- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Nearly two weeks have passed since the latest drama involving Socceroos captain Lucas Neill. Although the media coverage has died down, the question remains: Is Neill’s spot in the side still tenable?
OK, so deriding the 35-year-old veteran has become a bit of a sport in itself lately – but with good reason.
On November 19 at the Sydney Football Stadium, the former Blackburn Rovers and West Ham defender made headlines when he swore at members of the crowd who were jeering him during Australia’s clash with Costa Rica.
Just over a month earlier, while under intense pressure following the Socceroos’ consecutive 6-0 drubbings from Brazil and France, Neill did himself no favours when he blamed Australia’s form on younger players for their apparent lack of desire for the national team.
Of course, conceding a dozen goals in 180 minutes of football has nothing to do with the fact our defence is marshalled by a 35-year-old…
However, Neill’s biggest problem at the moment is not his ageing legs. Rather, it is the fact he is struggling to get game time – even at a lowly J-League outfit.
In August this year, Neill signed a four-month deal for Japan’s Omiya Ardija. At the time, the Australian skipper was confident about his prospects.
“It’s no good me being the age I am and not playing week in week out,” he was quoted by AAP.
“I’ve spent my whole life playing and never being on the bench and I don’t think now I want to be sitting on the bench.”
It therefore seems somewhat ironic, as, in the time since then, Neill has struggled to gain a starting berth at his new club.
His last start for Omiya was nearly two months ago away to Urawa, when he received a red card in the ninth minute of the match.
The subsequent 4-0 hammering Neill’s side copped may be a contributing factor for his recent lack of favour from the manager.
In the six matches since that fixture, Neill has been confined to the bench. In three of those matches, he did not even feature on the pitch at all.
Given Omiya Ardija has lost ten out of their last 12 J-League fixtures, and are a mere five spots off the bottom of the table, one might think a captain of a World Cup team like Australia would be earning a bit of game time in the side.
Yet, this is obviously not the case, despite Neill’s own words earlier about the importance of playing every week.
In fact, Neill, who will be 36 by the time of next year’s World Cup, has struggled for game time for much longer than his stint in Japan alone.
Since being released by United Arab Emirates outfit Al Jazira in June 2012, Neill has been on a football merry-go-round, playing bit-part roles for various clubs throughout Asia and the Middle East.
After moving to Al Wasl, Neill featured just 11 times before – again – being released.
Then, the man who hailed from Sydney’s Northern Beaches returned to his city of birth in February this year, signing on for a 10-game guest stint with Sydney FC. However, once again, Neill failed to feature prominently, with injury limiting him to a mere three appearances.
Quite simply – and as has been stated by numerous ex-Socceroos including Mark Bosnich and Robbie Slater – Neill is not the right man for the Socceroos next year, and he sure is not the right fit for the captain’s armband.
There are several, more youthful options to take over Neill’s role in the centre of defence, including Middlesbrough captain Rhys Williams (25), Shandong Luneng’s Ryan McGowan (24) and Jeonbuk Motor’s Alex Williamson (29).
All three have been playing consistently for their respective clubs – certainly, much more than Neill has been managing.
Both Williams and McGowan featured in Australia’s recent 1-0 victory over Costa Rica, playing well in the 45 minutes they were provided.
However, peculiarly enough, Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou did not give Williamson a chance to showcase his talents on the pitch.
Although Lucas Neill has had a distinguished and glittered career, both internationally and at club level, the time has come for Australia to move on and give more opportunities to some younger Socceroos.
With just over six months remaining until the World Cup kicks off in Brazil, the forthcoming period will prove to either make or break Postecoglou’s tenure as manager.
Central to this dilemma is resolving Australia’s problems at the back, and the former Victory coach needs to make some brave decisions for the benefit of the whole team, starting with Neill.
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.