Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson in the firing line after latest defeat as poor record worries fans

Joshua Thomas

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Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson in the firing line after latest defeat as poor record worries fans image

With no wins in four games, Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson has come under fire from fans who believe he’s the wrong person for the job.

Australia lost to Canada for the second time in four days on Tuesday night despite going ahead inside three minutes at Allianz Stadium.

The Matildas took a 1-0 lead into half-time courtesy of Mary Fowler's early goal but were overpowered by Canada in the second 45 minutes with Adriana Leon scoring twice in quick succession.

Gustavsson’s side struggled to match their opponents in the second-half and looked short on answers as Canada put on the pressure.

Australia have now only won six of their last 15 matches with their victories this year coming against the likes of Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and New Zealand. 

With the 2023 Women's World Cup on home soil looming in less than a year, fans of the Matildas believe a change of coach could be required to get the team back on track. 

Tony Gustavsson's record with the Matildas

Since being appointed in September 2020, Gustavsson has now lost 13 of his first 26 games in charge of Australia. 

The Swedish coach has also won eight matches and drawn five with pressure mounting on him to turn things around on the pitch. 

The Matildas have admittedly come up against some tough sides since his appointment with the likes of the USWNT, Brazil and Spain all lined up. 

While results haven't gone his way, Gustavsson believes his side are showing signs of progress and pointed to the first 45 minutes against Canada on Tuesday as evidence of that.

"I think if you look at 45 minutes today I hope that we saw some improvement that we can dominate a top team and not just compete with them," Gustavsson said. 

"I hope that you guys can see that maybe a year-and-a-half ago if we played Canada with six key injuries we wouldn't have been able to dominate them like we did in the first 45. 

"I don't want to sit here and protect myself but that's how I look at it. 

"Hopefully with some perspective, being able to do that 45 minutes with pre-planned subs, players having a lot of knocks and physically not being able to play how we wanted to play.

"Maybe what I could have done if I want to be more cynical is adjust to that physical load that we had and say, 'Hey, let's protect this lead and practice game management.' 

"But at the same time that's not what we're about.

"If this was a World Cup and we were just playing for a result, maybe we would've gambled with Caitlin and Vine but in the long run we can't gamble with the health of the players."  

The Matildas' next scheduled friendly will be against Sweden in Melbourne on November 12. 

Joshua Thomas

Joshua Thomas Photo

Josh has been covering sport for nearly a decade now having fallen in love with football at a young age. A UTS graduate, Josh has previously worked for GOAL and now covers football closely for The Sporting News.