After watching a youthful Socceroos side record a comfortable victory against New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday, it was again evident that there are several inexperienced players who are now displaying consistent performances for the national side.
Brisbane Roar’s Michael Zullo, with his lightning pace, has been effective in bombing down the left flank and thwarting the opposition’s attacking moves.
James Troisi, who continues to ply his trade at Kayserispor in Turkey, has linked well with Zullo, whilst also showing signs of individual skill and technique.
Leeds United midfielder Neil Kilkenny, though not performing at his best against the Kiwis, has previously demonstrated an excellent passing ability and vision in a team that is crying out for a player in his mould.
However, for all the positives that came from the Socceroos win over their trans-Tasman rivals, it was somewhat disappointing not to see Nathan Burns on the team-sheet.
Since lighting up the A-League during his two-year stint at Adelaide United and being hailed as Australia’s next best thing, Burns has played just four internationals.
Many talented youngsters often fail to make an impact after reaching their early twenties due to poor work ethic.
Yet, it is apparent that the 23-year-old is not among them. After requesting that his current club, AEK Athens, loan him to Kerkyra, in the second division of Greek football, Burns improved immeasurably.
He scored eight goals in 31 appearances for Kerkyra and won them promotion, before re-joining AEK for their pre-season trip to Australia.
At the Festival of Football tournament in Sydney, he was the most impressive of all the Australian players. Burns’ general performances, coupled with his winning goal against Glasgow Rangers, earnt him a recall to the Socceroos set-up.
It was his first involvement with the national side since playing against Singapore in a friendly match back in 2008.
But after making just two appearances in early 2011, Burns has since failed to feature. It is becoming increasingly difficult to understand the reasons for this.
When he first left Adelaide to join the Greek giants, he was not getting regular game time. Other potential stars, such as Tommy Oar and Mitch Langerak, have recently found themselves in a similar situation at big European clubs.
Selection into a national side is generally influenced by whether or not players are finding consistent starts at club level. However, this season Burns has made nineteen appearances for the AEK first team and even scored his first league goal in February.
For the moment, though, there are seemingly too many others ahead of him.
Having fallen out of favour under previous national team managers, the man behind his current selection woes is Holger Osieck.
Since replacing Pim Verbeek as the Socceroos head coach, Osieck has done well in re-building the confidence of the entire team, particularly the youth.
His belief that they would get the job done against an experienced New Zealand side was refreshing.
Whatever his reasons for omitting Burns from the recent friendly match, it is clear that he will have trouble ignoring the former Adelaide man in the future.
On his selection chances, Burns stated last year that it was time for the new generation to step up, following several retirements from aging stars. “It’s a great opportunity and I think I’m in a good position with a good club. I’m ready to go and waiting for the phone to ring,” he said.
After the last few performances, the new generation appears to be slowly rising to the challenge.
The most glaring weakness is a lack of creativity and a real eye for goal. Burns can be a part of the solution.
pete4
Guest
Definately would like to see Nathan Burns and Brent McGrath get a run in the Roos squad up-front sooner rather than later
BSG
Guest
LOL At this clown, the a-league is about 100th ranked league in the world. Larissa who got relegated from the greek super league this season would destroy the roar, you have no idea
David Paul Grubesic
Guest
SFC came 3 last that season clam down i reckon roar would give AEK a run for there money and more sides in greece are pretty week other then the obvious few the GSL is a pretty weak league by top European standards.
chris petes
Guest
Ruka Is injured at the moment
sandy robrts
Guest
Will be nice to see if we ever play a 4-4-3 formation with holman operating in at the top of the midfield trio and having Rukavytsa as left foward and Burns as Right foward, could be a very dangerous attacking force even more better if Keweel is able to keep form and can slot easily into the central strikers role able to link up with Ruka,Burns and holman
Swampy
Guest
Nice article, but for Burns a month late. To be perfectly honest I had forgotten about the existence of Nathan Burns. So it seems had the selection panel. He looked great at the start of the year but that's what happens when you ply your trade in a second rate euro league and don't get many games, you become forgotten. Under osieck it's beginning to look like if you are a fringe player that you are better off playing in the A league. Who'd have thought that a year ago! -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
BSG
Guest
Ridiculous statement, greece' 3rd biggest club flew half way around the world and destroyed the australian champions 2 weeks before the a-league season and 6 weeks before the start of the greek super league, greek sides consistently play well in the europa league and make it to the round of 16 of the ucl with a number of QF and SF and 1 Final appearance, with players such as cisse, luis garcia, sidney govou,, albert riera, ariel ibagaza, marko pantelic, pablo garcia, sergio koke, vierinha, nacho scocco and many more, its not the one of the top 5 leagues in europe but it is still light years ahead of the a-league
Sean
Guest
I notice Ruka has been dropped as well. Probably not good enuf in Holger's eye. Ruka mentioned he wasn't invited to the Asian Cup and I am sure he wasn't recalled for these 2 friendies as well..
David Paul Grubesic
Guest
Greek super league isn't all that much better then the A-league... he as also never had a good game for Australia, needs to step up and move to develop into a better plaer
Spezza
Guest
Its because he plays in greece but second divison in holland is better lol
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
I think this is the true problem. Burns is fighting for a position we are well served in (the right side of our attack). Vidosic may get the nod just ahead of him as he is more of a utility player hence providing greater depth on the bench. I think he will get his chance though having Holman in a rich streak of form doesn't help his chances. The Kruse/Rukavysta battle for spots will be interesting indeed, particularly if the latter can reproduce his B2 form in the Bundesliga this year.
Roarchild
Guest
The few appearances he has made under Holger I thought he did quite well. That may just be the system though as all the wide players have looked ok and it's hard for me to separate Vidosic, Troisi and Burns. All looked good but not great. Ruka has had a better club season than all 3 of them and is probably my favorite 9betting wise) to secure a starting 11 spot.
punter
Guest
This is the one player I want to succeed in the Australian lineup, he got quite a few runs during the Asian cup campaign, so maybe Holger knows he has in Burns.
FarQ
Guest
I think Nathan needs to move to a more consistant league where you dont have 3 managers in a season. Maybe the dutch league? One thing is sure though, his efforts in Greece are not paying off for his club career or his NT selection.