By Kieran Yap 2/12/24
Above: Kyra Cooney-Cross carries the ball into attack. Photo Kris Goman for Impetus.
The Matildas have lost two games against Brazil, and pride would be as sore as some of the bodies after two bruising, intense contests. But there were things to take from these games for the short and long term. When the next permanent manager arrives, they will have some valuable information from this window so far.
Brazil, what the hell?
International football is almost always a step up from most domestic leagues. It is faster and more unforgiving even in friendly matches. However, even by those standards, the two games against Brazil felt like grudge matches that happened to be World Cup knockout games. There was nothing at stake, but you would not know that from the way both teams approached every individual contest.
Brazil set the tone for this. From the first whistle they acted like everything was at stake. It felt like something of a surprise to both fans, and the referee, but perhaps it should not have been.
Brazil are preparing to host the 2027 World Cup, they have a new coach and no time to waste. Every game is a chance to discover something about their team and in this window, it was to make a statement.
Brazil have not beaten Australia since 2016. In 2017 they lost 6-2 to The Matildas and in 2019 they were defeated at the World Cup after leading 2-0.
Despite boasting some all time greats of the game like Marta, Formiga and Debinha, Brazil could never get the job done against Australia in regular time. This was a chance to make a statement, that despite the retirement of legends it was a new era in Brazilian football.
In the same way that Australia needed to beat a European team in the lead up to the 2023 World Cup, Brazil needed to cross The Matildas off their list of unconquered mountains.
They employed every tactic in the book and plenty that aren’t, but they did it. This was no friendly to them, this was a line in the sand and an important win. Now they can move on to the next challenge on the way to their ultimate goal on home soil.
The Backline
But moving on to The Matildas. The first game in Brisbane marks the second time that Tom Sermanni has deployed a back five. On paper it looks defensive, but two of Australia’s best attacking weapons are the delivery of Steph Catley and the tenacious skill of Ellie Carpenter.
The back five theoretically allows them both to get forward, overlap with the strikers and midfielders and get into damaging positions. It makes sense, both are among the best in the world in their positions, and Australia should try basing their game plan around either or both in the same way England have long done the same with Lucy Bronze.
The problem was they both were exposed on the counterattack. The bigger problem is this was not their fault.
With a back five and three midfielders. The fullbacks should be able to bomb forward with relative abandon.
Ideally, one of three things should happen. Either the defensive midfielder should move to one of the flanks as cover, one of the wide midfielders should drop back on the open flank, or any of the three centre backs should cover.
This did not really happen. Likely it was because of minimal preparation time. A tactic like this takes many games and training sessions to drill into a team. Players have to be ready to read not only the opposition’s movements but their teammates and know when to change position.
Additionally, none of Australia’s three centre backs are known for their strength out wide. Alanna Kennedy and Clare Hunt proved excellent and defending deep and starting attacks during the World Cup, but out wide and on-on-one against rapid wingers is not their strong suit.
The good news is that Australia does have options to fill these roles, and both players are good enough to learn them in time. The likes of Jessika Nash, Winona Heatley, Jamilla Rankin, and Courtney Nevin are all adept at playing fullback or central defence making them ideal for this system when their time arrives.
Not included in this camp is Alexia Apostolakis who is one of the best exponents of playing in a back three or five in the A-League Women. Another option is moving Steph Catley to one of the centre back positions and using Charli Grant in her favoured left back role. It was the position she played perhaps her best football for Australia and dominated that flank in the friendly against England.
It is possible to play this system, and it may even be the best way for Australia to attack, but either the incumbent defenders need to learn how to deal with quickfire counterattacks out wide, or we need to wait for the younger players to develop into senior ones before relying on a back five.
What we do know is it allows Catley and Carpenter to be at their best, and when those two are flying forward, Australia looks world class.
The midfield
The midfield was under-strength in both games, without Katrina Gorry, Mary Fowler or Clare Wheeler from the usual squad, and with Izzy Gomez and Hana Lowry unavailable for this one, Australia had to shuffle and improvise.
Winona Heatley started in midfield for the first game and was one of Australia’s best performers. She was brave on the ball and combative without it. it is not her best position, but the way she handled her first start and big crowd will be something for the next coach to consider.
In the second game the formation shifted slightly. The defence switched to a more familiar back four, and the midfield became a less staggered three. With Kyra Cooney-Cross, Tameka Yallop and Emily van Egmond spread across the centre.
This seemed to work much better. Cooney-Cross in particular was able to have much more influence on the game and defensively they looked stronger as a three than Heatley did as a solo six.
There is no reason to think this formation would not work even better with Gorry and Wheeler in there too. It allows both freedom and defensive shape. Australia did concede in a similar manner to the first game so it is not a total solution just yet, but they did look more in control with the ball and were able to dictate the pace of the game much more in the second match.
It is a formation that really should be explored. Although the double-pivot of Gorry and Cooney-Cross was instrumental in Australia’s run to the World Cup semi-final, it looked to have been figured out by opposition at the Olympics, where both were far less effective as a unit.
Australia were unlucky not to have an equaliser in the second game. Brazil were hanging on and for much of the second half it felt inevitable. It was not so be and The Matildas have two losses from two games, but there is plenty to be taken from this window so far.
If Sermanni or the incoming permanent manager can add to or expand on these lessons, it could open up new defensive and attacking possibilities for Australia.
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