Socceroos need to loosen the attacking strings

 
Paddy Higgs Roar Guru

By , 26 Mar 2009 Paddy Higgs is a Roar Guru

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Australia's Andres Quintana charges for the ball during their World Cup qualifier clash against Qatar on Saturday, June 14 at Al Sadd Stadium Doha. AP Photo/STR

When Australia braved the damp conditions to thump Qatar 4-0 last October, everything seemed too easy for the Socceroos. But a number of worrying signs to emerge since then indicates that all is not well. Particularly in attack.

While Verbeek has not had his full arsenal in four international fixtures since, the Socceroos have – worryingly – not scored in more than 270 minutes of football.

A closer look at Australia’s almost-full strength squad for next Wednesday’s match with Uzbekistan is proof. While a late call-up for Bruce Djite yesterday added to Verbeek’s stocks, he joins just Harry Kewell, Joshua Kennedy and Scott McDonald as options up front.

Good on paper, sure.

But Kennedy hasn’t tasted action for club side Karlsruhe this year, McDonald is yet to open his account for his country and it can be argued that Kewell’s best football comes from a free midfield role.

Even the promising Djite has been limited to substitute outings for Turkish club Genclerbirligi of late.
Verbeek’s own conservative tactics since that Qatar game have not helped, either.

As effective as they have been to bring the Socceroos to the cusp of the 2010 World Cup, they have nevertheless not fostered the unearthing of further forward options.

Nor – as evidenced in the domestic-based Socceroos’ barren outings against Indonesia and Kuwait – do there seem to be any A-League based candidates.

There have been rumblings about Mark Viduka’s return to the national fold in the lead up to South Africa, but as welcome as that would be, he can barely make the field at English Premier League club Newcastle.

The other options are unproven or unlikely.

Richard Garcia is in the squad but is regarded mainly as a midfielder for Hull City.

Nikita Rukayvtsya and Nathan Burns are still finding their feet in Holland and Greece respectively and League 1 doesn’t seem high enough for Australia-bound Joel Porter.

There have been calls for Verbeek to loosen the attacking strings in the remaining World Cup qualifiers if his side does clinch qualification against the Uzbekis.

Many of these calls come merely from a desire to see Australia play some of the attacking football on show on that sodden Suncorp Stadium turf against Qatar.

But more than that, Verbeek would benefit from seeing what options he has going forward and if new players need to be given opportunities in the side. Because, while getting to the World Cup is terrific, spiraling limply out of the first round (as with the Beijing Olympics) would be disastrous.

And if Australia is not confident in attack when June 2010 rolls around, that could be a distinct possibility.

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