Olympics: Tired Matildas stars suffer from ‘jammed’ schedule

Tired was the word used to describe the Matildas’ performance against China and, according to defender Ellie Carpenter, it might not be too far from the truth.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 31: Ellie Carpenter of Australia warms up before the international friendly match between Australia Matildas and China PR at Adelaide Oval on May 31, 2024 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Tired - that is how the Matildas presented on Friday night and it is little wonder given the fact most the stars are coming off the back of lengthy seasons and long haul flights.

The ‘jammed’ schedule is taking such a toll on our elite women’s footballers that Matildas defender Ellie Carpenter said they had recently raised it as an issue with FIFPRO - the sports international players union for footballers.

“The calendar is tough, it is getting tougher every year,” Carpenter said.

“We expressed these problems to FIFPRO recently.

“We are all coming back off season, a lot of the girls are playing in four competitions this season, with games every three days, we’re just quite tired.”

Ellie Carpenter admitted the jammed schedule had taken its toll on Matildas stars. Picture: Getty Images

Carpenter, who plays for Lyon in the women’s French league, arrived late into camp, after playing in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final on Sunday (AEST).

The 24-year-old who would usually be among the starting Matildas side came off the bench alongside Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley, Hayley Raso and Kyra Cooney-Cross.

All five play for European clubs.

Carpenter has clocked up 2047 minutes of football this season - just for her club.

Foord played more than 1500 minutes for Arsenal and Catley played 1540.

Most the A-Leagues players have had close to a month off without football - while the European based players finished up just last week.

Matildas defender Ellie Carpenter during the clash with China. Picture: Getty Images

Matildas defender Ellie Carpenter competes with China’s Liu Yanqiu for the ball. Picture: Getty Images

Emily van Egmond and Kaitlyn Torpey’s US season only just kicked off.

The Swedish league is also in midseason.

It means with the Olympics now less than two months away the likes of Carpenter, Foord, Fowler, Kennedy, Catley, Cooney-Cross, Arnold and the others playing in Europe will have just three weeks off from football before the Matildas pre-Olympics camp.

“It’s hard, especially as we have travelled so much during the season when we have to come straight back, back up games - Europe catches up with you eventually,” Carpenter said.

“I think it’s hard because now our season is over, our body automatically relaxes in some way subconsciously.

“I think that’s what has happened. To come and play these last two games at the back end is quite dangerous in some ways - but I think it is important we just get through this next game, recover and then hit pre-camp.”

Carpenter said it was a tricky situation, especially when they know fans have come out to watch them perform like they did at the World Cup.

“We want to give 100 per cent,” Carpenter said.

“But some days that might not be able to physically happen and mentally we can’t do that.

“But we always try our best.”

Ellie Carpenter shares a moment with Matildas fans after the friendly against China. Picture: Getty Images

Coach Tony Gustavsson was quick to point out following the 1-1 draw with China that the Matildas looked far from their best.

“I didn’t want to say anything before the game but we had a little bit of a challenge coming into this game in the fact some players in the A-League haven’t played football for a very long time going into it, meaning you are not really in form and some players are in the end of a season and coming in fatigued and tired from travelling and playing,” Gustavsson said.

“We needed to find the right balance and not use it as an excuse.

“I didn’t want to talk about it because it can influence players mentally but that’s how they felt as coaches - the first half we actually looked a bit tired and not as aggressive as we can be.”

The Matildas have just two days to rest and recover before their second game against China at Accor Stadium on Monday night.

Raso said the tight turnaround was good preparation for the Olympics.

“It’s about recovering mentally and physically,” Raso said. “In the Olympics it is going to be really tight turnarounds for all the games so it is good preparation for us for that.”

Originally published as Olympics: Tired Matildas stars suffer from ‘jammed’ schedule