Matildas coach Joe Montemurro hopes team continue to build on foundations in second clash with SloveniaBen SmithThe West AustralianSat, 28 June 2025 3:11PMCommentsCommentsEmail Ben Smith
Matildas coach Joe Montemurro has empowered his players to be bold and attack the second leg of their two-game series against Slovenia at HBF Park on Sunday with bravery.
Off the back of their somewhat unconvincing 3-0 win over Slovenia on Thursday night, the Matildas will front up for round two and will be eager to build on the opening perform of Montemurro’s reign.
Australia took Montemurro’s message to keep the ball and recycle possession to heart in the first match, which resulted in ample turnovers in their own half and defensive lapses which Slovenia ought to have punished on the scoresheet.
But Montemurro was happy with his side’s first steps at adapting to his tactical outlook despite their opponents’ high press and said Sunday’s clash was a chance to learn from the mistakes of game one.
“It painted a lot of really good pictures for us. We can build on that and the footage showed some situations of positioning, the ability to understand the situation at times andthe key message was protecting the ball and just making sure we prepare with the ball a lot better,” he said.
“We can do it, we showed it, we just now need to be more consistent and more, I suppose, brave with it.”
Once his side have a handle on the possession aspect of his game plan, Montemurro said the challenge would then be to be brave and play between their opponents’ defensive lines.
“It’ll take a while. The more we do it, the more we understand the important parts of the important situation of breaking the line,” he said.
“I’m sure they’ll be a little bit more proactive. It’s normal when you say you want to play possession and it’s a word that’s bantered a lot, it’s normal they do the safe things to keep possession.
“Now we have to be smarter to say we can prepare to go forward and be more proactive and break lines.
“With no disrespect to any opposition we play, it’s really about us.
“The analysing of the opposition, for me, is the cherry on the cake — let’s create the foundations, have the security, the insurance policies to know that if we do our principles right, we’ll be fine.”
Montemurro has flagged changes ahead of game two, but said most of his squad had pulled up well and he had no major concerns from an injury perspective.
He was also quick to point out most players had arrived in camp out of season and lacking match fitness, which had contributed to their mistakes.
“We have to all put in context the period of the season, out of season, players who haven’t played a lot, players who are coming back from injury and so on. As a whole, we’re trying to find a good balance,” Montemurro said.
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