I have figured out Gustavsson.

He is the friendly driver of the party bus.

A second half of selfish players taking shots at goal from anywhere when they had such a fantastic chance to work on cohesion and vision.

Wasteful chance after wasteful chance.

Four subs at halftime then the final one at 60 says stupid manager. One injury and we are shot (scoreline aside). He was managing the game like it was a friendly and he wanted to give his favourites a run yet again.

Instead of putting Sayer on and telling the team to work out how to set her up it was just another free for all - and as unsuccessful as all his plays.

I love Raso in the side - but how can you beat the keeper wide and not cross to the open player? The game is not about everyone scoring - and the commentators could do well to remember that. How much better to say "what a game for so and so - setting up four goals" rather than "can't be much longer till they all break their scoring duck". The mentality is not 'professional' and we get burned every time we play a team who is.

Got to say Kennedy bothered me when she slipped over early in the second half out wide. She lay on the ground unhurt while the ball went to an Uzbek player, who then passed to another open Uzbek player who then ran past where Kennedy should have been if she had any urgency in her play. Lazy, overconfident work and attitude.

If Van Egmond is in the 18 we are screwed. Maybe tonight was her swan song...

Two great saves from an awfully exposed Mckenzie-Arnold.

Well done Heyman. Showing what we need up front.

Olympic Squad. my pick currently.

Arnold gk
Micah gk
Kennedy cb 
Hunt cb
CB tbd
Catley lb/cb
Carpenter rb/rw
Grant lb/rb
Gorry dm/cm
Wheeler dm/cm
Yallop cm/dm
Cooney-Cross cm/w
Logarzo am/lw/cm or Simon am/s/rw
Fowler am/w/s
Raso rw/lw/rb
Vine rw/lw
Foord lw/s/am
Heyman s


CUT
Whyman
Polkinghorne
Luik
Torpey
Van Egmond
Sayer
Harding

The quality of the midfield makes a big difference out there, plus Foord we looked alot more threatening in open play.

That first half was some of the best football they have played too.

It also helps we have a striker outside of Kerr, with Heyman did really well leading the line.

Overall this team is alot of fun to watch compared to the Socceroos, it helps when there is a disparity in quality of players to work with but there is alot to like about this team.

Now its the Olyroos turn to try and qualify, good luck to them.

Japan win 2:1 with North Korea scoring a consolation on 81. Glad we didn't have to face either of them. 

It makes so much sense to have Heyman in the side. I never want to see the Van Egmond false 9 again. I do think we need another number 9 as a bench option with Kerr out. Not sure there are many options atm accounting for form/injuries. Hopefully someone steps up pre Olympics

I think Heyman scored 4 goals from 6 shots! Did she score 1 or 2 in the  first game away against Uz? I think she has scored 5-6 goals in less than a full game over the two legs!

The Matildas certainly squandered a lot of scoring chances over the two legs, apart from the first half tonight when they were ruthlessly clinical - or rather Heyman was.

Was puzzled that the Matildas attacked down the right flank so much? It was  a bit hard to decipher the attacking shape.

I was also puzzled Tony G  subbing on veterans, Yallop and Van E on, instead of youngsters, Wheeler and Chidiac? I was pleased to see Grant get a run at LB. Was pleased to see the emergence of Torpey too.

Finally, good to see Sayer finally score. She missed at least 4 other shots over the game.  Hopefully, she becomes more clinical now she has scored her first international goal.

It was also good PR seeing the Matildas sign so many autographs with fans and pose for  photos with them. They were doing it for some time after the game.

I like that - but the commentators said Gustavsson has said he is taking 3 GK, CB, FB, MF, FWDs and I can't remember what the other 3 were...maybe Wingers or utilities.

I would put money on Van Egmond, Luik and maybe even Polks being selected. Much to my disgust. They are all 'owed' medals for long service and I really think that sways Gustavsson.

It made a big difference didn't it? 

Heyman was a real focal point.

There are big expectations to improve on 4th at the last WC and Olympics.

In the WC , the  first three place getters were clearly better than Aus. France were similar, and Nigeria beat us in the group stage.  I don't think we have improved much since either. I think it will be hard to match  4th.

Heyman made a big difference out there as the focal point i'm just baffled as to why she wasn't included in the World Cup squad, we missed another No.9 outside of Kerr and I think it came back to bit us.

The Kyah Simon selection was always a strange choice given didn't get a single minute at the World Cup whilst carrying an injury. 

Because he's a flog.

And he keeps picking Polkinghorne and playing EVE.

Christ on a bike.

He does some good stuff and then he does the weirdest shit imaginable. Like playing a whole team of rookies against Canada,.

BTW Is Charlie Grant the happiest football player ever? She looks it.

probably so he can say 'look what happens when I try new players' 

There is no England or Sweden though. They really need to expand Womens Football from 12 teams at the Olympics or it will quickly fall away from the World Cup, too many good teams and players not there.  France will surely be a very hot favourite against us playing over there. They look to have improved as well finishing 2nd in the Europe Nations league. Germany won 2-0 in Holland last night to qualify. Spain are obviously a different class. The USA aren't in great form and just lost to Mexico but would obviously go in fav against us. The African teams are improving and we would be a similar level to Japan and Canada. Brazil and Colombia won't be walkovers. I would say a medal is pretty unlikely, but Canada won it all last time and they certainly didn't have the best squad.  

A lot will come down to luck of the draw as well. If we cop Spain or France in the quarter final, we can play our best and lose anyway. Get an easier quarter final and we get 2 chances at a medal like last time. Then there is availability. Womens players seem to get injured a lot, let's see who's available by the time we go to Paris. 

It was exactly that.

The development of women's football continues apace. We were beating Uzbekistan 6-0 in the men's Asian Cup not so long ago, now we are drawing with them. If the Uzbeks'  success in football development is applied to their women, we won't be seeing 10-0 scorelines again. It will take a while, but Africa and west Asia will also hopefully keep improving (we lost to Nigeria in last year's WC, and only beat Iranian women 2-0 in Perth last year). I would guess that by the time of the 2028 or 2032 Olympics we'll be seeing women's football in the  Olympics limited to U23 players + 3 overage like the men. That would boost development of the women's game even further.

9 AprilFriendly	Mexico	v	Australia	hideSan Antonio, United States
19:00 UTC-5		Source		Stadium: Toyota Field

Mexico beat USA at the Gold Cup just yesterday. Their undefeated run is into double figures.

For us to be competitive, Polkinghorne and Luik need a send off prior to the Olympics.
Morrison probably should be the new cb and called up for the mexico game and start.
Vanegmond seems complacent, her spot should not be a certainty on recent form. Effort extremely poor.
Bringing a third GK would be stupid in a short-sharp tournament with only 18 roster spots.
Simon although injured for sometime is still superior to many forward players, it’s her or Logarzo for me for the last spot. Both versatile, through the middle or out wide or as a secondary striker.

S11
GK
Arnold
DF
Carpenter - Kennedy - Hunt - Catley
MF
Raso - Gorry - Cooney-Cross - Foord
FW
Heyman - Fowler

Bench
Micah
Morrison
Grant
Wheeler
Yallop
Vine
Simon or Logarzo

It probably would be good to see the women be confined to under 23 at the Olympics too.

Now there are more significant female pro leagues in Europe, there are better ops for female players at club level.

I've been surprised why Emily VE is so popular amongst coaches too.

Tony G seems to occasionally play a lot of younger players all at once, or keep a starting eleven that  doesn't  vary much on the pitch, unless there is injury.

Tough having to reduce the squad from 23 to 18.

Agree.

Too few teams at the Olympics. Some very good teams are missing out.

Women still are not as nearly as popular as men football yet.  

I think Emily Van Egmond can guarantee her team will win 1-0/0-1 if the rest of the team holds out in defence.

She has shown the ability to consistently setup or score a single deciding or critical goal when others have failed to.

The problem is, the way she plays denies the team many goal opportunities in order to give her that one chance - effectively the coach is trading off many opportunities and creative, cohesive football for one likely goal.

If you need a win and don't care how close the game is to get that win you play her and rely on the defence to hold fast.

If you want to roll the dice and see if your forwards and support players can combine to finish plays effectively you leave her out.

Either way, you have your main thrust always up the sides and that might jag a goal with the volume of attempts regardless of Van Egmond's inclusion. Actually put a clinical finisher on the field (Heyman) and you convert a team of creators into a winning combination.

This is the Olympic Games not the world cup. Why you need so many teams for? There are so many  sports for people to watch. 12 teams women football is perfect. This goes to every team sports like basketball & Valleybal too with fewer spots.

But the women actually stand a better chance of inspiring others to play and dream.

With the women's game demonstrating less physical dominance and more team play in general, the goal becomes more achievable for young females with a desire to make it. They do not have to be the strongest or fastest 1% or whatever to make that big stage.

I don't particularly enjoy watching the slower, less physical female football at the club levels as I find the standard lower than my level of interest (my personal choice), but the national team always interests me. Others watch the female game exclusively as you have mentioned in a previous thread. The growth potential for spectators not previously into the sport I think is much higher with females who have not really followed football before than males who may have. There is certainly less of the historical bullsh*t and need to put down female players of the game over other codes - almost like women's football is a new and different game to be followed thanks to the Matildas.

Not so long ago the men were dismissive of the Matildas getting the same pay as them because they didn't rate or draw a crowd. Balls on the other foot now!

Firstly the likes of EvE and Polkinghorne have been servants and players for the Matildas for a long time but its time they get moved on and bring in new young talent so they can learn from already established players.

I was surprised we didnt see Logarzo or Wheeler in the second half instead.

Well the Socceroos have got Irvine in that aspect they are not the most technically proficient players but they always get picked and trusted in big games, there is always one player or two that is liked by the coaching staff that are not the most gifted but they bring other aspects to the table which the coaches like it seems.

Facts and just about every metric you can think of would render your statement false.

Polkinghorne was cooked at the last Olympics let alone now. How she's managed to stay in the squad this long is beyond belief. At least EVE can sometimes do decent things.

Can only assume Polkinghorne is there in a mentoring role and an 'in case of emergency break glass' player. No way in the world should she be on the plane to Paris.

He needs to cull 5 players.

There's 2 easy.