Matildas’ defensive woes addressed but questions remain ahead of Tokyo
It was a catch that Teagan Micah has made hundreds of times before. But as the Matildas’ 23-year old debutant goalkeeper sprang into the Kalmar air and cradled the ball to her chest, this simple take – the final touch of Australia’s 0-0 draw with Sweden on Wednesday morning – became much more meaningful than it first appeared.
After conceding 13 goals in the previous three international friendlies against Germany, the Netherlandsand Denmark, questions were asked regarding Australia’s defensive integrity and depth. Coming up against a Swedish side ranked fifth in the world and on an 11-game unbeaten streak, having scored 15 goals in their past five, this final friendly of the June window loomed as an opportunity for the Matildas to provide answers.
They did so, up to a point. Wary of the attacking weapons of his home nation, Australia head coach Tony Gustavsson set his side up with a back three anchored by veteran centre-half Clare Polkinghorne, flanked on either side by newly-returned starters Steph Catley and Ellie Carpenter. In defensive phases, these three defenders were joined by winger-turned-full-back Hayley Raso and midfielder Tameka Yallop, with Emily Van Egmond dropping in to screen them.
This defensive system, for the most
part, worked. Polkinghorne was particularly impressive at the base of defence, dictating play and cleaning up errors from teammates, her tidiness reflected in having the highest pass completion rate and successful tackles for an outfielder in the squad.
And although the 32-year old was caught out of position a handful of times, the cover provided by the speedier Catley and Carpenter – as well as the sweeper-keeper style of Micah – ensured those mistakes were not as harshly punished as they may have been previously.
But it was Raso’s defensive performance that was particularly noteworthy. Not only did the Everton player float seamlessly across at least three different positions throughout the 90 minutes, she also clocked up some of the highest stats across both teams including duels, interceptions and successful tackles.
“I’m amazed,” Gustavsson said of Raso post-match. “I’m always impressed by how she adjusts, because it’s not easy to play in that many positions in one single game, and to do that mentally: to switch from wing-back to attacking wide forward to a No 9.
“We’ve been doing a lot of those tactical works in training and she’s one of those that had to play in multiple positions, and also in the new formation. But the other thing she encapsulates is the identity of the team. Look at her work ethic; look at how hard she works. It’s impressive.”
But while the clean sheet – Australia’s first against European opposition since 2018 – provided an answer to lingering defensive questions, it came at the expense of the other end of the field.
Striker Sam Kerr was largely marked out of the game once again, meaning attacking chances fell to a rusty Kyah Simon, who rushed and skewed the few opportunities she had, unaided by the usual overlapping runs of the rightsided Carpenter. Overall, despite a fairly even amount of possession, the Matildas recorded almost half the number of shots and crosses as Sweden, as well as four times as few corners.
In answering one question, Gustavsson’s tactical decisions have raised another. By reining in Catley and Carpenter, who created some of the best chances in last week’s friendly against Denmark, Australia’s attacking momentum and multi-dimensionality was blunted. Raso and Yallop similarly struggled to make line-breaking attacking runs, neutralised in part by the system they were forced to work within.
This perhaps explains Gustavsson’s assessment of the game as “mixed”; an appropriate summary of a performance that, while defensively resolute, undermined the Matildas’ attackminded style.
“I think there’s parts of it that [were] solid, especially defensively,” he said. “I don’t think we were as intense and aggressive and attacking-minded as we were in previous games. I actually think some of the attacking was a bit better in previous games, even though we had our chances.
“I agree that our defending was more solid this game, especially in and around the box; we protected that better than previous games.
“We still want to be that aggressive team that’s on the front foot, but you need to learn that game management; sometimes the game tells you what you need to do, and the players adjusted to that.
“We’re not going to peak against Sweden, we’re going to peak in the Olympics, so we need to train through and learn how to play with some fatigue, and you could see that today.”
The question now is whether Gustavsson can strike the right balance ahead of his first major test in Tokyo.