Robbie Slater: Matildas coach must be held accountable for his use of Sam Kerr

Tony Gustavsson can sugarcoat the Matildas’ World Cup fade out all he wants but the coach can’t hide from his use of Sam Kerr, writes Robbie Slater.

Coach Tony Gustavsson and Sam Kerr. Picture: Adam Head

The gloss has been taken off the Matildas’ overall FIFA Women’s World Cup performance because of their semi-final and third-place playoff losses.

While finishing fourth is a very good achievement, it’s somewhat of a let-down after the hype generated in the aftermath of Australia’s quarter-final penalty shootout success against France.

But having survived that physically and emotionally draining occasion, the Australians then hit a wall.

Coach Tony Gustavsson can go on about stats all he wants. They are not the real way to judge a team performance.

For him to say after his side’s loss to Sweden that “stats say it was a very even game” was inaccurate.

From the outset, Sweden dominated the contest. It was the same story in Australia’s semi-final loss to England.

The question of why the Matildas fell in a heap must be asked.

Perhaps the biggest issue was the use of Sam Kerr.

Coach Tony Gustavsson comforts Sam Kerr. Picture: Adam Head

In the five matches Kerr either didn’t play or didn’t start, the Australians scored nine goals. In the two games she started, the Matildas only found the back of the net once.

Yes. I was one of the people who called for the Chelsea star’s reinstatement in the Matildas’ starting team before the semi-final against England.

However, in hindsight, perhaps Gustavsson would have been better off to continue using Kerr as an impact player, because as soon as she was used from the opening whistle, the Matildas became predictable, which they weren’t in the games where Mary Fowler and Emily van Egmond were used as false number nines.

Mary Fowler was hamstrung by Sam Kerr. Picture: Adam Head

Fowler, the team’s most blessed player in terms of her attacking styles, didn’t have the same impact once Kerr was recalled to the starting side.

The irony of the situation is that we learnt to play without Kerr, but we didn’t learn how to play with her in the team.

Gustavsson’s reluctance to make more substitutes during the tournament and give more playing time to his bench players also proved costly, as did naming Kyah Simon in the squad when she was next to no chance of game time because of a pre-existing knee injury.

To pick Simon because she’s a supposed “game-changer” and good at taking penalties made no sense at all, particularly when he could have brought her on for the shootout against France but chose not to.

Wouldn’t it have been better to have one of Emily Gielnik or Larissa Crummer – two attackers who were overlooked for the squad – in Australia’s 23 rather than a clearly unfit Simon?

The absence of Alanna Kennedy in the losses to England and Sweden was also costly. Without the concussed Manchester City centre-back, the Matildas weren’t the same defensively, and as the saying goes, goals win games, but defence wins tournaments.

Still, the Matildas have inspired a new generation of footballers, and for that, we say thank you.

Originally published as Robbie Slater: Matildas coach must be held accountable for his use of Sam Kerr