Ian Wright was unimpressed by two Australia players in particular in their 3-0 loss to England on Tuesday night.
In the first half, he criticised Alanna Kennedy, who lost the ball in front of goal and was then sent off for a clumsy haul at Alessia Russo.
It left the Matildas down to ten players, and 2-0 down at the break.
“For an experienced centre half, an experienced player of her age, there’s no way she should be doing that turn,” Wright said at half-time on ITV. “She knows better. Then there’s no way she should be pulling her down.
“I’m not saying [that because] it’s a friendly. There’s two players covering, she should never be doing that, for her to be doing that, trying to turn in, that’s ridiculous from her. She’s cost her team the game.”
Fellow pundit Anita Asante agreed, saying: “Really disappointing challenge from Alanna Kennedy. She picks up the ball, makes a poor decision, she has two recovering centre backs making their way into the box to try and recover the situation. But it’s cost her team dearly because now their whole tactical gameplan that they entered this game with has changed completely and it’s allowed England to dominate proceedings.”
Ian Wright: A poor bit of play
Katrina Gorry then gave away a penalty in the last seconds of the game as she slid in on Missy Bo Kearns.
“You see her come in the box here and make the challenge on Missy Bo Kearns, and she’s just a bit too late,” pointed out Asante. “She goes to ground and Missy was clever, I think she was quite savvy there just to allow the contact to happen and go down in the box.”
Wright added: “She’s actually on the ground before Missy has even touched the ball. Missy can just knock it and go over her legs. Another poor bit of play and decision from an Australian player tonight.”
Wright: It spoilt the whole game
Wright had some sympathy for Australia boss Joe Montemurro – formerly Arsenal head coach – saying that his gameplan had to go “out of the window” after Kennedy’s red card.
“We’re talking about someone who’s got an Asian Cup coming up. He’s got one more camp. He probably needed a game like this to play against calibre like England just to see where he’s going. You look at it, and there’s no real structure with the passing out of defence. It’s not really confident, the midfield getting to the front men. He probably needs a game like this just to get themselves going.
“An experienced player to get sent off like that really spoilt the whole game for me.”
