Football Ferns vs Canada: Game Tahi, Don't Overthink It
It’s important to keep the context of these Canadian friendlies (is there any other kind of Canadian?) in mind. They’re the first games with new manager Jitka Klimková in charge and she’s only got half her first-choice squad. Not only that but she’s had to call the temp agency to fill out her staff for the same pandemic-travel-hurdle reasons. They’re also the first games after a major tournament which is always a bit of a reset. Plus they’re up against the Olympic champions who are basically at full strength in front of big home crowds. Stressing about the results is needless because the results, most likely, are only gonna go one way.
Sure enough the Fernies got smacked 5-1 by the Canucks. They conceded two soft goals in the first half and then let it get away from them in the second as the subs unfurled. Three debutants amongst them and as the final whistle blew there were five current USA uni students on the park. Turns out, who knew, playing against the Olympic champs is a tad tougher than playing against fellow American college students.
And that’s the whole point: this wasn’t an even playing field, these were never ideal fixtures. But they’re the ones we got and it’s better to play than not to play. Get the team in camp (as many of them as are available) and let the new gaffer impart a few ideas. Set a baseline for what the team is going to look like moving forward - Klimková has already said that she wants to see more of a stable tactical system from the Ferns than what we got under Tom Sermanni, who’d alternate between variations on back threes or fours (sometimes even within the same game). Nothing wrong with either approach, all a matter of coaching preference.
So what did we get from Klimková here? Nothing drastically different. It was a back four formation, although there wasn’t much choice in the matter. They only had one centre-back in the whole damn squad so even just to fill out a four it required Katie Bowen sliding back next to Meikayla Moore. Erin Nayler in goal. The usuals of CJ Bott and Ali Riley at fullback. Further forward it got a little harder to diagnose. They’d often appear to be defending in a 4-4-2 shape with Rosie White hanging off Emma Rolston up front though in possession you could see it was meant to be a 4-3-3 (albeit with the wingers often pegged back). Definitely in the second half it looked like 4-3-3 as the youngsters came on and were more rigid in their positioning.
Part of the confusion was playing against a very good team who kept them on the back foot a lot of the way, especially with their pace out wide. Part was probably to do with this being the first game under Klimková. At times Olivia Chance and Betsy Hassett were defending close enough to hold each others hands that first half, almost in the same position. Daisy Cleverley was a central mid pushed out to the right in defensive shapes. Ria Percival at least had it on lock in the middle as per.
These are teething issues, nothing more. And to be fair to the Ferns they started really well... either that or Canada were just slow to get it going after all the festivities pre-kickoff. This is part of their Olympic victory tour after all, sharing their glory with the fans, and the players all came out one by one with their gold medals on display. It must’ve been something because Christine Sinclair then turned up for the captain’s handshakes having forgotten all about the pennant, running back in a giggle to retrieve it as Ali Riley waited patiently. It was pretty funny actually. Makes sense that Canada would be slow out of the blocks though.
Meanwhile the Ferns may only have half their Olympic squad (compared to Canada who named 10/11 starters from the Olympic gold medal match), but half a squad still adds up to a quality starting eleven and the one that Klimková picked was as experienced as it was possible to pick. 706 combined caps in the starters including four centurions... compared to only 14 caps on the bench and 8 of them were from the two backup goalies. Rather drastic, that.
CJ Bott had the first shot of the match, the Ferns showing some nice patience in trying to build things up out of the back. You could see them bringing more confidence on the ball into games over the course of Sermanni’s reign so it was pleasing to see the same trend continue here. Having said that there’s a long way to go and some bad habits to overcome. Too many games spent losing against better teams has led to things like players turning towards the sideline and closing themselves off from open teammates in the middle or players crossing at the first hint of space rather than working the ball closer to goal or players lacking the willingness to string that extra pass together, etc. But they started well.
Then they conceded a penalty. A cross over the top gathered by Sinclair, who tried to flick it back onto her right boot and it caught the elbow of Daisy Cleverley. DC’s arm was half-tucked and her back was half-turned but refs tend to give those ones these days and there was never much doubt it’d be awarded in front of a big crowd all there to celebrate the home team. Jessie Fleming (who plays for Chelsea) buried it sending Nayler the wrong way.
The back four was defending narrow for the Ferns and Canada loved a bit of that as they brought their wingers into the game (note their width in each of the screenies below). Nichelle Prince and Deanne Rose. The Ferns’ problem there being that they simply couldn’t match the pace of those two. Hence they needed to crowd them out. Hence the wide attackers had to hang back. Hence Rolston was isolated. However when Hassett and especially Chance were able to get on the ball, good things tended to happen. Liv Chance isn’t really a wide player but it is what it is. It was odd to see her marginalised a little at the Olympics when she’s probably been the Ferns’ best attacking player over the last 2-3 years.
Those two had some handy moments, as did the fullbacks. Ali Riley and CJ Bott were probably the best on park for the Ferns, tasked with the toughest defensive shifts but then also providing so much of the width and penetration in attack. Huge lungs on the both of them.
Then they conceded again. 41st minute. If the first one was unlucky then this one was plain silly. Erin Nayler coming out to gather a simple ball and she ran into Meikayla Moore, who was trying to duck out of the way, and dropped it at the feet of international football’s all-time top scorer. Christine Sinclair made it made it 188 goals for her country with a deceptively clever finish that she lobbed out of the range of the two scrambling defenders. But Nayler should never have dropped that. Moore was in the way, sure, but Nayler’s gotta be stronger. Just clatter her if you need to. Meikayla Moore’s tough as nails so she’s not gonna moan. Can’t help but feel Nayler’s lack of footy since the Olympics was a problem there (though she made a couple lovely stops in the second half).
Thus what might’ve been a frisky scoreless game at the break was instead a comfortable 2-0 lead for Canada. Bit of a worry since ‘not conceding dumb goals’ was already on the work-on list but we’ll write it off due to the circumstances. For a team that struggles to score goals at the best of times though (except vs Oceania teams), against one of the elite defensive teams in women’s international footy, that kinda spoiled the contest. Oh well, might as well run the subs in the second half then and Gabi Rennie and Jacqui Hand were both on at the half replacing Rolston and White. Meanwhile Canada waited two minutes before making changes so that their players could get the obligatory standing ovation from the crowd. ‘Twas a celebration game, remember.
It didn’t fall apart immediately. The Ferns started the second half well, same as the first, with Rennie offering more of a threat in behind and Chance/Hassett/Riley doing a few things in combination. But they lacked precision. This was their best time to strike as Canada adjusted to all their subs and heavy touches and impatient passing spoiled it.
Then Canada scored again. Another gentle concession. Ball through from Janine Beckie which Rose dummied over and Prince dashed onto to round Nayler and score. There was a question of offside, though Katie Bowen was playing Prince on from the initial pass so it’s a matter of whether Rose got a touch on the dummy. It did seem to bobble funny as it passed her. But again... in the absence of VAR we had to expect the home-town call to get the benefit.
Both teams went to the bench again soon after with Ava Collins on for Liv Chance and before too long something weird happened... a long Ali Riley ball into the box saw Collins make a clever run and her heels were clipped before she could get to it. Whistle. Penalty. Well now, how about that? With the forward line boasting four caps between them at this stage it was anyone’s guess who’d take the penalty. Betsy Hassett would have been a good bet. Maybe Katie Bowen. But it was Ria Percival who got it, the most experienced player in the kiwi team. Her spottie was far from perfect as Kailen Sheridan got a hand on it... but it had just enough lift to get where it was going. 3-1.
Then Canada scored a couple more times. Adrianna Leon with both of them, the first a lovely team move on 75’ which was the only proper goal the Ferns conceded all game. The second coming on the rebound after Nayler had made a good initial save off Beckie (82’) but the whole move came about because Hannah Blake (another sub) lost the ball cheaply in the midfield. This was the clearest example of the Ferns’ inexperience costing them in that second half but there were many more smaller moments. You can’t expect players to immediately adjust to a higher level. Comes with the territory.
Yeah so a 5-1 defeat. Debuts for Jacqui Hand, Ava Collins, and also Amelia Abbott with a late cameo. Some inklings as to what they may be building towards under Jitka Klimková but also some silly goals conceded and not enough cohesion in possession yet, a lot of which you get the feeling is about confidence and instincts more than anything else. Maybe JK will be able to introduce some patterns of play where they’re comfortable advancing without worrying about turnovers. To be fair, they defended the counter attack really well for the most part. The bigger worry was the back four being so compact, allowing all that space out wide, and then not dealing well enough with the subsequent crossing or the movement of Canada’s strikers.
This was the first game under a new manager though. Yes, it extends their winless streak to 13 games. That’s embarrassing and it’ll probably get worse on Wednesday. But that’s why it pays not to think about such things right now. It takes time for a new manager to get things clicking. Klimková reckons she saw plenty of positives, that’s good because she knows what she’s looking for. We don’t. In a year’s time we’re probably not gonna remember these games at all but the progress that they allowed towards the Ferns becoming the team they’re trying to be will hopefully linger much longer. So let’s keep it chill, see how things look on Wednesday. Find some parallels that hint at what the Ferns are aiming for. That, after all, is what these games are about.
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