Australia’s Tim Cahill reacts after getting a red card during the World Cup group D soccer match between Germany and Australia at the stadium in Durban, South Africa, Sunday, June 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
In the wake of Australia’s embarrassing loss to Germany, I’ve been inundated with queries, from here and South Africa, from those wanting to know my thoughts on what went wrong. My simple answer has been a question: hasn’t it been coming?
Anyone who has looked hard enough, taken the blinkers off, will have seen the signs building up over the past four years, with the debacle that was Graham Arnold at the 2007 Asian Cup followed by two and half years of turgid play under Pim Verbeek.
A manager bereft of attacking ideas might have been a pragmatic choice to take us to the World and Asian Cups, and Verbeek at least served that purpose.
It was important we went back, even if only to remind the country how much work is still ahead.
Foremost it is about developing managers who can develop the players, who can then combine with a home-grown manager and bring competitiveness at the highest level. In time it might lead to success.
Steps have been taken, but there are many more to make.
Anyone who has been watching World Cups for any more than five minutes will know that the level of play required to be successful is at such a high level, you have to bring your absolute A game. Anything less is never going to be enough.
The word is Verbeek has sent contacts all around the world to scout our group opponents. No stone was left unturned, no expense spared, we’ve been told.
If that’s the case, one really has to question the technical knowledge around the Socceroos when you see the net result of this effort.
Did they even watch the Bosnia-Herzegovina friendly, and if so, why didn’t they have a plan for Mesut Ozil?
Did they not know that he likes to start at the front line, drop off into midfield or out to the right, get on his precocious left peg, and either inject himself with a killer ball or killer run beyond the defence, or both?
It certainly seemed they had no idea what was coming, let alone how to deal with it.
The same can be said of much of the football fraternity, who, whether through blind ignorance or the burning desire to replicate the feel-good factor of four years ago, refused accept the evidence, claiming we could and would get something.
False hope was built, somewhat irresponsibly.
After some heady success, the heavy loss is a reality check, yet another wake-up call.
The scouting report on Ghana
If anyone thinks it’s going to get much easier against The Black Stars of Ghana, the sad reality, based on the evidence of their opening match win over Serbia, is that it won’t.
While they mightn’t have flowed potently in attack, like the Germans, Milan Rajevac has the team very well organised and ticking beautifully in defence.
Particularly catching the eye was tall central defender Isaac Vorsah, who sat alongside John Mensah, John Pantsil and Hans Sarpei. They dealt with everything in the air and defended deep enough that Serbia were never able to get in behind. Not that the very disappointing Milos Krasic even had a crack.
While Ghana play with a three man central midfield, they only have one, Anthony Annan, sitting. The other two, Kevin Prince Boateng and Kawadwo Asamoah, are advanced and scattered, in touch with the two wide men, Prince Tagoe and Andre Ayew.
Annan started everything and looked an adequate enough replacement for Michael Essien.
While it was far from a great game, Ghana looked organised and functional enough and will take some breaking down.
Asia’s finest?
In my preview of the World Cup in the latest edition of Half-Time Heroes, I wrote of one of my great hopes, which was to see a couple of Asian teams progress out of the group stage, and at least one of them make it to the Quarter finals.
Looking at the draw, the most obvious bets were South Korea and Japan, and after the first round of games, it appears they are on track.
The Socceroos task looked difficult before, almost impossible now, especially if you decide to read anything into the body language between the Verbeek and Mark Bresciano at training the day after the night before.
South Korea have been super impressive, both in qualifying and pre-tournament, and underlined this with a dynamic display against Greece, in keeping with what we saw against the Roos last year.
Right back Cha Du-Ri and captain Park Ji-Sung were particularly dynamic, while it was great to see the front two, Yeom Ki Hun and Park Chu Young, working the house down.
Meanwhile, if you think Verbeek is under the pump, Takeshi Okoda has been under all sorts of pressure back home, but his team responded with a rousing win over Cameroon and are now in the box seat to go through with the Netherlands.
What I was particularly looking for in the final 10 or 15 minutes was to see whether Japan had the mental toughness to hold onto their lead, remembering they crumbled in the opener four years ago.
The truth is it was a bit panicky, but with the help of the crossbar and some excellent work from the back four, led by central towers, Marcus Tulio Tanaka and Yuji Nakazawa, two players I’ve been long fond of, they held on.
Also impressing in screening the defence were holding midfielder Yuki Abe and captain Makato Hasebe, while in attack there were promising signs from goal-scorer Keisuke Honda, Yoshito Okubo and right-sided Daisuke Matsui.
Here’s hoping both kick-on, flying the flag for Asia.
Capello the master tactician?
Fabio Capello was able to get England through to South Africa impressively, but question marks have been raised about some of his selections, both before and since arriving in South Africa.
Of course, much of the attention has been on Robert Green, but I was absolutely shocked to see Jamie Carragher in the final 23, let alone on the field against the dynamic Americans after the injury to Ledley King.
Naturally, it was no surprise to see Jozy Altidore skin him.
After a very average season at Liverpool, it was a strange to see Capello go back in time by selecting him. Surely Michael Dawson should be ahead in the pecking order?
A young man’s World Cup
Seeing the impact Eljero Elia made off the bench against Denmark on Monday night was further evidence of the generational shift taking place on the pitch in South Africa.
Of course, we all saw how Mesut Ozil, Thomas Mueller, Sami Khedira and Holger Badstuber toyed with the Roos, but there have been other impressive performances from the kids.
Think Giovani Dos Santos, Carlos Vela and Efrain Juarez (all Mexico) on the opening night, Lionel Messi and Angel di Maria (Argentina), Lukman Haruna (Nigeria), Isaac Vorsah and Andre Ayew (both Ghana), and Robbie Findley, Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley (all USA).
Even the much-maligned “old” Italians featured some new blood in Claudio Marchisio and Domenico Criscito.
Are the A-League officiators watching?
It’s widely acclaimed that the standard of officiating in last season’s A-League was the worst yet, with the amount of incorrect offside decisions particularly glaring.
To that end, I do hope the FFA is investing time to highlight to our officials the work of the men in South Africa, which I think has been excellent in the main (other than Tim Cahill’s red), especially the off-side calls. Long may it continue.
The defending champions make impressive start
Germany, as we well know, where superb, while Argentina, with Messi in full flow, offered great potential in attack (despite Maradona’s bizarre decision to start Jonas Guiterrez at right back).
But another former winner that didn’t really feature in the pre-tournament tips was Italy, and I thought they were rather impressive in an excellent game against Paraguay yesterday morning.
While they haven’t yet found the solution up front, what was so impressive was the commitment, hunger and will to win. They are here to play, and no-one more that the skipper. After a poor season domestically, I thought Fabio Cannavaro was excellent, the work of a real winner.
Elsewhere there was real aggression and intent from the likes of Gianluca Zambrotta, Daniele de Rossi and Simone Pepe, while Riccardo Montolivo offered moments of genuine quality. Never write them off. They will improve.
Set piece spray
One of the main reasons the goal average is down to 1.6 per game (18 goals from the first 11 games) is the new Jabulani. What has been most noticeable is the number of free-kicks, even from quality dead-ball specialists like Wesley Sneijder and Lionel Messi, being sprayed over.
I can only recall one free-kick, from Algeria’s Nadir Belhadj, that required a quality save.
Even the general play shooting from long distance has been more miss than hit.
Tony Tannous has been keeping his usual close eye on all the goings-on in South Africa. Join Tony at noon today for a live Q & A on these or any other World Cup topics you’d like to discuss. Leave a comment or question now or at 12 noon, when Tony joins.
Roger Rational
Guest
Yeah, but Rooney was given a relatively easy ride in '06. I think these things are more to do with the personality of the player involved. I reckon the likes of Cockerill in the SMH would slaughter Harry Kewell in such a situation.
Colin N
Guest
To be fair I agree with Greg - Cahill would be villified if he was English. When Beckham was sent off in 98, it wasn't a red card offence, but was blamed for the defeat.
NY
Guest
Tony I give us a chance against Ghana. I believe the Serbs created a few chances against them, and that they are breakable in defence. I am worried though about Moore and Grella. It was obvious in the friendlies that thaye were our two weaker players, yet Pim still insisted on playing them, rather than an in form Jedinak and more pacey and agile Beachump. Saying that I find that Lucas Neill is also a liability. God I remember the days now of Tobin, Ivanovich etc when we had reliable centre backs. Anyway my team for the next game would be: Goal keeper: Schwarzer Back four: Emerton, Neill, Moore, Chipperfield Defensive mids: Wilkshire, Jedinak, Attacking mids: Kewell, Garcia, Bresciano Striker: Kennedy I hope we play a more attacking brand of football. I also hope Moore and Neill are on their toes in this game. The Ghanians believe we have a slow defence, and boy are they right. Just shows how important Spiranovic will be in the future for us.
Michael C
Guest
whatever happened to the old black and white many panelled ball made in part of leather?......... (get's a bit like golf where the ball changes so much that it's not the game it used to be). How come the ball is fair game to be stuffed around with but to contemplate changing the size of the goals???......where do you draw the line?? (practically and figuratively).
Michael C
Guest
The first 14 games have seen 698,443 attendees (avg 49,888.8). Having had it reported a week or two out that over 97% of seats were sold - - the current 'occupancy rate' is at 81.75%. The shocker was the NZ v Slovakia match (fair 'nuff too I guess) - - with only 23,871 in a 44.5K venue, running at 53.6%. Biggest crowd 84,490 in match 1 (the home side) and 83,465 for Denmark going down to Holland (boo, hiss.....). The other side, there have been 6 other sub 40K crowds in 44K to 52K venues. Presumably the uptake of 'corporate seats' will be greater for the final 16 on, but, for now, the in some cases large numbers of empty seats is a poor image and one wonders how FIFA is regarding it??? btw - the other stat that seems only to be trotted out for a FIFA WC - - the 'actual playing time' stat - - so far, avg is 69 mins, best is 82 (Korea vs Greece) and worst is 60 (Japan v Cameroon).
The Bear
Guest
....see above some 20 posts before. I brought it up... we smells somethin' fishy too, J.
Raghu
Guest
Graham Arnold was given a chance after the last WC but he couldn't prove he could do it. Remember Asian Cup?
Frank
Guest
The issues of age and pace didn't help us in the game. Of course we tried really hard, but I suspect that it was one of those games where the harder we tried, the worse it got. Germany were fantastic. One thing that Ned Zelic brought up on SBS was the over-commitment by our holding midfielders towards attackers on the wings. It was not unusual to see 4 defenders covering two attackers. This left us vulnerable to speed from the deep. This means that our biggest sin was that of a lack of organisation. Also, to play on offside trap, you actually need great defensive speed. Which we didn't. Blowed if I know why you'd do that against a young team surging fast from the deep. Anyway, 2 games to go. Struth, I really hope that we are organised and play well. I really want to enjoy our modest and parochial contribution. ps I thought the Smelz contribution to the Kiwi goal was fantastic. Not bad for an Ä league striker!
bj
Guest
agree with 4-2-3-1 against Ghana. Believe they play something that looks like 4-1-4-1. Where i differ to Apaway - I'd try Ruka wide left, and Harry behind Kennedy (means like Ozil he doesn't have to get back as much). I'd even consider playing Wilkshire as a DM. Whilst ideally Williams would come in as RB perhaps Culina or Milligan could play there. Pim should have experimented more in previous matches with Wilk as a DM in my view.
Mick of Newie
Guest
Sheek, it may not suit the jingoistic tendancies of some commentators, but I suspect our best chance is to play the traditional shape, concentrate on not conceding and work on creating chances through Emerton, Kewell or Bresciano. I can't see us scoring a lot of goals but a 1 0 win is all we need. If we are still level at 75min bring Kennedy on and go more direct.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
But Towser's point is that under normal circumstances, Herbert wouldn't be considered up to it either, and yet here we have NZ in a WC (a small miracle in its own right), having already got a draw against decent European opposition, playing a formation and tactics that would go against the grain of every single expert putting up an opinion on this very thread. From memory, Farina got sacked after a series of matches that included a 4-3 loss to Germany. And it was only a few years prior to that that he was being hailed as a potential Serie A manager - how quickly perceptions can change, and really on the back of not a hell of a lot actually going wrong. We might all agree with you that it's a question of quality, but in truth, all the press is about getting a Dutch coach (in the main), or someone suitably "continental", but most certainly we shouldn't touch any British managers! (that's not me talking, that's the general consensus amongst pundits and many professional commentators). So in one sense - the discussion to this point has been very much about nationality.
Alders
Guest
I agree Tony. I think we all hoped for a draw but the realists among use really expected a fighting loss. They will regroup though and I wouldn't be surprised at all if we made it through.
sheek
Guest
Yeah Apaway, The way you called it is how I imagine most fans would like to see it. A lone striker & two attacking midfielders ought to do the trick. Besides, it's what the current squad is comfortable with.
johnty
Guest
Hi Tony, just a quick thing the adidas football used in the world cup was with most german bundesliga sides four months ago which adidas being a german company, this makes sense. so if the goals are dry cause of the ball they may not be dry for the germans.. does that give them a advantage?? love your stuff and keep up the good work.
apaway
Guest
Sheek, nominally the Germans played 4-2-3-1 but they weren't defensive. There is no need for the Socceroos to play with 2 strikers if the suggestion is that is an "attacking" option. I'd prefer to see Verbeek go with what he knows but give Kennedy the striker's role while having Kewell, Bresciano and Emerton as forward running midfielders. And encourage Wilkshire and Chipperfield to overlap like they have done so effectively in the past. The two holding midfielders can provide the cover (Culina and Valeri or Grella) and if play breaks down the wide midfielders tuck in and delay, crowding the midfield, and allowing the defenders to play a little deeper (to counteract the lack of pace in our central defence). If match fitness is an issue for any of the central midfielders, Holman, Vidosic and Carney are capable of upsetting tired defences. Speaking of the defence, I am torn on this because he has been a loyal servant for the Socceroos, but I think Moore has to make way for Beauchamp. And Lucas Neill needs to abandon this new-found habit of stopping and raising his hand when he thinks a player is offside and concentrate on what he was so good at in 2006 - defending.
Julio
Guest
To have a good team you have to have a good federation. This is the problem with many south American countries . Paraguay and Chile have changed this and they are now playing very well. The ignorant idea of some thinking that this guy is good because he is dutch is amazing to me. He was an assistant coach most of his career. Look I know what a person attitude is when just looking at him. Veerbik doesn't' really care much for this job after a year or 2. Its sad to say but hes only taking things a bit mroe seriously now the world cup is on and the damage is already done. It will take a year at least to fix this. This could kill football in Australia. It came down to simple and silly mistake of putting this guy in charge. Australia have the money they should bring in a BIG coach. Any coach from south America or europe that has a good track record with success with big teams or clubs. It will be expensive but it will most certainly pay off.
zizou
Roar Rookie
Agree totally about Elia. Made the Dutch look a whole lot better when he came on. Hopefully he gets a start in their next match. To be honest I didn't see much of di Maria playing for Benfica in the Europa Cup. One Argentinian that you didn't mention is Aguero, who surprisingly didn't get a run out against Nigeria but with so many strikers in the squad it's little wonder.
sheek
Guest
Tony, Over at FoxSports, one of the headlines is, "two strikers or we're out". Is this really the only way out? Obviously, Kennedy must come back in & Kewell & Bresciano as attacking midfielders. But do we have the cattle to go with two strikers? I'm no expert, but Garcia is not a striker, leaving only Rukavytsya as the serious other alternative. On Harry Kewell, he must start against Ghana. I would say to him, give me the best 45 minutes of your life, & after that, we'll see how much more we can get out of you. Maybe an hour, tops. Then bring him off & wrap him in cotton wool! Our squad is designed for a 4-2-3-1, & perhaps that's what we should be concentrating on. We can't afford to totally lose shape in our next two games, but we certainly must be pro-active. What do the footy experts on The Roar think about this..... ?
Tony Tannous
Expert
Thanks all for joining this Live Q & A on all things Socceroos, Jabulani, Pim Verbeek, Jong Tae-Se and everything else...I've run out of time for now, but to all those who's comments or questions I haven't had time to address, I'll endeavour to get on over the next day or so and provide some thoughts. If you've any additional questions/comments, don't hesitate to share. See you soon.
Con Stamocostas
Roar Pro
Excellent stuff.