Matildas coach responds to Mary Fowler storm after ugly new development for Aussie star

Interim Matildas coach Tom Sermanni has accepted the criticism around Mary Fowler after admitting he needs to get the star forward in better positions against Germany than she found herself in against Switzerland. Sermanni's first game in charge of the Matildas resulted in a 1-1 draw against the Swiss in Zurich, in a game where Fowler was used in a deeper-lying midfield role and failed to have much impact.

Fowler normally plays as winger or striker for the national side and her English club Manchester City, and her deeper role against Switzerland meant she didn't get many meaningful touches in goal-scoring positions. The move saw Sermanni's tactics come under fire from Aussie football fans, many of whom argued that Fowler should be the central focus of the Matildas attack in the continued absence of injured captain, Sam Kerr.

Speaking ahead of Australia's next game against Germany in Duisburg on Monday night (Tuesday 4.10am AEDT), Sermanni accepts the backlash around his use of Fowler in the previous game and said they will be looking to get the ball to the 21-year-old in more attacking positions. But the interim Matildas coach also argued that Fowler will naturally have more chances against a German side that will look to come out and attack themselves, than they did against a defensive-minded Swiss side.

"That's one of the things that we're looking at doing is getting in a position where she's going to hurt the opposition a little bit more, and obviously trying to get her in a position where she gets more of the ball," Sermanni said. "In fairness to Switzerland, they had, it looked like a deliberate plan to actually shut us down in our right hand side, with Ellie (Carpenter) and with Mary and I think it made it difficult for her to get into the game. But with the type of game it's going to be against Germany, I think that's an opportunity for her to get into more space, to be able to get on the ball more, and hopefully to create more for us."

The match will be an opportunity for the Matildas to exact some revenge against Olympic Games bronze medallists Germany, who thumped the Australians 3-0 in their opening group game in Paris this year. And while Fowler is most dangerous when taking on defenders and in tight spaces, Sermanni accepts that perhaps sometimes she doesn't receive the ball as much in those areas is due to a fear of turning the ball over. "It's a good point and in essence, should be an easy fixable point, in the sense of even players having a chat with each other: 'Just give me the ball and I can handle it'," he said.

Matildas out to avenge thumping by Germany at Olympics

Sermanni says he's not reading too much into Germany's 3-0 win over the Matildas at the Olympics - a match in which former coach Tony Gustavsson admitted his side wasn't ready for in the aftermath. Sermanni expects the teams to be much better matched this time around though, but is conscious of the attacking threat the Germans pose after they beat England 4-3 at Wembley over the weekend.

The interim Matildas coach warned that his side will have to be switched on against the attack-minded Germans but also pointed out it should present them more opportunities on the counter attack. It will also be an emotional game for Germany as they send off retiring striker Alexandra Popp, and Sermanni says the pro-Germany crowd will be another important test for his Matildas side to overcome.

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"It's going to be a tough environment and interestingly, when you look at the Matildas certainly over the last couple of years, they're probably just in an environment where the fans have been on their side," Sermanni said. "So it's actually going to be a different kind of experience and this is the kind of thing that we need to cope with. One of the important things we'll need to discuss leading into the game is how we manage to shut out that noise and not get caught up in the emotion of the game, get caught up in the emotion of the crowd, get caught up in the noise - and really just focus on football."

with AAP