High expectations, no guarantees, as USWNT reveals Matildas’ weaknesses Matilda

In the absence of first-line midfielder Alanna Kennedy and Clare Polkinghorne, Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson took 19-year-old Courtney Nevin and 17-year-old debut Jessika Nash to start her side at the heart of the defense. Nash, 13th debutant in 2021. Unfortunately for the teenage couple, this bow as a defensive duo became less favorable in seconds – it became a useless but helpless observer as Hatch infiltrated to get a pass from Lynn Williams and shoot past goalkeeper Teagan Micah. Arriving just 24 seconds after referee Wheon Jeong Oh’s whistle, it was the second fastest goal Matildas has ever missed in a race – only Canada’s 20-second effort in Rio 2016 was faster.

The issue of the central defender has proved to be a constant and embarrassing affair for Matildo; a problem area whose solution is frustratingly unclear despite attempts. Since Gustavsson took office in early 2021, he has cut and changed both staff and lineup to try to tackle the back line, which has now scored 36 goals in 15 games. Still, for the lovers of green and gold, the things that were on display in the first friendly match led by the Swede at the beginning of the year – which included a 5-2 loss to Germany and a 5-0 loss to the Netherlands. – continue the challenge at the end. It is worrying that they have been present against both the technical competence of the European opposition and the pace and strength of the United States.

However, somewhat masked by the grievances of the back line has been the Midfield, which has struggled outside the transition stages to break the set defenses and control the pace of the games. Not only does this have obvious consequences for the attacking side, as it creates more attackers to produce individual, game-breaking moments, but it also adds pressure to the defense behind it by handing over control of the game to its enemies and virtue, park areas where the ball is lost.

The opportunity to show some improvement and get some redemption comes on Tuesday when these same parties meet in Newcastle before Matilda moves back to what Gustavsson has begun to call a “performance mode” when they start in Asia. Cup campaign in January.

The pressure of the World Cup qualifiers, which disappeared as a result of their hosting, will then be entirely dedicated to improving the Matildas track.

In fact, there are two general tropical tropics in fiction that tend to dominate the protagonist’s relationship to the future, perhaps best assumed by the “Back to the Future” paradigm or “Terminator” approach. In the latter interpretation, future events are an unshakable and inevitable reality: no matter how many steps you take, how many things change, Doomsday arrives anyway. In the previous approach, however, the events that are still over are not yet set in stone, but can shape and shape those who have knowledge of what needs to be done.

Gustavsson could now be said to have received his own copy of the ‘Grays Sports Almanac’ because it has designed the game to practice for the World Cup final in the same place after 631 days. a glimpse of what is on his side if they stayed on the path they are on. Now he can work to change it – that the doomsday of this group would not come.