Carney’s performance against India left a lot to be desired. Too often caught out of position, too often dwelling on the ball, too often making the wrong decisions.
He appeared a player short on confidence and game time.
That makes sense given Carney has seen only about 152 minutes of Premier League action this season with Blackpool. He’s rusty.
You could argue he had a one-off shocker against India, but he was pretty ordinary in the UAE friendly too.
And don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to single out one player and stick the boot in, but in my opinion Carney has struggled as an international standard left-back for some time.
And the reality is he isn’t really a left-back, rather a left winger, as he was at Sydney FC before Graham Arnold gave him a run in defence four years ago against Thailand at the 2007 Asian Cup.
Too often for the Socceroos, he gets caught out of position, typical of a footballer playing out of his natural position.
Unfortunately for Australia, though, through a lack of viable options Carney has become our go-to man at left-back, especially since Scott Chipperfield retired.
And he’s delivered a number of lovely strikes for the Socceroos (goals against Nigeria, Ireland, Bahrain and Paraguay) which has to some extent papered over the cracks of his ability as a defender.
The situation is a concern against top-class opponents such as Korea Republic who we face on Friday, especially up against their in-form and marauding right-back Cha Du-Ri. It is a major weakness for the Socceroos.
SBS’s Les Murray expressed his concern about this very problem yesterday on The World Game’s Shootout.
Again, don’t get me wrong, I think an in-form David Carney can do the job for the Socceroos at left-back. But at the moment, on the evidence from the UAE and India matches, he clearly isn’t in form. Far from it. And his Socceroos’ performances over the past 12 months don’t fill me with much confidence either.
So that creates a conundrum for Australia boss Holger Osieck with few simple answers.
In Osieck’s 23-man Asian Cup squad there is no natural left-back cover for Carney (plenty will bring up Ersan Gulum’s name at this point which makes that whole saga all the more frustrating).
The most logical solution if Osieck is to lose faith in Carney, is switch Luke Wilkshire to the left-side of defence and drop Brett Emerton in at right-back, promoting perhaps the impressive Nathan Burns to the right-side of midfield.
But that totally upsets the team balance, or as Osieck puts it the ‘stability’ and ‘rhythm’ of the group, which is why he put out our full-strength side against the lowly Indians in the first place.
Could Jade North or Jon McKain fill in a left-back, also out of their natural position? I don’t know, but we know Osieck doesn’t like to gamble. He said it himself!
So does Osieck keep the faith in Carney and hope he can find his touch? Perhaps at this stage in the tournament it’s something he won’t mess with.
But if he does keep the faith and it doesn’t work, I’m sure it’ll mount the pressure on the boss.
It’s obvious to many fans that there’s a problem on the left-side of Australia’s defence and how Osieck goes about solving it will be monitored closely.
Against teams like India, Australia can get away with it. But if the Socceroos want to go all the way in Qatar, then problems like this will need to be fixed.
Holger, it’s your time to show us you know what you’re doing.
floppybottom
Guest
right on cue topor-stanley was up to his old tricks v the mariners...
Shakaka
Guest
too be honest jamieson did show a lot of potential when he first burst on the scene but hasn't really done anything worth of merit since. Furthermore i don't really see him as being what i would call a stable consistent left-back at both a top 5 european league or for the the socceroos not saying he won't do it but the odds aren't looking good for him at the at the moment. I think the far better options is that of jason davidson and shane lowry, players who have both shown from the times i have seen them play far more quality, better progression and the overall better performance then that of jamieson in my opinion..
Ben Somerford
Roar Guru
To be fair, Topor-Stanley has been a standout in the HAL this season, but not sure he can slot in for the Roos at this level, especially out at LB.
Ben Somerford
Roar Guru
Gday floppybottom, Totally aware of Shane Cansdell-Sherriff. I do alot of work on Aussies Abroad and monitor his progress on a weekly basis, but not sure he's international quality. Happy to be proven wrong, of course!
Ben Somerford
Roar Guru
This is from July when Traore hinted at a career in the green-and-gold. http://au.fourfourtwo.com/News/173306,traore-dreaming-of-socceroos.aspx?eid=10&edate=20100802&eaddr= It's difficult to know if he or any young player will be the answer, but I think there's a problem which needs to be acknowledged and dealt with as we go towards Brazil 2014. Carney can play LM, but we need to groom a proper LB as we go ahead.
John Davidson
Roar Guru
Art Sapphire, I didn't know that he was. He could be another option. Another I forgot to mention is Shane Lowry. Just moved to Sheffield United, is a young guy with potential. We need to be grooming some of these young players for a shot. Carney is a left-mid or winger, plain and simple.
punter
Guest
He would be awesome, I thought there was talk that he was only using the A-League & Australia as a stepping stone to the bigger leagues in Europe. But he is younger & better than Cassio & Better than Jamieson. Don't know enough of Davidson or Warren, heard of them but never seen them play.
Art Sapphire
Guest
John - Adama Traore has made it known that he wants to play for the Socceroos as soon as he becomes eligible.
John Davidson
Roar Guru
Post Asian Cup we should be fast-tracking Jason Davidson, Scott Jamieson and Marc Warren, and/or naturalise Cassio. At least get these three in training with the senior team, to see who is up to it and which one has the most potential to fill the spot.
Roarchild
Roar Guru
Yeh he had an absolute blinder and very unlucky not to make the 50 provisional list.
Art Sapphire
Guest
Good one Chris K Minutes for Tootenham this season - 207 Minutes for Mexico in friendlies - 318 Let's swap Carney for Dos Santos. I can't see the Mexicans agreeing to that :) He's only 21 and he competing against a much higher calibre of players for a first team spot.
Chris K
Guest
what are giovanni dos santos minutes of football like?
Chris K
Guest
"half-a-lahm would suffice", loved it
punter
Guest
I just watched the BR v CCM match during my lunch break, how about Joshua Rose in the future?
floppybottom
Guest
Topor-Stanley is a constant source of calamity at the back of any defence he has played for.
floppybottom
Guest
ben somerford, you wiley old fox, let me introduce a name to you cobber; that being Shane Cansdell-sheriff, 'The Sheriff' to his compadres. how does that float your boat daddyo?
Art Sapphire
Guest
David Carney - Minutes of football in 2010/11 in Eredivisie and Premier League = 335 minutes Minutes of football in 2010/11 representing Australia = 540 minutes I doubt there is another footballer on the planet with those stats.
RedOrDead
Roar Guru
I think Nikolai Topor-Stanley should be brought back into the side!! Although he plays as a centre back for Newcastle Jets, he "wore shirt number 21 at Sydney FC and played as a left-sided stopper." He also "scored 2 of the 11 goals - one with each foot" [Wikipedia] He's 6"3' and only 25yo so he'd make for a great addition at the back, left hand side for the 'roos! :-)
peter
Guest
Carney provides a goal threat from left back and is good going forward. Defensively he is still learning but does have a problem in that we don't have a natural left sided attacker in front of him to help him out. Compare Carney's position with Luke Wilkshire who has been excellent for a number of years but does have Brett Emerton in front of him which takes a lot of defensive pressure off him. Carney is still the best (only ?) option at LB. The team structure and tactics need to accomodate the undermanning that sometimes occurs on the left side of our defence.
Lmacca
Guest
Ben, good article, though it is disappointing that the reaction to the 4-0 win hasn't been more positive. We should be pleased, if not entirely with the performance, at least with the result! Carney was VERY average Monday, and whilst I wouldn't advocate a 'bring back Chippers' campaign, we do need to find a defender capable of playing there. It's not the time to do so now, but the next year should be spent looking for someone, trying people out etc. That Cansdell-Sherrif made it into the top 50 gives you an idea of how thin our LB stocks are! I support the idea of converting a RB - perhaps Rhys Williams when he's fit again? That way the Wilkshire/Ermerton combo would remain intact. Other than that the cupboard looks a little bare - the A-League players probably stand a chance at this stage of having a crack at the spot.