The Socceroos 1-0 loss to Kuwait makes everyone look bad. Pim was right about the A-league, but did he have to be that right?
Ignoring stats about games played, goals scored, goals conceded, Pim Verbeek has shown that sometimes Football is a very difficult game to play.
It seems the players are finding it difficult to pass the ball, run with the ball, and shoot the ball and all the other stuff like positioning and thinking and playing.
The mistakes of the past are being repeated, but this time the FFA is paying a higher price for the privilege
Using local based players to qualify for international tournaments has cost Australia in the past. The loss to New Zealand during qualifying for the confederations cup in 1999 and 2003 was a symptom of the cashless governing body at the time, who could not afford to bring their best players from Europe, some players even paying their own way.
It was a lack of respect shown by the governing body to allow a team of such inexperienced players to play such an important international football game. This lack of respect was also shown in the limited preparation time that the Socceroos trained under.
Kuwait had been training for six weeks playing games against New Zealand sides. The Socceroos had three training session together.
After the game, the players where quoted as saying that they did not know much about the opposition. A quick phone called to Ricki Herbert, the New Zealand coach, would have helped.
The English Premier League was on a break and there are plenty of Socceroos on the bench in Europe that could have come back.
If this game was a World Cup qualifier, I’m betting that at least fifteen European players would have been back.
I fear part of the problem is the perception that our big boys only want to play the big games: World Cup qualifiers, Champions League, FA Cups, and so on.
Playing games against Asian countries for a little known competition known as the Asian Cup is not going to make the players who have played in the World Cup and the highest level in Europe feel motivated.
The Aussies knocked Kuwait out of the Asian cup qualifying last time. Kuwait sent their strongest team and prepared themselves appropriately.
Australia in Asia is considered to be number one enemy, like England is to Europe. There is a perception around Asia that the team is loud, cocky and arrogant. Lower ranked Asian teams are desperate to get one over the Aussies.
Pim has been giving hints that the A-League players were hopeless ever since he arrived. I have a feeling Pim could see the ship was about to sink, and his comments were a smart ruse from him so he could get some of his overseas troops back.
Hopefully his bosses will have learned the lessons.
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