row for the first time since 1993 and conceded the first goal of the game this morning against Germany. They have just equalised, but they actually do look mortal (for once).

 

[swingdog]

In the meantime, the USWNT are actually struggling for once. Has lost three games in a row for the first time since 1993 and conceded the first goal of the game this morning against Germany. They have just equalised, but they actually do look mortal (for once).

Would actually be confident going up against US in current form.

 

[swingdog]

I was also there, and I would concur with this statement, save that the surface of AAMI Park is actually quite poor when you get up close and personal to it. The venue is used a lot for various sports, so the turf tends to suffer.

As for the game itself, I concur with this statement. Sweden had the better of the early salvos, and in particular were making a lot of hay against Courtney Nevin down Australia's left flank, getting in behind her with a fair amount of ease. Hopefully Carpenter can make it back to full fitness and/or we find another centre half between now and the World Cup (so that we can slot Catley back into left back) because I have concerns about the solidity of the defence otherwise. I thought Grant at right back was very good, though. Probably her best game as a Matilda.

There was one moment in the first 10 or so minutes of the game where Australia had a free kick and Cortnee Vine decided it would be best to stand in an offside position for the free kick. The referee ended up telling her that she was standing in an offside position. I thought that was probably not Vine's best decision (I think she was trying to stand between the Swedish players in the wall, but for some reason couldn't find the space to get in there straight away).

Enough of the negatives, though. The set up of Kerr and Foord in the central positions, and Raso and Vine on the flanks, with Gorry pulling the strings in midfield and Cooney-Cross screening the back four emphasised the talent the Matildas have in attack. Gorry has been amazing for Australia since she returned to the national set up and arguably is becoming (along side Kerr) top two for importance among the players. Playing Foord in her natural position gives her the licence to run directly at defenders and she has the pace really trouble them. Best game I've seen Foord play for the Matildas in a very long time, and against a top quality opponent, as well. Although Kerr did score, it was great to see the Matildas finally display that they're not one-dimensional in attack. Hopefully something to build on against Thailand tomorrow.

Thought the defence as a group held together through that initial onslaught and then improved.

Think that back four is probably the best option until Carpenter comes back. No to Kennedy - too slow. I'd also prefer Catley at LB but it's not a deal breaker.

Maybe: Catley - Polkinghorne - Grant - Carpenter?

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Would actually be confident going up against US in current form.

Feel like the USWNT thought they just needed to show up to win the World Cup. Losing three games on the bounce to England, Spain and Germany probably shakes up their complacency. They do rely on their old stagers a lot, like Rapinoe, Morgan, Lavelle and Horan (the last two are probably in their peak years, so that's a tad unfair on them). I think Vlatko is trying to get new blood into the team, but there have been some growing pains for the USWNT over the past few games.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Thought the defence as a group held together through that initial onslaught and then improved.

Think that back four is probably the best option until Carpenter comes back. No to Kennedy - too slow. I'd also prefer Catley at LB but it's not a deal breaker.

Maybe: Catley - Polkinghorne - Grant - Carpenter?

It seems like Gustavsson just doesn't trust any other potential central defender if one of Polkinghorne or Kennedy are unavailable. He's consistently played the likes of Catley, Carpenter and Luik in central defence over other players. I think Catley is competent at centre back, but her best position is left defender and we're leaving ourselves exposed a bit by playing her or Carpenter in central defence. I don't know what the answers are for the Matildas, but I think that if Polkinghorne and Kennedy are both fit, they'll play together through the World Cup.