Two years into his role as Australian women’s soccer coach, Tony Gustavsson has delivered an impassioned defence of his record so far.
The Swede has struggled for results since overseeing the Matildas’ progress to the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics, but insists it is part of the process.
Gustavsson said he was given three targets when appointed coach in September 2020, following the messy departure of Alen Stajcic and the interregnum of Ante Milicic.
Winning the World Cup on home soil next year wasn’t one of them, though it is obviously the end goal.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s friendly with South Africa in London (2230 AEDT) the 49-year-old said: “The Federation was very clear when they appointed me to this role.
“They had done a report that said there was a huge gap between the generations and we needed to fill that gap with depth. That was very clear in my appointment – they wanted to work on that depth and give more players opportunities to get caps.
“They averaged 2.3 debuts per year over the last decade and now we had 17 debutants over the last 18 months.
“The other thing they asked me to bring was tournament experience, how you go deep into tournaments.
“I had the privilege to go deep into tournaments in both Olympics and World Cups (as assistant coach with the United States) and we worked hard at the Olympics on how you mange games in a tournament – whether it is line-ups, or scenarios such as extra-time and penalties.
“I think I brought that game management.
“The final thing they were very keen on was we create a high-performance environment with the players at the centre, being a player-centric well-being coach, and we have worked really hard on that.”
Gustavsson has certainly introduced many young players with Kyra Cooney-Cross the stand-out success, followed, perhaps, by Cortnee Vine.
Australia did go deeper into the Olympics than ever before but their last-eight exit at the Asian Cup was their worst ever.
As for player welfare, the horrifying report released this week into abuse in the US domestic league underlines how important that is.
Mary Fowler of the Matildas celebrates (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Gustavsson said he had been too wrapped up in this international camp to read the report yet but reiterated of his own approach: “It is about making sure all the players and staff feel safe at their workplace, and we are passionate about that.”
Where he has failed, he said, “is I don’t think I have done a great job explaining the processes. I am trying to be more transparent indicating why we are where we are – it doesn’t mean everyone likes it – the debutants and rotations, but explains it.”
However, he accepts he now needs results to rebuff some of the criticism and hopes to get them this week against South Africa and Denmark (Wednesday 0300 AEDT) despite a continuation of what he says is the worst injury run he’s experienced in a quarter-century as a coach.
Five cap centurions are absent with medium-to-long-term injuries (Alanna Kennedy, Kyah Simon, Tameka Yallop, Ellie Carpenter, and Emily van Egmond) leaving Gustavsson grateful for the squad’s greater depth that he’s developed.
“We’ll be playing several players with less than 10 caps, but some of the young ones have shown they really want to compete for a starting spot and I am excited about that,” he said.
© AAP
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
The Matildas have been dealt a horrible hand as they strive to win their first Olympic medal. The draw for the women's and men's…
The ruthless Matildas have thrashed Uzbekistan 10-0 to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games in style, with Michelle Heyman scoring four goals to put…
In a few hours, the Matildas will round off a successful pair of matches against Uzbekistan with a convincing win and be qualified for…
Michelle Heyman has delighted in scoring her first international goal in almost eight years to inspire a 3-0 victory over Uzbekistan and drag the…
Australia's captain and star striker Sam Kerr has suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during Chelsea's warm weather training camp in Morocco, the…
