It's finally official. Joe Montemurro is the new coach of the Matildas.
The former Lyon, Juventus and Arsenal boss takes the reins of the national team 304 days after Tony Gustavsson left his post following a deeply disappointing Olympic campaign in Paris.
It's an exciting appointment for the Melbourne-born tactician and the end of a drawn-out process to fill the position.
Montemurro won't be in charge of the team for Monday night's friendly against Argentina in Canberra but, come the end month -- when the Matildas next meet in camp for matches against Slovenia and Panama -- the national team will finally have a sense of direction ahead of next year's Women's Asian Cup on home soil.
After a year in the coach-less wilderness, there is no time to waste. But what exactly is on Montemurro's Matildas to do list?
1. Repair the damage
It's not controversial to say this appointment took too long. The mood surrounding the search for a new Matildas coach went from hopeful with plenty of time on the board, to more concerning and frustrating with every passing month.
Every glance at the international match calendar offered one less chance for the coach and the team to get ready for the Asian Cup. Every time Tom Sermanni -- who deserves the utmost praise for how he conducted himself throughout this lengthy interim period -- was asked how much longer he would be standing on the sidelines, the resultant shrug was another nail bitten, another clump of hair pulled out, another eye twitch.
Montemurro's presence alone will alleviate some of the angst that has built up around the national team. However, he won't be afforded nearly as much grace as he deserves due to the timing of his appointment and the Asian Cup. Football Australia has put the 55-year-old in a difficult position. This isn't to say he won't rise to the challenge, nor that he is necessarily being set up to fail. But there is an alternate universe where the new boss has more than four windows to get his team sorted before a major tournament is played in Australia.
2. Make the call
Every other item that will follow on this list will be influenced to some degree by the answer to this question: should Montemurro persist with this current generation of players for the Women's Asian Cup or is it time to do a full squad overhaul?
Does this golden generation of players, which carried the team all the way to fourth place at the 2023 Women's World Cup, have what it takes to secure the silverware that has eluded most of them and win the Matildas their second Asian Cup?
Will a new crop of players be up to the task of beating Australia's continental rivals, from the likes of Uzbekistan and the Philippines, all the way up to Japan, China, North Korea, and South Korea?
Is persisting with the more well-known players delaying, and potentially harming, Australia's chances at future tournaments including the 2027 World Cup and 2028 Olympics? Is a full squad overhaul a sure-fire way of fumbling a chance to win a major tournament at home?
There is probably a solution which utilises the best elements of both paths. Greater opportunity for younger players to make their mark while still using the experience of a plethora of 100+ gamers. Sermanni gave plenty of debuts and opportunities to the next generation of Matildas, offering the new boss a longlist of sorts to work from and add to.
Regardless of how Montemurro decides to proceed, one thing is clear: he must be decisive. If players are not in his long-term plans, that needs to be reflected in playing time and selections. He needs to strike the balance between a winning squad for now and in the future. And he needs to do it quickly because another quarterfinal exit at the Asian Cup will be unacceptable.
3. Deepening the striking stocks
It's not a new problem, but if one thing made itself all the more apparent from Sam Kerr's ACL-enforced absence, it's that the Matildas need to find some more goal scorers.
In the 21 games the national team has played since Kerr's injury, Michelle Heyman has led the team with nine goals -- four of which were scored in the 10-0 drubbing against Uzbekistan in Olympic qualifying.
Hayley Raso (6), Caitlin Foord (5), own goals (4) and Mary Fowler (3) round out the top five. Four players contributed two goals during this time period while nine players scored a single goal.
Holly McNamara and Fowler are the future of the Matildas goal-scoring, although the team will need to learn to function without Fowler thanks to her own ACL injury, but Montemurro must find a few more young players with an eye for goal who can play their role as well.
4. Building and trusting the depth
There were plenty of criticisms of Gustavsson, but the one which impacted the Matildas most adversely was his lack of trust in the depth he had uncovered in the leadup to the World Cup. By not trusting these players, he didn't rotate or rest his starters and first-choice substitutes, and by the time the Matildas played for third place in Brisbane against Sweden, they looked exhausted.
There needs to be competition for spots. When a squad is announced, there should be players desperately unlucky to have missed out on selection, and it should be just as difficult to pick who should be dropped in their place.
This isn't just the job of Montemurro but the job of the under-23 team, Alex Epakis and the Young Matildas, and Michael Cooper and the Junior Matildas. It is the job of Football Australia to continue investing in the programs to develop players. And it is the job of the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) to continue to grow the A-League Women and make it the best, most professional, competitive league it can be.
5. A playing style for all seasons
The Matildas are as likely to come up against a team that sits in a low defensive block and gives them the bulk of the ball as they are a team that dominates possession and forces Australia to attack on the counter.
Historically, the Matildas have been fabulous on the counter, utilising speedy forwards to leave caught out defences in the dust. Their issue has been how to break down compact defences, unsure what to do with long spells of possession and unable to create the space required to score goals.
Montemurro will need to find ways to get the right players in the right systems to combat these problems so that the team can continue to qualify for major tournaments and then perform well on the big stage.