+x+x+x+xHorrible game. I don't know why we kept Gustavsson. Our ball speed is so slow and predictable. Our depth is shallow.
Don't blame him. The problem is the difference in level from some of the players in the team.
Even Peps or Ancelotti couldn't do much when you have Vine, Yollop, Wheelers, Torpey in the team.
We got a winger like Vine who couldn't take anyone 1 on 1. And Torpey who got terrible first touch. Unbelievable that they are a pro footballer.
That's why he always stick to the same team cuz there is Zero depth in the team.
1st team can beat anyone on the given day and the 2nd team will probably struggle beating Iran , Vietnam, Thailand , Taiwan etc
I do blame him if he is picking his squads. There are players closer to the top team or who could become closer to the top team if they were given time and opportunity to develop in that top environment. It isn't hard for an athletic player with some ball skills to excel in the domestic comp if they are playing against lesser athletes. They have become conditioned to doing all that they have to do to get past and it is only when they play against tougher opponents that they realise they have to up their game.
I do blame him for the lack of attacking structure and play in that last game. It is entirely on him to explain what he wants to happen and to make adjustments on the run when players aren't doing what he expects -
especially when he has a largely experimental side on the field. All he does is put a bunch of different players on together and when it isn't working out he swaps in the players who play the way he wants. That is not good enough coaching in an emerging women's game where you cannot say "they are professionals - I shouldn't have to tell them what to do".
Vine is much more active and capable of creating opportunites in the aleagues women's comp than we saw from her in that last game. She almost looked like someone who was trying to up her game by playing differently and the result was a transitional game with her thinking a lot more and doing less. She hardly used her pace, and she telegraphed a lot of what she was doing - especially cutting inside.
Wheeler and Torpey have a lot of growing to do and it is far too soon to be pulling them out of games because they aren't playing like seasoned professionals yet. The static play in our midfield sits with Gustavsson (another blame I place on him). In a half of football he was unable to pass on the message that the midfield had to create more passing opportunities to free up the wingers - what sort of coach does that make him? Yallop to me sits in the same category as our other older players - they have great experience but now lack the speed they used to apply.
If I was a betting man I would say that Gustavsson will wait until each of the older players say they have had enough before he will replace them. He does not strike me as a coach who chooses the best form players in his squad or team. He plays the players who will keep him in his job because they are happy and feel in control.
Vine is playing for Sydney FC. I watched AFC champion league between Sydney vs South Korean club and we were totally outplayed and outpaced by them losing 3-0. A league women was so poor that some of these players couldn't do basic pass and move with very poor first touch. Off the ball were as poor as on the ball. Vine looks good for sydney doesn't match the international level. Most of the Chinese girls playing in their domestic league and their league is stronger than ours and that's why Vine was eaten alive in the last game.
What sort of tactic would you have for them when some of the players couldn't beat their opponents 1 on 1? It's nothing you can do. Even peps can't help you. International window players only got 2-3 days together. It's not the coach job to teach the young girls some basic football skills in the camp.
Mary Fowler 1st game she played for the Matildas you can see right away she is special.
Foord/Kerr/Cooney- Cross/Kennedy/Raso/Carpenter/Catley/Fowler
You take all these girls out and you put Ancelotti/Peps/Klopps as a head coach I'm sure they cant do much with the rest of the squad.
You can not win a game in football if most single one of your players got beaten 1 on 1
I blame the development of Australian system more, not the coach.
Vine does well in the aleague because she has speed and normally she uses it up the wing to get in behind then cross. She hardly tried to take on her opponent against China to even see if she had the pace to outstrip her. Lacking the foot skills of her opponents, Vine can still carry a ball up the line 1 v 1 with her pace - but for some reason she did not try it against China other than maybe once or twice when she was well marshalled by tight defence. She has the skill and ability to check her run then accelerate with the ball and her opponent is going to get beaten sometimes. But not if she does not try it.
Sure, Gustavsson does not have a pool of top players ready to step up - but he has been at the helm long enough to have done something with the next group of players. He doesn't play them in any way that would develop them further even when he does give them some exposure. Usually it is a team of new faces or a team of old faces. He is poor at even choosing a handful of his next best and playing them alongside the experienced heads.
They only get a few days in camp but they do play a few friendlies. He could easily leave out a few of his experienced players at a time and play newer faces alongside the well oiled machine. When he substitutes players, he can bring off an old and a new face and bring on a different old and new face - so none of the new players are left surrounded by inexperience. For our team, we do not need to give our experienced players more time to get used to each other's playing styles. We need to give the next group time alongside experienced team to see how to play at that level.
Part of his role is to see the ongoing strength of the team. All he is doing is playing the same faces and the only players who get a look in are the Fowler's who are already at that level. Women's football is not the same as men's - it is still very much a developing sport and it is a long way behind in this country I agree. When Gustavsson finally leaves what is he going to leave behind? Nothing - because he has not actually worked on the next group of players. I think he is a lazy coach who rides on the skills and experience of an existing squad.
I do agree that basic skills are lacking in our country's system - that is not on Gustavsson. There are players though who have skills to be much better but they lack direction at the top level. It would have taken nothing for Gustavsson to have told Wheeler and Van Egmond (and whoever the other defensive mid was in the first half) to make an effort to get into space when we were bringing the ball out. That is the simplest of things to help us play better. He did not do that - or they would have tried it at least. If he cannot get those players to work for the ball it is just another failing of his as coach. I guarantee you those players want to play as Matildas - there is nothing wrong with their ambition. They did not show that on the field and they did not show the intensity that they can. Working off the ball to create a passing option and playing with intensity would be two things I would have the team do and they would have been a better team for it.
Standing at the back with your foot on the ball waiting for something to happen is pointless in a friendly. Who allows that if not the coach?
Give Ancelotti/Peps/Klopps the top job for the last 3 years and we would be seeing much more from the secondary players in terms of structure, work rate, focus and direction at the least. I am not expecting world beaters every game - I do expect whichever 11 players take the field tohave an idea about what to do as a group.