By Genevieve Henry and Kieran Yap (2/8/24).
Above: Melissa Andreatta. Photo: Aleksander Kostadinoski
Football Australia must now move to find a new head coach of The Matildas. With the exception of 2020 (and COVID lockdowns) the next 12 months ahead are the first in recent times without a major tournament and that grants time to make the right decision.
However, with some retirements or replacements imminent among the playing squad, the next manager will play an important role, and with a home Asian Cup in 2026, the decision must be made carefully and correctly. Genevieve Henry and Kieran Yap go through some of the possibilities.
Melissa Andreatta
Photo by Aleksandar Kostadinoski.
Andreatta is the simplest and most immediate option. If Football Australia like the way the team has been performing over the last four years as a whole, Andreatta is a good choice to continue that while leaving her own imprint on the team.
The former Brisbane Roar coach has been one of Gustavsson’s assistants during his time in charge and is a natural successor to the Swede. She is familiar with both Australian football and the A-League Women, and knows the pitfalls of navigating Asian tournaments.
Andreatta is the current head coach of the Under 23 side and has been vital in helping players make the leap from youth to senior football and providing players like Sharn Freier or Kaitlyn Torpey a chance to show that their club form can be replicated for the national team.
Whoever the next coach is, will rely heavily on the work Adnreatta has done to prepare the likes of Amy Sayer and Ana Margraf to step into the shoes of Michelle Heyman or Tameka Yallop when the time comes. It might as well be the woman who helped usher them through herself.
Leah Blayney
Hana Lowry (L) Leah Blayney and Bryleeh Henry. Photo: Football Australia
The Young Matildas coach has been in charge of Australia’s Under 20 side since 2019. It has been an impressive and entertaining tenure.
The 2019 Asian Cup ultimately ended in defeat, but Mary Fowler, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Charli Grant, Courtney Nevin and Karly Roestbakken have all appeared at major tournament as senior players since.
Deborah Anne De La Harpe and Indiah Paige Riley have gone on to play for other nations and Princess Ibini has become one of the most successful A-League Women players by the age of 24.
Essentially, she knows how to develop players and bring out their strengths.
Blayney’s 2022 Young Matildas performed admirably at the World Cup in Costa Rica. After winning the first game against the hosts 3-1, they exited at the group stage but took the game to Brazil and Spain with some encouraging performances, particularly from a then 15 year old Daniela Galic.
In 2024, Blayney guided the Young Matildas to World Cup qualification with a third place finish at the Asian Cup. Australia scored in every game, in sometimes frightening conditions and against a variety of opponents and tactics. Blayney rotated the squad heavily, ensuring fresh legs and avoiding mental fatigue in the do or die tournament.
Before the 2023 World Cup, the focus had to be global. Australia simply had to make the knockout stages and make an impact on the tournament to take full advantage of the occasion.
Now, the focus could be much more regional. Australia have only been the best team in Asia once in 2010, and it is fair to say that the rest of the AFC is either trying to catch up or are close to overtaking us now.
Results will matter against Asian opposition, and the AFC is a vast confederation that Blayney has success in navigating.
She has built three very different, very valuable sides as a youth team coach, on limited resources. It feels like a matter of when and not if she will one day take charge of the senior team, but she does have the small matter of the U20 World Cup first.
Ante Juric
Photo By Kris Goman
The record-breaking A-League Women coach is surely one of the best coaches in Australia. Juric has achieved almost everything he can with Sydney FC and it might be time for him to look for a new adventure. In a press conference last season, he was asked if he would take the reins of the national team if called upon. His answer? An emphatic yes.
The work Juric has done to develop some of the brightest stars in the A-League Women is remarkable. He excels at not only bringing young players to their best, but taking players who have struggled at other clubs and making them into household names. From current Matildas Cortnee Vine and Clare Wheeler, to Future Matildas Indiana Dos Santos and Maddie Caspers, Juric knows exactly how to get players performing their best.
Not only that, but Juric has managed many of the current Matildas squad, helping them from the W-League to overseas, including Caitlin Foord, Alanna Kennedy, and Amy Sayer, as well as dozens of names likely to be in the national team in the future.
He receives the highest of praise by all those he has coached, with Vine saying, “He breeds a culture that is a winning culture, an accepting culture… No other coach does it like Ante.”
Juric also has experience coaching in the national team set up, leading the Young Matildas to top their group at the 2015 AFF Championship, with players such as Alex Chidiac and Princess Ibini leading the line.
Since 2017 when he became head coach of the Sky Blues, he has won three Championships and three Premierships. Although he’s had great resources and players at his disposal, it’s never been an easy ride. Just this past season, he managed to lead Sydney to the Championship while losing some of his best players to transfers and injury. He knows how to scrape through a season to get a win.
One of Juric’s strengths in coaching is his defensive management, an area the Matildas desperately need fixed. His side let in the fewest goals throughout the 2023-24 season even with captain and centre-back Nat Tobin out with an ACL.
All in all, Juric has the experience, the skill, and the relationships to do something special with this job if it comes his way.
Emily Husband
Photo: Central Coast Mariners
Although Husband has only just completed her first season in top flight football, her record and experience speak for themselves. After a 14-year absence from the A-League women, the Central Coast Mariners found success under Husband, even making a convincing finals run. She was named A-League Women coach of the year.
Although not from Australia, Husband has worked her way up from the NPLW, so she knows the talent pool more than anybody. Her time as head coach of Sydney University in the NSW NPLW was nothing short of spectacular, winning the league and coach of the year.
Husband’s coaching career has taken her all over the world, from the UK originally, to the US, Fiji, and all over both Africa and Europe. Wherever she goes, she brings her passion for football and nurturing players to be their best with her.
With the Mariners this past season, Husband has proved that she can take a group of players to the highest level with her tactics, recruiting, and culture building. Her side had one of the strongest back lines, second only the champions Sydney. A side the Matildas could learn from, they stuck it out through tough defensive moments to hit opponents both on the counter-attack and with possession based football.
She built the new Central Coast Mariners from the ground up and came agonisingly close to bringing them glory in her debut season in the top flight. As the national team enters an era of growth and rebuilding, Husband could help the Matildas reach the level they need to be.
Casey Stoney
Stoney is one of the very best coaches in the women’s game, and at the moment, she is clubless. After leading Manchester United women into the top division and making history with San Diego Wave in its first year as a club, Stoney finds herself in high demand.
After a third-place finish in arguably the world’s most competitive league in the Wave’s debut season, Stoney was named NWSL coach of the year. She furthered their progress in the 2023 season, winning the Shield (comparable to the Premiership). But after an underwhelming start to the 2024 season, she was given the boot.
Stoney, like many others mentioned in this list, excels defensively. A defender herself with over 100 caps for England, Stoney knows the calibre of opponents and exactly how to prepare her team for the best of the best. With both the Wave and United, their defence is what won them games and leagues, even. If she could carry that over to the international level, she may just be the coach that Australia’s talented yet chaotic defenders need.
Even with the poor season the Wave have had this year, under Stoney they conceded the third-fewest goals in the league. Unfortunately, they also scored the third-fewest goals. But scoring never seems to be the Matildas problem. They can score. They just can’t seem to stop conceding and letting opponents have massive chances due to negligence or silly mistakes. Stoney could be the woman to rectify that situation.
While Stoney could bring much value to the Matildas, especially in the backline, it is worth mentioning that once again going with a coach from outside of Australia could be risky, as she would not know the depth of talent available to develop, unlike others on this list.
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