Argentina’s Ezequiel Lavezzi, left, scores the winning goal as Australia’s Matthew Spiranovic (5) defends. AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko
Now that the World Cup is over and everyone has recovered from a sleep-deprived month, how would we summarise the Socceroos’ performance? I would say we started with a poor performance against Germany followed by two strong performances against Ghana and Serbia.
We were dealt a difficult hand, and despite a worthy effort, we missed out on the group stage on goal difference due to the 4-0 loss to Germany.
On reflection, I think the final standings were about what was expected, with Australia, Serbia and Ghana all very close on points and Germany topping the group.
But that’s in the past now.
What about the future? What can we expect from the Socceroos in Brazil 2014? How is our squad shaping up?
It’s a long way off yet, but let’s look at who we will lose from the 2010 squad and who might replace them. Let’s start with the obvious: we are guaranteed to lose Craig Moore and Scott Chipperfield to retirement and I think we are also likely to lose Lucas Neill, Brett Emerton, Michael Beauchamp, Richard Garcia and Harry Kewell.
Tim Cahill, Mark Bresciano and Vince Grella may make the squad, but they will not be the same players they are today. It seems like a huge amount of talent to lose, but we don’t yet know how well the next crop may develop over the next four years.
Who do we have that can step up to the next level for 2014? Let’s look at a 4-4-2 formation and see who could cover each position.
Left Back: David Carney has shown he is capable of filling this role and I sincerely hope that over the next four years Scott Jamieson can lift his game to the level required to challenge Carney for this position.
Right Back: Rhys Williams would have been in the 2010 squad if not for injury and if Luke Wilkshire is not up to it at 32 in four years time, we have a good backup.
Central Defense: Mark Milligan is capable of doing the job and I hope that over the next four years both Matthew Spiranovic and Shane Lowry can reach the level required to fight for the second position. If experience is needed, at 33 years of age in 2014, we can possibly use Michael Beauchamp in his third World Cup.
Left Wing: Everyone is talking about Tommy Oar and in truth he looks like a very promising prospect. We can only hope that over the next four year he is able to gain the experience required and show that he can perform consistently in the Eredivisie with FC Utrecht.
Oliver Bozanic is another left winger that has potential.
Right Wing: Dario Vidosic was bitterly disappointed not to get any game time in South Africa and has shown he can perform at international level. With another four years experience he represents another good prospect.
Central Midfield: At 29, Jason Culina has said he has another five or six years in him. There is no doubting his quality and I think he is a realistic contender for a central midfield position. Carl Valeri has also shown he is capable of filling this role and Mile Jedinak can also challenge for this position.
Strikers: I still think Scott McDonald has the ability to score goals for the Socceroos. I just hope he is given more chances. We know Josh Kennedy can score with head, but I’d like to see him improve his foot skills.
Playing with Nagoya Grampus in Japan, I hope will be able to do that.
I think this pair have the potential to form a formidable strike combination. The question is whether the potential can be fulfilled. If not, we have other prospects like Nikita Rukavytsya, Nathan Burns and Bruce Djite.
So all things considered, here is a potential Socceroos team for 2014:
Defenders: Rhys Williams, Matthew Spiranovic, Mark Milligan, David Carney
Midfielders: Dario Vidosic, Jason Culina, Carl Valeri, Tommy Oar
Strikers: Scott McDonald, Josh Kennedy
The above shows that we have players capable of filling all positions on the park and I think this is a high quality team. But is it world class?
At this stage, I think this remains to be seen, but with another four years experience to come, I think we have good reason to be excited about the future. I intend to revisit this in February after the AFC Asian Cup, so I will be very interested to see if much changes between now and then.
Aldog55
Guest
Why is not Brett holman included in this side he along with wilkshire and bresca were easily the bes at the world cup for Australia and I believe he is the next superstar of Australian footbAll and alsoo there is a young goalkeeper called dean bouzanis who is currently playing for Liverpool maybe he should be considered as a longterm replacement for mark schwarzer
roarsome
Guest
Lets not forget young Terry Antonis...He still has to show us what he's made of but if the hype is true he could be a real winner.
mintox
Guest
What's with all the Carney hating? Whilst he would not be my first choice given, he hasn't done that bad a job when he has been called on. Admittedly he was out classed by Krasic (Serbia's right winger) but he did enough to limit the damage done by Krasic and to suggest that Serbia should have scored 10 goals from that wing is frankly ridiculous. If you bothered to watch the other Serbian games you would have noticed that Krasic went to town on his opponents in those games too. Lets not forget also that the guy has hardly played any games in the last 3 years and you're expecting him to then step in and play against an exciting, skillful and pacy winger. I think he did well considering and he'll most certainly be somewhere near being picked in 2014 as I don't see us developing a huge amount of left backs in the next few years.
Realfootball
Guest
If we go near 2014 with David Carney (who will be 30-31) at left back still, the NYC has failed. He is simply isn't up to international standard. He isn't even up to club standard. He can't get onto the park.
Realfootball
Guest
Yeah, he absolutely skinned by that blonde Serb winger. He simply isn't very good, and he sprints like a constipated duck.
Realfootball
Guest
Agree, Midfielder. The team has become very stale. Looking forward to a new coach and a bit of a clear out.
Axel V
Guest
Viduka and Harry Kewell are the most talented socceroo's we've ever produced. However, they have not contributed to the socceroo's anywhere near as much as the above i mentioned. Harry Kewell = permanently injured, meanwhile Viduka had no guts when it mattered. Neil has been as solid a rock in defence, and is arguably the most important position of the field. Watch Socceroo matches that have Neil absent, absolute disasters. The amount of cheap chances they concede don't fit on your fingers and toes. Chipperfield has put an enormous amount of effort into whatever is asked of him, under Hiddink he was super for us as an all round player. Geting in those match saving tackles from a player who is a striker for Basel and was for Wollongong.
mintox
Guest
If at the age of 32 Wilkshere is starting at right back for a team in the Serie A, Premier League or Primera Liga AND the Socceroos have captivated the world with their superior skill and ability to stifle the life out of their opponents by holding posession for the majority of the game then by all means he should be in the team. Capdeveila didn't struggle because Spain were the best team at the cup. They kept the ball for so long that no one could attack against them. He had such good players around him that even if he made a mistake there would be someone of equal or better ability around him to cover. I'd like to believe that the technical and tactical ability of our Socceroos in 2014 will be better than 2010 BUT I doubt it's going to be good enough for us to play him at full back.
Dan
Guest
Langerak Williams Kantarovski Golum Carney Jedinak Wilkshire Burns Holman Oar Babalj Others in mix: Federici, Bouzanis, Milligan, Spiranovic, Lowry, Valeri, Kilkenny, Holland, Innman, Troisi, Ruka, Vidosic, Carle, McDonald, kennedy
Mr Burns
Guest
You're drawing a long bow to say 32 is too old for an international fullback. Capdevila for Spain is 32 and I didn't see him struggling too much.
mintox
Guest
The J-League and K-League have been ahead of our leagues for a long time. The J-League started in 1992, they've already been through the issues we're seeing now of expansion, boom times followed by drops in crowds and they've come out the other side in a significantly stronger position. The A-League has been playing catch up to those league since day 1. The issue with Asia not supporting professionalism is less to do with the economies not supporting professional football and more to do with the fans not supporting the local product. In a smaller asian nation for example, the economy may be smaller but then so are the wage expectations. The problem is getting bums on seats to pay for the wages and Asia still has the problem of millions of football supporters who watch leagues like the EPL but only a small minority of them going to watch their local teams play. I'd suggest that we also have a similar issue!
mintox
Guest
Players like Neil, Chippers are not the level of players we should aspiring to. They have done a great job for the Socceroos as the best of that generation but I don't think we'll miss them in the slightest. They were limited at best and any players we develop should be looking at their standard as the least that is required of them. Basically if Neil and Chippers are the best that we can get out of our old development system, I will be very disappointed if the new system fails to produce players that are better than them. Having said that I think a positive sign is that many youngsters are being spotted in the A-League and being picked up by significant (rather than big) clubs in Europe, for me this is an improvement on seeing players like Kasey Wehrmann leave the NSL to go to Norway or Jacob Burns plying his trade in Romania
Axel V
Guest
I think the core of the Socceroo's will miss Schwarzer, Lucas Neil and Chipperfield the most. It was only when the younger players came to the field that our midfield and attack really improved in our warmup friendly's and world cup games. whether it be against New Zealand, Denmark, USA, Serbia, in all those matches, Australia only sparked into life when the likes of Holman, Vidosic, Rukyvytska, Jedinak came onto the field. Mitchel Langerak has been a star for Melbourne Victory in the A-League this season, and if you havn't seen his ACL performances then you MUST See them, it will change your opinion of him( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byy1VW157cw ). He is now at Borrusia Dortmund, one of the biggest teams in Germany which is one of the best leagues in the world. He is 21 Tommy Oar is a winger, proper examples of wingers include Cristiano Ronaldo, Arjen Robben, Dirk Kuyt, Babel, Elia. That Oar has joined FC Utrecht which both uses wingers in it's team and knows how to nurture and develope talented youth. Utrecht's plan is to make him into the best player possible, and sell him for the biggest profit they can. Which is a real big win for Australia and Oar. Oar is still 18.
Axel V
Guest
Milligan is absolute rubbishl If our defence have to rely on him then we will not qualify for the world cup. Carney couldn't defend against anyone even if his life depended on it. You saw against Serbia, by far the weakest link, Serbia had 10 chances through Carney and should have scored a couple of goals from it. Carney is lacking the most important skill of his position, and that is defensive skills.
Towser
Guest
Good to see the young Socceroos doing well in Asia. We need to keep making our mark in the AFC . Asia as a whole & our closest competitors are not standing still. See the following articles. http://www.the-afc.com/en/inside-afc/676-afc-news/29903-bin-hammam-puts-his-faith-in-asian-football http://www.the-afc.com/en/features/29899-surging-j-league-crowds-give-kfa-food-for-thought So yes we have talent,but there is a constant need to keep improving professionally & showing Australia as an attractive place to play. The J& K league are already ahead,now with MBH proclaiming increased professionalism in Asia as in this statment:- "Until now, we have only 142 so-called professional clubs in Asia. We would like to increase it to 700 to 800 clubs in the future, that will be able to compete against the best from their European counterparts." We need therefore to keep upping the ante. Personally I dont think its possible to have 700 to 800 professional football clubs in Asia,simply because despite 3.7 billion people ,most dont have economies that can support professional football. We do, & should aim like South Korea to raise the bar for the A-League to be a leading Asian Football comp.
Art Sapphire
Guest
Here is some good news . The U/19 squad beat Vietnam last night 4-1 They will meet Thailand in the ASEAN final on Friday. http://aseanfootball.org/headlines_01.asp?id=1407 HO CHI MINH CITY (28 July 2010) - Australia will take on defending champions Thailand in the final of the AFF Under-19 Championship 2010 in two days - making it their third final in three years. And this time round, the Australians will be out for revenge after losing to the Thais through penalties at the same venue in 2009. In 2008, Australia were the champions when they beat South Korea in the final in Bangkok. In the final round-robin game today, Australia went on a rampage in the second game of the evening - destroying hosts Vietnam 4-1 for them to win the group stage and sent the homesters to the bottom of the table. Thailand held South Korea to a scoreless draw for them to emerge second at the table as the latter finished third. “We will be out for revenge in the final,” said Australia chief coach Johannes Versleijen at the post match press conference. “It is our third final and today against Vietnam, we rested several of our regular players in anticipation of the match against Thailand (in two days). “We already knew the results between Thailand and Korea which meant that we were a bit more relaxed playing against Vietnam. And after scoring the early goal, we knew that the game was already ours.” Australia started strongly enough when Mohammad Mustafa Amini chested down the ball from the centre of the park before slotting home to the far post for their first goal in the game. In the 14t minute, Australia went further in front when off a cross from Sam Gallagher, Mathew Leckie nodded the ball home as they then rounded the first half with the third goal of the game through Benjamin Halloran. With Vietnam needing to win the game for them to have the chance to play in the final, they finally woke up in the 56th minute of play when a defensive mistake allowed Nguyen Van Thanh to score. But that was to be their only revival as Australia then restored their three-goal advantage when Ryan Marc Edwards ran down the right flank for an inch perfect cross that was headed in by the lanky Eli Babalj. RESULTS and FIXTURES 24 July: AUSTRALIA 1 SOUTH KOREA 0/ VIETNAM 1 THAILAND 1 26 July: THAILAND 1 AUSTRALIA 1/ SOUTH KOREA 1 VIETNAM 1 28 July: SOUTH KOREA 0 THAILAND 0/ VIETNAM 1 AUSTRALIA 4 30 July: South Korea vs. Vietnam (1600hrs)/ Thailand vs. Australia (1830hrs) FINAL ROUND ROBIN STANDINGS 1. Australia 7pts (+4) 2. Thailand 3pts (=) 3. South Korea 2pts (-1) 4. Vietnam 2pts (-3
Fisher Price
Guest
Yep. He was awful against Ghana. Not surprised, though.
Midfielder
Guest
We have heaps of young talent... What we don't have is another Harry ... yet anyway ... maybe some of the new kids are busting to go further than we have ever gone before... IMO we are better off than we have been for years...
mintox
Guest
If the national team has to rely on players that are past their prime for the World Cup, either the development system isn't doing its job OR the player must be an exceptional player. This world cup was simple proof, we used Moore at CB because we had nothing else, we used Chippers at LB because Carney wasn't good enough. But the new system hasn't been in long enough to produce it's first generation of players. The same thing applies to Wikshere, if at 32 he is the best choice at right back, then there is something wrong with our system. Yes your basing it on potential but then why bother putting it in a formation, is it not enough to simply identify the best players and see where they go.
Joey
Guest
Who says that Williams is a right back? At Middlesborough he plays as a CB and a CM. Wilkshire is a completely different player compared to Chipperfield. He is much like Emerton, where he has Natural Fitness, which will keep him going till 2014. Of course you cannot say that Oar, Spiranovic, and Rukavytsya may not live up to the hype. But isn't that same case for anyone else? I don't think anyone was predicting Valeri, Holman to perform as well as they did in 2010. In 2006, no one had even heard of them. The same goes for Kennedy in 06. I am just basing this really on potential, other wise what is the point of even talking about this topic?