Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson has been taken to task over his tactical choices amid a heartbreaking World Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of England’s Lionesses in Sydney.
Gustavsson has been consistently criticised over his use of substitutes throughout the tournament, and facing an England side against which the high-pressing Matildas had to work that much harder to win the ball, saw a tired outfit run off their feet in the 3-1 defeat.
Having relied heavily on the likes of the hyperactive Kyra Cooney-Cross and Katrina Gorry through the middle, Gustavsson’s high-energy playing style required the use of substitutes he describes as “game-changers”.
Despite this, no coach used their substitutes less this World Cup than Gustavsson, whose bench averaged a mere 12 minutes per match of game time compared to England’s 20 heading into the fixture.
The combination of Gustavsson’s lack of substitutions and high-tempo play style meant that key Matildas covered more ground than most of their contemporaries.
Ahead of the quarterfinal clash with France, Gorry had covered 10.95km per game, while Cooney-Cross, Steph Catley and Mary Fowler covered similar distances.
No player was more prominently missing as a result of Gustavsson’s hesitation than cult figure Alex Chidiac.
The Sydney Morning Herald’s Vince Rugari echoed the sentiment of many Matildas fans who has long been pained by Gustavsson’s reluctance to use Chidiac, as she replaced Gorry with just two minutes remaining in regulation time with Australia trailing by two goals.
“What was the point of bringing Chids on with 2 minutes to go?”, Rugari asked on Twitter.
“Good luck changing that game,” AAP’s Anna Harrington agreed.
Chidiac, currently on loan at Melbourne Victory from American club Racing Louisville, has long had a reputation as an impact player off the bench for the Matildas, and was one of the few bright spots in Australia’s disastrous 3-2 group stage loss to Nigeria in Brisbane.
She came on in the 85th minute at Lang Park, also when Australia were 3-1 down, and while she didn’t score, starred with her creativity on the ball.
In a heated post-match press conference after the loss to Nigeria, Gustavsson admitted that he would have to review his game management.
“In terms of the late subs, I think that’s a fair question, and that’s something I need to look at as a coach,” Gustavsson said at the time.
“Did I find the right time for the subs tonight?
“We did get a massive effect positively when we did it. Did we get that because I did it in the right moment? Or should I have done it earlier, and we could have played longer with that positive effect?
“As a coach, the number one challenge is to try to find the right answer before you know whether it’s right or wrong. I think some of the players on the park were actually performing pretty well.
“We had the momentum, and sometimes … you don’t want to disrupt the momentum in the game. I’m going to review it whether I did it too late or not.”
It was not only Chidiac’s absence that was notable, with KeepUp’s Tom Smithies noting England coach Sarina Wiegman’s tactical set up.
Wiegman set up in a W-formation, with wing-backs pushing so high up the pitch in attack it almost served as a 2-3-5, which Smithies described as “suffocating” for the Australian back third.
“England created overloads across the field, and the opening goal was a case in point,” Smithies wrote, noting that Ella Toone’s positioning to pounce on a loose ball and bury it in the top corner was created by England’s formation.
The Matildas will look to regroup to face Sweden in the third-place playoff game in Brisbane on Saturday August 19 at 5.30pm AEST.
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