Is South Africa 2010 a road to nowhere?

Midfielder, give me Rale Rasic, Frank (mad dog) Arok, Eddie Thompson, Terry Venables, Frank Farina, *Guus Hiddink* , any time any day of the week above Pimbo, .. I have no trouble watching 0 - 0 draws I have seen some mighty performances in my time.. But when you have a manager who does not understand the Asian qualification process ie the five best teams in Asia go through to play in the South Africa 2010 world cup .. Therefore, at the very least play with some intent of a credible 0-0 draw... Holman's contribution was pathetic... He could have started with Cahill behind, Josh Kennedy, or MacDonald in the line up .. God damn it how many times do we need to see crap performances from Holman .. His only contribution was running in circles trying to win the ball against a defending Japanese triangle.. He looked like a Junior district all age player on the park... with no ball skills.... ~~~~~~~~ KB

Who is Geoff Roach??

He forgets to mention the boring one-sided AFL games which takes hours and hours to finish. A sport where mediocrity is encouraged. To say that all football teams go into a match with a defensive mindset, and in every other sport all teams go in with an attacking mindset (and not defensive) is someone who doesn't know anything about sports, who is ignorant, and lives in a coccoon somewhere in the Southern States of Australia. I would like some balance for once and for someone to write an article on why AFL is so boring. Believe me there is plenty to talk about.

KB You have some support for your views about 0 0 draws and playing boring football http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25052684-12428,00.html My favorite comment was the .. and I quote ..." yo prevent the pesky little Japanese ".... I think the eight paragraph Defensive soccer bores me witless Article from: The Advertiser GEOFF ROACH February 14, 2009 12:30am I TRY, you know. I really do try to enjoy and appreciate soccer. To the extent of regularly watching televised coverage from the A-league all the way up to international level. There is no doubt I'm often hugely impressed by the intuitive skill and marvellous reflexes displayed by the players and the fanatical devotion and involvement of the fans. So, it must just be the game itself that bores me . . . well . . . witless. Either that or the way coaches at all levels seem to insist it be played. Put it this way. In just about every sport you can name, the ultimate object of the team or individual is to win. Not so in soccer. Almost always, it appears, the primary purpose of both teams is not victory but the absolute need to avoid defeat. This despite a premiership points system which was devised, or revised, to reward scoring but which, instead, has inflicted a desultory defensive mindset on nine out of 10 encounters. Week after week, game after game, you watch in despair as midfielders and defenders litter their back half, leaving some poor hapless forward to roam ahead like a demented wood duck hoping to spot a worm. Such was graphically the case again on Wednesday night when Pim Verbeek's Socceroos did everything but don suits of armour and erect a 5m brick wall to prevent the pesky little Japanese from scoring a goal in their World Cup qualifier. That despite the fact that, in Tim Cahill, they have one of the most potent goalscorers in the game. And that even one away goal would have guaranteed their sought-after ticket to South Africa next year. Ultimately, poor Cahill, having scarpered from Liverpool to Yokohama to boost the cause, was accorded just one meaningful touch in the entire 90 minutes. That makes you wonder why Pim did not just suit up Humphrey Bear to act as a frontline diversion. Nonetheless, the result – a nil-all draw, surprise, surprise – later was lauded by all the experts as precisely what Australia wanted from the encounter. It was the only thing that mattered. So, no doubt, will it be replicated tonight in Melbourne when Adelaide United faces the seemingly impossible task of scoring twice against a Melbourne outfit spotted yesterday installing a battery of Exocet missiles in front of goal. Mind, at least one coach says this year's AFL premiership also might descend to the defensive depths of your average soccer scramble. Zone defence all over the field will be the go, he maintains. As will the practice of conceding behinds rather than giving opponents a sniff of a goal-scoring chance. Sounds like a long, dull winter. Though not nearly as long and boring as 90 minutes of defensive soccer.

I'm glad to read I'm not alone on this issue (you know who you are) of how often and unnecessary Pimbo plays the ultra defensive system... This Asian qualification tournament is no where near as difficult as the European groups of 4+ to qualify for the World Cup; where such defensive strategies are paramount in certain qualifying group matches .. In Asia the task is not so cutthroat.. Although a difficult path yes I agree.. However, we only need to be one of the best five nations in Asia to qualify for the 2010 WC and if we happened to finish at the very least 5th best, to playoff with New Zealand to see who goes through to South Africa .. I can safely say The "A" Australian National Football team is quite capable of disposing NZ in a home and away contest to get through to the WC .. Even the "B" team (HAL Lads) could do the job against NZ ... The point is we need at least 2 formidable strikers on the pitch that have been playing a lot of games together to go into the WC to have any chance to get through the 1st group stage to the next round, and we are not going to do it with an ultra defensive strategy .. We need to learn quickly how to go forward with confidence to break down a stringent, stubborn, defence with attacking formations.. Pimbo approaches every home and away game as if he is only concerned about how he can contain the opposition .. Yes we have had the wins and draws .. But not nearly enough playing dominating, commanding, masterful, in total control football, against our opposition... This squad is quite capable and can with the right attitude and system playing a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 (or variation on that) in Asia .. Pimbo's ultra cautious system of 4-6-0 is not going it get us very far in the first Group Stage in the Sth African WC.. We need to get to work with attacking formations to hone and perfect a squad for SA if we do not want to come home early.... ~~~~~~~~~ KB

It was evident from kick off that we were never going to try and win that game from attacking play, it was counter attack at best and Cahill was the wrong player for this. From where i saw it Pim had several selection errors. Culina was out of his comfort zone at RM and while he was his usual reliable self he just seem to struggle to get in position to attack, I would have played Garcia here and replaced Valeri with Culina in ther middle. Holman should not start in the team he clearly gets picked due to him playing under a dutch system this is where Cahill should have been. This moves Kennedy to the front half where he had the size to match it with their two CB who played all over Cahill with size. I think Carney is unlucky to miss out and him and Breciano for mine is a coin flip. Brec either stands out or goes missing and Carney has been the most enjoyable addition to the team for sometime. Two very lucky games in bahrain and Japan and I think that we will not see that style of play in the remaining games. There is a reason Pim didint want Kewell (who was willing to play) as he had not intention of playing in the Japanese half. Some interesting choices for Pim in the future with Kennedy likely to have played his last game for Karlsrue. Will this open the door for a Viduka return. Certainly hope so.

Greg considering the circumstances The performance was acceptable. I said before that I would give it a C rating. Got the job done, nothing more and nothing less However it was no means a celebratory result or performance

Greg Spot on mate ... but Das is not one of the Black Knights ... or the SBS hangers on....

This article by Jesse was just written to tease a reaction from dasilva and the other guys who want to ridicule a point gained in Japan and the Roos 1st place in the group. Guys, have a read of Guy Hand's article today on this site, a brilliant piece that puts this all in perspective by suggesting that what is happening sure beats the heartbreak of Nov 97 & that the journey this time is in fact 18 months not just 1 or 2 games. Get a grip & stop being Chicken Littles (that includes you Jesse).

I think one reason we are all being so critical is because we are not use to a long enduring qualifying campaign. That is no excuse for how little we attacked but in long campaigns sometimes you have to slog it out and get the result you need. If we win the next game we are guarenteed a spot in south africa (correct me if im wrong, but that is what ive heard). That leaves us with just over year to prepare for the world cup and pim can go hard out and tinker (hopefully) with alot of players who havent seen much time in the starting line up and let them prove their worth in his WC plans (carle, ruka, troisi). Once this is done its just a matter of getting them in camp and implementing his style. You would think based on the Netherlands game, that with teams significantly superior to us he would use similar tactics.

"It’s a big mistake to look at Australia’s possession in the Italy game, and assume that we somehow dominated the game, in fact, it’s a nonsense. Italy were all over us the first 20 to 25 minutes - Luca Toni had three guilt edged chances - he’d normally put at least two of those away. Australia had plenty of possession when Italy went down to 10 men - but so what! That’s the way the Italians will play at the best of times, Australian created one or two half chances, but to be honest, they never really bothered the Italians. I’m not saying Australia didn’t play well - they did play well - but the Italians were always pretty much in control. Actually, it’s not bad that we mention that game because Australia played an Italianesque game the other night (but without the quality in many respects) - even playing a trequartista!! Everyone should take a deep breath and relax - plenty of time yet to play some “pretty” stuff" In my mind you're spot on there Pippinu, I remember how comfortable Italy were in defending everything we threw at them, which was alot of possession but not alot of punch. I remember chatting to Paul Trimboli in the Fritz Walter after the game and while we were both disappointed, we were in awe at how comfortable and in control Italy (esp Cannavaro) were in defending our lack of penetration that day (ironically we were also missing Kewell and Emmo that day). It prompted me to have a re-read of the piece I wrote from Germany, and that message (ie. for all our possession, a 10 man Italy were pretty comfortable) was the thrust of it.....here it is in case you haven't read it... http://roundballanalyst.blogspot.com/2006/06/world-cup-post-11.html The other message of that piece was that we must capitalise of the great work of Germany by ensuring we keep dotting the i's and crossing the t's, to ensure we get to the 'next one', and to that effect I reckon Verbeek has done a great job (ie. he's done exactly what Lowy brought him in to do) to the extent I've been pinching myself throughout this 2nd phase. Lets face it, when the draw came out, two of the toughest games of this phase were Manama and Japan, mainly because of the non-fifa dates and the lack of prep , so I agree a little bit of perspective is required. As I wrote straight after the game (http://roundballanalyst.blogspot.com/2009/02/pims-accumulators-making-their-point.html), the good stuff can follow, once safe passage has been confirmed. Hopefully that can begin on April 1, and then evolve from there for the next 14 months leading up to South Africa, as Verbeek prepares the team with camps and a succession of matches. How depressing would it be to be watching the world cup next year and not have the Socceoros there after the euphoria of '06 (didn't we get enough of that for 32 years???). Frankly, I'd rather them be there than not. I think Verbeek, having done the job he has to get us here, deserves the opportunity to prove to all he can make the team play consistently, for the pressure will undoubtedly be there to do so and ensure he gets the team out of the group (depending on the draw of course).

That should read: "How much time did Uruguay have? They caught a later flight so they had less time to prepare than us. It's not like they had been in Sydney for a month training and then we just rocked up and beat them."

We had a week - how much time did Iraq have? A fair bit more than that, probably. Football_wunderkind: "We flew back from [Montevideo] with 3 days lead in time to the 2005 WCQ against Uruguay with a 0 -1 deficit to prepare for… and well the rest is history." How much time did Uruguay have? They caught a later flight so they had less time to prepare than us. You need to look at the preparation time in context to what the other team has done. You can't expect a team to put in 2-3 days or even a week and win if the opposition has been preparing for a month. If preparation doesn't mean anything why the hell would anyone bother with it?

8/6/08 - Iraq 1 Australia 0 The Iraq match in Dubai had a week or so of preparation. So you can knock that off your list. I remember leading up to the world cup we played Bahrain in Manama and beat them 3-1 with a B strength side with 2-3 days lead up time... That was with Graham Arnold and Johan Neeskans in charge... No "lack of preparation" is not an excuse now and it can't be in the future. We flew back from Montivideo with 3 days lead in time to the 2005 WCQ against Uruguay with a 0 -1 deficit to prepare for... and well the rest is history.

Fair enough Kazama although one was under arnold The other one was actually a decent performance and was over criticise. We played better away in UAE then we did at home against Iraq.

Lack of preparation not an excuse? Team A trains together for a month. Team B trains together for two days. The two teams are roughly of the same standard and Team A is playing at home. Based on that information which team do you think would be favourite to win? dasilva: "You could argue that they don’t have the ability to take advantage of the lack of preparation" 8/6/08 - Iraq 1 Australia 0 6/9/06 - Kuwait 2 Australia 0

To be fair The lack of preparation were often against teams like Bahrain, Qatar, China, Iraq You could argue that they don't have the ability to take advantage of the lack of preparation Japan on the other hand do.

Thanks dasilva. For everyone throwing around the "lack of preparation" line... I don't think that holds up this time around. Granted... it was Qatar but the very first game of our 2010 WCQ campaign was a 'fly in 2 days before the match in Melbourne with limited preparation'... and we played wonderfully well. Again... I know it was Qatar at home but still... a much longer flight with the players meeting Pim for the first time and we just gelled fantastically. Another argument to the "lack of preparation" line... is the fact that this was the 4th time Australia has had to do this kind of thing. Weekend matches then a midweek match after a plane flight somewhere... That in itself is "preparation"... the boys knew what the story was... They knew how it goes... They are match hardened... They know each other inside out now... they should get off the plane and everyone slots right into what they have been trained to do. "Lack of preparation" pffffftt... sham excuse. London direct flights to Tokyo are a dime a dozen... and its an 11hr flight. They weren't trekking Chinese mountains up to Kunming and they certainly didn't land into the middle eastern desert. The 2 degrees temperature that they played in was perfect. Identical to England and Europe. No... "lack of preparation" is not a good excuse in my book.... Lack of a tactical and technical attacking section to the overall match tactics is probably a better reason for the poor performance. Seriously... something just does not sit right with that performance.

As somebody once said - attack wins matches, defence wins championships.

Your right Football_wunderkind Our approach to this match was the attitude of a team who are relegation strugglers vs the top of the table clash. Not a top of the table clash between the two best team in the league Yeah we don't expect a free flowing game like most top of the table clash but we don't expect a team to simply concede possession and camp in the box either. You sort of expect some degree of counter-attacking football when playing away and be able to have a few chances on the break (eg. like China or Iraq away where we had some clear cut chance to win or draw the match). Against Japan we had nothing. It's a concerning performance - forgivable under the circumstances Australia were under and we should reserve judgement until we for the Uzbekistan match and the june qualifiers where we will have more preparation. However I don't see why we should be celebrating this performance.