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That was one of the most disappointing Socceroos performances in recent memory. Far from being a result we can take some comfort from (in that it’s getting Australia a step closer to South Africa 2010), it’s actually highlighted how dangerous the gambit of what I would call containment is becoming for our national team looking ahead to the World Cup.
For the second match in succession Australia created barely anything made up of more than three passes. There was one real shot on goal, but it was hardly something for the highlights reels.
For the entire match the Socceroos were on the back foot, flummoxed by Japan’s silky repertoire of short passes and their extraordinary positional acumen.
How many times a Japanese player would skirt the sideline, looking for all money like he was fighting a lost cause for possession of the ball, only to come up with it and scamper away from his opposite number.
The only thing the Japanese lacked in their game was a striker of the ilk of Bare or Lucas to finish off their wonderful lead-up play – no wonder they import so many Brazilians into the J-League.
Had they a Brazilian up front, we would have been destroyed.
The Socceroos for their part looked lethargic, devoid of ideas and singularly incapable of constructing an attack worthy of the name.
Defensively we were fine, Craig Moore and Lucas Neill standing tall yet again, but defence is just one part of what a football team needs to do. Defence plus attack is what makes it whole. The Japanese could do it. We could not.
It’s all well and good to have players who can fit into a “system”, though what is that system’s efficacy if it involves just pushing the ball to one another in midfield and never pushing into an area on the field that permits a shot on goal?
At least Pim Verbeek had the honour to say after the match that he was “pleased with the result but not always with the performance”.
But is that good enough?
What is the purpose of World Cup qualification if we are to play so one-dimensionally when we get there? A good team will cut us to pieces. We will not last long if performances like Wednesday night’s are tolerated as acceptable.
I’m not about to relaunch the argument for the inclusion of Nick Carle, but Australia is badly missing a playmaker. It desperately needs one. Mark Bresciano is not cutting it and Brett Holman – well, his charmed run must surely be up?
This is not an exercise in bashing the Australian team or excoriating Verbeek. I have all the time in the world for both of them. As many pundits have exclaimed, “they did their job”.
Rather what I want to see, even if only in short bursts, is simply a national side that plays with the same attacking and technical brio of which it is capable. The current one is playing to a level far less than the sum of it parts and arguably not laying the foundation for the kind of “total football” it will need to play in South Africa to be successful.
The Socceroos might be getting results, but they’re not winning any new fans.
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