What's next for Matildas, as rumours swirl around Kerr's future

As the dust settles on a roller-coaster Women’s Asian Cup campaign, culminating in Saturday night’s thrilling but ultimately heart-breaking decider in Sydney, attention is now turning to what comes next for the Matildas.

In practical terms, it looks like their next assignment as a team is a series of games involving Malawi, India and Kenya in less than a months’ time, and it’s likely we’ll see a vastly different group of players used in those match-ups than we saw during this Asian Cup, as Joe Montemurro looks to continue blooding the next generation.

That dovetails nicely with what’s next off the pitch, with Montemurro using the platform afforded him after the Asian Cup final to implore those running the game in this country to try implement a long-term plan that would create less anxiety over what happens when a group of experienced players approaches retirement, as is fast becoming the case with the Matildas.

As Sam Lewis mentioned in this great analysis leading in to Saturday’s final, Japan are more than 20 years into a 50-year vision they launched back in 2005. In Australia, on the other hand, “I think our biggest problem is sticking to a program, sticking to something and saying this is what we believe is going to be us in the next 15, 20 years,” according to Montemurro.

At yesterday’s fan event at Sydney’s Darling Harbour, the Matildas players were understandably subdued, and none of the squad’s big names fronted the media - although in fairness the likes of Sam Kerr and Alanna Kennedy had plenty of media time during the tournament.

Some of the players had already begun their journeys back to Europe, including Caitlin Foord and Clare Hunt, with Football Australia confirming Hunt is set to undergo knee surgery after picking up an injury that ultimately saw her miss out on playing a role in the final.

Kerr will also be heading to the UK, where reports emerged over the weekend that she’s set to leave Chelsea at the end of the season.

Both The Times and The Athletic reported strong interest in Kerr in the USA, where her wife Kristie Mewis is from, as the Matildas captain’s contract with Chelsea expires in a few months.

You can read Montemurro’s comments on that situation, and on what comes next for the Matildas, in the link below.

Cristian Volpato certainly has a good sense of timing.

Just days after Tony Popovic spoke passionately about not wanting to sell the Socceroos shirt to any players following Adrian Segecic’s high-profile defection to Croatia, Volpato has popped up in Italy with comments that are unlikely to ingratiate him with the Socceroos boss.

Asked about his international allegiances in a post-match press conference following Sassuolo’s 1-1 draw against Juventus in Serie A, which saw Volpato start his first match this year, the 22-year-old uttered some comments that are sure to go down like a lead balloon with many Socceroos fans.

"I spoke to the coach (Popovic),” Volpato said. “They've been wanting to call me to Australia for a few years, but I grew up watching the Azzurri, even the coach, and I'm waiting for Italy, then we'll see how the rest goes."

Read into that what you will, but having not been named in the Socceroos squad for the upcoming friendlies against Cameroon and Curacao, there is a chance the window for Volpato to choose Australia might have just closed.

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Of all the Australians you might have expected to score a hat-trick in Europe, I’m guessing Jacob Italiano wasn’t high on your list.

Playing for Austrian club Grazer AK, Italiano put in what must surely be one of his best ever performances on a football pitch, scoring three times in a 5-1 win over WSG Tirol in the Austrian Bundesliga.

But you have to see the goals to truly appreciate the kind of game Italiano had.

He scored two absolute crackers from outside the box, and by the time he stepped up to take a penalty to complete his hat-trick, the 24-year-old had all the swagger of a world-class striker.

With Lewis Miller ruled out of the World Cup, Italiano was already looking like a solid option to replace him as Australia’s starting right wing-back. Now he’s looking like an inspired choice!

Another player who will now enter Socceroos camp high on confidence is Deni Juric, who bagged two goals for Wisla Plock in Poland over the weekend.

Juric will be very keen to make his debut for Australia in the coming week, having been forced to withdraw from the last squad he was in due to injury, and could potentially book his ticket to the World Cup with a couple more strong performances up front.

Elsewhere in Europe, Cammy Devlin made his long-awaited return to the starting XI for Hearts, and while it was too late to see him earn a call-up for Australia, it did at least help Hearts gain a victory that helped them regain their three-point buffer at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

Another midfielder who wasn’t named in the latest Socceroos squad, Jackson Irvine, played the full 90 minutes in FC St. Pauli’s 2-1 defeat to Freiburg this morning, a game that also saw Connor Metcalfe get some minutes off the bench.

Meanwhile there was another brace scored by an Aussie over in the USA, with former Adelaide United forward Archie Goodwin bagging a double for Charlotte FC after coming off the bench in the 75th minute.

Australians Aiden O’Neill and Kai Trewin, who are both about to head to Australia to link up with their Socceroos teammates, got to test themselves against Lionel Messi as their New York City FC side played out a thrilling 3-2 loss to Inter Miami.

Check out our Aussies Abroad wrap from yesterday here.

Tottenham Hotspur sank further towards Premier League relegation after losing 3-0 to Nottingham Forest this morning.

The result saw Forest leapfrog Spurs in the ladder, and only West Ham’s loss to Aston Villa at the same time prevented Tottenham from dropping into the relegation zone.

Many outlets in the UK are now predicting Igor Tudor could be on the way out - former Tottenham midfielder Danny Murphy said “it’s impossible for him to stay” - despite the Croatian only being appointed head coach a little over a month ago.

A penny for the thoughts of Ange Postecoglou.

The one solace for Spurs fans this morning is that their arch-rivals Arsenal lost too - and in a game that could have seen them take their first step towards securing a historic quadruple this season.

Gunners fans will have to downgrade their hopes to a treble, after they lost 2-0 to Manchester City in the final of the Carabao Cup.

Will that give City a psychological edge as they try hunt down Arsenal in the Premier League?

We’ll have more on what happened overnight in England up on football360.com.au a bit later today.

Newcastle Jets’ hopes of winning the A-League Premiership were reignited yesterday following a dramatic finish to their clash with Sydney FC.

Ben Gibson scored the winner for the Jets in the fourth minute of stoppage time, which came after Sydney had a penalty chalked off for offside, and before veteran Rhyan Grant found the back of the net in the 97th minute, only for that to also be ruled out for offside.

Max Burgess was named man of the match in the 2-1 victory, his first game back in Sydney since leaving the club at the end of the last season, with the result taking Newcastle four points clear at the top of the ladder with four games to play before the finals.

Elsewhere in the A-League yesterday, Perth captain Adam Taggart scored a club-record 60th A-League Men goal to snag a 1-1 draw with Melbourne City that keeps the Glory’s season alive.

And on Saturday, Juan Mata put on yet another classy display to help Melbourne Victory beat Central Coast Mariners 4-1, a result that took Victory above Sydney and up until third place.

Mata has now scored four goals and supplied six assists in his last six matches. What a player.