Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson has sung the praises of the Liberty A-League’s quality, describing it as a ‘phenomenal pathway’ for players to get into the national-team squad.
In the lead-in to Australia’s friendly series with New Zealand, Gustavsson had raised concerns about whether staying in the Liberty A-League would be helpful for prospective players’ chances of national-team selection – due to the length of the season and the calibre of teams many Matildas were playing in overseas.
But the Matildas boss clarified his comments regarding his thoughts on the league, when asked by Dub Zone commentator Teo Pellizzeri about whether it was an ideal place for prospective national-team players to be if they wanted to be selected.
“I want to correct a little bit there. I never said A-League is bad,” Gustavsson said on Dub Zone.
Actually, it’s a phenomenal pathway for a player that goes into the national team. Look at every national team player that represented Matildas now. At some point they have gone through the A-League to be where they are today.
“So A-League is a very, very important pathway for players. But we also said it’s important players play at the highest level possible. So in that sense, I think it’s a bit early now to say what the standard is in A-League.
“Like if you compare this game for example, with Sydney and Melbourne to last year’s final, I don’t think neither of the team right now is at the same level as they were in the final last year but that’s natural.
“It’s been a short pre-season and I’m sure the coaches are going to work hard to improve the standard throughout the season.”
After a run of poor results, including a quarter-final exit in the Women’s Asian Cup in January, the Matildas have experienced a recent up-tick in results – winning their last four games including victories against Sweden and Denmark.
In the lead-up to those last four matches, Gustavsson had brought in highly respected Jens Fjellström as assistant coach, working previously with the US Women’s national team during their 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup success.
When asked about his impact on the team, the Matildas boss sung his praises enormously, describing him as an “amazing addition” and saying “a lot” of their recent success can be put down to his arrival.
“I’m really happy you bring that up because Jens is phenomenal,” Gustavsson said.
“Just ask the players of all the time he spent in individual coaching, whether it’s feedback from clubland, whether it’s coaching in camps, Jens has been a phenomenal addition.
I spent over a year trying to convince him to come over. He’s a bit overqualified for this work, to be honest, he should be in my spot.
“But I’m so happy to have him next to me and he’s an amazing addition to this amazing setup of staff that I have.”
Gustavsson is in the final months of his preparation for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup in July next year and was out watching the Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory clash at Cromer Park on Saturday.
And there were hopefuls a plenty in action on Saturday with the likes of Cortnee Vine, Alex Chidiac, Remy Siemsen, Elise Kellond-Knight and Jada Whyman among the players who have recently been part of the Matildas set-up.
But Gustavsson said there was no one in particular he was keeping his watch on, saying he and his staff are casting the net throughout the entire league.
“First of all, we’ve designed a scouting template through the A-League so we try to have live eyes on every single game,” Gustavsson said.
“Obviously, we look at clips afterwards because I can only be at one site at a time but we’ve said we’re going to keep an eye on every player.”
