Ferns coach Jitka Klimková: ‘We need to use every day for our preparation’

Football Ferns head coach Jitka Klimková says she’ll take stock of her team’s performance so they can use every possible day to prepare for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in July.

At her media briefing after Thursday’s 1-0 loss to Argentina, Klimková said:

“I will review everything. I will reflect (on) our decisions. I will reflect (on) what has happened and look forward for the next tour.

“When we were talking about what we need to do during those five months, we need to now use every day for our preparation.

“It’s not just about the tours, it’s not about being in the good clubs and playing games in the clubs.

“We have to do much more and it’s a lot of work outside that we need to add to what we have done prior because as you can see, the outcomes didn’t go our way.”

Klimková said the Ferns would gather again in the April 3-13 international window, for two games in Europe, and then would come together for a training camp with “a centralised programme” in the May-June period.

‘Our results are not what we wanted’

About the latest loss, she said:

“Obviously, again, the result didn’t go our way, which is very disappointing.

“If I would take the positives from this game, I think specifically in the first half, we improved our possession.

“We connected much better than in previous games, which was something we were focusing on, and we wanted to improve that in the game.

“So that’s something that I am taking from this game as an improvement and as a positive.”

“It is disappointing but I always am looking for those positives that we can take.”

One such positive, she said, was the introduction of Michaela Foster off the bench.

“She is a player to potentially consider for the future.”

Klimková said she had brought on defender Kate Taylor as a midfielder in the second half because she wanted to try her further forward on the pitch, and an objective from the week had been to give Taylor her chance in midfield.

“Our results are not what we wanted.

“We didn’t win the game. We actually didn’t score a goal.”

“What was positive was that we didn’t get worse. We actually got better in those three games which is the positive I can see.

“I am aware that we are really missing a lot of players that could help us with the results and with the outcomes of the games and with better performances.”