Interim Matildas coach disappointed with his team’s ‘un-Australian’ performance

Interim Matildas boss Tom Sermanni hasn’t held back in his criticism of Australia’s poor effort against Japan.

Matildas interim coach Tom Sermanni has delivered a scathing assessment of his team’s “un-Australian” performance in a humiliating 4-0 loss to Japan, saying the shocking display was a “huge wake-up call” ahead of next year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

A Matildas team that was full strength apart from the absence of injured striker Sam Kerr – who wouldn’t have made a difference such was Australia’s lack of possession and creativity – was outclassed by a slick Japanese outfit in Friday’s She Believes Cup match in Houston.

Japan took control from the outset, with a brace from Mina Tanaka and other goals from Maila Hamano and Moeka Minami securing a victory that could have been by a bigger margin such was the gulf in class between the two teams.

Japan’s Moeka Minami (right) celebrates with teammates after scoring in her side’s 4-0 win over Australia. Picture: Mark Felix / AFP

“We were outplayed basically from the start right through to the finish of the game in every department,” Sermanni said.

“We were outplayed football wise, we were outplayed physically, we were outplayed mentally, outplayed on our decision-making, so there wasn’t a lot of positive things to take away from today’s performance.

“Probably the most disappointing thing was that even despite that, I felt that some of the goals that we gave up were very poor and that’s kind of `un-Australian’.

“We want to be a team that’s hard to beat and today we really gave up some soft goals … (so) overall, more than a fair result.”

Sermanni was full of praise for Japan.

“We just didn’t get close – Japan were just outstanding,” he said.

“Sometimes you have to sit back and say ‘we were just played off the field today’ and that’s what we were.

“They were quicker to every ball, they kept possession fantastically, when we tried to press they broke out of the press, when we sat back they managed to play through us … sometimes you have one of those games.

“I’d like to be able to sit here and give you `X’, `Y’ and `Zs’ why it happened, but the reality is they were just very, very good today and we were a bit off.”

Australia’s comical defending was perhaps best summed up when centre-backs Alanna Kennedy and Clare Hunt ran into each other in the first half to allow Tanaka to score her second goal of the match.

The result and Japan’s dominance was also a timely warning to the Matildas that significant improvement is needed if they want to win next year’s Women’s Asian Cup on home soil.

“It was a pretty huge wake-up call,” Sermanni said.

“The positive thing now is it gives us a check to say ‘OK, come this time next year when we’re just about going into the Asian Cup, what do we need to do to beat teams like Japan’?”

Matildas teammates Kyra Cooney-Cross (left) and Hayley Raso look dejected as Japan players celebrate one of their team’s four goals on Friday. Picture: Jack Gorman / Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP

The Matildas also must find out what is required to win their remaining two matches in the She Believes Cup.

The Australians meet the United States in Glendale on Monday and Colombia in San Diego on Thursday.

“We’ve got a very experienced team, we’ve got a lot of players that are playing for the top clubs in the world, we’ve got a lot of very good players, so realistically as a professional, you need to bounce back after bad results,” Sermanni said.

“This will be a good test and probably a benchmark for the team to see if we’re able to do that in the next two games.”

Originally published as Interim Matildas coach disappointed with his team’s ‘un-Australian’ performance