How other teams can stop the Socceroos

 
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By Macs.football, 28 Nov 2009 Macs.football is a Roar Rookie

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There are five important things that the Socceroos’ three group stage rivals must do next June in South Africa to stop them scoring, therefore increasing their chances of defeating Australia.

Firstly, man-mark Timmy Cahill. One of Timmy Cahill’s best abilities is his intelligent late runs into the box. Although a man-marker won’t be able to stop these runs, man-marking Cahill will put him under pressure when the ball arrives. A man-marker can also put pressure on Cahill at set pieces, hopefully affecting the power and placement of his headers. If the man-marker is effective and stops Australia’s main goal scoring danger from scoring, then you’ve gone halfway to stoping Australia from scoring.

Secondly, play a high defensive line. Australia is a team that lacks technical ability. By playing a high defensive line and denying them space and time on the ball, they are less likely to keep possession of the ball by passing it around and will resort to playing more hopeful, aimless long balls.

Thirdly, force Australia’s two defensive midfielders back. If you put pressure on Australia’s back four, their tendency will be to drop deeper on to the top of their 18-yard box. Australia’s two CDMs will follow suit and sit right on top of the defenders. This will increase the gap between them and Australia’s attacking players, leaving Josh Kennedy and Tim Cahill isolated.

Fourthly, limit the quality of crosses Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton can get into the penalty area. Deny them space, put pressure on them, don’t let them get their head up and, the best outcome of all, force them into early crosses. Poor quality crosses will make it harder for Josh Kennedy and Tmmy Cahill to score and or provide accurate knockdowns for their team-mates.

Finally, if there is a choice between two centre backs, choose the taller one. The Socceroos first choice striker is Josh Kennedy who is 1.94 m tall. If any of the opposition coaches has a choice between two or more centre-backs of the same or similar ability, the smart choice would be to choose the taller one(s).

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