‘You've got to control the game without the ball': The masterminds rebuilding the Matildas

Sydney Morning Herald

a day ago

Sam Kerr, Steph Catley, Ellie Carpenter and Caitlin Foord are synonymous with Matildas mania, but behind every famous foot on the field, there's a formidable group, under new coach Joe Montemurro, dedicated to restoring the team to glory.
It's no small feat. Hopes were high after the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, but they came crashing down with a disastrous Olympic campaign under Tony Gustavsson. Injury then left interim coach Tom Sermanni to pick up the pieces without Kerr or forward Mary Fowler.
In theory, Montemurro has until March to get the Matildas into shape for their next major test. As evidenced by the team's loss to world No.46 Panama on Saturday, in reality, he has no time to waste.
Montemurro is well aware of this. He's won league titles with Arsenal, Juventus and Lyon, and could have coached any side in the world. But the coach born and raised in Melbourne chose to come home to Australia and take charge of a Matildas side that has become one of Australia's most popular – and embattled – national teams.
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One of his first moves as Matildas coach was to revamp his back-room staff, bringing in trusted assistants to set the team up for the AFC Asian Cup in Australia in eight months. Montemurro's Matildas, bolstered behind the scenes by a formidable team with decades in the game and trophy-winning experience in Australia and overseas, is aiming to win the continental title again after Sermanni's Matildas first won it in 2010.
On-field talent including Kerr, Catley, Carpenter and Foord are complemented by the appointment of a new video analyst, James Slaveski, who has been a data and scouting guru for A-League clubs and Football Australia, and conditioning expert Emanuele Chiappero, who worked with Montemurro in France and Italy, and will be the key figure keeping the Matildas in top physical shape.
The players joined Montemurro and his new coaching staff for the first time in Perth in June for a win and a draw against Slovenia, and two games against Panama in July.
We go behind the dressing-room doors to meet the team behind Montemurro's Matildas.
'It's just a natural psyche for footballers that they want to have the ball … you've got to control the game without the ball.'
Joe Montemurro
Joe Palatsides, assistant coach with 'tactical nous'
Montemurro looked to proven lieutenants led by Palatsides, whom he has known since they were young men playing together at Brunswick Juventus in Melbourne's north.
Funnily enough, neither is going by Joe in camp. Players call Montemurro by his nickname, 'Pep', (short for Giuseppe) and Palatsides by 'Pala'.
The pair linked up as coaches when both were at Melbourne City, and Palatsides was reunited with Montemurro when he took over at French powerhouse Lyon last season before following him back home.
'He was a very good coach back then at Melbourne City but he's gone to another level since he's been involved with these great teams in Europe,' Palatsides tells this masthead from Perth.
'When I saw Joe go to Arsenal, I was wondering how he's going to go?' says Palatsides, who has also worked as technical director for Football Victoria and is known for his tactical nous.
'People don't rate Australian coaches that highly over there but I think that's changed now with Ange Postecoglou and others. Then you see Joe and what he's done since then – in the women's game, I would think he's considered in the top three coaches in the world.
'He could have been in line for every job in the world but he's chosen the Matildas, and he's proud of that fact.'
Palatsides, a former Socceroo, relishes the chance to again don the green and gold, even if it is the coaching polo shirt.
'Pulling on that Socceroos jumper gave me goose bumps but I didn't realise how special this was until I got here, talked to the girls and coaches, and that buzz goes through you,' Palatsides says. 'I'm excited for what the future holds.'
The video analyst informing Joe Montemurro's Matildas' strategy
Former Young Socceroos football analyst James Slaveski will use footage of matches and training sessions to break down the team's performance into smaller parts.
A key part of a video analyst's job is to identify areas of strength and weakness in individual player performances and overarching team strategy, as well as help coaching staff develop tactics to address those and improve.
Another aspect of Slaveski's job, however, is reviewing footage of an opponent's matches and developing strategies to exploit that team's weaknesses and bolster the Matildas' defensive and offensive tactics against the opponent's strengths.
Emily Husband, assistant coach with comeback cred
The UK-born defensive whiz played youth football for Leeds United and Manchester City before moving to the American college system.
She is fresh from steering Central Coast Mariners to claim the A-League Women's title, in just their second season back in the competition, 13 years after the team's financial collapse.
Before joining the Mariners two years ago, Husband had not coached professionally.
She recently told this masthead she had initially turned down the A-League job, thinking she wasn't ready.
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That was despite a dominant record as coach of Sydney University in the NPL NSW league. Husband explains she will play a key role in the Matildas' defensive game.
'Pep loves to have the ball and that's his mantra but I'm quite the opposite,' Husband says.
'I think about the defensive side of the game. We all see the game differently and that's why we are a good group.'
Leanne Hall, set piece coach in charge of 'defining moments'
The former England goalkeeper has been an assistant manager with both Arsenal, where she worked with Montemurro, and Aston Villa women.
She says Montemurro is a transformative coach. His Melbourne City sides dominated the A-League Women in a way few teams have, while at Arsenal, his possession style was different to every team. Once he led the Gunners to the English Women's Super League title, other teams copied it.
'Joe's known in England as the coach that brought the Barcelona style tiki-taka [passing style] to the women's game,' Hall recalled.
'Arsenal was his first gig, and I was there with him and the difference he made in the way that the game is played in the WSL was huge. And now lots of teams try to play that style, and I do think Joe's has a massive impact on that.'
Hall's set-piece coaching could prove vital when the clutch games come around.
'In the final stages of major tournaments, one in every six goals comes from set pieces so they are pretty defining moments,' Hall says.
Hall will likely help Montemurro monitor the growing number of Matildas playing in England, and says she has developed a newfound respect for Australian players during her first trip Down Under.
Despite the jet lag, Hall already feels at home.
'The best thing I can say is that I've been here a week, but I already feel myself within the group and the culture of the team which is amazing,' Hall says.
So, what will Montemurro's Matildas look like?
There are clues from Montemurro's time at Arsenal and Juventus, where he had to grow the players' belief that they could beat the power clubs.
The Matildas will need similar help as they try to beat bogey side Japan in the Asian Cup, potentially without injured superstar Fowler.
Palatsides says that belief comes from Montemurro's ability to instil confidence in his players.
'Part of his success is the way the girls react to him,' Palatsides says. 'You don't always see that with coaches. There is always a difference, a small difference, between men's and women's football, but it's very specific and the way Joe has adapted himself and created these cultures has been the secret to his success.'
When it comes to the style of play, Montemurro is belligerent in his demands that the team hold possession, connect with smart passing and defend intelligently by forcing the opposition into spaces they won't score from.
Matildas sides haven't always had the confidence to back their own passing and movement skills against the world's best sides but Montemurro is determined to change that.
This was visible in the two Slovenia games with players like Remy Siemsen, Amy Sayer and Winona Heatley impressing with their passing and ball use.
'It's just a natural psyche for footballers that they want to have the ball, they want to keep possession and keep a proactive mentality with the ball,' Montemurro says. 'That part is the easy sell. The next phase is to identify the moments that you may not have the ball and you've got to control the game without the ball.'
The Matildas players are spread across Europe, the United States, Asia and back home in the A-League so building a cohesive unit that can withstand the pressure of the Asian Cup and win the tournament will take something special.
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'The big thing to me is consistent messaging,' Montemurro says. 'You don't have much time with players so you hope that they go away with a few things stuck in their heads whether [it's] about positioning or principles they can work on with their clubs.'
Montemurro is confident his players will rise to the occasion and that his blend of overseas-based people like Hall and Australian-based coaches like himself can keep all players on the same page.
There will be some huge moments to come, including the long-awaited return of Kerr, while several players led by Lyon star Ellie Carpenter have looked perfectly suited to this style of play during the Slovenia friendlies.
'There is an energy and a belief that we are ready to do something special in March,' Montemurro says. 'We're already preparing for that.'