Opportunity a priority as Matildas interim Sermanni seeks to make up for lost time.

Of the view that the Matildas setup hasn’t “planned for the future well enough,” interim Matildas boss Tom Sermanni wants to provide opportunities for players in coming friendlies against Taiwan.

MELBOURNE, Australia — Matildas interim Tom Sermanni says one of his main goals in coming friendlies with Taiwan is to provide opportunity, of the view that a largely established XI in recent years means the national side hasn’t “planned for the future well enough.”

After two games against Brazil, the Matildas flew into Victoria on Monday for two friendlies against the Taiwanese, the first of which will take place at AAMI Park on Wednesday evening and the second in Geelong on Saturday.

Nine European-based players – Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Ellie Carpenter, Hayley Raso, Alanna Kennedy, Teagan Micah, Courtney Nevin and Jamilla Rankin – have returned to their clubs after the two defeats to the Seleção, with Charli Grant, Clare Hunt, and Dani Galic also set to depart following Wednesday game.

It means that Australia will field a vastly different lineup across the week, as returning veterans such as Emily Gielnik, Alex Chidiac, and Chloe Logarzo come in line for greater roles, as well as emerging talent such as Galic, Winonah Heatley, Sharn Freier. In all, the 22-player squad on hand in Victoria features three uncapped players and nine with ten caps or less; well over 1000 caps of national team experience having jetted back to club football.

And while cautioning that inexperience needed to be tempered by veteran leadership and the pursuit of results, Sermanni, perhaps somewhat liberated by his status as an interim who has already ruled himself out of contention for the full-time job, said that the opportunities on offer across the coming week were critical.

“The Matildas have had a very consistent squad for four years and what's happened with that is it hasn't allowed opportunities for other players,” said the interim coach. “And one of the key things as a national team coach is you've got to play for the present but plan for the future.

“And I think, in all fairness, I don't think we've planned for the future well enough.

“Part of the task for me and whoever comes in on a permanent basis has to be that we're doing a little bit of balance of both; that encompasses looking at other players [while] trying to balance everything else, getting results, good performances, all those types of things.

“But we do need to look at expanding the competition within what I would call the Matildas program.”

23 players debuted under former Matildas boss Tony Gustavsson and Hunt, Grant Kyra Cooney-Cross, Tegan Micah, Courtney Nevin, Clare Wheeler, and Cortnee Vine have become regular parts of squads. But for the most part, the Swede, who departed following the end of his contract after the Olympics, maintained a rigidly consistent starting lineup of established players at major tournaments.

Despite frequently deploying a “23 for 23” catchphrase during preparations for the tournament, only 14 members of his 23-player squad at the Women’s World Cup played more than 30 minutes across a combined seven games.

Of course, given his role as a caretaker as Football Australia conducts a coaching search now in its fourth month, there are inevitable questions about just how much relevance Sermanni’s evaluation and blooding of new players will carry over once a permanent appointment is made.

With a home Asian Cup on the agenda in 2026, followed by a Women’s World Cup in Brazil the following year, a new coach may have very different views of what the squad needs than he, for example, or play a system that calls for a vastly different profile than those brought through during this interim stretch.

But Sermanni is hopeful that whoever does eventually get the nod to lead the side permanently won’t move to immediately discount the work conducted in recent months and will also utilise the existing institutional knowledge within the program – Young Matildas coach Leah Blayney part of Sermanni’s staff.

Leading the Matildas, he emphasised, was about more than just serving as coach of the senior national team.

“Hopefully there's continuity,” he said. “I think that's important. When I step away, the coach that comes in, he or she will hopefully rely on the staff that is here, as well as perhaps bringing in their own. That part of the continuity is important for the program.

“If you look at the overall picture, I think what's very important in a job like the Matildas job is that the head coach comes in and is not just simply a head coach of one team, but that they're the head coach of the Matildas program.

“That encompasses a lot of other roles, apart from just doing the national team. Hopefully, whoever that person is, comes in and will, or should certainly, rely on the expertise that's already here.”

Header Image: Football Australia