‘He needs to go’ Heraf claims total support
One of the most capped players in the history of the Football Ferns has called for coach Andreas Heraf to resign immediately.
Katie Duncan attended Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Japan and said she was ‘‘furious’’ with his ultra-defensive tactics and even more so with the ‘‘disrespectful’’ comments he made in the postmatch press conference, where he said New Zealand could never compete with a team like Japan.
Duncan herself played in draws against Japan in 2008 and 2013 during her 119-game international career. ‘‘To have such a defensive mindset and to talk about conceding eight is just plain rude and disrespectful to the girls,’’ Duncan said.
‘‘There’s just no faith in the girls. If that’s your attitude then what are you doing there? What’s his purpose if he’s not believing in his team?
‘‘In the past we’ve come extremely close to if not a draw then a narrow loss against Japan and we know from history that if we put pressure on them and are more physical than them, which Kiwis are because we typically have that fight, then anything can Katie Duncan, right
happen,’’ she said.
New Zealand’s best player Abby Erceg has already retired as a result of his methods and Duncan said the only solution was for a change to be made. Her preference was for Heraf to resign and for New Zealand Football to conduct an immediate review before more players are lost to the national team.
‘‘He needs to go. This is my personal opinion but he’s not welcome. He’s in charge of the whole technical football in New Zealand and if that’s his attitude, that we can never compete against the world’s best, then he can leave,’’ she said.
‘‘Female footballers don’t do it for the money. We do it because we love it and because we have fun. It’s a great environment to be around. But if the environment is not set up right then the girls will start to question ‘what is the point, then?’ If the coach is not believing in us and telling us we can’t go out there to do our best as individuals and as a team, and at least compete and try to win games, then what is the bloody point? You may as well not turn up.’’
Duncan said Heraf’s decision to park the bus in a rare home game, which was played in front of a record crowd of 7236, was ‘‘a load of crap’’, ‘‘not good enough’’ and simply ‘‘not the Kiwi way’’.
‘‘We’re fighters, we’ve got spirit and we’ve got mana. To have that reduced, it infuriates me and makes me angry and sad.’’ Deflection and denial were the order of the day for Andreas Heraf yesterday.
The Football Ferns coach said he had ‘‘100 per cent’’ support from chief executive Andy Martin, who is in Russia, attending Fifa’s annual congress, and hasn’t been available for comment. He also promised ‘‘the whole picture’’ of his approach would be clear by next year’s World Cup in France.
He said after Sunday’s match that New Zealand would ‘‘never have that quality to compete with Japan,’’ but clarified that yesterday that he meant ‘‘the technical quality,’’ a minor distinction.
When asked if he appreciated the scale of the football community’s disappointment, Heraf pointed to the gulf he perceived between Japan, ranked 11th in the world, and the Ferns, ranked 20th.
‘‘I have a certain understanding that people maybe expected more attacking football,’’ said Heraf. ‘‘But as I told you, we faced a really, really top team, which won the World Cup in 2011, which was in the final in 2015, and who I can imagine will be in the final again next year.
‘‘I have to look at the whole picture and the whole picture is done when we are ready for the World Cup and that is in 360 days.’’
If the coach is not believing in us ... then what is the bloody point? You may as well not turn up.’’