Joe Montemurro has reflected on his opening spell of games as Matildas coach.
The 55-year-old oversaw a 3-0 victory and a 1-1 draw against Slovenia in his first two matches in charge.
This was followed up by a 1-0 defeat and a 3-2 win over Panama.
The four fixtures all took place within a fortnight and saw plenty of squad rotation, as Montemurro looks to determine what his strongest line-up may look like.
MORE: Behind the scenes at MetLife Stadium before FIFA Club World Cup final
Star players Sam Kerr, Mary Fowler, Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord, Katrina Gorry and Clare Wheeler didn't feature, while the likes of Mackenzie Arnold, Ellie Carpenter, Alanna Kennedy and Kyra Cooney-Cross left following the Slovenia series.
Naturally, this led to some mixed performances, particularly against Panama.
With the recent international window coming immediately after the European club season, Montemurro acknowledged that player "rhythm" was a "problem" to manage.
However, he is confident the bulk of his squad will be fit and firing for their next run of matches in late October.
"I've had less time to prepare teams for big tournaments," Montemurro said on Tuesday evening, after the Matildas' last-gasp 3-2 win over Panama in Perth.
"The good thing about it, we're going to have a lot of players who are in season (for the next international window), so they're going to be at least physically, and from a rhythm perspective, in tune.
"That was the biggest thing over the last 20 days. You saw the players – the rhythms were up, down, everywhere.
"All of them had to be managed physically.
"We won't have that problem (next time). So at least we can go forward with players that are ready to go."
Montemurro is hoping to base the Matildas in Europe for the next international window before returning home prior to the 2026 Asian Cup.
He accepts there is "more work to do" as he reinforced his tactical philosophy.
The former Arsenal, Juventus and Lyon coach generally likes his teams to dominate possession of the ball and defend on the front foot.
"Obviously, we've got some more work to do," he said.
"We fell into the trap of wanting to rush the play when we needed to slow it down, and we fell into the trap of slowing it down when we needed to go quick.
"That caused a lot of technical errors, because people weren't in position at the right time.
"And every time we turned the ball over, Panama looked like they were going to hurt us."