Coach Joe Montemurro and captain Sam Kerr both wish the Asian Cup was starting next week.Credit: Getty Images
And no, we do not need to keep talking about the former coach, who has been gone for almost 18 months. But it is a way of understanding that to watch this team at the home 2026 Asian Cup could well be a different viewing experience to the home 2023 World Cup.
As intoxicating as that record-breaking semi-final run was, questions have lingered since about Gustavsson’s lack of squad rotation and, at times, game management. By the time Australia met England with a place in the final on the line, the starting XI had effectively been the starting XI (bar injury adjustment) for the entire tournament.
When an almost identical line-up was rolled out for a seventh-straight time to face Sweden in the third-place play-off, the players admitted “heavy legs” had played a role in the 2-0 defeat, and Gustavsson spent much of that post-match press conference defending his lack of squad rotation.
Now, on the eve of the Matildas’ critical Asian Cup campaign and under a still-relatively-new manager, being told that “depth” means something different from what we got told before. That the term does not represent back-up players who will play minimally or not at all unless an “A Team” member is unavailable. And that, really, the concept of an “A Team” is redundant.
You might see Kerr start against the Philippines in Perth on March 1, but somebody else might lead the attack against Iran on the Gold Coast three days later. Some players could be rested ahead of the crucial third group game against South Korea in Sydney on March 8, and the specificities of the opposition set-up could dictate the need for an altered combination that is set up differently to what worked last time and could well look unrecognisable again half an hour into the match.
Kennedy could start in defensive midfield, or in central defence, or not at all. Heatley, Jamilla Rankin and Courtney Nevin could feature in a shifting defensive line, and that could also depend on whether Steph Catley plays left-back or centre-back in each respective match.
We do not know if Katrina Gorry and Kyra Cooney-Cross will comprise the preferred midfield, given Clare Wheeler’s compelling case to start ahead of Gorry and Gorry’s own compelling case to be on the field and the return of Alex Chidiac.
We do not know what happens in a stacked attack featuring Kerr and Caitlin Foord and Hayley Raso and Fowler, when Sayer and Michelle Heyman, Holly McNamara and Remy Siemsen all make a strong case.
We do not know if the first-choice goalkeeper is Mackenzie Arnold or Tegan Micah.
Maybe it is all of them when the time is right?
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“There will be a little bit of rotation that we’re going to have to do,” Montemurro said. “No one’s coming in as squad depth; everyone’s coming in for a reason and will be called upon. There will be situations where players will get minimal minutes, but we know that they’re going to be important from a training stimulus and also from a group stimulus.
“A tournament of this nature – and we’ve seen many tournaments, whether it’s the men’s World Cup, women’s World Cup – brings up a lot of surprises. It’s not a situation of a league, where you can sort of plan and rotate accordingly.
“It’s very, very important that we’re prepared for quick turnarounds. We’ve got a bit of travel, so we go from Perth to Gold Coast so that all of a sudden has its difficulties and challenges. But the biggest thing for me was to make sure that we cover all scenarios. So if we needed to change system, if we needed to change structure, we could do that quickly.”