Melissa Barbieri has dismissed growing concerns around the Matildas amid their winless run at the SheBelieves Cup.
Just 12 months out from the Asian Cup on home soil, Australia finished at the bottom of their grouping in America with eight conceded goals in three defeats.
While their debut run in the tournament sparked concerns over their form – particularly after a 4-0 thumping from Japan last week – Barbieri believes their slump has come at the perfect time.
The Matildas have entered a transitional cycle in recent months with the departure of several key stars paving way for the next generation.
Under former coach Tony Gustavsson 23 players were introduced into the squad but just eight have retained a regular spot on the team.
With more of the team's experienced stars heading towards retirement, interim coach Tom Sermanni has debuted eight young players in preparation for the future.
Katrina Gorry of Australia is marked by Hinata Miyazawa of Japan. Getty
Despite having a small depth of talent with experience and mixed success on the international stage, Barbieri believes Sermanni has set the foundations for the team to develop.
"I feel like the emphasis that is being placed on the losses at the moment is not indicative of where the team is at," Barbieri told Wide World of Sports.
"It's a development tournament. You have a coach who is in the interim and is trying to blood as many players as possible for the future
"He is going to try and find combinations that not only bodes well for players individually but also for the team as a whole … chemistry is not built overnight.
"They are in a transitional phase and they are working on things."
Since the Olympics last year the Matildas have produced a mixed bag of results, recording three wins, five defeats and one draw.
Of those matches all defeats were recorded against teams in the top 10 with a victory over Brazil the only exception.
The results have seen the Matildas fall to their lowest ranking since 2007, sitting 15th.
While the drop in ranking has exposed inconsistencies within the team, Barbieri noted that the challenges posed notably differ to those seen in the last decade.
"The difference between us now compared to previous years is what we endure," the four time World Cup representative said.
"People are going to be critical because they want us to win but they have to recognise that we are playing teams well above our ranking.
Melissa Barbieri during the women's international friendly between the Matildas and New Zealand in 2012. Getty
"We managed to get the lower ranked teams more often because the higher ranked teams were always putting in requests for other teams that dominate in the top 10.
"Now, we are playing top 10 teams more often because we have gotten better and other countries see us as better.
"Back in the day we would play Oceania and beat teams 23-0 so they moved us into the Asian confederation which made it harder but it made us better. In order to get better, wins are tougher to come by.
"The difference is not in our ability to play anymore, it's the difference in the quality of opponents that we are regularly seeing and getting pitted against.
"This is the first time we have been accepted into the SheBelieves Cup for a reason.
"Every other time they have held it they have only ever invited teams of high capacity [that are] enthralling audiences."
Tom Sermanni, Interim Head Coach of Australia talks to his players. Getty
No progress has seemingly been made on who will take over the coaching reigns of the team, with Sermanni admitting he is unsure how much longer he will be in the role.
The 70-year-old is the team's longest serving coach, however, has confirmed that he does not want to pursue the role full-time in hopes to retire.
Football Australia has faced increased pressure to make a call on the coaching dilemma, but Barbieri believes no immediate call needs to be made.
"I'm 100 per cent sure that they are waiting for the right people to be available," Barbieri said.
"Having no coach at the moment is probably the perfect timing in a lower importance year before things ramp up for the Asian Cup.
"If (Football Australia) has found the right candidate but the right candidate is unavailable due to other constraints or constrictions, why would you go for someone that is less able to take the team and sacrifice that?
"Last time when they had Tony Gustavsson in the job they probably would've done a change of guard but might have held off on giving other people a chance to lead our Matildas squad and then those sort of people may have been picked up elsewhere.
"You can't ask people to wait around for the right time."
The Matildas next face South Korea in Australia in April.