SOS, Captain Verbeek: The yellow submarine’s going down on the Sea of Viduka

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By Jesse Fink, 29 May 2009 Jesse Fink is a Roar Pro

Tagged:: football, Mark Viduka, Pim Verbeek, Socceroos

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Australian captain Mark Viduka (9) competes for the ball with Sotirios Kyrgiakos of Greece. AP Photo/Mark Baker

Stability. It’s what Mark Viduka, as captain, gave the unwieldy yellow submarine that was the Socceroos’ 2006 World Cup campaign. The team was built around him. The players looked up to him. He was the funnel through which every sortie, every sequence of attacking intent, would pass.

Instability. It’s what Mark Viduka, as castaway, is now giving the nuclear-armed U-Boat that is the Socceroos’ tilt at South Africa 2010.

The team is being asked to exist and function in isolation from him yet mindful that he could step in any minute and alter the chemistry that Pim Verbeek has worked so hard to create.

Viduka is now less a committed national-team footballer and more like a reluctant, avaricious Hollywood star distancing himself from a “project”.

And Verbeek is letting him call the shots.

No man should be above the national team. Harry Kewell used to be, but he pulled his head in and worked hard in establishing his credentials as a team man. Now Viduka is making the same mistake – and he will come to regret it, whether or not he so decides to out his hand up for Verbeek’s selection for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Yes, he’s had a tough season. Yes, he’s just seen his team relegated from the English Premier League. Yes, he’s getting on in the tooth.

But so what?

Being a Socceroo shouldn’t be an arrangement of convenience. It should be a calling. A duty. A conjugal bond that never dies.

When I interviewed Dukes for a magazine story before the 2006 World Cup, I wrote fulsomely in support of him, apropos of the topic of his choosing to play for Australia over Croatia: “He’s pointedly and repeatedly declared his allegiance to Australia and backed up words with action. He’s refused to yield to his employers in club Vs country disputes. He’s one of the few Socceroos to have played at all levels for Australia: under-17, under-20, Olympic and senior level. Of others in the current first XI, his length of service has only been bettered by Mark Schwarzer and Tony Vidmar… in Viduka, Australia has a unique footballer – a player with the power and presence of a traditional striker but with the finesse and touch of a midfielder. A player who has never once misplaced his patriotism.”

Mark even told me: “I love Australia and I love playing with the boys for my country. When I was a young boy, my only goal was to play for Australia, and that was that. There was nothing else… Australia is perfect. You realise how lucky we are when you’re not there.”

So what’s changed?

Clearly he’s grown up. Clearly he’s over the travel. Clearly he wants to be with his wife and kids. Maybe, just maybe, he’s lost some of the love of playing that turned him on to football in the first place.

So why, then, do we need him?

Well, to put it bluntly, there’s no one else to replace him, even if he is disheartened and doesn’t have his mind completely on the job.

Verbeek won’t pick Richard Porta, so we won’t get to see how good he really is. The others – Bruce Djite, Scott McDonald and Josh Kennedy – all have their limitations or aren’t being played to their strengths.

But is a hesitant, uncommitted Viduka a good thing for the Socceroos?

My view is it is not and the constant will-he won’t-he tango that he’s playing with Verbeek is ultimately deleterious to the cause of qualifying for the World Cup, not least the fact that should he so choose to stump in South Africa he will take someone’s spot who put in for the cause when it mattered.

Good for team harmony? Not by a long shot. Good for our chances of success? We’ll have to wait and see.

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The Crowd Says (56) | Page 1 of Comments

The Bear said | May 29th 2009 @ 7:46am | Report comment

Meh, it’s not ideal. But if Viduka comes aboard, then surely the knock on effect will be worth it. Half baked squad players who never should be wearing the Green and Gold in the attacking third may find themselves surplus to requirements.

I’d say give him as long as he needs.

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Mick of Newie said | May 29th 2009 @ 8:37am | Report comment

Given he was only 3 or 4 games into a comeback this was the ideal chance for his return. I wish he was keen and had stuck up his hand. But he wasn’t.

Presumably we have less than 10 games before the world cup, these 3 are vital. It is now time to draw a line through Dukes and focus our attention on developing the limited resources we have sitting behind him.

My tip is that we will see Kewell alone up top against Qatar.

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whiskeymac said | May 29th 2009 @ 8:41am | Report comment

irreplaceable but needing to be replaced. it’s a bit tough on Pim – if he doesnt he is damned, if he does there are still lots of uncertainties.
if we go with him now, and he breaks down before 2010 then we are back at square minus one and without having tried/ given experience too our other strikers. sure they may not be Viduka, even at 33 or 34 he has a presence, but they are still good enough for european professional leagues and are more likely to be able to play several games in a row as required in a tournament.

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tifosi said | May 29th 2009 @ 9:13am | Report comment

If we are still relying on Viduka 3 years after the last world cup, then australia has failed in letting the next generation come through.

As good as he once was, Viduka is now done. He is getting on in age im afraid much like the rest of the socceroos.

Id rather see Nikita Rukavytsya or bruce djite get some game time. They are the future for the socceroos, not Viduka.

Jesse, at least Pim finally picked Nicky Carle!!

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Tom said | May 29th 2009 @ 9:14am | Report comment

“My view is it is not and the constant will-he won’t-he tango that he’s playing with Verbeek is ultimately deleterious to the cause of qualifying for the World Cup”

Well, can’t have been all that deleterious.

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Phutbol said | May 29th 2009 @ 9:28am | Report comment

Agreed. Either put your hand up now Dukes, commit fully to 2010, with injury being the only reason to withdraw, or move gracefully into retirement/A-league/Croatian football.

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Pippinu said | May 29th 2009 @ 9:31am | Report comment

Jesse
you answered it all in one hit – “there’s no one else to replace him” – that’s a fact – we all know we’ll be playing with one centre-forward in South Africa (except for when we’re chasing a goal in the last 10 minutes), and we all know that Josh and Scotty can’t play that role as well as he can (even now).

Djite is the heir apparent, but he may not be ready by mid 2010.

So Dukes is Pim’s insurance – nothing more, nothing less – it’s called contingency planning – and all good coaches do it.

It looks slightly unpalatable, watching from afar, and it probably is not great for team morale, but I can’t see a real problem with keeping all viable options open until the 11th hour (and we can all think of many examples where great players on the verge of retirement, have been enticed back at the last minute for one last tilt at glory, and often with some success).

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Pippinu said | May 29th 2009 @ 9:35am | Report comment

By the way, I think this is a very good subject, one worthy of discussion, but I was a bit bemused by the title of the blog – is the yellow submarine going down? In what sense?

It’s true that some 15 months down the track we might regret Dukes joining or not joining the squad – but surely it’s a bit premature to be signalling that we’re going down?!

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Jesse Fink said | May 29th 2009 @ 9:45am | Report comment

Pippinu, the title of the piece was modified by the editors without consulting me first. Hopefully it will be up in a jiffy. For the record, it is “SOS, Captain Verbeek: The yellow submarine’s going down on the Sea of Viduka”

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whiskeymac said | May 29th 2009 @ 9:57am | Report comment

viduka shone for newcastles vain attempt recently. but does (did) newcastle play the same style or formation as Pim’s roos – i thought there were 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 employed – or does Pim’s single striker formation negate the positives an older (injury prone) viduka could really offer, especially at a World Cup with fast mobile defenders?
Dukes is a great player but the truth is he is less mobile as the months roll on. this mightbe exposed next year. Although he has a lot attributes needed as a holding striker (strength, skill) I think he’s shown that he’s still better playing up front with another striker where the defence have to concerntrate on more than him ie just one slow(er) and obvious target.
(and if 2 strikers are the formation we go for, why not stick with Macdonald and finally play to his strengths).

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