rebelliousfeminist974 said:

If the last four Matildas head coaches have all seen value in Emily van Egmond in her current form then clearly there are problems with the selection policy as we have much better options in midfield like Shelby McMahon, Peta Trimis and Leticia McKenna to name a few.

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I don’t like using this card, but it may be the case that both Joe M, and Popa, have insights into players’ skill sets and fitting into team game plans, that many fans, devoid of professional coach education, can’t have.

Players with searing pace, high levels of technique in dribbling, and running with the ball, or even a consistent crash tackler, are easier to identify.

EVE might be adept at covering for teammates out of position, more proactive in supporting the ball carrier, have superior vision and game sense. These traits are harder to identify.

Decentric said:

I don’t like using this card, but it may be the case that both Joe M, and Popa, have insights into players’ skill sets and fitting into team game plans, that many fans, devoid of professional coach education, can’t have.

Players with searing pace, high levels of technique in dribbling, and running with the ball, or even a consistent crash tackler, are easier to identify.

EVE might be adept at covering for teammates out of position, more proactive in supporting the ball carrier, have superior vision and game sense. These traits are harder to identify.

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I don’t doubt that coaches see things that we armchair critics don’t but at the end of the day fans want to see results.
My question is how long will they wait before the shine fades.

libelous said:

No room for Gomez? Amazing

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Could put her in Dani Galić’s position and then put Dani as a second striker.

libelous said:

I don’t doubt that coaches see things that we armchair critics don’t but at the end of the day fans want to see results.
My question is how long will they wait before the shine fades.

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I thought the Matildas played well with the ball, but Mexico were very good without it. They forced Aus mistakes.

libelous said:

Exactly, so why did we wait so long for go nowhere?

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Football Australia were adamant on getting Joe Montemurro. “Pepe will be our coach” they said without saying it. However, he was still on contract with Lyon till the end of the season. That Lyon team could win stuff without a coach because they’re so dominant in French football, but he only won the league that season (usually nobody else wins domestic trophies there). Therefore, by Lyon’s standards they had a poor season even though they went unbeaten domestically. Lyon under him also got knocked out by Arsenal in the Champions League after bottling a lead.

Anyway, after the season he left the Lyon job and took the Matildas job, as they planned. We already knew he’d get the job, it was written in the stars and interviewers even addressed him to the players as “the new head coach”. Tom Sermanni as interim got poor results but at least we rotated the squad and picked bigger and more youthful squads. I’ve got no idea why, but FA were adamant that the coach be an Aussie, even though it’s quite normal for national teams to have foreign coaches (Tom Sermanni is Scottish and Tony Gustavsson is Swedish for example).

Either way, while it seemed like a good pick, since he has heaps of coaching experience at top European sides, it ended up being a poor one. Not necessarily because he plays terrible football, but because he’s so uncreative with his squad selections and lineups, plus he doesn’t make enough subs. We play well with Aussie spirit at tournaments but otherwise we struggle when we shouldn’t. The players have immense talent: we’ve got the best right back in the world, one of the best strikers of all time, one of the best young midfielders, four European champions, three world champions, etc. But combine that experience with the next generation and you’ve got a winning team.

Decentric said:

I thought the Matildas played well with the ball, but Mexico were very good without it. They forced Aus mistakes.

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I don’t think our attacks were enough. There was one instance in which we should’ve easily scored and didn’t because nobody was there to get the ball.

23,167 @Newcastle.

Decentric said:

I don’t like using this card, but it may be the case that both Joe M, and Popa, have insights into players’ skill sets and fitting into team game plans, that many fans, devoid of professional coach education, can’t have.

Players with searing pace, high levels of technique in dribbling, and running with the ball, or even a consistent crash tackler, are easier to identify.

EVE might be adept at covering for teammates out of position, more proactive in supporting the ball carrier, have superior vision and game sense. These traits are harder to identify.

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Of course! Football fans know absolutely nothing about football!
They are such simpletons!
Thanks for your insights decentric.

booney52 said:

Good crowd in Newcastle last night.It is a pity the Matildas was so poor.It was noticeable when Montemurro was talking to the squad post game several looked stony faced and when he finished Carpenter rolled her eyes and pulled a face.Is there some problem between the coach and the old guard.

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That’s all the more reason to show the players, new and old, that selection is not automatically guaranteed.

ashtongate said:

Of course! Football fans know absolutely nothing about football!
They are such simpletons!
Thanks for your insights decentric.

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I think Decentric was saying that the coaches ignore us as just outside noise.

libelous said:

That’s all the more reason to show the players, new and old, that selection is not automatically guaranteed.

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To be honest I feel like fans would still turn up even if we picked a different squad. Nobody wants Emily van Egmond in anymore for example, not a single positive comment on Insta was about her (yet people do constantly deflect any criticism of Caitlin Foord and to an extent Alanna Kennedy).

OR, alternatively, if we’re so inclined to keep bums on seats, why don’t we just play rotated friendlies overseas? I don’t think anyone’s making the trek over to Kenya to watch us play a friendly against Malawi for example.

HonestSpursFan said:

To be honest I feel like fans would still turn up even if we picked a different squad. Nobody wants Emily van Egmond in anymore for example, not a single positive comment on Insta was about her (yet people do constantly deflect any criticism of Caitlin Foord and to an extent Alanna Kennedy).

OR, alternatively, if we’re so inclined to keep bums on seats, why don’t we just play rotated friendlies overseas? I don’t think anyone’s making the trek over to Kenya to watch us play a friendly against Malawi for example.

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I hope that fans would still turn up but we need them to get used to new faces. I guess it’s not easy to maintain a ‘pop scene’ alongside a sports team.

HonestSpursFan said:

I think Decentric was saying that the coaches ignore us as just outside noise.

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I don't. I think he genuinely has an inflated opinion of the coach's all seeing genius, as opposed to the average fan only seeing irrelevant, superficial distractions.
A fan who has been attending games for some time knows what is going on, as much as any coach.

Decentric said:

I think EVE often does intelligent passes when receiving in sufficient time and space, but she needs to be a better ball carrier/ runner with the ball/ dribbler as an attacking player - like Foorde, Raso, Carpenter, Kerr, Fowler.

Having said this about 4 successive coaches in a row have seen value in EVE as she currently is.

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I think that Van Egmond is a training ground wonder.

She can obviously receive and pass well and has great vision when playing in training situations because we see evidence of that ability when things are going according to plan.

Put her in live against players who do not 'respect all she has done for the players around her' and she is exposed for the lack of speed and the mistakes she makes under pressure when our play is currently not as planned.

I would bet the players in training don't say 'pass the ball to me and I'll run round her as though she isn't there'. They would nurture and support each other knowing they can only continue to exist as a group while they stay strong as a group. I think football is secondary in that regard.

She is like the great corner takers who can land a ball on any spot in training but in a real game when the pieces don't move as expected you wonder what the coach saw in them.

HonestSpursFan said:

I think Decentric was saying that the coaches ignore us as just outside noise.

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No, he is saying that anyone without formal coach training is not knowledgeable enough to properly assess the qualities of football players.

Of course, this is absolute nonsense.

ashtongate said:

I don't. I think he genuinely has an inflated opinion of the coach's all seeing genius, as opposed to the average fan only seeing irrelevant, superficial distractions.
A fan who has been attending games for some time knows what is going on, as much as any coach.

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I think he was saying that we don't know what factors and relationships a coach sees and considers outside game day that enhance the team.

Factors well beyond the skills on show.

Totally relevant and I am happy to admit I don't know the half of why any coach chooses one player over another when I can clearly see they have made a mistake picking them. I am also happy to admit that I know my opinion but also know it is just my opinion and as often foolhardy as foolproof.

Fuck me dead, I am glad I have the freedom to be wrong because my opinion is based on my experiences.

The good thing, is I am always correct in knowing if I have an opinion and subsequently what that opinion is.

The trouble is that Decentric's form of writing often makes us ignorant and uncertificated followers of the game sound like we are untrained monkeys not realising that the TV screen has stuff going on behind it to produce those images without that necessarily being his intention.