Could we see a superstar of women’s football in the Liberty A-League some day?
The Dub Zone crew dissected the chances of Arsenal star Vivianne Miedema making her way Down Under at some point, while Western United’s strength in depth was showcased yet again.
And is a Matildas recall on the cards for an Australian football legend?
Here are the major Dub Zone talking points.
Pitch for one of the world’s best to call the Liberty A-League home
Vivianne Miedema in Australia?
The Arsenal star was in Adelaide for two weeks in November last year ahead of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season and spent some time with good friend and former teammate, Adelaide United’s Maruschka Waldus.
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Miedema – teammates with Matildas pair Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord at Arsenal – and Waldus played for three years together as teenagers for Dutch first division outfit SC Heerenveen, where their friendship blossomed.
Since then, their careers have taken off in different trajectories, with Miedema stamping her claim as one of women’s football most dominant attackers.
The 26-year-old, who is recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), is the all-time leading goalscorer in the Women’s Super League (WSL), while she has scored more goals at international level for the Netherlands than any other player – across the women’s and men’s teams.
But it hasn’t stopped Waldus’ attempts to convince the Dutch superstar to one day join her in Australia, where she’s played for most of the last five years at both Western Sydney Wanderers and Adelaide.
“I’m trying,” Waldus told Optus Sport last year. “We’ll see. Maybe one day.”
Off the back of the Dutch defender’s performance in Adelaide’s 2-2 draw with Melbourne Victory on Sunday, former Matilda Catherine Cannuli spoke about Waldus’ display and all-around game having coached her at the Wanderers.
While, of course, touching on whether she could see Miedema making the move to Australia at some stage in her career.
“I coached her at Western Sydney Wanderers as an assistant coach when she first came to Australia, and she’s been fantastic for our league,” Cannulli said.
“She’s a real, true leader as well. She’s best friends with Vivienne Miedema, she had her in Adelaide, so who knows: we might actually see Miedema in the Liberty A-League one day, when she sort of takes a little bit of a step back from the highlights of the Arsenal football team.
I don’t know whether she’ll come out as a fan or not – but I do know they do have sights to play in Australia.
“I’ve always kept in touch with Maruschka and we’ve remained really good friends ever since coaching her at the Wanderers.
“She’s a great person and a great footballer, and if we can have the likes of Miedema to want to play their football in Australia at some point in their life, it would be greatly welcomed.”
Western push through yet another obstacle
Obstacle after obstacle, Western United just keep finding a way.
The league leaders continued their amazing first season in the Liberty A-League with an incredible club-record 6-0 victory over Newcastle Jets – which was done without one of their most integral cogs in coach Marc Torcaso.
Torcaso missed the trip to Newcastle with calf injury, opening up the door for highly-rated assistant coach Helen Winterburn to take the helm on Sunday afternoon.
Winterburn previously coached NPLW Victoria side FV Emerging and will replace Torcaso as head coach of reigning champions Calder United in the off-season – Calder currently have a partnership with Western.
READ: Statement made: Western dismantle Jets in club-record win
And for Western, it was business as usual, who registered their largest ever win – while avenging their defeat at the hands of Newcastle in the reverse fixture.
“Definitely proud, proud of all the staff to be honest, the way they conducted themselves throughout the week. It was a well-executed game in the end, so very, very proud to be honest,” Torcaso told Dub Zone.
I actually said to Helen straight after the game: ‘We could do this more often! I could maybe coach from afar’. But definitely I have 100% confidence in every one of our staff members.
“Every coach is nervous before games, so it’s not any different to the normal nerves, but 100% confident in the staff, but more importantly in the playing group to get the job done. As long as we get everything right during the week, normally the games execute the way we want.
“Definitely 100% acknowledgement needs to go to Helen and the staff today.”
Torcaso’s injury was the latest in a long line of obstacles Western has faced this season, including the departure of star American attacker Jess McDonald, Matildas midfielder Chloe Logarzo and the season ending injury to rising full-back Aimee Medwin in the lead-up to the Jets game.
Post-match, Winterburn spoke about the way Western continues to push through adversity despite the mounting challenges they’ve faced throughout the season.
“I think the belief that this group has in each other and the desire that they have to win comes out in every game,” Winterburn told Dub Zone.
“We can have some games where things maybe are not going to plan like it has been, but the fact they want to go out there, they want to work with each other. They’ve got such a connection and such a bond, it really shows when they come out.
“For them to come out today and play the way they did for those 90 minutes, despite all the issues and everything. It’s fantastic and they just really want it.”
Australian football legend’s case for a Matildas recall
Michelle Heyman’s well and truly thrusted herself into the Matildas conversation.
The Australian football legend has been in some form as of late, scoring four goals in her last three games for Canberra United and surging to second place in the Liberty A-League Golden Boot race – sitting only two goals behind Western United’s Hannah Keane with nine for the season.
Heyman hasn’t hid her aspirations to go to a second FIFA Women’s World Cup, saying she will do all she can to earn a call-up for the first time since 2018.
The Dub Zone crew spoke about her chances and whether her solid form with Canberra would be enough to catapult her into the squad later this year.
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“I think it’s a real tough one because she has been scoring goals and she has been in form,” Cannulli said of the Liberty A-League’s all-time leading scorer.
I think it’s just really tough in terms of who she’s going up against. I think for Michelle, she’s just enjoying her football and if the call comes, it comes. I don’t think she’s banking on that.
“Tony (Gustavsson) might be thinking she’s passed her time now and that he’s looking for others that could maybe take on past this Women’s World Cup as well.”
Some of the players currently ahead of her in the pecking order include Remy Siemsen – who is yet to debut at Leicester City in the NWSL – and Brisbane Roar’s Larissa Crummer.
Siemsen wasn’t part of the last Matildas squad for the Cup of Nations, while Crummer featured in all three games – playing in a myriad of different roles including at right-back.
Dub Zone commentator Teo Pellizzeri quipped whether Heyman would be able to get ahead of the duo in time for the tournament – considering the aforementioned duo’s recent run of form.
“You know what, if Remy Siemsen doesn’t actually get on the field for Leicester and start putting together a run of games and… to not be a habitual contrarian in here, I wasn’t as down on Larissa Crummer as everyone else was during the Cup of Nations,” Pellizzeri said.
“If I had to name my squad tomorrow, Crummer would be a standby, she wouldn’t be in the 23, maybe she goes on a good run before the end of season and I would say put her in the 23.
Michelle Heyman is in great form. I don’t know if I want to pick Michelle Heyman in my Matildas team for the World Cup.”
