By Sof

What went wrong for Australia

4-3-3 in possession

4-4-2 out of possession

3-0 win to Germany

Goals conceded: 2 corners, 1 open play.

Out of possession problems: The Matildas opted for zonal marking for corners - which is not a problem, as long as they know where runners are. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness from Carpenter for the first goal, and Kennedy for the second goal led to 2 goals.

The third Germany goal was a result from confusion between the centre backs and the midfield, not knowing who was to be responsible for the long ball. The centre back steps, leaving a gap in behind that Germany were quick to exploit.

Going off that, the inability to win long balls in the back line, in particular from their goalkeeper, was proven to be a major problem all game. This will be an issue going forward into the Zambia game as they are a very counter attacking team and will be looking to play long for a large majority of the game.

All game, Germany were continuing to exploit the space left on the wings from high fullbacks, in particular Ellie Carpenter. Was continuously getting caught out of position during transition, leading to multiple counter attacks.

In possession problems:

The biggest problem all game was playing with an unnatural 9. This led to unawareness of how to press, positioning in possession and out of possession. This resulted to switching Vine with Foord, taking Foord away from the left wing position. She played better than Vine in the 9 position, however you lose her ability to isolate a fullback in a 1v1 on the wing and partnership with Catley on the left hand side. A lose lose situation.

After winning the ball in a low black, it’s very common to look to play a ball into your 9 to hold it up and allow for numbers to get forward. Without having that target player up front, the Matildas struggled to keep the ball under pressure and once winning it. This created many losses in possession.

The ability to adapt during a game is extremely important. Coming off of that, adapting can cause disruption to players on the field while they are trying to settle into the game. Trying to play with a forward line of 3 wingers is extremely difficult, which leads me into my next point of the decision to start Vine from the beginning. Why start a winger at 9 when you have a natural one on the bench? I understand Heyman might not be the fastest, fittest or most technically gifted player, however she has the ability of a 9 and knows how to play that position like the back of her hand. Would like to see her start against Zambia to see the dynamic of the front line change.

Overall not a positive performance from the Matildas at all against an out of form German team. Tactically and technically outclassed from start to finish. There is work to be done in a short amount of time for the Zambia game, and hopefully the players and coaching staff are ready. We know the standard the Matildas can play out - now we want to see it.