With the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Finals having just concluded, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on the Junior Ferns’ efforts at Germany 2010, and provide a bit of food for thought regarding the failure of our frauleins in Deutschland in July. Anyone reading this will know the extent of my devotion to and support of NZ women’s football. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve taken as long as I have to compile this story - instant emotion-charged responses are too often regretted afterwards. (As would have been the case had the original version of this story been released … there was a lot of anger and frustration unleashed in something which will remain unpublished, be assured!) Even after this period of time, however, I remain bitterly disappointed by what was witnessed on the fields of Bielefeld and Dresden during July. And I know I’m not alone. To be blunt, the performances of the Junior Ferns in Germany amounted to a massive backward step for New Zealand women’s football, so much so that, for the first time since John Herdman commenced coaching our elite female players in 2006, the women’s side of the game is not the "brand leader" of football in this country. Granted, the All Whites’ efforts in South Africa were always going to be a hard act to better, never mind follow, but the squad which headed to Deutschland had the experience, quality and ability to do both, the "Group of Death" tag notwithstanding, and reach the last eight at a FIFA Finals for the first time in New Zealand’s footballing history. That they didn’t even register a point in their quest has put increased pressure on both the Young Ferns and the Football Ferns, who, when they grace the international stage over the course of the next three months, will do so with an added burden. Namely, endeavouring to restore both the reputation and credibility of NZ women’s football in the eyes of NZ football fans generally, never mind those who still regard the women’s game as little more than "kick and giggle". (And yes, there are still some folk out there who harbour such anachronistic, myopic and misguided views, even though we are now in the second decade of the 21st Century!!) The Yellow Fever forums generally provide a decent cross-section of views on a wide variety of football-related issues. From the obscure to the absurd, the insightful to the informed, the ignorant to the enlightened, they’re all there, like ‘em or loathe ‘em. On the subject of the Junior Ferns’ efforts, there was no holding back in some cases, as the following selection indicates: The hoofs up the field from defence were something akin of All Whites of old, it was quite frustrating that they weren't looking around and making easier shorter passes to maintain possession. Players seriously lacked imagination. Some very basic mistakes overall made it harder for them and harder for me to watch. … All up I'd say these three games have completely destroyed all the faith in women’s football I got after the U17 Women's World Cup. Our girls are just not good enough. The quality of football seemed well below what the U17's served up. I thought it wasn't even close to the quality of the U-17 WC. TBH I was surprised at how good the footy was at the U17s and was hoping for similar things from the U20s, but women's football has gone back down in my mind unfortunately. Not pretty reading, eh? And though it pains me to say it, you can’t argue with them - those responsible for these comments are right on the money each time. So, what went wrong? Why did the most experienced age-grade team New Zealand has ever sent to a FIFA Finals fail to fulfil the expectations placed on them, expectations which are demanded of them by the likes of SPARC, whose investment in NZ women’s football, based on our efforts at the Olympics and the long-term plans for the game generally, this fourteenth-placed performance rather makes a mockery of? At times like these, it’s very easy to play the blame game, pointing the finger at him, her and them. It would be very easy for me to, figuratively speaking, crucify Hannah Wall or tear strips off Briony Fisher, to mention a couple of names, but what would that achieve? Not a great deal, let’s be honest. That doesn’t mean they and others should escape admonishment - I wouldn’t be doing the game justice if I didn’t reproach anybody for the events in Deutschland. But more important than who or what was to blame, is discovering why what we saw occurred. Pinpoint those issues, and all stand to benefit. What follows are a few independent observations about various facets of the NZ women’s game generally, and this campaign particularly, which are intended to help players and officials in particular reflect on why things went as they did in Deutschland, i.e. not like it said in the brochure, and consider a few alternatives as we bid to get the women’s game back on track. John Herdman’s workload these days is such that a

third stint as coach of the Junior Ferns simply  wasn’t an option for him. Cue a smooth transition to his technical analyst from Chile 2008, Tony Readings. The appointment of 2008 Young Ferns coach, Paul Temple, as his deputy maintained the seemingly seamless transition approach which was employed behind the scenes - not a silly idea, given so many of the players on show at NZ ‘08 were part of this unit. Former Football Fern Ali Grant was also appointed to a deputy role, or, rather, reappointed - she has been the Junior Ferns assistant coach throughout each of their U-20 Women’s World Cup campaigns. Personnel-wise, then, little cause for complaint - all are well qualified in terms of coaching credentials. A school of thought may well argue a case for Grant, having been a two-time assistant to Herdman, succeeding him in the top job, thus seeing NZ join the ranks of countries boasting a female coach in charge of one of its national women’s teams. An option for the future, no doubt. There are a couple of very important aspects with coaching which the vast majority tend to overlook, but which, more often than not, separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of coaching prowess. One is a coach’s ability to change a game. When their team is under pressure, can they change tactics with the deployed personnel to diffuse the situation, or make a telling and timely substitution which has the same effect? Another aspect involves changing coaching roles. Having been a deputy, it’s not always easy to step up to the top job and take on the responsibilities of head coach, or assume the number two role after having previously called the shots. Both situations occurred in this campaign. The third is an aspect which invariably draws the most comment, because it is the most subjective - the selection issue. Now we’ll all have an opinion on this one, but we’ll also have some basic expectations of the make-up of any national squad. Those selected to represent their country should be fighting fit physically, be the best around in their playing position, and should be players the public have either had the opportunity to see in action on a regular basis or know have been playing regularly in a competitive environment throughout the season, and particularly in the weeks leading into an event such as the finals of a FIFA tournament. Make no mistake, the 2010 Junior Ferns failed this particular litmus test badly. Indeed, team manager Kristy Hill has enjoyed more game-time for her Three Kings United team this season than at least a third of the U-20s squad, some of whom have been sighted far too infrequently for the liking of many this year. Both Wall and Fisher had opted out of club football by mid-May. Nadia Pearl and Junior Ferns captain Anna Green were nursing injuries for a chunk of the season, and their match action has been infrequent at best due to their respective recovery processes. Across at Glenfield Rovers, Lauren Mathis has endured a season-long struggle to recover from an ankle injury, while sightings of Bridgette Armstrong in gold-and-black this year are more likely to have been in riding silks than football kit! Is it any wonder our defensive effort was so poor in Germany when three of the back four have played hardly any competitive football in 2010? Thank heavens Junior Ferns’ goalkeeper Erin Nayler was in such fine form throughout the week - she had a fantastic tournament, and, based on the coverage of the matches from the quarter-finals onwards, would have to rank among the best U-20 women’s ‘keepers seen in Germany last month. So why wasn’t regular competitive football on the agenda for three players in such critical positions in the starting line-up? Are we perhaps placing too many expectations on our young women’s players, to the point where they are no longer enjoying their football? Is their decision to opt out of playing for their clubs akin to a cry for help? The last thing any footballer should ever do is not play. It should be their raison d’etre - the pinnacle of their footballing week, an event for which all the training they have put in is geared towards. If players aren’t playing competitively of their own volition, it suggests that somewhere along the way, there’s an imbalance in what they’re doing - too much of one thing, not enough of another. Is their training programme too intense? Are players having enough "me" time away from football to counter their workload? Are they mature enough to handle the demands being placed on them, given they need to work or study, have some semblance of a life away from football, as well as play "the beautiful game"? Then there’s another perspective to consider. Are we seeing a culture developing within the women’s game whereby certain individuals are playing on their perceived reputations and picking and choosing what they want to do and when, while maintaining their position as part of the overall scene, thus remaining privy to all the privileges and rewards which are on offer come occasions such as World Cup Finals tournaments? That one’s got you thinking, hasn’t it? Somewhere in the middle of all these questions lies a solution to this conundrum. It’s not an easy one to find, and will vary for each individual. But it is

there. It’s up to the players and their coaches to unearth the right balance, but not playing regular competitive football isn’t part of the answer - of that be in no doubt! Which brings me onto the playing of the game itself. Preferably with players in their proper positions … cue the vivacious Miss Wall once again - a victim of her own versatility on this occasion, a talented footballer who ended up looking like a square peg in a round hole where the position of fullback was concerned. Make no mistake, I consider Hannah to be one of the most exciting players in the game, and one of its brightest personalities. She’s got bags of talent, works her socks off for the cause and then some. Being the free spirit that she is, she is more inclined to follow her natural attacking instincts, something which a fullback cannot do as the mood suits. So why play Wall at fullback when there are players far more suited to the role available for selection? Both player and team suffer when this is the case, and the first instinct is to blame same. Was it Hannah’s fault that she was playing in a position for which she isn’t yet suited? Should she have been chosen for the role in the first place, given she hadn’t been playing for so long and clearly wasn’t fully au fait with a fullback’s primary functions? (Defensive duties first and foremost!) Would Briony Fisher have been found wanting anywhere near as often as she was had she been playing regularly prior to the finals, and not had to cover for her AWOL team-mate, never mind attend to her own defensive duties? And when we have such talented artists as Annalie Longo and Betsy Hassett in the middle of the park, why were we by-passing the midfield in Germany and playing "hit and hope" football? The only occasion the Junior Ferns truly looked like a team worthy of gracing the world stage was in the first half of their final game, when they produced plenty of composed football, passing the ball around accurately and with quality against no less a nation than Brazil. It was effective stuff, and very pleasing to see, especially when it produced one of the goals of the tournament in the final minutes. No surprise that "Flea" was at its heart in her best display of the week, but it was well worth the wait to see Rosie White’s lone moment of magic in Germany - a "golazo" which, had it been scored in South Africa, would have been lauded to the heavens and beyond. We employed this stylish approach in all-too-brief spells in the earlier matches against Sweden and North Korea as well, but the abiding memory of Germany 2010 from a playing perspective, when we weren’t defending with increasing desperation, was seeing us "get rid"! The general target of these panic-laden clearances was Hannah Wilkinson, a statuesque attacking powerhouse blessed with pace aplenty and an eye for goal, who burst onto the national representative scene thanks to impressive performances for the NZ Secondary Schoolgirls squad last December. She was swiftly recruited into the Junior Ferns squad, and quickly formed a lethal partnership with White, the duo scoring goals for fun during the January qualifying tournament, where I don’t recall there being too much use of the tiresome long ball tactics which were so prevalent six months later. Why the change in approach, then? Was it purely coincidental that the Junior Ferns produced their best football of the tournament in the one half of a match Wilkinson sat out, there being no "battering ram"-type player for the defenders to endeavour to pick out via hurried clearances, the intent of which was to relieve the pressure on the back-line for more than a few seconds? If so, what happened to our composure in the heat of battle? Were we too reliant on the accumulated experience of so many players to get us out of trouble? Were our preparations - a two-match series against the USA was the only action the girls enjoyed between qualifying for and departing for Germany - wanting in terms of providing the girls with enough experiences of playing their way out of trouble in the face of adversity? Compare our efforts to those of the host nation, whose players, no matter where they were on the pitch, always had an option - they simply passed the ball to the nearest white shirt, to paraphrase the legendary Bill Shankly. As a result, the Germans produced some gorgeous football at times, and the way they carved apart Korea Republic in the semi-final was akin to a clinic! We still have much to learn from the likes of Marin Meinert’s team, for our expectations of our women’s teams now are - quite rightly - such that it’s no longer satisfactory to say we competed with the likes of Sweden, North Korea and Brazil at these Finals. That’s akin to applauding mediocrity, a practice which has become increasingly commonplace in the politically correct climes in which we live, yet which shouldn’t be indulged by those pursuing either excellence or a maiden place in the last eight of a FIFA Finals tournament! Here’s hoping the latter is achieved first, either in Trinidad & Tobago next month by the Young Ferns, or at Germany 2011 next June, providing the Football Ferns qualify for the quadrennial showcase of the world’s foremost female footballers, of course!