Mary Fowler and teammates rocked by devastating news as major Matildas issue set to linger

Mary Fowler and her Manchester City teammates were rocked by devastating news this week after Alex Greenwood underwent surgery after tearing her MCL. Manchester City have hit a rough patch of form in recent weeks, suffering back-to-back losses to Everton (in the Women's Super League) and Barcelona (in the Champions League).

They've been rocked by a number of key injuries, with England international Greenwood going down with a knee injury against St Polten last week. Greenwood was in agony on the field and had to be taken off on a stretcher during the Champions League fixture.

Although it's not her ACL, the 31-year-old still had to undergo surgery on Friday and is expected to miss around six months. The club initially feared the England defender had suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament tear, which results in 12 months on the sidelines. But it turned out the fullback had injured her Medial Collateral Ligament, which typically has a shorter recovery time.

City haven't put a timeframe on Greenwood's return, but she won't be available for club or country for quite some time. The injury is another blow for England manager Sarina Wiegman ahead of the upcoming Women's Nations League matches in 2025.

England will play a match against world champions Spain in the February international window, as well as a trip to Portugal. It also puts Greenwood in doubt for Euro 2025 and puts her behind the eight-ball amid a battle with Leah Williamson and Millie Bright to start for the national side.

Manchester City struggling with key injuries

Greenwood has played 96 games for England and made 16 appearances for City this season. City are second in the Women's Super League at the Christmas break, six points behind leaders and defending champions Chelsea.

They recently qualified for the Champions League knockout stage despite being thrashed 3-0 by Barcelona. With Greenwood out injured, Matildas player Alanna Kennedy has struggled with the extra responsibility at the back. Fowler has also been thrust into an unfamiliar striking role due to injuries for Lauren Hemp and Khadija Shaw.

Search for next Matildas coach set to linger into February

Meanwhile, it's been revealed the hunt for the next Matildas coach to guide Fowler and her national teammates could drag on beyond February's international window. Football Australia is determined to take its time in order to appoint the right long-term candidate, with Tom Sermanni currently serving as the interim coach.

Sermanni was appointed on a short-term basis after Tony Gustavsson departed in August after the Matildas' flop at the Paris Olympics. Sermanni's reign could continue into and beyond February's SheBelieves Cup as FA contemplates candidates for the next four-year cycle.

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The next head coach will lead the Matildas at the 2026 Asian Cup in Australia, and attempt to qualify and compete in the Women's World Cup in 2027 and Olympics in 2028. On Friday, FA CEO James Johnson noted there were still six women's international windows in 2025, plus two before the Asian Cup in 2026 in which to prepare.

"The hard deadline is as soon as possible, and as soon as possible means getting the right person," he told AAP about the coaching search. "So we have a window in February, and then a window in April. I would hope we at least have confirmed who our coach is by one of those two windows, I hope.

"But again, I don't want to put any hard deadlines because the priority is to get the right person, and the right person is important, right? We've got this juggernaut called the Matildas now - the expectations are high.

"We've got a women's Asian Cup at home that the expectation from the community, as it should be, is that we will win that tournament. So we're playing the long game on this one. And it's about getting the right person in, not about the speed of which we make the appointment."

with AAP