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Scanning across the internet in the wake of Holger Osieck’s axing as the Socceroos manager and you will only find criticism of the 65-year-old German.
This seems to be indicative of the ‘Australian way’ and I assume that if it was an Australian who was coaching the national side, the opinions would be rather more friendly.
In the post match interview after the Socceroos’ 6-0 loss to France, Osieck stated:
“Right now we are definitely away from the international standard with those top teams. We have to face it because that is the reality. But we shouldn’t drop our heads.”
This was a brave statement from a man under pressure for which I believe he should be commended.
Australia’s move into the Asian Confederation does mean we will face tougher opposition but it does not mean we will be regularly playing sides of Brazil and France’s calibre.
The Socceroos are still a 50-something ranked team and we should acknowledge that and respect our players and coaches for making efforts to improve Australian football through a holistic approach.
Frank Lowy appointed Holger Osieck after Pim Verbeek’s poor showing at the 2010 World Cup.
The German’s two objectives was a strong showing at the 2011 Asian Cup and qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and let’s be honest with ourselves, these two objective are not as straightforward as everyone has made out them to be.
Australia’s showing in the Asian Cup was outstanding. After only six months in the job Osieck organised the squad into an attacking outfit.
The Socceroos made it to the final against Japan, only losing due to an extra-time header. In the process the Socceroos scored 13 times and only conceded twice.
A few months after the Asian Cup the Socceroos traveled to Germany and thanks to goals from David Carney and Luke Wilkshire, the Australians managed to grab a 2-1 victory.
Some of the people whom I believe intend to destroy Australian football pounced straight away saying the German fielded a ‘B’ side however they still fielded superstars such as Bastian Schweinsteiger, Lukas Podolski, Thomas Muller, Mats Hummels, Mario Gotze, Miroslav Klose, Andre Schurrle. Not a bad side.
Now we come to the first round of the 2014 World Cup qualification. The Socceroos are pooled with Saudi Arabia, Oman and Thailand.
The Australians top the group on 15 points, only losing 1-0 to Oman away in extreme conditions.
In the next round the Socceroos are pooled with Japan, Jordan, Oman and Iraq.
The Socceroos finished second, achieving automatic qualification to the 2014 World Cup.
Criticism was flung at Holger Osieck for the way the team qualified but the fact remains that the Socceroos did qualify.
Two shining results in this pool was the two draws against Japan, particularly the 1-1 in Japan that almost guaranteed the Socceroos qualification.
Another mentionable achievement was the qualification for the 2013 East Asian Cup with a young, untested Socceroos squad up against unknown footballing nations in some questionable conditions. Especially the pitch in Hong Kong which looked like the field I played on back in under 9s.
The Socceroos scored 19 goals in four games which is a good feat for an inexperienced team which saw the emergence of future Socceroos regulars, Mitchell Duke, Tomi Juric, Adam Taggart, Joshua Brilliante and Trent Sainsbury.
Holger Osieck’s overall record in charge of the Socceroos reads 23 wins, 10 draws and 11 defeats.
They scored a total of 85 goals at almost two a game and let in 48 at just over one a game. For a 50-something ranked nation these figure are pretty pleasing.
In 2013 it is true that the Socceroos have only won twice against Jordan and Iraq in 10 games.
They have still managed a goal-and-a-half a match but have also shipped in 25 goals. Of course the most concerning results are the two 6-0 defeats to Brazil and France but also the poor showings against China and Romania must also be considered.
This run of poor performances in this 2013 calendar year is most probably what cost the German his job.
It is important to acknowledge what Holger Osieck has achieve for Australian football. He put us within 15 minutes of our first major men’s trophy.
He orchestrated the miracle in Mönchengladbach and of course he booked our 24-million strong nation tickets to the greatest show on earth.
This last one is immense, imagine the fallout – if the Socceroos did not qualify, I hate to think of the ramifications it could have had on the local game.
So while the Socceroos face some challenging times ahead, we all must be grateful of what Osieck has given us because the Socceroos were not guaranteed anything.
Finally I would like to ask the question of who you think will be the next manager, not who you want to be next manager.
I understand that Ange Postecoglou and Graeme Arnold are favourites but I can’t see them taking over considering the A-League season has just started.
Maybe Guus Hiddink, what a fairytale! Mark Bosnich? Paolo Di Canio?
My best guess would be interim coach Aurelio Vidmar because he has the best current knowledge out the national team set up and he was appointed as national assistant coach because of his managerial abilities.
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