By Paddy Higgs
February 5th 2009 @ 4:45am
Related coverage
With Pim Verbeek, always expect the expected
Australian national team coaches have always seemed to make their own unique mark on the job. Terry Venables, for instance, brought his London East-End rogue’s act to the party.
Intensely defensive of his players and himself, Frank Farina, wore his heart on his sleeve. While Guus Hiddink’s evident belief in his own principles instilled confidence in the players under him.
Shedding light on the personality of incumbent Pim Verbeek’s, however, has been a little more difficult. But one thing is for certain: Verbeek is understated as any to grace Australian football.
With the Dutchman, it’s a case of expecting the expected. You only need to look at the Socceroos squad, named on Tuesday, as evidence.
Verbeek’s squad was about as predictable as getting a couple of pairs of new undies for Christmas.
Granted, many of the squad pick themselves. But with a number of young contenders starting to find form at club level, surely a surprise or two wouldn’t have hurt.
James Troisi was touted by many on various football forums as a smoky for the squad, and those who extolled his chances may indeed have had a point.
The left winger has been establishing himself at junior Socceroo nursery Genclerbirligi since a move from Newcastle United, and hit a hat-trick on January 24 against Kayserispor. Already with three full caps to his name, Troisi would have been a good pick to replace the injured Harry Kewell.
Teammate Bruce Djite could have also laid claim to a spot in the squad. He has taken longer to settle than Troisi at the Turkish club, but he has popped up with some recent goals.
With Joshua Kennedy and Scott McDonald the only out-and-out strikers in the squad, Djite may have proven a wildcard if called on from the bench.
The right and left back positions are also problem areas. After Brett Emerton’s horrible knee injury only Luke Wilkshire seems capable of slipping in on the right, unless Verbeek opts to move Lucas Neill across.
Olyroo Trent McClenahan has been impressing for a much-improved Hamilton outfit in the Scottish Premier League, and could have been an option.
On the left, there are actually three candidates for one spot.
But all three have fitness concerns.
David Carney played his 45 minutes of first-team football for months on Tuesday, while Shane Stefanutto hasn’t played competitively since November due to the Norwegian Tippeliga being in recess.
Scott Chipperfield is the other option for Verbeek, though his move to German club Hertha Berlin was called off last month after he failed a medical.
The outspoken Eaddy Bosnar, who plays his club football in Japan with JEF United, would therefore have been an inventive and intelligent selection.
Of course, none of this will matter if Australia gets a result next Wednesday.
But it would have been intriguing to see any of the aforementioned players – or any other fringe ones, had they been picked – in the squad.
Still, just in case anyone had got excited about the squad and Wednesday’s big match, Verbeek left us with another little gem to dampen our enthusiasm.
In front of the listening media, Verbeek said that Australia’s rivalry with next week’s opponent Japan was “not special”, no more so than with any other country anyway.
Try telling that to anyone who sat up late to watch a certain World Cup match on June 12, 2006.
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StiflersMom said | February 5th 2009 @ 6:18am | Report comment
Did it go something like this?
“Yesh, for me thish is a big matchh, but I don’t zhink zhere is mucchh rivalry between zhe teamms”.
dasilva said | February 5th 2009 @ 6:54am | Report comment
I believe that David Carney is going to get the start on left wing replacing kewell with chippers (injury pending) or steffanuto getting the left back position and judging from comments from Pim and culina is that holman is primed for the right flanks replacing Brett emerton
You know I’m kind of hoping that Carney get’s an injury so that Troisi who is on the standby squad can get drafted in. He does look exciting with that hat trick.
Dickroo said | February 5th 2009 @ 9:22am | Report comment
Pim is conservative, no doubt about that. He always opted for less risky choice, specially for away games with no preparation time.
I agree with this principle – there’s no need for trial-and-error experiment for this Japan game.
Young or fringe players may shine now and then, but they need to show the consistency in their club first.
Maybe Pim believes that for such a high pressure game, a proven player like Chippers with no match fitness is still more predictable than an exciting in-form young player like Troisi.
Some coaches hate unpredictables. Pim is one of them.
phat-boi said | February 5th 2009 @ 9:23am | Report comment
nicky carle being left out again is an utter disgrace. with most of the attacking midfielders either injured or not playing games week in week out, and the fact carle has been playing every week for a few months now and would even be more useful this week as he is suspended for crystal palace this weekend could have meant that he could fly to japan earlier than most.
pim you are an utter disgrace
Pippinu said | February 5th 2009 @ 10:25am | Report comment
Three left sided players in the squad – that’s the good news – the bad news is that:
1. Steffanutto is on his mid-Winter break from his Arctic comp;
2. Carney has played 45 minutes in the last 45 weeks; and
3. Chippers may be carrying a niggly injury.
In drought, we cobble together whatever we can. When it pours, there are floods and widespread destruction. That bloody left side will be the curse of us yet…
sledgeross said | February 5th 2009 @ 10:31am | Report comment
Here we go with the Nicky Carle thing again………….
Who is he going to replace, Bresciano, Grella, Cahill, Culina? I agree he could be used off the bench, especially when you consider Carney and Sterjovski havent played much, but the difference is both these players can fill a few positions, whilst Carle is mainly considered an AM. Hopefully he will get a chance at some stage though.
sledgeross said | February 5th 2009 @ 10:34am | Report comment
Pip, what do you reckon about our lack of established wide players, especially with a target like Jesus. I look at the squad and Carney is the only real bloke who will run down the sideline and whip in crosses, and Carney might be playing deeper than he is suited for given Chippers might be absent.
Ryan Steele said | February 5th 2009 @ 11:03am | Report comment
I agree with the lack of an Eddy Bosnar appearance. While JEF United had yet another poor season (only avoiding relegation by a heart-in-mouth final game of the season), but Bosnar was very much in-form. It would have also been helpful that Eddy lives practically “down the road” from Nissan Stadium. Though, with the J-League currently out of season, and teams only starting to train again, I can understand Pim’s decision.
It will be interesting, considering the slight tweaks required in the squad selection, what formation will be used, and how tactics will be played.
dasilva said | February 5th 2009 @ 11:13am | Report comment
Ryan Steele
Mike Tuckerman (also writes for The Roar) wrote about the Eddy Bosnar issue on his blog. This what he has to say about him
“I really want Eddy Bosnar to do well in the J. League, but to a certain extent the facts speak for themselves. His team are second from bottom going into the final day and they have the second worst defensive record in the league.”
He also mention that his a bit of a hothead getting himself send off very often. he got book 12th times. Equal top of the league in terms of booking and sends off.
“At any rate, he’s probably good enough to be a squad member for the Socceroos – he’s not a bad player in the greater scheme of things – but maybe the fact that he’s always talking about himself (instead of talking about “the team”) says something about why he’s not in the squad.
He strikes me as a bit of an individualist and maybe that’s not what Pim Verbeek is after?
As for his strengths and weaknesses…
He’s tall, has decent positional sense and has a venomous strike from long-distance, particularly at free-kicks.
But he’s made a few costly mistakes at United this season.
If anything I feel that if people had actually seen him in action he probably wouldn’t be spoken of as national team material. ”
From the account of Mike he has a poor seasons for JEF United.
Ryan Steele said | February 5th 2009 @ 11:37am | Report comment
In all respect to Mike, I also watch quite a bit of J-League, and while I saw several mistakes, I also saw a lot of form. In reality, he probably had a similar season to Sasa Ognenovski, who many declared a shoe-in for a national cap. The main difference, as both Mike and myself have stated, was JEF’s poor season.
And regarding his inflated ego, I put this question to the footballing world: How many players out there don’t have an inflated ego? I agree that it might be too much so for a spot in the Socceroos squad, but even putting him on the bench might be an eye-opener.
Perhaps if Eddy was still playing for the likes of Heracles Almelo, Pim would take more interest in him.
In reality, any risks come down to one thing: Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
dasilva said | February 5th 2009 @ 11:47am | Report comment
I guess football really is a games of opinions. I admit I haven’t seen much of him and just relying on opinions from people who have. It seems to me that opinion are a bit divided about him.
Pim has seen him play and wanted to select him for the Ghana Match. His clubs JEF United refuse to release him as the match was not on a FIFA date. After that he was never seen again. Mike wrote that henk Duut were sent to watch him for one match where JEF United host Vissel Kobe. Apparently Eddy had a poor match then. I guess he’s unlucky (and perhaps nicky Carle) to play poorly during the times when Duut is in the stands .
Slippery Jim said | February 5th 2009 @ 12:09pm | Report comment
phat-boi, are you sure Carle didn’t just rebuff Pim’s invitation to play as he has better things to do? After all, he has done it already twice. Can’t really assume it was Pim.
Pippinu said | February 5th 2009 @ 12:42pm | Report comment
Sledgecross
We’ll be missing Emo on the right side (and his partnerhsip with Wilkshire was really starting to develop, best of all, they can happily swap positions mid game without giving the manager a heart attack).
On the left, Chippers can’t do the overlapping runs we have become accustomed to seeing, and appears to be carrying an injury at the moment. With his inclusion, Carney does slot in a bit better in a wide midfield role (than as an outright full back, where he still has defensive frailties).
We know that Pim won’t go with a back three away to Japan, so that might just mean taking a chance with Carney.
Bresh regularly plays on the left, and is handy (for a right footer). He’s been getting game time with Palermo, so that is encouraging.
I’m liking the look of Sterjovski on the other side, he too has been getting game time, and his last couple of NT appearances were pretty good.
Is it possible that Pim will continue the Everton experiment with Cahill upfront? (allowing Holman in behind to play his spoiling role)?
And before anyone starts up at me – yes, yes – I think Carle deserves a chance!!
I’m not sure – but I wager he’ll be tossing that idea around too (not too mention that Timmy will track back all day without fail – as long as he stays out of our box!!)
sledgeross said | February 5th 2009 @ 1:06pm | Report comment
Pip, I mean we seem to be lack out and out wingers. I know we have blokes that can play wide, such as Bresh and Sterjovski, but I think they are naturally middle park players. Sterj did impress me with his work down the flanks in the friendly against uruguay all those months ago though. Emmo does like to run with the ball, but often gets caught with it in the corners. I dont think we have really had an effective wing player since Kewell in his Leeds days, and then again he always played a more direct role for the Socceroo’s.
Pippinu said | February 5th 2009 @ 1:22pm | Report comment
Sledge
I agree with your basic point about Carney, that he is one of the few natural wingers we have (of any description), but there is a possibility that he might have to cover for Chippers.
It’s more than likely will be a 4-2-3-1, so Bresh usually does all right in that sort of combination on the left (and I hope to see Sterj on the right). Wilkshire is starting to overlap with confidence and send in decent balls (but clearly, I don’t see him as a natural winger).
If Pim decided to play both Vinnie and Valeri as DMs, I wonder whether he might consider pushing Culina up the park? If Cahill does continue his Everton role, it would be good to see Culina there rather than Holman.
If there’s a dangerous mid playing from deep, Pim might prefer to have Holman there as a “marking” forward – a role which he does ok at.
md said | February 5th 2009 @ 2:57pm | Report comment
In fairness to Carney, he absolutely ripped it up for Norwich if the reports are to be believed. It seems as though he put at least 2 crosses that were described as “on a plate” for his strikers to screw up. The Norwich fans seem fairly hopeful that he will make a big contribution. He will be feeling hugely relieved and confident from that, so it’s probably a good time to play him.
Pim makes a point of saying that Dave has never let him down, so he has the coach’s confidence.
Cheers
md
Midfielder said | February 5th 2009 @ 3:05pm | Report comment
Mike you make some interesting points … as I see it Pim has been given one mission … by whatever means you see fit Australia must qualify for the 2010 WC … no excuses make the world cup … He will pick the team he thinks can do the best job and against Japan he should take no chances.
Pippinu said | February 5th 2009 @ 3:12pm | Report comment
Mid
who’s Mike?
Don’t worry about Pim – he’s not a bloke to take chances!
md
so will Pim play him at left back if Chippers is injured? He was favouring Chippers over Carney in that spot ever since Chippers became match fit a while back.
Green n Gold 2010 said | April 12th 2009 @ 11:06pm | Report comment
SACK PIM!!!!
BRING ON TROUSSIER!!!!