More changes as Matildas aim to rebound from shock loss

Perth Now

7 days ago

Joe Montemurro has promised to ring in the changes yet again as his inexperienced Matildas attempt to bounce back to form in Tuesday night's rematch with Panama in Perth.
Panama, ranked a lowly 56th in the world, produced one of their greatest wins on Saturday win beating the 15th-ranked Matildas 1-0 in Bunbury.
Montemurro, in his first international window as Matildas coach, had made a whopping 10 changes to his starting line-up for that match, and introduced four debutants off the bench.
It's all part of his wider plan to gain more insight into the depth in Australian women's football, and to see who can adapt to his possession-based game style.
Montemurro's reign started with a 3-0 win and a 1-1 draw against Slovenia before the shock loss to Panama.
The Matildas have looked disjointed in all three games, but Montemurro is confident the short-term pain will lead to long-term gain.
Australia entered the current international window without mainstays like Sam Kerr, Mary Fowler, Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord, Katrina Gorry and Clare Wheeler.
Ellie Carpenter, Mackenzie Arnold, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Sharn Freier exited the squad after the Slovenia series, while Amy Sayer and Charli Grant were rested for Saturday's loss to Panama.
Sayer and Grant are expected to come in for Tuesday's game at HBF Park, but Alex Chidiac, Emily Gielnik and Kaitlyn Torpey have left to rejoin their respective clubs.
In an added blow for the Matildas, goalkeeper Teagan Micah has been ruled out of the final match of the international window after suffering whiplash in making a save on Saturday.
Montemurro doesn't view the shock 1-0 loss to Panama as a disaster, but says fans can expect more changes on Tuesday.
"You don't lose, you learn," Montemurro said on Monday when asked about the surprise defeat.
"It's a perfect opportunity to learn, because it's not a do-or-die game. It's not a game that we are going to lose points on or lose our status in a competition situation.
"I haven't really looked at it as a loss. I looked at it as more information for us to go forward.
"Obviously when you make a lot of changes like that, there is going to be a little bit of instability.
"But I still have belief in the process, I still have belief in the way going forward, and we've got a bank of information that will help us going forward."
Montemurro is looking for his players to display more football intelligence on Tuesday.
And although the current window is more about information gathering and the implementation of a new game style, he wants to end it with a win.
"We want to create the culture, we want to create the standards, we want to create an idea of football," Montemurro said.
"And obviously there will be a wider, extended look at where we are, where we're going with the squad - but we want to do it while we're winning.
"So a win is is important, like always."