A nice guy with a complex legacy: Gustavsson’s Matildas roller-coaster has come to a halt

It would be reductive to remark that the Tony Gustavsson era came to a close in the most Tony Gustavsson manner imaginable: by throwing a centre-back up top in a last-ditch attempt to rescue a point. Wondering if, even though Alanna Kennedy did score a consolation against the United States (just as she did against Nigeria in the World Cup last year), that a goal might have materialised sooner than injury time had he started the 2-1 loss with the actual recognised striker at his disposal.

It felt strangely fitting that Michelle Heyman sat on the bench once more, for the first hour this time, in a match that ended both the Matildas’ Olympics campaign and Gustavsson’s tenure. A four-year roller-coaster during which the outgoing head coach oversaw this team’s most magical period, and simultaneously failed to lift its golden generation closer to their ceiling while also ushering in the next. He divided opinion and rode on goodwill.

The even more simplistic observation is that the 50-year-old lived and died by results, just like all other managers. A more holistic reflection of Gustavsson’s tenure is far more complex, but can be viewed through the prism of his own language.

The “one day better” mantra he trotted out at every other press conference grew tiresome, not because of its earnestness alone, but for the reality that the Matildas were not getting one day better. They were getting one day better, and then one day worse, then better, then worse, in an infuriating cycle that was as foreseeable as it was unpredictable.

Gustavsson’s term started with five straight winless friendlies in 2021 (featuring four losses and 14 conceded goals), just before narrowly missing out on an Olympic bronze medal at Tokyo three years ago. After that came another highly questionable run of results, including the quarter-final exit from a 2022 Asian Cup they were fancied to win.

The ultimate “one day better” was the semi-final run at the 2023 World Cup. Almost exactly 12 months later, the post-mortems are coming thick and fast on the team’s worst result at an Olympics in 24 years, and we are one day worse once more.

In all, his iteration of the Matildas have played top-10 opposition 27 times. Of those, they have won six, drawn five and lost 16, having scored 30 goals and conceded 55.

Tony Gustavsson’s time as Matildas coach has come to an end.Credit: AP

Gustavsson’s words have not exactly sounded disingenuous; it is more that the lexicon felt laced with an idealism ill-suited to the cutthroat nature of elite international football. Or perhaps it was disorientation? A symptom of feeling a bit at sea, having been Jill Ellis’ long-time United States assistant and before finding himself in a first national head coaching role overseeing a team that did not always win.

Whatever the case, the stated aim too often clashed with the action. The endless references to Football Australia’s Performance Gap Report of 2021 belied his almost comical reluctance to utilise a decent portion of the depth he had built to remedy the worrying trend the report had identified.

Kyra Cooney-Cross and Clare Hunt are obvious shining examples of figures who were brought in and have since become crucial to Australia’s starting XI. If only Gustavsson had trusted more of his 23 debutants. Because despite that number being 15 more than in the preceding cycle, the tendency to blood (often in compromising circumstances) and then put out to pasture has resulted in a false notion of depth exposed as such when injuries hit before and during major tournaments.

Gustavsson with his team during Olympic qualifying in February.Credit: Getty

A prime example was the World Cup, a seven-game marathon throughout which only 14 squad members played a total of more than 30 minutes. All the while, Gustavsson persisted with his “it’s going to take 23 in ’23″ jingle. At Paris 2024, at least, Clare Wheeler is finally being given more opportunity, and Kaitlyn Torpey has been a versatile find at a crucial time. Charli Grant, who deputised so superbly at right-back during Ellie Carpenter’s lengthy period of ACL rehabilitation, remains stranded on the periphery.

But these are all observations about Gustavsson the individual, and fail to acknowledge the system operating around him. That he conducted most of his tenure from his native Sweden, and relied heavily on his coaching staff – especially assistant Mel Andreatta – to identify new Australia-based talent. And that the timely uptick in results before the World Cup neatly coincided with the appointment of his other assistant, fellow Swede Jens Fjellstrom.

This trio and the rest of the high-performance team have been not just dealing with a football team, but one riding an unprecedented wave of off-field popularity. Home friendlies are now – rightly or wrongly – a fine balance between tactical and personnel experimentation and the commercial demands of ticket sales and fans’ expectations to see the stars with whom they fell in love.

Add, too, a new level of professionalism in the women’s game which has brought with it more player fatigue and an eruption of injuries, particularly of the ACL kind currently affecting Australia’s captain, Sam Kerr, along with fellow forwards Amy Sayer and Holly McNamara.

These are all unenviable elements for a manager to manage. But manage he or she must. For, at the end of the day, that is the job. Gustavsson did the best he could under the circumstances, but whoever is hired to do it next must do it better.

Football Australia could look to Andreatta, who has served a long apprenticeship under multiple head coaches, though that would not exactly constitute a fresh set of eyes. It could consider the likes of Ross Aloisi. The most encouraging option appears to be Ante Juric, who has coached Sydney FC to three A-League Women championships and three premierships, and possesses both the nous and ambition.

The governing body has missed out on Joe Montemurro, who recently signed with Carpenter’s Lyon. Ironically, had it not been as disinclined as Gustavsson to make a substitution right after the World Cup, when he was already linked to other vacant jobs and making veiled threats to leave, it might have been in with a chance.

However, just as Gustavsson did not give Heyman a start in these Olympics, no moves were made from either side, and we are where we are right now. Looking back at Gustavsson’s tenure as a loop on repeat. A nice-guy soundtrack to a complex Matildas legacy.

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