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.

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

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.

I couldn’t get Dugandzic’s name out of my head – look and move in a similar way.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

But unless he gets a hat-trick in both games I can’t imagine Verbeek selecting him for South Africa.

That was a huge set back.

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.

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.

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.