Matildas v France: How Sam Kerr’s injury unleashed Mary Fowler and Caitlin Foord as World Cup forces
It was feared Sam Kerr’s injury would stop the Matildas. But, writes ADAM PEACOCK, it has instead opened them to new possibilities.
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In a long-forgotten press conference five months ago, after Australia defeated Spain in Sydney, Tony Gustavsson fell back on an old football adage that not only stands the test of time but may outlive humanity.
“As a national team coach, it’s all about getting the right players in the right spot with the right mindset,” Gustavsson said.
He was referring to the Matildas’ tactical pivot to put Caitlin Foord in a central role next to Sam Kerr. It worked. With both available, this was the gameplan to cause destruction at the World Cup.
Then fate intervened in the form of an injured calf to Kerr.
A solution was urgently needed.
And after two games of trial and error, in which the Matildas were forced to ween themselves off their dependence on Kerr in attack, it was found spectacularly against Canada and Denmark: Foord and Mary Fowler.
The right players, in the right spot, with the right mindset.
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It seems ridiculous now, but the artist now known to the nation simply as “Mary” was destined for a role off the bench at this World Cup.
Through 2023, Gustavsson had leaned heavily on the 4-4-2 system used in the warm-up game against France, with Cortnee Vine and Hayley Raso wide, and Foord and Kerr through the middle.
And then ping went to the calf. Kerr’s absence meant a system tweak to a 4-3-3 with Fowler central behind striker Foord against Ireland.
It wasn’t perfect. Fowler was well marshalled. But early hopes of building on that performance were temporarily dashed when a stray ball at training before the Nigeria game left Fowler concussed and unsettled the Matildas further.
Fowler returned for the Canada game in a different role again, this time as the central striker pushing Foord to a wider position (more on that later).
The plan has worked perfectly to date.
And it’s all due to the artistic value of Fowler’s game.
Her upbringing was unique. Travelling up and down the eastern seaboard with her family, sometimes living in a van nicknamed the ‘Hotel Tarago’, all her spare time was spent playing football with her four siblings, on the beach, at the park, anywhere.
The result has been a beautiful relationship with the ball. Fowler is innovative, intelligent, willing to try passes and moves others won’t, because they can’t.
It’s the type of ability that can be misunderstood at youth level, where some coaches crave effort, physicality and robust behaviour over instinct and fluency.
Still, at the centre of the football universe is the ball.
And those who can make it talk are the most valuable of all.
Fowler’s value, thankfully, wasn’t missed. The story goes that Fowler and her dad, Kevin, just so happened to be practising shooting at one end of a pitch in Sydney when the Young Matildas squad had also booked the field to train. Was it really a coincidence that Dad took Mary to that spot at that time? Maybe not. But the result was the Young Matildas coaches noticing her talent at the end of the pitch and inviting her to join their session.
At just 20, Mary Fowler has lived in a van, signed with the world's richest club and graced football's grandest stage. #FIFAWWC
— CODE Football (@codefootballau) July 25, 2023
She is @TheMatildas' future.
But a twist of fate has meant Fowler is very much needed in the present, writes @adampeacock3. https://t.co/rgtZAm6MAh
Now the whole country – and a fair chunk of the planet – knows of her ability.
Fowler’s pass to Foord for the opener against Denmark belongs in a gallery. The dink to Emily van Egmond, floated not belted, to lead to Hayley Raso’s goal deserves acclaim, too.
In reviewing those game defining moments, Gustavsson, unusually for his positive streak, said that he wanted more.
Not from Fowler herself, but from those around her.
“I think we didn’t activate Mary as much as we could have,” Gustavsson said about not using Fowler’s exquisite ability in moving the ball up the pitch in an orderly, yet quick manner.
“She’s extremely good at link up play. When we do that and activate Mary as a linking player, we’re brutally dangerous on the break and she’s a key to that.
“The way she weights passes to get players in … is world class.”
For a player of immense football IQ like Fowler, hearing how much she is valued by the coach will only fortify her mindset and allow more creativity to be splashed across the large, green canvas she operates on.
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Finding Foord’s best has simply been a case of putting her in the right spot, again a by-product of Kerr’s injury.
Against Ireland and Nigeria, Foord was used as Kerr’s direct replacement in a central role. She tried desperately but there was no clear room for her there against a compressed defensive unit.
A caged bird in need of open space.
Without the concussed Fowler for the Nigeria game in Brisbane, Foord was constricted. So, with Australia on the brink of disaster ahead of the Canada game, the decision was made to give Foord more space, on the left wing, which also placed her on the same side as Arsenal teammate Steph Catley.
This link has helped both players immeasurably, something Catley talked of just prior to the tournament.
“I know exactly where she wants the ball, I know exactly where I need to be,” Catley explained of her relationship with Foord. “It does feel like a very natural partnership out there. We do have a great connection on the field, and it’s very fun.”
What isn’t enjoyable is trying to contain Foord when she’s in this mood and given free air. On Monday, Denmark changed personnel to deal with Foord, placing their most athletic defender, Rikke Sevecke, at right back.
It still didn’t work.
Doubling up on Foord, or sending an extra defender to help, is the best way to stop her, yet impossible to implement consistently with the Matildas game style of quickly breaking, illustrated by Fowler’s delectable through-ball for Monday’s opening goal.
This plays out in the data. “Progressive Distance Carried” is an anorak’s dream in explaining how dangerous a player is, measuring how far a player carries the ball at their feet toward the opponents goal.
The figures for Foord have exploded as she has moved wider.
And, by extension, the Matildas have got better.
Foord carried the ball 50 metres against Ireland then just 36 metres against Nigeria. Out wide for Canada, it expanded to 74 metres and, finally, Denmark to a mammoth 132 metres.
A huge chunk of time will be spent this week by the French analysis team in working out how to minimise those numbers.
The answer won’t be easy to find.
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The “right player, right spot, right mindset” mantra might sound clever in retrospect, but the way the Matildas have ignored another football maxim is quite astonishing.
No team ever gets better without its best player.
It remains true, but without Kerr, the Matildas have found a way to be equally as effective to this point. And what’s more, with Foord and Fowler firing, throwing Kerr back into the equation doesn’t feel like a desperate measure, but rather a luxury.
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