The Matildas entered the Paris Olympics with high hopes for a medal, but tactical naivety and calamitous defending combined to send the Matildas to an early exit.

The team will now have plenty of soul searching to do, with coach Tony Gustavsson’s contract not being renewed after the disastrous tournament.

Although without talismanic striker Sam Kerr, the Chelsea forward wouldn’t have solved the Matildas’s frailties in defence.

Shaky foundations

Conceding three goals against Germany, five against Zambia and two against the USA resulted in Australia’s earliest exit from women’s football at the Olympics since Sydney 2000.

Scoring eight goals in most group stages in world football usually means you are through to the knockout phase.

But when the team concedes 10 across three games, no amount of firepower will be enough.

Gustavsson flagged the Matildas’ defensive woes after the game against Zambia, commenting that it wasn’t the time to “dwell about how we conceded five goals because obviously that was sh-t”, before the team put in its best defensive performance against the US by only conceding twice.

It must be noted that the Matildas (ranked 12th in FIFA rankings) drew a hard group – the USA (world No.5) and Germany (No.4) are full of quality players, while Zambia (No.64) has a genuine superstar in the form of Barbra Banda.

But there is enough quality in the Australian team, even without Kerr, to have had a deep run into the tournament.

Tactical challenges

Set pieces were a serious weakness that was exploited by Australia’s opposition throughout the tournament.

The Matildas struggled to defend against free kicks and corners throughout all three games. Photo: Getty

The team conceded six goals in three games from corners and free kicks, including at least one in each game.

On several occasions, there was a failure to clear the ball by Australia’s defence and goalkeeper – particularly against Zambia – that resulted in a follow-up attempt and a goal.

Their opponents took a combined total of 62 shots to the Matildas’ 31 across the three games, despite the Matildas having their fair share of possession of the ball, often matching the opposition almost 50-50.

The Matildas entered the tournament hoping to bring home some silverware, with goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold commenting before the tournament that the team has “had so much success lately and just nothing to really show for it”.

“I think this Olympic Games everything has just sort of come together,” she said.

“We have the support of Australia behind us. I think this is just the final hurdle to get us over the line and get a medal.”

The average age of the starting 11 against the USA was 26.7, showing that Gustavsson has done a good job of embedding the next generation of stars alongside the likes of Kerr, Stephanie Catley and Hayley Raso in the squad.

The team on the park has played together for a considerable amount of time and a footballer’s career and ability can quickly fall off as injuries and age catch up.

Fortunately, Tillies fans should probably expect to see most of the elder stateswomen of the team hanging around for at least another World Cup cycle under a new coach.