Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson refuses to blame players for defensive woes

Matildas mentor Tony Gustavsson admits his team’s defence is still a work in progress.

Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson acknowledges the fans after his side’s 3-0 loss to the USA. Picture: Cameron Spencer / Getty Images

Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson says he’s to blame for the defensive woes that continue to haunt the Australians ahead of January’s Asian Cup.

The Matildas were again defensively poor in their weekend 3-0 loss to the USA at Stadium Australia.

And more backline problems loom in game two of the series on Tuesday night in Newcastle, with Gustavsson happy to admit that attacking, not defending, is his priority.

And that’s obvious by the Swede’s record since taking charge of the Matildas.

Under Gustavsson, the Matildas have conceded 36 goals in 15 games and kept just two clean sheets.

“We need to fix it,” Gustavsson said.

Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson urges on his players at Stadium Australia. Picture: Matt King / Getty Images

But how? Constantly changing his defensive personnel and not yet settling on a first-choice goalkeeper surely isn’t helping Gustavsson’s cause.

“I’m not blaming any players and I take all the responsibility for our defending.

“We’ve tried different formations … but we’ve also done some different type of defending.

“We’re trying to look at defending strategies from our ‘9’ (centre forward) all the way down to our backline.

“Our defending issues aren’t just about our backline, it’s about co-operation as a team defending.

“We’re trying to look at how we can get the most out of this team with the players available, so we can still have that attacking mindset.

“As long as I have the trust to coach this team. I’m going to be very attacking minded.

“An easy fix is to say ‘let’s just sit compact … close the space’ (but) that’s not who we are.

“We just need to get better at what we do … that’s what we’re going to do.”

Gustavsson was again reluctant to reveal too much about his starting line-up for Tuesday night.

And that includes who will start between the posts, with Gustavsson admitting he’s no closer to knowing who his first-choice goalkeeper will be at the Asian Cup despite dividing game time among Teagan Micah, Lydia Williams and Mackenzie Arnold for several months.

“I was very open about this. I wanted to use these three camps – September, October, November – to give them a fair chance to prove themselves in this environment, both training wise and games wise,” Gustavsson said.

“I’ve used all three of them in these windows. We’ll see which one is going to start the game (on Tuesday).

“After that, we’re going to do a little bit of a review and then we’ll see who potentially will be the starter when we get to the Asian Cup.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we maybe see two goalkeepers in that tournament. It’s going to be a long tournament and a challenging tournament in many ways.

“It’s an open race all the way through to the World Cup in 2023 and I hope all of them fight really hard to earn that spot.”

Originally published as Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson refuses to blame players for defensive woes