Matildas coach falls on sword after ugly claims emerge from inside Matildas camp at Olympics
Tony Gustavsson's days as the Aussie women's coach were numbered.
Coach Tony Gustavsson has left his post after the Matildas were knocked out of the Olympics, after claims of disharmony within the camp at the Paris Games. The Matildas were eliminated from the Paris Games on Wednesday night after a 2-1 loss to the USA on Wednesday, which followed a 3-0 to Germany and 6-5 win over Zambia.
The Matildas finished on three points after the group stage but didn't advance to the quarter-finals due to their poor goal differential. Despite the win over Zambia, the Aussies had to come from 5-2 down and looked nowhere near the team that made the semi-finals of the World Cup last year.
Their defence has been a huge concern, and they failed to fire in attack against Germany. Truth be told, they probably only beat Zambia because of some horror gaffes from the African champions. Ahead of their final pool game against USA on Wednesday night, The Australian published a bombshell report about the dire situation inside the Matildas' camp.
Leading journalist Jessica Halloran reported that Gustavsson's "reign will end" after the Olympics, "but questions have been raised about his management of the team in France." Halloran has been told the situation has been a "shitshow", with claims the team is disorganised and not on the same page as the coach. Gustavsson admitted himself after the loss to Germany that his players weren't ready.
Halloran said Gustavsson's dedication to the Matildas has also been called into question after he missed out on jobs with the US and Swedish teams in recent times. "Football Australia is yet to publicly say if his contract will be renewed but the signs are he is unlikely to be offered another deal," Halloran reported. "Several sources have described the team as being a 'mess' on the field and it is understood the women have endured 'disorganised direction' from the coach." Gustavsson confirmed his departure on Thursday.
Gustavsson has been at the centre of much controversy since before the World Cup last year. His tactics are often called into question and many were left in disbelief he didn't rotate his players more throughout the campaign in Australia - which appeared to backfire when they lost in the semi-finals and bronze medal match.
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After their loss to Germany, Aussie legend Robbie Slater publicly questioned why the Matildas didn't play a second warm-up game heading into the Olympics, and the players clearly looked underdone. The Aussies are now out of the Olympics and it appears as though they'll be on the hunt for a new coach in the next few months.
"This is not the time to dwell about how we conceded five goals because obviously that was s***; this is the time to talk about the spirit in this team," Gustavsson said after the win over Zambia. "They scored on their first shot in the game and then we conceded five, and we still win? What a group of players this is, they're so amazing.
"No-one can question their fitness after today - to push through that type of game when you're three goals down with 35 minutes to go. There are things we can do better defensively, yes, but I think if we are fair, if you want to look at all the chances we had we were close to eight to 10 goals in this game. Sometimes it takes a couple of games to get into a tournament and hopefully we play our way into this tournament when it comes to form."
with AAP
