How Kyra became a complete midfielder by 21.
Above: Kyra Cooney-Cross in action for Australia during the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup. Photo: Football Australia.
By Kieran Yap, Liberty Simons and Genevieve Henry. (23/9/23)
Melbourne Victory/ Western Sydney Wanderers: 2017-2022
There were only a few hundred people in AAMI Park when Kyra Cooney-Cross announced herself as a potential star, but when the 15-year-old striker tore past Matildas defender Alana Kennedy it was clear that we might have been witnessing the emergency of a brilliant talent.
Nothing is certain in football, and for every prodigy that burns bright, there are many more that do not grow or sustain it. The pressures of elite football are high, and the sacrifices required for players in a league with part time pay mean that few are able to truly focus on football.
History will show that Kyra Cooney-Cross made it. She still has her best years ahead of her, but at the age of 21, she has won two A-League Women’s Championships, the domestic cup in Sweden and starred in a World Cup.
Her deeds have already lived up to that early potential, and we still have no real clue how good she could actually be. But It was not all smooth sailing, and the A-League Women provided her with the challenges and opportunities to eventually become women’s football’s most expensive player.
Her first two seasons at Melbourne Victory saw limited opportunities and she progressed more slowly than first hoped. This was still a very young player, but even in a side built around youth she was only able to secure 16 appearances over two seasons, many as a substitute.
Cooney-Cross made the decision to go on loan to Western Sydney Wanderers for the 2019/2020 season. There she was trusted with a starting role, and repaid that faith with a standout season that saw her nominated for the Young Footballer of the Year.
A Round One free kick set the tone for Cooney-Cross at the Wanderers, and she would finish the season with four goals as the team finished in the top four for the only time in their history.
It was more than just the statistics though. Critically her role changed, and we saw the first transformation from quicksilver attacker to the creative force she would become.
Cooney-Cross moved into a slightly deeper and more central role. That pace that had torn past defenders was now being used to find pockets of space and deliver passes to the likes of Lynn Williams.
When she returned to Melbourne Victory the following season, she was a player transformed, and under the guidance of Jeff Hopkins and the mentorship of Lisa De Vanna, Cooney-Cross became the driving force behind Victory’s strong 2020/2021 campaign.
It was like she was fully aware of her abilities, and was starting to relish the responsibility of impacting games. Cooney-Cross would routinely carry the ball through the middle of the pitch, breaking up defensive formations through sheer will, vision and ability.
She scored goals, but also developed a more combative personality. She was now able and willing to fight for the ball, to scrap as much as sculp. The artist had developed an edge.
It all came together on Grand Final day. Cooney-Cross looked like she was on a one-woman mission to win the game herself. Testing Jada Whyman in the Sydney goal from a variety of ranges and angles.
Whyman was the only thing stopping Cooney-Cross that day, until she couln’t anymore. With what was almost the final kick of the game, she scored directly from a corner. It was something that she had periodically tried throughout the season, and she backed herself to do it when it mattered most.
2021/22 was her final season in Victory colors. The common narrative is that it was a quiet one by her outlandish standards. She was now a senior Matilda and Olympian, and big things were expected, especially with the addition of Alex Chidiac to the team and a short term reunion with Lynn Williams.
Cooney-Cross was not at her sparkling best that season, but most Victory fans admire her all the more for it. A Round one injury to centre back Kayla Morrision meant that the whole team had to reshuffle. Cooney-Cross had to quickly adapt to a deeper, more tactically disciplined role screening the makeshift defence. In short, on the verge of a European contract and a home World Cup, she sacrificed her own game for good of the team.
At this stage, she was not a natural “six,” and a defensive role is still not her ideal position, but she added another string to her bow, kept things ticking over for Melbourne and in the end had another championship medal around her neck.
It did not thrill the neutrals, but for Melbourne fans this was the season where Cooney-Cross went from star to club legend.
Kyra Cooney-Cross’s A-League career saw her transform from an electrifying but raw striker, to a crafty playmaker, then to a box-to-box dominant midfielder before bowing out as a deep lying distributer and tackler.
This progression would be astounding over the course of an entire career. She did it all before turning 20. By the time she left Australia she was widely regarded as the best player in the league, and she was more than ready for what was next.
Kieran Yap
Hammarby 2022-2023
The Damallsvenskan has often been considered as the place that harvests the next generation. Cooney-Cross is no exception to a long list of players that have grown in the Swedish league and then left ready for some absolutely top sides. The Stockholm based side Hammarby IF may not have the same prestige as some of their league rivals, but in her two seasons in the capital, the youngster was instrumental in not only lifting silverware for the side but pushing them into, and sustaining their place, in a tight title race.
One area of great interest in Cooney-Cross’ time in Sweden is how she would develop with a European style. It’s no surprise that since leaving Melbourne, the youngster will have played under three Swedish head coaches, for club and country. Under Pablo Piñones Arce at Hammarby, Cooney-Cross has excelled in what I have long considered the ‘Swedish style’ of football but has reinvented her own style of midfield maestro in it.
In Sweden, Cooney-Cross has perfected her role as the defensive number 8. Cooney-Cross’ time at Hammarby was a time of great involvement for the midfield as a whole. Cooney-Cross durability and adaptability in the middle of the park made her a key figure to the side. A lot of build-ups came from the Australian.
As well as making play, she was also a key figure in tracking back and stopping the backline from being penetrated. The use of the midfield was key in a game to dictate in play, especially down the centre. Whilst all sides the midfielder plays for obviously does utilise the wings, the stability and set-up from the central midfield is key in big moments. Considering that this is a similar approach that Tony Gustavsson has for the Australian National Team, and Jonas Eidvall has for Arsenal, Cooney-Cross’ adaptability to both defend and attack makes her an incredibly key figure.
Whilst not necessarily one to shoot, unless it’s an in-curler from a corner or a free kick, the midfielder has mastered the art of assisting at Hammarby. Her artful assists come from her stability in midfield. Her light and airy presence on the ball as she drives through midfield means that whilst she is marked and will be heavily marked during her time at Arsenal, she can weave around opposition and still make a difference.
Through this, Cooney-Cross proved at Hammarby that she can get herself into the perfect positions, away from her markers, to provide assists, especially in key moments. Her pass from a congested midfield to Maika Hamano in the Svenska Cupen Final provided this. The perfected weighted ball from the halfway line, to find Hamano in space, not only provided the final goal to see the Stockholm side to lift silverware but provided one of Cooney-Cross’ best moments of the season.
In her just under two seasons in the Damallsvenskan, Cooney-Cross has played in a fifth place finishing Hammarby side to being in a team within grasping reach of the league title. Across those two-ish seasons, not counting her leaving and the injury she joined the club with that kept her away from the pitch last season for a bit, the youngster was instrumental in an ever-changing set-up.
Piñones Arce has not shied away from switching formations based on oppositions. Whether he was operating with a five in midfield with Cooney-Cross slightly to one side of that setup, or a five at the back with the midfielder directly central in front, her adaptability has been second to none.
Towards the end of last season, all be it a forced change due to injuries, Eidevall experimented with different formations and set-ups. Whilst he did not go for the five at the back, he did utilise a five in midfield and maybe inclined to again this season. Cooney-Cross comfort in changing formations will not only make her an asset to the North London side but will help her settle into the new team well.
Her versatility in formations, as well as personal positioning on the pitch, means she can not only add stability and depth for the side, but makes her a key asset for the future as she continues to grow her already impressive game.
From the loud and fervent fans of the Swedish capital to the loud and fervent fans of the London capital, Cooney-Cross will fit in well at Arsenal and the WSL and will only push her already impressive gameplay even further. Greatness truly does await the 21-year-old; Arsenal are a lucky team to have her.
Liberty Simons
In Green and Gold- 2016-
Kyra Cooney-Cross has been on the Australian main stage since she was 14. She was first called up to the U-17 team in 2016 for the 2017 U-16 Asian Championship Qualifiers, where she scored six goals over five games. After finishing at the top of their group, they qualified for the tournament. In the finals, they failed to make it out of the group stage, but Cooney-Cross managed to get a goal. Overall, she scored 21 goals in 22 appearances for the national team youth levels.
In 2019, Cooney-Cross was named as a standby player for the Matildas’ World Cup campaign. She floated in and about the senior national team for years but it wasn’t until Tony Gustavsson was appointed that she really got her chance. She made her debut against Denmark in June 2021 but her next couple of months weren’t all that remarkable.
She was selected for the Tokyo Olympics but made only substitute appearances. She was consistently named in squads and subbed on, but she didn’t quite find her feet until late 2022, when Gustavsson found a way to utilise her at her best.
The return of Katrina Gorry greatly supplemented Cooney-Cross’s growth spectacularly. Cooney-Cross began to play in a more defensive role than previously and it suited her well. With Gorry alongside her, she was free not only to make brave challenges, but to drive forward to create opportunities for her attackers.
Cooney-Cross had a breakout year in 2023. Her performance at the Cup of Nations cemented her place as a part of the history-making Matildas. Her effort is palpable everytime she steps out on the field and that’s what sets her apart from the rest.
The Matildas’ communication and understanding on the pitch allowed her to shine, showing off her impressive engine and aggression. Although she has no goals to her name in her 25 appearances, her impact is so much more than that. She advances both the attack and the defence with her tenacity and pressure.
Even before the 2023 Women’s World Cup, she was hailed as one of the best young players around. She lived up to the hype. Arsenal have gained a superstar.
Genevieve Henry
impetusfootball.org 