That’s the verdict of ex-Matildas assistant coach Nahuel Arrarte, who quit the post in January in protest at the incendiary sacking of his boss Alen Stajcic.
The ripples of Stajcic’s removal continue to lap around the Matildas and their new coach Ante Milicic, with the surprise 2-1 loss to Italy in their opening Group C game in Valenciennes sparking further recrimination.
But Arrarte believes the Matildas will tomorrow morning (AEST) step away from the Stajcic spectre and stifle the debate over their defensive high line by unfurling the fortitude which brought them to France as one the favourites.
Now reunited with Stajcic at Central Coast Mariners, Arrarte said: “Something that Staj always spoke about was the resilience of this group.
“Not so long back we were ranked as high as four in the world and these things aren’t accomplished overnight.
“A huge resilience has got them to where they are and coming through tough times when they had very few resources and limited backing.
“They’ve now got to forget about what’s been happening around them (the continuing inquest into why Stajcic was unceremoniously dumped by FFA) and what people are saying and believe collectively in themselves.
“They’ve got to put it all out on the park in what’s basically a do-or-die game against a Brazil team that’s just come off a 3-0 win (against Jamaica).
“There’s definitely more than enough quality there to beat Brazil - they’ve done it the last four times they’ve met.
“That being said, it’s a matter of tweaking a few things and being able to implement the messages that Ante has been giving them over the last few camps.”
Other than the omnipresence of Stajcic, the hottest topic dogging the Matildas going into a game they realistically need to win to remain in the race for automatic qualification to the last 16 is a high-risk high line defensive structure.
“We are all talking about a high line - but they played with that early in the year in the Cup of Nations against Argentina, New Zealand and South Korea and were awarded plenty of offside decisions,” added Arrarte.
“So there were certain things they were working on that did come off then, and (to an extent) also in the Italy match.
“The problem is now understanding when to drop off and when not to drop off. When to press and when not to press.
“It’s a matter of picking the right moments to execute that high line and making it work.
“It’s something they’ll obviously be looking at with their analysts and coaching staff to tweak further and improve on.
“Identifying went to do it will be the key factor, especially when you come up against players like Christiane (who scored a hat-trick against Jamaica) and (game changers) like Marta.That decision process will be crucial.”
Time, according to Arrarte, has been Milicic’s enemy.
“It’s very difficult with an international team to have that (meaningful) contact,” he added.
“You can talk about changing your coach five months out from the World Cup but the fact is you’re only in camp for a few weeks during that period.
“You don’t have much time to work on things because the girls go back to their clubs and some of them got back to new clubs and new coaches, so there’s a massive change there.
“People forget that Staj not only had them for four years he knew a lot of them when they were as young as 12 or 13 years old and was working with them then.
“That’s where it becomes very difficult for a new couch to get to know the intricacies in such a short period of time.
“And that makes it harder to implement whatever sort of tactics you are talking about.”
With two goal-conceding individual errors highlighting a disjointed performance against Italy, Arrarte sees much room for improvement.
“I’m hoping a lot of it was just a case of first game nerves,” he surmised
“I think we turned over the ball too often and need to execute our passing game better.
“I’m sure it’s something they have re-evaluated and if they can improve on that aspect I’m sure we will be successful against Brazil.”
