Gustavsson on choosing long-term development over short-term popularity

With the CommBank Matildas' second matchup against Olympic gold medallists, Canada, tomorrow, head coach Tony Gustavsson had an open conversation with media about choosing long-term development over short-term popularity.

The first question was around who would and wouldn't be available for the match, with Saturday night's game in Brisbane seeing several players out with injury.

"At training today we tested some of the players in football, but also afterward in some high-speed running and we will hear tonight how they responded to that," Gustavsson explained.

"Steph Catley is a question mark, we will decide that tonight. Caitlin Ford went through the training well, but we need to see how she responds tonight to that training. Tameka Yallop and Cortnee Vine both trained fully so hopefully, there are some more players available for the game tomorrow, but I won't know for certain until tonight."

MATCH PREVIEW: CommBank Matildas v Canada (Sydney)

After going down in the first game against Canada, journalists were also keen for an update on Alanna Kennedy's fitness.

It's a hamstring injury and she's not going to be available for the game tomorrow," Gustavsson confirmed. "Hopefully it's not a major one, so she can come back quickly. She has a scan today to see what it looks like and how bad an injury it is."

With the opening of the new Allianz Stadium, Gustavsson spoke about how important it was for the team to achieve a positive result in a location that will host their first match of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

"Everything is about momentum in sport. I've been around in this game long enough and these 22 years have taught me that sometimes you need the result for the momentum and the belief around you, so in that sense, it is important," he said.

"I know some of you might be sick and tired of me saying this, but internally, we know what we've done. We know where we are. There's a belief in the process and I don't think that belief is going to be lost, even if we lose the game. We'd be more worried if the game didn't look good or if the performance is not there or if we were not playing the way we wanted to play. 

"What we want to do is inspire and these women want to fill the stadium on the 20th of July, 2023, so if we can put out a good performance, that could lead to good results and get that momentum in the ways of positivity, and then we'll fill the stadium in the 20th of July 2023."

Gustavsson was asked what information he could give to fans and spectators who are concerned about the CommBank Matildas' results of late.

"Sam [Kerr] and the players, they deserve all the belief they can get," Gustavsson said openly. 

"Even if we happen to lose a friendly or so, if they can feel the belief from the fans, when you look at those last 15 minutes against Canada in Brisbane, for example, it was the fans that carried us through.

"In those 15 minutes we almost scored two goals because of the energy, the belief, the 'Never Say Die' attitude, again, like we've done a lot of times before. It's important to look at the whole picture and see what we've tried to do.

"Maybe I can look in the mirror and say was I over-ambitious, trying to build depth in the roster at the same time we played the toughest schedule in the history of this program. Maybe that wasn't best for the belief and the trust from the outside. But I was very clear with the Federation and with the players about what we were doing. So I think internally, the patience is there, the trust is there and the belief is there, but externally, I understand the question, I do, and it's fair."

Gustavsson also provided some honest insight into the hows and whys of his decisions, since taking the helm of the CommBank Matildas two years ago.

"I ask the players and the staff to always want to get one day better and I need to lead by example. I also want to learn and am a very ambitious person. I want the best for the team," he explained.

"If I were 10 or 15 years earlier in my career, I think, maybe, I would have made a couple of different decisions to protect myself, play some easy opponents, get some popularity and buy some time as a coach. It's classic that some coaches do. I felt this time around, that it was not about me, it was about the team.

"We identified some improvement areas, or actually the Federation did, even before hiring me, the Gap Report, for example. It was very clear in my contract that they wanted me to work on that gap with fringe players and invest in that. The other thing that was identified in the report is that historically, we have struggled against top-10 ranked teams over the last 10 decades. I think it is a 30% win rate, something like that, or even worse when it comes to quarterfinals and competitions," he continued.

"So we said, can we address both at the same time? That was an aggressive attacking approach for me to say yes, because I want the fringe players to play against the best team in the world, not just play a low-ranked team, win and not really know what it's about. But it means, that maybe we have not gotten the results that people around us would have expected in normal circumstances.

"When I say I might have been over-ambitious, should I have combined that and balanced that a little bit more to create more momentum and belief in this room and outside because at the end of the day, we all need to believe, if we don't believe in this team, it's not going to be a successful World Cup."

CommBank Matildas v Canada 
Date: Tuesday, 6 September 2022 
Venue: Allianz Stadium 
Kick-Off: 7.40 pm AEST 
Broadcast: Live and free on 10 Bold and simulcast on 10 Play and Paramount+.  
Tickets available now