New Zealand vs. Switzerland
The topsy-turvy Group A of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup completed play on Sunday evening in a manner befitting of its unpredictable nature. Original favorites Norway completed their rebound from a shock opening-day-loss to co-hosts New Zealand with a 6-0 rout of the Philippines. Despite upsetting Norway on match-day one, New Zealand have been overtaken by the Europeans on goal differential and eliminated from the tournament.
First place in the group belongs to Switzerland’s La Nati. Their opening round win against the Philippines, combined with two draws, awards them five points to Norway’s four. The Swiss top the group despite playing two 0-0 affairs after their opening round win. Neither Switzerland nor New Zealand could locate the back of the net in Dunedin on Sunday evening.
Tactical Analysis: New Zealand
On a tactical level, the story of this fixture comes down to an experimental shift losing out against a stable system. One commends the co-hosts for rolling out a more attack-oriented constellation in a concerted effort to advance out of their group. The gambit nearly worked. New Zealand’s head-coach took a calculated risk. The change yielded generally more attractive football from the eliminated side. Neutrals have one more reason to feel disappointed by the result.
Kiwi manager Jitka Klimková opted to surprise us by not sticking with her regular 4-4-2. The two substitutes introduced in the last fixture – Olivia Chance and Annalie Longo – retained places in the starting XI, yet it became clear almost immediately that the team functioned in a different formation. Figuring it out on the overhead took some time as the there existed heavy rotations amid the midfield trio of Longo, Ria Percical, and Maila Steinmetz. Many of the initial New Zealand attacks exhibited no particular rhythm to them.
Eventually, Steinmetz settled into a more leftward slant. One could also tell that Jacqui Hand worked out wide on the right flank. It is such that the author hypothesizes a basic 4-3-3, albeit one with plenty of license for improvisation outside of the midfield triangle. One assumes that Klimková ordered the three midfielders to engage in specific man marking against Inka Grings’ compact midfield. That would explain why and how Katie Bowen was able to slip through all the congestion and head on several enterprising runs.
Lineup—New Zealand—Match Three (4-3-3)
The plan largely worked on both sides of the ball during the initial 45. Klimková’s team weathered a very brief offensive spell from the Europeans in the opening five minutes, also defending a pair of Swiss corners resolutely. The co-hosts then proceeded to play their way into the game the good old-fashioned way: duel-by-duel. Percival, Bowen, Bott, Stott, and Riley all made their contributions to moving the tilt-needle in the other direction. By the time we approached the quarter-of-an-hour mark, the Ferns appeared dominant.
We’d behold the first of several courageous runs from Bowen in the 14th. The New Zealand left began clicking shortly thereafter with some nice combos involving Chance. With so many crisp cycles forward and long stretches of prolonged possession, an opening goal seemed only a matter of time. Chance and Hand actually crashed into the box well during this phase. It simply remained very difficult to produce much in front of net with as many as seven Swiss markers in the box.
Hand came closest with a strike off the right post in the 23rd. The co-hosts kept the pressure on, punching through into the box to create danger four more times in the ten minutes immediately after Hand’s effort. The New Zealand midfield press rarely lost out against the Swiss. On the few occasions in which Grings’ side was able to counter (33rd and 42nd), the sensational Bowen took care of matters with superb tackles at the very back. The UNC Alumnae earned several deserved rounds of applause from the Dunedin crowd.
Hand rolled up her ankle near the end of the first half and the prolonged injury timeout took significant tempo out of the match. The Swiss also managed to calm matters down a bit with some more controlled possession as half-time approached. Klimkova made one change ahead of the restart, subbing on India-Paige Riley for Chance. The shape held, through Hand clearly switched over to the left whilst the new addition worked the right. This unfortunately produced nothing. Hand was moved right again after Betsy Hassett relieved Longo in the 62nd.
Having never really established herself on the left, Riley then moved behind Hand in a deeper role after Grace Jale entered in the 72nd. One could then see her operating on the top axis late during the final push in the last ten minutes. Overhead cam observers had quite a bit to sort through during the second half. Irrespective of who was stationed where, however, the Kiwi attack never really got rolling again. All the scoring chances belonged to the Europeans.
Steinmetz recorded the first effort on target for the co-hosts in the 74th. Hand and he subbed-on Claudia Bunge also got the Swiss keeper involved later on. All efforts went straight into Gaelle Thalmann’s gloves. The Swiss net-minder didn’t have to move. There was some excitement at the end as the Ferns received a series of chances via dead-balls on the right-hand-side. Unfortunately, Jale and the three-times-forward running New Zealand keeper Victoria Esson were unable to direct headed efforts on target.
Top Performers, New Zealand
1) Katie Bowen
The veteran defender appeared more mortal in the second-half, but that hardly detracts from her almost superhuman performance. In her fourth World Cup and 97th cap for country, the 29-year-old was all over the pitch tonight. Four long carries out of the back among her 112 recorded touches and 88 recorded passes. She supplied the final defensive stop on three occasions. Amazing. She gave everything.
2) Malia Steinmetz
Probably the best New Zealand performer in the more frustration-filled second-half. While many of her colleagues struggled to find space against the Swiss block and the unclear positional assignments, the 24-year-old punched through on three occasions. The Western Sydney Wanderers midfielder’s effort on target (covered above) wasn’t especially dangerous, but her two assisted shots were of high quality.
3) Jacqui Hand
Klimková trusted both Steinmetz and Hand to go for the full 90 minutes. While one can criticize the over-complexity of the New Zealand managers late tactics on this day, one should at least credit her for having the eye to keep the most consistently ambitious, creative, and energetic players on until the full-time whistle. Hand popped up everywhere to facilitate quality attack moves. She handled her assignment well and was unlucky not to score.
Tactical Analysis: Switzerland
Whoever ends up facing Inka Grings’ Nati next won’t have too think too terribly hard when it comes to the tactical scout. The system lies out in the open for everyone to see. Obviously, knowing the system and constructing a way of hacking it remain two very different matters. The 4-3-3 deployed by New Zealand tonight exhibited limitations once the Swiss ranks organized themselves better. One should also note that a constellation so clearly built to absorb pressure is also designed to tire the opponent out early and bite back once fatigue sets in.
Grings has her tactics sorted right down to the predictable introduction of Aston Villa’s Alisha Lehmann later-on in matches to augment the offense. Here we have a set tournament road-map reminiscent of Sarina Wiegman’s Euro-winning side from last summer. It actually even conjures up memories of Luis Aragones and Spain at the 2008 Euros. Lehmann acts a bit like this tournament’s Fernando Torres; a talent Grings slowly wishes to groom for the starting lineup.
Top Performers, Switzerland
1) Lia Wälti
The captain has consistently gotten better with each game. In this she garnered her top touch count (78) for the competition and finally got her duel rate above 50 percent. In point of fact, she was the lone Swiss midfielder capable of pushing the opponent back in the midfield trenches in the first-half. The 30-year-old’s upward trajectory is worth keeping an eye on for tournament watchers. Bit by bit, she’s gaining in confidence.
2) Coumba Sow
A solid day in midfield from the Zürich-native. The midfield would have floundered without her presence and the Swiss counter might have been non-existent. Though it’s a rather distant relation, the 28-year-old reminded one a bit of her cousin Djibril of Eintracht Frankfurt on this day. She unlocked Ramona Bachmann on attacking charges thrice and even got forward herself once.
3) Nadine Riesen
Grings’ one personnel change from round one to round two is now officially on the radar of female football watchers. The left-back shut down just about every New Zealand attempt to push through on the right during the latter stages of the match. She outpaced the likes of Hand, I. Riley, Jale, and Gabi Rennie over the course of the night.
The 23-year-old with the name that translates to “mighty” prepares to make herself known.