Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold has opened up on her relationship with former coach Tony Gustavsson, detailing her frustration at missing out on the Tokyo Olympics.
Arnold, who eventually made her Olympics debut in Paris, didn’t feature in 2021, making for a turbulent period in her career – one she discusses in her new memoir, Macca: My Story So Far.
At the time, the goalkeeper had been a regular in the team before she had a shocker in the last game before Tokyo selection. From there, she was left out entirely.
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To say she wasn’t happy with Gustavsson would be an understatement, having previously admitted she “could have killed him”. However, she now admits it was the right call.
“That was probably the lowest point in my career, just because I felt like I had a chance for so long, and then I just sort of blew it,” she told Wide World of Sports.
“… It was definitely a blow, for sure. And it was just something that I wasn’t really sure how I was going to come back from at the time.
“Now, fast forward through all of that, and getting through that, and now looking back, I completely understand why it happened and the decisions that were made.
“I had a conversation with Tony, I think, before the (Paris) Olympics, and we sort of acknowledged that had happened and that I was thankful for everything that he had done, and I understood why.
“And he said the same thing, and it was a good conversation to have, because I feel like we did go through a lot over the years, but, it was nice to know that at the end of the day, we understood where each other came from and why that happened.”
Now though Gustavsson is gone.
The Matildas being bundled out of Paris in the group stage was the nail in the coffin.
Reports during the Olympics suggested Gustavsson had completely lost the dressing room.
Arnold addressed how her relationship was with the coach.
“It’s hard to say when you don’t play regularly, you don’t really have much of a relationship with the coach, because he’s more so focused on the team than he is players, which is understandable and fair enough,” she said.
“I had a bit more of a relationship with him once I was starting regularly. And yeah, I mean, I have nothing but respect for Tony and what he did for our team, and the journey that he took us on.
“I mean, it’s sad to see him go.
“He was our coach at the end of the day, and what he wanted to do with us, we believed in. That’s how we’ve always been. We always had the backing of our coach, and we would always, I guess, buy into how they want us to play.
“Obviously, sometimes it wasn’t the best that we could play, but at the end of the day, like I said, we had the full backing of our coach. We backed him, and that was just how it went.”
The Matildas went in to Paris with high expectations after a fourth placed finish in the home World Cup.
But it ended in disaster.
Arnold doesn’t believe the expectations were unfair, and merely a result of success.
“We were obviously very disappointed in how we performed. We definitely expected more out of ourselves and and the team,” she said.
“But I mean, I feel like that support at the end of the day, sometimes you have a really good tournament, sometimes you don’t, and that just comes with it. So obviously very disappointing, but it is what it is.”
Now the next piece of business for the Matildas is finding a permanent coach.
Tom Sermanni is currently employed in an interim role and it’s believed the appointment of anyone permanent is a long way off.
Arnold isn’t worried about how long the process is taking or whether it could hinder development.
“Not really. I think coaches change all the time in football, the in and out, it just depends on results, and I guess just looking out for the best team going forward,” she said.
“But I think it’s just all part of the job. And that’s just like I said before, whoever is selected for our coach, we will back, and we will buy into however they want us to play, and we just go from there.”
Macca: My Story So Far is available from Penguin Books Australia on October 8. Pre-order here.