Matildas cannot afford to rush Sam Kerr back, they don’t need to panic, says Robbie Slater
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson needs to be smart in deciding when Sam Kerr should return. Emotions cannot get the better of him, writes Robbie Slater.
The Matildas must take a cautious approach with their superstar skipper Sam Kerr by not risking her calf injury during the group stages of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The shock of Kerr’s late withdrawal from the Matildas’ opening match of the tournament has thankfully been replaced by a sense of relief that in her absence, the Aussies still managed to get the job done by beating Ireland 1-0 on Thursday night.
While it wasn’t the Matildas’ best performance, it didn’t need to be.
It’s only early in the tournament, and we don’t want them to be playing their best football now.
If all goes to plan, the Matildas have six games to go before being able to lift the World Cup, so we don’t want them peaking too early.
And we want - and need - Kerr fit for the knockout stages of the tournament.
To ensure that, she shouldn’t play in Australia’s remaining Group B matches against Nigeria and Canada.
Despite some issues in attack against the Irish, the Matildas have enough depth to at the very least finish in the top two of Group B, if not win it, to progress to the round-of-16.
Soft tissue injuries can be tricky so Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson needs to be smart in deciding when Kerr should return.
He can’t let emotion get the better of him. There is no need to rush Kerr back.
The Matildas showed great courage against Ireland to not only cope with Kerr’s absence, but also overcome what would have been an emotional time in camp after the captain suffered the injury just a day before the game.
After such a massive build-up to the tournament, an injury to Australia’s best player so close to the match could have thrown a huge spanner in the works.
But the Aussies showed great heart and spirit to rise above the adversity to beat a competitive and physical Irish outfit.
The Irish could perhaps consider themselves unlucky not to have snared a point, but a third successive clean sheet for a Matildas side that has often been criticised during Gustavsson’s reign for being weak defensively is a very good side for the rest of the tournament.
Midfielder Katrina Gorry was superb and a standout for player-of-the-match honours.
Her tenacity in the middle of the park and her screening of the back four was exceptional.
Let’s also not forget her composure and distribution, which will be crucial to Australia’s hopes of being crowned world champions.
Goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold was again commanding, while the central-defensive partnership of Clare Hunt and Alanna Kennedy was rock-solid for a second successive match.
Overall, while it wasn’t the Matildas’ best performance, they rose to what was a truly memorable occasion for Australian football, and showed they can handle, as well as embrace, the weight of a nation on their collective shoulders.
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