by Malta’s coach Manuela Tesse and Belarus’ Grigorov Vyacheslav Sergeevich agreed on the strengths of Belarus as the team emerged with a 2 – 0 victory against Malta. As a new coach, Sergeevich remarked the importance of the content of play for his team. Manuela Tesse discussed the decisions pertaining to her selections, while Malta’s captain, Emma Lipman, assessed the match in preparation for the upcoming challenges, in the nearer competitions and in view of the future of Malta.
Belarus Imposed Their Game Effectively
Malta and Belarus finished their first friendly of the week in a 2 – 0 victory for the visitors. Malta’s coach Manuela Tesse rejected that her side was too defensive, simply recognising the fact that Belarus effectively imposed their own gameplan on the side, “No, we did not intend to defend but Belarus constrained us effectively. This is a different Belarus to the one we faced last year, they are now playing football and before they were simply going long. They are a very good team and although we tried to gain possession in their half, we did not keep it well.”
Giving insight into the team’s desired approach, she continued, “I know my players know how to play football, we need to just be calmer with the ball and not rush. We worked a lot on ball possession and also how to fill the space and mark effectively. However, then it is about putting it on the pitch against an opponent.”
Belarus’ coach, Grigorov Vyacheslav Sergeevich, was pleased with the victory but admitted his focus went beyond the result, “Of course getting the win is the ultimate goal, so definitely to achieve that ticks the biggest box. However, as a new coach with the team I was paying a lot of attention to the content of the game to make sure that we were putting the right things into practice.”
Belarus’ coach, Grigorov Vyacheslav Sergeevich, agreed with his counterpart in the view that his team did well to impose their game. In fact questioned whether he was surprised about how much Malta defended in the match, he replied, “Maybe, it is hard to say that Malta intended to play defensively. Maybe it is more that our team’s game made Malta more defensive. However, I must say that I like the quality of players that Malta has, with a good future.”
The Malta coach was critical of the officials’ lack of desire to show cards and control on the match in the first-half, despite the challenges put in. Belarus’ coach declined to comment on the topic.
Selections, Tactical Approach & Crucial Minutes
The Malta coach rejected that the team was disjointed, nor that it was not fully focused or well prepared. Questioned on the decision to start players such as Maya Lucia and Oceane Grange in favour of players who have regularly racked up minutes for their clubs, Manuela Tesse replied, “No today no, but we will change things on Tuesday and we will experiment accordingly. However, I think Oceane did a good job in the Nations League so, we must consider these performances as well.”
In fact, addressing the decision to play one of Malta’s most experienced centre-backs, Stephania Farrugia in the full-back position, Malta’s coach replied, “We are trying to adapt Steph on the left, she doesn’t want to play there, but today we needed the height against Belarus.”
She continued, “As we’ve seen Steph do with Birkirkara in the league, she is able to drive the ball forward for the team, it doesn’t matter that she is a centre-back. So, I think in the same way, today it was about playing football and putting that into practice, not being so limited in our thinking. I think this is where we need to be more mature. We must understand that we are Malta, there are limits and we must play for the shirt.”
Stephania Farrugia is only the latest player to be tried in this position, a change initiated since the centre-back’s return from her ACL injury. Malta’s full-back positions were regularly fulfilled by Emma Xuereb and Ann-Marie Said in the first UEFA Nations League cycle back in 2023. As raised in the inaugural UEFA Women’s Nations League cycle, while there are encouraging signs at youth level (despite the significant loss of promising players in the positions since even at that level), the senior team showed a lack of depth in the position early in Tesse’s tenure.
Indeed, the problem was exposed as injuries took out Emma Xuereb for almost the entire stage of the UEFA European Qualifications League B cycle. While Emma Xuereb came back into the fold at the latter end of that competition, Ann-Marie Said has been sidelined from the international scene since. The two full-back positions have since been heavily rotated, including through the positional shift of Maya Lucia and the introduction of Fiona Buttigieg. However, the latter has been ruled out by a long injury in this window, piling further woes.
One of Malta’s few centennials, centre-back Charlene Zammit, filled in for the position at times, who is also ruled out at the moment. Other players have been given sparing minutes in the position, including Valentina Rapa, Rebecca Bajada and Mariah Cardona. However, it is evident that it is one of the areas which Malta’s opposition has targeted effectively, as exposed by Belarus on the night.
Malta’s captain, Emma Lipman, underlined the importance of these friendlies in coming back together for the first time since the summer, in view of the team putting pieces together for the upcoming cycle, irrespective of challenges, “I think it’s fair to say that there’s a been big gap since the Andorra game. It’s always nice to come back into the national team, switching your hat from club football, but we know we have our principles and then there are new things which we want to put together. Maybe today it was a bit disjointed, I would agree, but we also had some good moments. Maybe we deserved a bit more.”
Meanwhile, asked about the inexperienced players getting an opportunity in the match, such as Giulia D’Antuono and Yulya Carella, Emma Lipman also remarked the responsibility in guiding younger players coming into the national team, “We’re a small island, we don’t have a massive pool of players. So, it’s important that we take care to push the players that we do have and for them to get the opportunity to get minutes too. We’ve got some players toward the latter end of the career, so it’s important for the new generation to get ready. I think it’s crucial to support them, to encourage them and to give them these experiences for the future of the team and for themselves.”
The two nations will be at it again on Tuesday at 19:00 at the Centenary Stadium. Tickets are available online and the match will also be live-streamed on the Malta FA Youtube Channel.
Lead Image: Brandon Bonett
Stay up to date by following The Sporting Fan on social media: Instagram ~ Facebook ~ X
