Well, where to from here?
First up Tom, you need to get off google and stop searching for women with Kiwi passports playing in the Swedish second division and take a tour of the country. Get to know us, the kettle's always on.
Did you know Tom, that we have an exciting crop of young female players, 3rd best team in the world, in fact. And you know what's great about youth Tom? They run. They run and they run and they run. No jogging in the second half for these kids, some of them have blistering pace too. Skills can be taught, pace is what we need. Speed Tom, SPEED!
I watched all their games and these kids press and press and press, they force mistakes, and then they pounce. Every pass is pressured, no sitting back when you're a teenager. Some of their goals were absolute bangers, especially the one that came off the Andreas Heraf set play...
You need to take a chance Tom, a gamble. Find a 15 year-old Mary Fowler, or an Ellie Carpinter. Actually Tom, you had a speedy young gun on the bench - Paige Satchell - if you can steer her towards the goal and not the corners, she might have made an impact in the last 15 minutes and confused those Cameroons. I guess we'll never know...
Don't go pulling club-less players out of retirement Tom, when we have young, keen women. They are our future Tom, and the Olympics should be about getting as many of them into the fray as possible. Throw caution to the wind Tom, cause, you know, what have we got to lose?
You seem like a really nice guy Tom, and I like how you called it straight after the Canada game, cause you were right, we were sharke, and no warm, fuzzy, accentuate-the-positive press release from NZ Football can smooth over those cracks.
Tbh, I was amped after the Netherlands game - we were intense! We were skilled! We treasured the ball!
What the heck happened Tom? Did Suzy the waitress slip a botulism baguette into brekkie? Quelle horreur! Never saw that team again, not even a glimmer.
It's our passing accuracy that really stings, 53% v Canada, 53%.. only half of all our passes went where they were supposed to. And, as a football ferns supporter this is singularly the MOST FRUSTRATING thing. Well, that and the lack of decent set-the-game-on-fire strikers.
Who to keep? Chance (she took hers well), Percival, Stott, Erceg, Cleverley (should have had more game time), Nayler, Satchell, Morton (she was a stand out at U20 World Cup, is she injured?), Bott, Skilton, Riley, Longo, Moore (big loss), and...yeah.. nah. that's it really.
I'm sure there will be players, right now, considering their footballing futures at this level, and we thank them for their loyal contribution to the Fern.
Anyway Tom, all the best mate. Looking forward to your brave and forward-thinking selections for Tokyo, and hearing about your travels round NZ.
PS lov'n the 'gram' Tom, your girls have a sharp gram game, for sure....