Composure area for improvement
The Football Ferns have got the expected results at the Cup of Nations, but their performances have shown there is plenty of room for improvement.
In losing to Australia and beating Argentina, they’ve struggled to keep hold of the ball, which has left them exposed when they’ve turned it over in dangerous positions, and frustrated when attacking moves have broken down.
Midfielder Betsy Hassett started in both matches and while it remains to be seen whether she will go again against South Korea in Melbourne today (kickoff 5pm NZ time), she said the team knows where it’s going wrong.
‘‘That’s what we’ve struggled to do in these two games, just keep the ball and play it around and be a bit more composed. We need to string more passes together and that comes from everyone on the field just looking after the ball a bit more.
‘‘We’re rushing a little bit and looking a bit sloppy and scrappy so that’s an area where we must improve and that’s what we’re working on.’’
Against Australia, Hassett lined up in a midfield trio with Annalie Longo and Katie Bowen in 3-5-2 formation, shifting out wide when they changed to a 4-4-2 after half an hour, but against Argentina she was alongside Katie Duncan and Ria Percival in a 4-3-3.
The Cup of Nations has been coach Tom Sermanni’s first chance to work with the team against non-Oceania opposition, so it’s only natural that he’s exploring his options, but he doesn’t have long to decide what works best, with only four more matches scheduled between today and the World Cup in France in June.
‘‘He’s changing it around a bit; we’re still working on finding the best combination in the midfield,’’ Hassett said. ‘‘There is lots of competition, but that’s really good for us. It’s good to have competition, it just makes you work harder.
‘‘There’s different personnel and it depends on what tactics we want on a particular day, who he’s going to pick for the team. We’re all doing really well and it’s a good competitive environment.’’
The world No 19 Ferns have beaten No 14 South Korea just once in 10 meetings, in 1996, but they are the type of team they need to begin knocking over more often if they are to continue the progress they’ve made over the past decade.