Matildas coach wants aggressive, high-tempo end to 2024

In what could be his final game at the helm, Matildas interim coach Tom Sermanni is demanding aggression, physicality and goals.

Australia will close out a demanding, four-game international window with a second game against Taiwan, at Geelong's GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night.

Retiring great Clare Polkinghorne will start at centre-back in her final game.

Sermanni has again flagged changes in personnel, and some new faces, but won't back away from an attacking approach, even if Taiwan sit deep.

"One of the key things I've learned over many years of us being in Asia is that if you conform to the same tempo that the Asian teams like to play at, then they do it better than us," he said.

"So I think it's really important for us to have a tempo of the game that is high, to have a really aggressive approach to the game.

"We were quite happy to mix things up and to actually use our physicality, which is a big asset for us. So we have tried to blend all of those things together."

Sermanni deployed Michelle Heyman and Emily Gielnik together in Wednesday night's 3-1 win at AAMI Park.

Neither striker scored in their first outing together, but Gielnik in particular caused some headaches.

"I'm not sure if we're sticking with it now, but I thought it went really well,'' Sermanni said.

"We scored two goals in the first 15 minutes and I think that they helped in that. I think having that physical presence, having two players up there, really helped us attack more effectively. So yeah, I was really pleased with how that worked out.''

Sermanni insisted his "interim" tag hadn't affected his approach.

"I've just come in with the idea of 'I'm in here as a coach', so I haven't thought about it as 'I'm in here just for the interim'," he said.

"So what I've tried to do is do what I would have done had I come in here under a two-, three- or four-year contract, and I've just tried to apply those same philosophies."

If a new coach is appointed before February's SheBelieves Cup against the United States, Japan and Colombia, Sermanni knows what he would like to see.

"Ideally, it's someone that has to be here, that has to be invested in the game here, that has to take greater responsibility than just one singular national team,'' he said.

"That would be the ideal role, somebody that can oversee the program, obviously, with people in the room, but I think somebody that brings a skill set would be important ... and somebody that understands the Australian culture.''