- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
It never rains but it pours. Socceroos supporters would have hoped the 6-0 thumping by Brazil was a one-off, a terrible nightmare and at least Australia would have improved somewhat in its next game.
Unfortunately not. This morning the Socceroos were humbled 6-0 by France, ranked 25th in the world by FIFA, in an even more embarrassing performance.
The Socceroos were out-classed, out-fought and out-thought with the French strolling to a 4-0 first-half lead.
With Australia barely able to string more than three passes together, their opponents added two more goals in the opening 15 minutes of the second half.
The Socceroos are being thrashed regularly and the image of the team has taken a battering. They have now conceded 12 goals in two consecutive games.
They barely managed one shot on goal against France in the entire game. Confidence in our national team is at an all-time low and our prospects at next year’s World Cup are falling by the day.
Mitch Langerak enjoyed a horror debut but the young goalkeeper couldn’t do much about most of the goals. He actually made a few key saves which stopped a few more goals, as strange as that sounds.
Yes the Socceroos were robbed of several players by injury before this game – Tommy Oar, Tom Rogic, Brett Holman, Mark Milligan.
And they were given no help by the referee, who got it wrong when he ruled a handball against David Carney to gift France its first goal from the penalty spot.
But this is no excuse for such an inept, listless display, particularly in defence.
France are a decent team but they are not Brazil, who are ranked 18th in the world at the moment. The French were struggling going into this game, they hadn’t won in ages and are struggling to qualify for the World Cup.
But the Socceroos played them into form perfectly.
Osieck had clearly lost the dressing room and any psychological strings he could pull to motivate his players, and his sacking should surprise no-one.
At this point, FFA couldn’t go wrong with anyone. Ange Postecoglou, Guus Hiddink, Graham Arnold, Marcelo Biesla, Aureli Vidmar, hell let’s even bring back Rale Rasic. Any coach has a better chance at getting the Socceroos playing better at this stage.
The Socceroos need an immediate overhaul. For me, Postecoglou is the man to revamp national team as part of a long-term plan.
With the Asian Cup in mind, FFA should be begging the A-League and NSL-winning manager, and Melbourne Victory, to take the job.
Postecoglou has proven his ability to build teams and to take make tough decisions. He has the experience and a background of success. He is good with young players.
Yes, leaving now would weaken the Victory, but that’s a hit the Melbourne club must take for the good of Australian football.
I’ve written previously that the writing on the wall for the Socceroos under Osieck has been there for a while, long before the Brazil game, but many have chosen to ignore it. Warning signs were there against Scotland, Denmark, Romania, Thailand, Oman and Jordan.
Signs that the FFA could ignore no longer.
The Socceroos are our flag-bearers, our representatives on the world stage. And unfortunately at the moment they are a laughing stock.
Follow John Davidson on Twitter @johnnyddavidson
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.