FOWLER AS A SOLE NINE

It's equally hard to reconcile the choice to play Mary Fowler - who excelled in games two and three - as a sole striker, completely devoid of support throughout the match.

If she was lightning fast, with a high work-rate then you could obviously sympathise with the decision. But she's not. She's an incredibly technically skilled poacher, with an excellent ability to set quick, powerful shots from tight angles.

In other words, almost exactly the opposite of the role she played tonight.

The one thing we try to avoid in pundity is needless overreactions. We're not world-beaters because we dominate a team one week, the system isn't broken because we shipped five the other.

But if the match against North Korea posed serious questions for the Young Matildas setup, then this answered them. There has to be consequences for conceding 12 goals in two matches against our fellow strongest teams in Asia.

Australian football deserves a lot better than whitewashing results like these. The tactical errors extended beyond the choice of formation.

There was no aggression, no tenacity and we sat far too deep against a side that clearly were not going to give us opportunities on the counter attack...we weren't even set up to counter-attack effectively, we played without out-and-out wingers.

There was no perceptible change in approach after we conceded the second goal. Blayney seemed motionless when the girls clearly needed motivating. Our fullbacks, once again, were exploited ruthlessly.

The decision to switch overnight from a team that played out from the back consistently, to a team that only relied on long-passes and clearances, with nobody there to challenge for them...you get the idea.

So what lessons can we take from this tournament?