Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson has hinted that strong sides will be seen at the upcoming Cup of Nations tournament in February.
Speaking to Kick360 at the announcement of the 2023 Cup of Nations – which will see the Matildas play Spain, Jamaica and Czechia in a round-robin tournament – the Swede stated that consistency in the team is becoming increasingly important as the Women’s World Cup approaches.
“We spent about 18 months looking at 57 players and 17 debutants at the same time that we played one of the toughest schedules in the team’s history. I said in September that we’re going to start to narrow down, to get more consistency going into the World Cup, because consistency and cohesion is very important to be successful.”
Gustavsson has left the door open for some rotation and experimentation, expressing he is still on the lookout for any surprise packages or game changers.
“I think 85 to 90% of this tournament is going to be consistent in this tournament, but then there’s that last 10-15% where we’re going to check the last box as a coach; do we have a player that had an outstanding performance this season that we have to take a last look at? What is going to be the X factor from the bench like a game changer, do we look at that this tournament?
“It’s going to be balanced between consistency and then taking a couple last looks at those last spots.”
The tournament is key in the Matildas preparation for the home World Cup, with the opponents selected carefully to closely match Australia’s group stage opponents, and Gustavsson says that after three months away, these matches will be highly useful for both players and staff.
“[We will] look at all of our processes, everything from game plan and then performance and game review – the staff work on those processes – then everything to get the tactics nailed down to get them on the same page again. We haven’t been together for three months, [we have] to go from club tactics to national team tactics.
“But we’ll also use it as a chance to get a little bit of a taste of what’s coming for the World Cup in terms of the fans, in terms of the media in getting that connection and unity in the whole country.”
The Matildas will be keen to get off to a winning start this year after a mixed 2022; a dismal performance in the Asian Cup and defeats in various friendly matches – including a 7-0 loss to upcoming opponents Spain – had increased the pressure on Gustavsson, though this abated somewhat with stronger results at the end of the year. The 49-year-old says that those positive results were signs that the team is moving in the right direction.
“I think at the end of the year we saw that things are starting to come together. We had seen bits and pieces of it all in the back against Brazil and the US, then against New Zealand, like 30 minutes, 45 minutes, maybe 60 in a couple of games.
“The Canada the game for example, brilliant first half, bad second half. What we saw at the end of the year was more complete performance, it’s about 75 to 90 minutes of consistent, good performance.”
Gustavsson has been casting his eye over the A-League women action in previous weeks whilst in the country, and he has been impressed with the quality on display, though he stressed that players needed to show form over multiple games to be in his calculations for the Matildas squad.
“It’s been very interesting to watch this league. I think it took some games to get up and running to the quality it was last year because of a short preseason, which is natural. I think there’s been a couple of very interesting individual performances as well.
“We have an eye on every single player now in the A-League and all over the world, and what I also want to say it’s not enough to have one good game, you need to have an amazing, impressive season game after game after game, and then the question is can you bring that club performance to international level.”
Despite many of the top Matildas stars plying their trade in Europe, Gustavsson emphasised the importance of the domestic game in the growth and development of women’s football.
“It’s so important as a pathway up into the Matildas, but also the growth for women’s football in the country. And what you see now all around the world, including Australia, is that the interest grows every single day, and the A-League becomes so massively important in that pathway.”
Image Credit: Paul Harding/Getty Images
