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As the dust settles from the Matildas’ devastating loss to England, coach Tony Gustavsson has some difficult decisions to make. There is still one more prize to chase: a bronze medal in the playoff match against Sweden.
But as evidenced in a mostly flat semi-final performance against England from too many players, many of the team have run into the proverbial brick wall. A combination of a high energy style of play coupled with a curiously uneven use of the bench has left too many players exhausted.
What to do? Does Gustavsson stick with eight players who have started every match, and of which four of the back five have not missed a single minute, or bring in some fresh legs, which would also mean selecting a less than top XI to start the playoff match?
(Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
Goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold and defenders Stephanie Catley, Clare Hunt and Ellie Carpenter have played every minute. Caitlin Foord, Hayley Raso, Katrina Gorry and Cooney-Cross have started every match but been replaced for short periods, Raso the most often.
In addition, Cortnee Vine and Emily van Egmond have also participated in all six matches, starting twice and coming on as a replacement four times.
Somewhat fortuitously, Mary Fowler and Alanna Kennedy each missed a match through injury and illness. Both fully fit, they should be able to start for this final game, as should the mighty Sam Kerr now fully recovered from her calf injury.
What other players can be injected? I certainly think Charlotte Grant with her tremendously infective enthusiasm, should start, probably for Hunt. While Tameka Yallop and Alex Chidiac ought to expect some decent time off the bench.
My starting XI for this final match would be (4-4-2): Arnold(k), Carpenter, Grant, Kennedy, Catley, Vine, Raso, Cooney-Cross, Foord, Fowler, Kerr(c). Off the bench: Hunt, Gorry, Chidiac, Polkinghorne, van Egmond, Yallop, Micah (backup keeper) .
It would be ideal to give more players a break but unfortunately the team can’t afford the luxury. Also, are we the fans overcooking the supposedly poor rotation off the bench? How much more time could various players have been given?
Certainly an average of 10 minutes more player. But would that have really made a significant difference, someone being replaced at the 65-70 minute mark instead of the 75-80 minute mark?
One thing I disagree with strongly is bringing a player on for only a minute or two, as happened with Yallop and Grant. If you’re not going to give a player a minimum 10 minutes game time, then why bother?
Also, Gustavsson didn’t have the luxury of England in the pool games. Having already qualified for the Round of 16, England was able to rest several key players against the lowly China. Australia didn’t have this luxury. After the unexpected loss to Nigeria, Australia had to play their best available team against Canada. The rest had to wait, if at all.
And of course, once Australia qualified for the Round of 16 and was into the knockout stage, where only injury or illness, or for that matter form, could excuse a key player from starting selection.
(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
One final observation. Gustavsson has talked a lot and enthusiastically about his Sports Science and Sports Medicine (SSSM) support team. They have all the data available to them including satellite GPS body trackers inserted into the back of the players’ shirts, monitoring their every vital movements.
This being so, surely it must have been evident to the SSSM staff and relayed to Gustavsson that quite a few players were at the end of their physical endurance. I guess the discussions and decisions around this will be one of things we only learn about further down the track.
Finally, my heartfelt congratulations to the Matildas. Over the past month or so you have taken us on a fabulous journey bringing so much joy to millions of Aussies. It has been refreshing to watch and listen to you girls, instead of the usual bland, cynical fare we get from the male footy codes.
But so many others have cashed in your fantastic efforts: FIFA, Channel 7, world media, sponsors and government political wannabes. Now it’s time for the federal and state governments to follow the same lead that England has done with their women’s game and inject massive funds into the development of players and resources.
As England demonstrated, if you invest in a sport, you will eventually reap the benefits. I would be interested in the thoughts of those of you who more qualified on football matters than myself.
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