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Tim Cahill, the man who we have relied so heavily on for the past four years, is now struggling to keep up with his Socceroos teammates.
Scoring 23 goals in 51 appearances for Australia is no small achievement. However, his last goal was five games ago, against India, ranked 144th in the world.
Now, I understand players go through dry runs throughout their career.
However, it’s not the goals I am most concerned about. Lately, Tim seems to be behind the run of play constantly. He isn’t looking sharp, he is always whinging to the referee, and he is on his backside more than he’s on his feet.
Whenever he gets the ball, it’s almost likes he slows down the play and ruins any chance of a quick counter-attack.
Now, Tim is a class player, no doubt about that.
However, I believe he does mess with a team’s rhythm and offers very little to teams wanting to play attractive, positive football. Let me explain.
For Everton, Tim has been incredible, scoring over 54 goals, mostly as an attacking midfielder. He is an aerial threat, always popping up in the box scoring that crucial goal.
However, since being away at the Asian Cup, David Moyes has moved to a new formation, playing two up front instead of one with an attacking midfielder behind him (where Cahill plays).
Since the change, Everton have been playing better football, using short sharp passes. Their first game without Cahill was against Tottenham, with the Toffees coming away with a well-deserved victory. They are looking much better since Cahill has left. Coincidence? Perhaps.
Whether it is a coincidence or not, it will be interesting to see whether Cahill retains his spot in the starting line-up when he returns.
His young replacement, Jermaine Beckford, is looking exceptionally good, including a goal in the Merseyside derby last week, and I’m not sure whether Moyes is keen on returning to one upfront upon Cahill’s return. I think Moyes might have realised that Cahill, as much as he is always the hero, can also be a villain, which brings me to my next point.
Pim Verbeek’s reign over Australia was generally seen as a negative, in terms of both results and style of play. The long ball tactic and physical play was ridiculed by many.
It seemed the only positive to come from Verbeek’s time as manager was the form of Cahill, who always seemed to score those vital goals – our own ‘talisman’. But why was this? It was because the style of play suited Cahill; he was allowed to make his ghosting runs into the box, and didn’t have to worry about fancy football.
His job was to pass to the wide men and get in the box, ready to head the ball home, much like he has done for Everton the past few years.
And now, with Australia starting to play short, sharp passing, long balls are becoming fewer each game, replaced by intelligent play. The wide men are now cutting in towards goal, instead of crossing the ball.
This was mostly shown in the semi-final.
All of Australia’s goals, aside from Ognenovski’s, were created from short passing and intelligent through balls, resulting in players getting past the defence and into a one-on-one positions on goal, with only the goalkeeper in their path. Cahill was nowhere to be seen that night and looked out of place constantly.
So what does Holger Osieck do now? Well, hopefully he doesn’t change his tactics to suit Cahill, much like Verbeek did. Pim decided when he took charge to play to the team’s strengths, and believed playing to the strengths of Cahill would be most effective. However, Holger has come in and made the team play how he wants them to play.
Yes, it has taken a bit of time, however the team is coming to grips with his tactics and style of play, and I believe Cahill may not be part of them. In exchange for a better style of football, we may have to say goodbye to Timmy.
I hope I’m wrong. However, I don’t see him changing.
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