McDonald misses out as Pim weighs up his options
By Liam FitzGibbon, 5 Nov 2009 Liam FitzGibbon is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- football, Oman football, Pim Verbeek, Scott McDonald, Socceroos
Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek has left Celtic striker Scott McDonald out of his squad to face Oman and hinted the door is open for an A-League bolter to take his place at next year’s World Cup.
McDonald was a notable omission from the squad named on Wednesday for the November 14 Asian Cup qualifier in Muscat.
But unlike midfielder Vince Grella, who is still hampered by a thigh problem, McDonald’s omission was not injury-related with Verbeek saying he had “enough strikers” in the squad.
First-choice frontman Josh Kennedy is in doubt for the match with a back injury but even if he is ruled out Verbeek hinted he could overlook McDonald, possibly in favour of one several form strikers in the A-League.
“Scott is a different type (of player) than Josh, we don’t have the same Josh,” Verbeek said.
“I have to make up my mind what I’m going to do.
“We have different kinds of players available but we all know that Archie (Thompson) is doing very well, Alex Brosque is doing very well and I’m happy to see and hear that Mark Bridge is doing what he promised to do two years ago.
“(Nikita) Rukavytsya is doing well also in the Netherlands so we have some options. It’s getting better and better for the coaching staff to be honest.”
Verbeek has continued to show faith in McDonald since his appointment, despite him being unable to replicate his prolific scoring form for Celtic in the green and gold.
And while it looked McDonald was close to a certainly to make the squad for South Africa, Verbeek says Australia’s striking ranks are anything but finalised.
“There’s a lot of competition,” Verbeek said.
“Players like Brosque and I saw Joel Porter too … We have some strikers in the A-League at the moment who are doing well.
“We are very curious what they are going to do in the upcoming months.”
Australia’s final two Asian Cup qualifiers early next year do not fall on FIFA match dates, which could provide an opportunity for A-League players to stake their claim for a World Cup berth with Verbeek unlikely to be able to call on most of his European-based players.
A win against Oman would move Australia to the brink of qualification for the 2011 tournament in Qatar with Verbeek naming a virtually full strength team as he did in the 1-0 win over Oman in Melbourne last month.
Captain Lucas Neill, Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton, Mark Schwarzer and Harry Kewell were all named, while Mark Bresciano was recalled after missing the last two matches with a knee injury.
Genclerbirligi striker Bruce Djite also earned a recall as did Perth Glory winger Mile Sterjovski to become one of three A-League players in the squad alongside regulars Jason Culina and Craig Moore.
Verbeek played down concerns about Gold Coast star Culina’s recent dip in form, which has coincided with his team relinquishing the competition lead.
“Jason has played better in his life than he has the last weeks but I’ve spoken with him, he knows that also,” Verbeek said.
“We dont have to worry about that, still he’s a very good player.”
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JAJI said | November 5th 2009 @ 7:10am | Report comment
So are our striking ranks so depleted now with Viduka out of the picture and Macdonald not getting picked its Josh Kennedy or nothing? Djite has played about 10 minutes of club gametime this year, Vidosic is in and out of Nurnberg and Nikita R isnt getting any game time at all
I was also disappointed Shane Lowry wasnt picked also as I thought we wanted to cap him at Socceroos level
whiskeymac said | November 5th 2009 @ 7:59am | Report comment
am curious to see how Djite goes because, as JAJI says, he really hasnt had much game time recently – and the others appear to have more time in the reserves and benches than on the pitch. at club level scotty Mc is head and shoulders above all the other strikers, but he doesnt fit into Pims system so he is destined to miss out. a bit harsh – espec as i thought Pim said not so long ago that the time for experimentation is over? he is now talking up just about every striker in the HAL or attached to a euro-team…
wonder how holmAN will do against arsenal… oh, he’s …off side already…
agga78 said | November 5th 2009 @ 8:10am | Report comment
The way Pim plays his team, there is no need for striker in the team 4-5-0.5, So it’s no surpise Scott was not picked, but for Djite to get in the squad who has not played a game all season, your having a laugh Pim. We will do nothing in this world cup with this guy in charge, we will get a 0-0 against the best team in the group with 10 men behind the ball and probably won’t score in the other two matches as his system doesn’t allow for strikers to score goals, the only reason Kennedy has scored a few goals was through desperation crosses into the box against giants like Kazakstain, Bahrain and Qatar.
whiskeymac said | November 5th 2009 @ 8:16am | Report comment
well if NZ qualify we wld want to do better than them at least…! imagine the bragging rights for either side…
Pat said | November 5th 2009 @ 3:24pm | Report comment
Hadn’t thought about that…. uh oh….
The Bear said | November 5th 2009 @ 9:00am | Report comment
Well surmised fellow bloggers.
AndyRoo said | November 5th 2009 @ 9:26am | Report comment
I think it shows how desperate we are for a Viduka Style player.
Djite did play last week so after one game he gets a call up.
Someone did mention that Turkey is a good location to pick players from though for West Asian games. I know it’s closer on the map so I assume the travel time is better.
JAJI said | November 5th 2009 @ 10:16am | Report comment
Someone has suggested that Pim is a little shirty at Scott Macdonald for not appearing for the Dutch and Oman games in Australia given he played a full club game 3 days after Oman.
I just dont think we have enough cattle up front to be ignoring Macdonald even if he doesnt fit into Pims system
Good to see Adam Federeci featuring – he will be our number one for the 2014 campaign
AndyRoo said | November 5th 2009 @ 10:24am | Report comment
I think we are putting to much weight on him saying he won’t be experimenting. I doubt Djite’s inclusion in this team means he is now in the World Cup 23 but obviously if he plays regularily at club level between now and the World Cup he might get Macdonalds spot because he is a better fit for the system.
I don’t think Macdonald would be too upset about missing games in West Asia where he only would have been on the bench at best. I still expect him to be in the squad mainly as the back up to Tim Cahill.
I felt the team he took to Korea left out Sterjovski mainly because he would be on the pine so Pim didn’t want him to miss playing an actual A league match for that. He is pretty pragmatic with his selections and there seems to be a fair amount of common sense in them.
It does seem he has the finger on the pulse though because Djite played last week and Sterjovski finally looks to be coming into form for Perth (scored a great goal against MV) and they were both added to the team within a week of their exploits.
whiskeymac said | November 5th 2009 @ 11:51am | Report comment
well i think no weight can be attached to his experimentation statements when his actions suggest otherwise. it was his excuse previously for not trying new players, but now he is open minded about the options he has to play upfront? if only his playing system was as flexible.
wasnt sterjovski also injured or was that just the press statement?
not trying out lowry is a shame, as JAJI mentioned earlier.
ruky has scored and played more often than Djite, but is again not the style of layer that pim seems to favour up front.
cmag said | November 5th 2009 @ 10:34am | Report comment
Gotta feel sorry for Scott McDonald. He has never been given a proper chance to show us what he can do. Pim has played him as lone striker, or off the bench and the times he has started, Pim subs him as soon as he shows some promise. As far as club football goes, he is our best striker. Our only striker playing regularly for a big club and scoring, so we should be playing a system that suits him and play to his strengths. Give him time and he will reward us with goals.
Ben of Phnom Penh said | November 5th 2009 @ 12:04pm | Report comment
I think Djite has something different to offer the Socceroos and as such I hope he gets a decent run. He also has the ability to run back and help out the defence which will be needed if we take an older back line into the match.
whiskeymac said | November 5th 2009 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
i would have hoped that Scotty was persevered with but as for djite similarly i hope he seizes the opportunity and scores – only a few weeks ago there was an sbs article in which djite was saying he wanted out of turkey because he wasnt getting any game time. he has been someone a lot of people have wanted to see more of and it’s a shame his club football has not seemed to have been as promising as was first hoped. just like Burns, Ruky, Holland etc. i also hope he isnt relied upon to bale out the defence… strikers make lousy defenders normally and tend to give away dramatic free kicks.
there’s a lot of “hope” in this post.