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It’s not that Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard couldn’t play together, and it’s not that they were bad players.
Lampard and Gerrard performed at their best for England when Gerrard came from the left of midfield, with Lampard central and Owen Hargreaves mopping up behind.
But it took a long time to come to that, and it was a pretty short-lived success.
Similarly, the Socceroos’ draws against Saudi Arabia and Japan pose a bit of a reality check, particularly around the use of Aaron Mooy and Tom Rogic, and the way it can unbalance the rest of the side.
Ange Postecoglou eschewed the 4-3-3 formation, the one which forms the basis of our national curriculum, a while ago. He did it in order to fit Mooy and Rogic into the same midfield. 4-3-3 briefly resurfaced against the Saudis, but the diamond was back against Japan.
It is Postecoglou’s belief that with Mile Jedinak anchoring and Massimo Luongo as a runner, Mooy and Rogic can flourish as a playmaking pair.
But the two draws showed that for all the talk of “depth creation”, Australia is still falling short in the fullback positions and up front.
The problem is that to fit Mooy and Rogic into the same team, Australia needs to rely on the right and left back to provide the width, energy and delivery to get forward around the diamond midfield.
Brad Smith was rusty against the Saudis. It’s to be expected – he’s not playing much football for Bournemouth, but it’s nevertheless far from ideal. Alex Gersbach is still very raw, while Aziz Behich and James Meredith have dropped off the radar.
But it’s on the right side where the real issue is. Mark Milligan is far more suited to the centre of defence or midfield, as admirable as competitor as he is. Ryan McGowan is too cumbersome both in and out of possession – he’s clearly a centre half at heart, while another centre half/holding midfielder, Milos Degenek, was tried there recently too.
The cupboard is pretty bare.
Postecoglou will be desperate for Ivan Franjic to rediscover the form and fitness which made him Australia’s first choice at the 2014 World Cup and 2015 Asian Cup. He’s the ideal candidate for this system, in theory.
The other issue thrown up by Mooy and Rogic is the need for two strikers to play ahead of the midfield.
It may seem like the attacking ranks are well stocked with Tim Cahill, Tomi Juric, Apostolos Giannou, Mathew Leckie and Robbie Kruse.
But the problem with the bona fide centre forwards in that group is they are all very similar players. Good in the air, great with their backs to goal. Leckie has been tried there for variety but is very hit-and-miss with his end product, while Kruse can only play in the wide attacking positions.
With Postecoglou forced to choose a pair to lead the line, he may find that he ends up with two of the same player leading his line. It’s all well and good if they can find the back of the net, but it can make the play pretty predictable for opposing defences.
It’s a good headache to have, trying to fit these two supremely talented playmakers into the same side.
But Postecoglou will be acutely aware of the need to balance his side properly, because addressing the shortfall elsewhere on the park could prove to be the biggest headache of all.
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