By Tony Tannous
December 1st 2009 @ 3:20am
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Are Archie’s World Cup aspirations hopeless?
Socceroo Archie Thompson (centre) meets with kids at a soccer clinic at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Wednesday, October 4, 2006. AAP Image/Dave Hunt
No doubt one of the most discussed areas in the lead up to the announcement of Pim Verbeek’s 23 man squad for next year’s World Cup will be the composition of his front-third, and specifically just how many strikers he will take?
Suffice to say, short of Michael Bridges or Sergio van Dijk being naturalised and FIFA suddenly shifting its eligibility boundaries, it’s unlikely Verbeek will take too many out-and-out strikers to South Africa.
That conclusion is based on the make-up of his recent squads, the defensive way he has gone about his time at the helm of the Socceroos and the lack of strikers putting a hand up.
Two? Perhaps three? Maybe one?
Either way, it is likely to be at least a couple less than the four out-and-out strikers (Mark Viduka, John Aloisi, Josh Kennedy and Archie Thompson) who went to Germany.
Throw in Mile Sterjovski and Harry Kewell, who were ostensibly wide attackers under Guus Hiddink, and one could argue we were almost spoilt for front third options in Kaiserslautern, Munich and Stuttgart; certainly in comparison to what we can expect next year.
All the 2006 front-men, except for Thompson, got game time in Germany. His most memorable display came in the half an hour or so after the Croatia game in Stuttgart, when he dazzled the gold masses in the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium, this correspondent among them, with his best impersonation of Angus Young.
While the memories from that post-match performance still send chills down the spine, sadly, Thompson’s efforts in the green and gold have never quite matched his effort that night, his 13 goals against American Samoa in 2001 included.
For a player who has seemingly been an ever-present on the fringes of the national team, there’s only ever been two goals against non-Pacific nations, and they came against Jamaica in 2005 and Bahrain in February 2006, which was Thompson’s most recent Roos goal.
The feeling, at least for this long time observer, is that Thompson hasn’t quite grabbed his opportunities in the green and gold. Indeed, one’s often been left to ponder whether Thompson has been happy enough simply being a part of things at national level.
There’s little doubt about his popularity within the squad, but as Andrew Symonds would attest, popularity in the dressing room can only get you so far. Ultimately, it’s performances that count.
Perhaps only in Montevideo, in 2005, could Thompson truly have been classed a first 11 Socceroo, and even then it was a surprise move from Hiddink, designed to capitalise on his pace in the hope he could pinch something on the counter.
Generally, his roles have been bit-part, mostly when others haven’t been around.
Perhaps the most glaring recent example was in the opening two Asian Cup qualifiers of the current campaign, in Indonesia and Canberra (against Kuwait), when Thompson was entrusted with the responsibility of leading the line, and had shockers in both.
There’s no doubt, in the absence of the established Euro-stars, Verbeek was crying out for Thompson to lead his attack. Famously, he described Thompson’s performance in the 0-0 draw in Indonesia as “absolutely hopeless”, issuing a challenge, perhaps an ultimatum, ahead of the matchday-two clash with Kuwait.
Once again Thompson failed, out-shone by Kuwait’s livewire Bader Al-Mutwa.
Even as an over-aged Olympian in Athens, last year, Thompson failed to make in impression as the Graham Arnold led side bowed out in the first round.
Now it’s question of whether Thompson’s card has permanently been marked by Verbeek and Co.?
Certainly, on the evidence of his performances over the past couple of months, in the wake of being left out of a few recent squads, Thompson looks to have been stung in a big way.
Again, on the weekend, he was dynamic, bagging two more quality strikes to take his tally to 52 in 92 games. Undoubtedly he’s been the player of the A-League, full stop.
But is his stunning domestic form enough to get him back in Verbeek’s plans?
If you cast an eye over the front third shoe-in’s, right now you could only argue with certainty that Kewell will be on the plane, and even then he’s hardly an out-and-out striker.
However, on the evidence of his goal every two games ratio in Turkey, right now he looks our most likely avenue to goal from the front line.
Josh Kennedy is the next most likely, as much for his pinch-hitting ability to get on the end of crosses, but as we’ve seen in recent times, he is less effective as a starter and our front third tends not to be so fluent when he is named to start.
Beyond this, who else is begging to be picked?
Scott McDonald bagged another one in green and white on the weekend, but has hitherto yet to register in gold. And, like Kennedy, the feeling is the Verbeek system doesn’t quick correlate with his game.
Of the others, there’s not enough consistency, both in terms of games and goals, from the younger brigade, the likes of Bruce Djite and Nikita Rukavytsya.
Meanwhile, the other A-League contenders, Joel Porter, Alex Brosque and Mark Bridge have been a little up and down.
No sooner had their names been mentioned by Verbeek than they melted, struggling, it seems, to handle the spotlight. The same could be said of other “interesting” local candidates, Simon Colosimo and Michael Thwaite.
As for Thompson, he’ll be desperate for one last shot in the next Asian Cup qualifier away to Kuwait in the new year, but whether Verbeek is as desperate to give him one last shot remains to be seen.
Perhaps a softish draw on Saturday, if there can be such a thing at this international showpiece, might be Thompson’s best hope of forcing Verbeek to sacrifice one of his myriad of midfielders for another out-an-out striker, but on the evidence of what we’ve seen so far, I wouldn’t be betting on it.
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Look, it was...
Freud of Football said | December 1st 2009 @ 4:53am | Report comment
Verbeek would be well served to schedule a friendly against a minnow some time between now and when he selects his squad, any bunch of amateurs that FIFA still count as being International footballers.
Go out in a 3-3-4 with Kewell, McDonald, Kennedy and Emerton all up front and let McDonald break the drought, even if it’s via a penalty, anything because it’s a mental thing as much as anything and having seen him play quite a bit with Celtic, he is by far the best Striker Aus has, miles ahead of Thompson and he is most definately good enough to play at a WC, Verbeek needs him and he needs him scoring but the first one will be the hardest.
Also, Cahill would have to be included as having his ticket amongst those in the front-third, he’s not really a midfield player (then again he’s not really anything) but I’m pretty sure he will play a huge part for Australia.
Rob said | December 1st 2009 @ 10:02pm | Report comment
Good plan Freud…someone get Pim on the phone and tune him !
agga78 said | December 1st 2009 @ 6:51am | Report comment
Are Archie’s World Cup aspirations hopeless? YES
Why? I watch him every week play for Melbourne and the amount of chances he misses is unbelievable, the reason why he doesn’t play in Europe and doesn’t play for Australia. I would like Fox sports to show all the misses he has had this season because I would suggest it would be over 50.
We don’t need any strikers the way Australia play with the 4-6-0 formation Pim likes away from home or against stronger opponents.
Pippinu said | December 1st 2009 @ 7:17am | Report comment
Tony
I think you’re right – Arch’s time is now passed (if there ever was a time) – it’s no embarassment for a player to accept that he has just fallen short of the next level (and there’s always a next level in the World Game).
The truth is that we have more than enough choices, and we have a couple in the squad who can run at defenders, the one thing Arch may have brought to the squad.
But I’ll recount two instances that you have left out which give another perspective, as fleeting as it is.
A couple of years back we had that friendly against Argentina where Arch was one of our best and nearly set up a goal – his performance was even commented upon by the Argies.
Not long after that, Arch started in a game against China, I can’t remember which one – and he was injured with a very agricultural tackle about ten minutes in, after a very bright start – the sort of luck that can absolutely end any hopes of winning further caps – and it doesn’t take much for that to happen.
AndyRoo said | December 1st 2009 @ 9:01am | Report comment
Similar to Simon Colisimo, he wasn’t that far behind Brett Emerton when he was the victim of that tackle from Andy Cole.
That was a huge set back.
Pippinu said | December 1st 2009 @ 9:02am | Report comment
Yep – I had Colosimo in mind as well when I wrote that.
The Bear said | December 1st 2009 @ 8:41am | Report comment
Pip, fair play. I agree with the sentiments. BTW Tony, did you mean last year’s _China_ Olympics?
Tom said | December 1st 2009 @ 9:15am | Report comment
I think he’ll get one more shot in the Asian Cup qualifiers. He’s playing such good football that he’d make that team on merit.
But unless he gets a hat-trick in both games I can’t imagine Verbeek selecting him for South Africa.
clayton said | December 1st 2009 @ 9:54am | Report comment
Is Archie just the wrong type of guy for how Pim wants his team to play?
He looks so comfortable with the Vic, switching wide to either flank, dropping deep and leading the line.
Is he a useful player in more static teams?
dan said | December 1st 2009 @ 10:23am | Report comment
Pippinu,
archie got injured very early in a cynical tackle in the game in china against the national team in the first group stage of the world cup qualifiers, i remember that clearly as i was watching that game.
i remember thinking at the time, what an absolute crying shame for archie, cause he was playing really well at that point.
if archie has got good footballers around him, he most often plays quite well, he needs the creative service of top-class players in the national team to rely on, not a socceroos team of a-league players he most often plays in.
midfield general said | December 1st 2009 @ 10:36am | Report comment
I’d love to see some bolter for the World Cup squad but can’t see any around. I think it will be HK as the first choice lone striker, supported by Kennedy, Vidosic and hopefully Ruka. Then you’ve got Mc Donald so I think it will be hard for Archie….You never know there might be some injuries, there’s a lot of club football to be played between now and then. I’m more concerned about the defence, I’ll be really worried if we line up with Chippers, Neill and Moore, and their lack of pace. I know they’re experienced, but maybe we need to mix it up with Milligan, Spiranovic and even Colosimo.
Brian Munich said | December 1st 2009 @ 12:19pm | Report comment
There’s been a great deal of hot air from the local media recently talking up the chances of A-league hopefuls like Thompson making the final 23. Forget it, they simply won’t be there.
Etihad regulars will remind anyone prepared to listen that when Thompson is good, he’s very, very good; when he’s bad, he’s horrid. For every Gold Coast game where Thompson emerges a hero, there are plenty etched in the memory where he’s missed chance after chance and has been offside more often than on. Often accompanied by a desultory shake of the head. Let’s face it, if he was more consistent he probably would have found a higher paid gig elsewhere. That’s the A-league’s lot for the moment.
moo cow said | December 1st 2009 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
Let him play with the senior national side. It’s much more difficult to rate him when he plays with inexperienced players around him.
Chook said | December 1st 2009 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
3 reasons he never got a good run with Gus,
1. clearly not good enough
2. cannot and will not follow basic team tactics
3. the only other thing to out match his supposed talent is his ego
Stick with the A- League Arch where your a legend.
Chop said | December 1st 2009 @ 1:31pm | Report comment
I wasn’t going to say it as bluntly but I agree chook, he’s the equivalent of a cricket flat track bully, looks good against ordinary competition but can’t take the next step up and perform at the international level….
Tony Tannous said | December 1st 2009 @ 4:09pm | Report comment
Some very interesting commentary on this one, so thanks all for sharing your perspective.
On the one hand, I watched Archie on the weekend, and I felt, from a technical perspective, he lived with Jason Culina and Carlos Hernandez (two players of WC standard – sadly not this time for Hernandez) quite comfortably.
Some of his step-over’s and deftness on the ball was on par with what Culina was producing in the early going (btw, what on earth was Culina doing on the right side of attack?? more puzzling work from Miron!!!), and his movement to find space is excellent.
Ernie Merrick also made a good point recently about his defensive game and how effective that’s been, and I saw him doing a good pressing job, particularly on Anderson on United’s left.
But sadly his form for MV hasn’t transpired to the national team (notwithstanding the rotten luck that Pippinu alluded to in the China game), and I think the point Clayton makes about the different styles of MV and the national team plays a part – but it’s as much a mental thing I think – good/smart players can adapt.
But there is also some good commentary that suggests it would be good to see Thompson given a few games with the likes of Bresciano, Emerton, Cahill and Kewell, to see if he can cut it at the elite level if he gets the service. But I worry for him he might have left his run too late – his chances came earlier in the year, in those two Asian Cup quals.
The thing about international football is that you get far less space than the A-League, and as a striker, under the Verbeek system, you often have to sacrifice yourself for the greater cause.
The question is, has Archie matured enough and is he tactically flexible enough to adapt to the way Verbeek wants to play? And make the requisite impact (which in my mind is to allow our front third to flow – it’s not just about hitting the back of the net, although I wouldn’t complain)?
Right now, I sense he is more willing to listen and learn than he has ever been. He’s a very hungry player. I certainly wouldn’t begrudge him one last crack, just not sure the pragmatic Verbeek will be so charitable.
And yes Bear, thanks for the pick-up, it was Beijing…forgettable all round.
md said | December 1st 2009 @ 4:53pm | Report comment
I don’t see Archie on the plane, but Brosque has a slightly better chance I would think. My reasoning is as follows: Pim’s only got 23 spots to fill and 3 will be goalkeepers. There is only 1 striker’s spot in Pim’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system, and it will go to Kennedy with McDonald in back-up because they are the best 2 out and out strikers.
He’s then got 3 – 4 attacking midfielder positions, so you could expect 6 – 8 versitile attacking midfielders, some of whom could also be relied upon to play striker (such as Kewell, Cahill, Mile, Holman and yes, Brosque). There will also be 4 defensive midfielders, 4 fullbacks and 4 centrebacks. The numbers might change by 1 or 2, given that people like Wilkshire, Culina and Carney can fill many roles, but basically that will be the squad’s composition. There might be a 3rd out and out striker, and for reasons set out above by others, it’s unlikely to be Archie, but if you wanted to be a dark-horse selection for the world cup team, your best bet would be as an attacking midfielder who can double as a striker . From the A-league, that’s pretty much Alex Brosque and Mile Sterjovski territory.
Cheers
md
Pippinu said | December 1st 2009 @ 5:03pm | Report comment
md
good logic, except your numbers don’t quite add up:
3 gk
4 CB
4 FB
4 DM
2 strk
that already adds up to 17 meaning exactly six for the rest, not 6 to 8.
If you’re looking at six AMs (mixture of wide players and second strikers), then Brosque looks about as much chance as Arch.
Very easy to fill those six spots with overseas based players: Harry, Cahill, Bresh, the Croatian kid in the Bundesliga whose name escapes me now, throw in Mile – and that means Brosque is tussling with Holman for the last spot.
And that’s before we even consider a bolter like Ruka or Djite.
AndyRoo said | December 1st 2009 @ 5:09pm | Report comment
Dario Vidosic, surprised MD didn’t mention him as one of those AM’s who could posibly play striker.
Pippinu said | December 1st 2009 @ 5:12pm | Report comment
Yes, thank you.
I couldn’t get Dugandzic’s name out of my head – look and move in a similar way.
Pippinu said | December 1st 2009 @ 5:16pm | Report comment
I also accept MD’s point that becuase the likes of Emo, Wilkshire and Carney can double up in a number of possies – that might release a spot for an extra spare parts player – but such a spot won’t be released for a run of the mill player like Brosque – they’ll need to bring something extra to the squad – like a Ruka or Djite would bring (putting aside their own club woes for the moment).
md said | December 2nd 2009 @ 7:43am | Report comment
Heh – you got there eventually – 6 – 8 means 6 minimum and possibly a couple more if Pim is happy with the his coverage in the balance of the spots. I suppose the other spots that might be up for grabs are the 4th DM spot and possibly even the 4th CB spot. If you are a player that can cover both of those positions with equal quality then I think you might be a chance.
My guess is that Pim will try to include 1 full-time A-leaguer other than Mile and Culina, and we will probably know more after the Kuwait and Indonesian games.
I’m biased of course, but I’m not sure that Brosque falls into run of the mill, given that he can cover striker, left mid and CAM, and frequently plays all of those positions within the one game. I’m guessing that is the kind of flexibility a player will need to offer to crack the squad.
Cheers
md
Midfielder said | December 1st 2009 @ 10:56pm | Report comment
Dario Vidosic has my vote … Ruka, must be close…
Kennedy, McDonald, Kwell, Vidosic, Ruka … from the local league .. Archie, Matty Simon, Brosque, Porter .. all the local players bring something but non bring the total package …
Actually playing Vidosic as a wide left mid with Kwell up front could be a very smart he is the best left mid we have had for a while.
davelee said | December 2nd 2009 @ 3:10pm | Report comment
The only reason Thompson could be included in the WC 2010 squad is his pace.
But who knows if Verbeek wants a speedy option in his squad. And if he does, you’d think Rukavytsya would be ahead of Thompson. And if not, then they’ve both got to get a chance soon.
I doubt it’ll happen under Verbeek.