In many ways, nothing has changed.
They are still, to my mind, an extremely promising bunch of footballers, with many of them likely to graduate to the full national team within a few years. Some, like Kerem Bulut, might be pushing even earlier.
In Colombia over the past week, at the Under 20s World Cup, there were some very promising and accomplished moments from the likes of Bulut, Terry Antonis, Tommy Oar, Dimitri Petratos and Mustafa Amini.
Sporadically, they were even competing on an even technical level with some of the countless fine footballers from Ecuador, Costa Rica and Spain, suggesting there is enough quality there to build into the upper grades.
Unfortunately though, the players were let down by those above them.
It’s one thing to have a talent team by name, quite another thing to mould a talented bunch of footballers into a cohesive, functioning unit.
For that to happen, it requires a detailed preparation, the dotting of every ‘i” and crossing of every “t”, and it was clear as early as the 20th minute of the opening game that this team didn’t have that.
While they might have been in Denver for over a week, preparing at altitude, it was the retreating, reactive attitude against Ecuador which provided an insight into the manager’s mindset heading in.
Sadly, Jan Versleijen’s lack of genuine belief in the players shone throughout, highlighted by a negative comment shortly after yesterday’s emphatic and embarrassing 5-1 loss as the hands of Spain.
“It is very obvious that, in the first 15 minutes of this game, especially in the backline, we had some players that were not at a World Cup level,” he said.
After a number of poor showings at successive Under 17s and Under 20s World Cups, many fans will be wondering whether the national youth manager is up to this level.
It is a question, in truth, that should be discussed beyond the football forums.
Given his comments about the defence, some fans might be questioning why Versleijen failed to give a minute in defence to two of his central defenders, Petar Franjic and Sam Gallagher, or why he failed to have sufficient back-up in the deficient fullback spots.
In that respect, one has to question whether Versleijen, and even Han Berger, in his role as national technical director, had their team primed and peaking for Manizales.
There’s no doubt in my mind there have been some massive technical breakthroughs since Berger, and before him, Robert Baan, arrived down-under.
The introduction of small sided games, with an emphasis on more touches at a young age, is an example of something that will bear fruit in the next decade and beyond.
But the work of Versleijen with the national youth teams over the past couple of years appears less satisfactory.
One of the areas he has been most culpable is in the fundamental area of technical tournament detail, such as picking the right players both before the tournament and before each game, getting the tactics right before a game, adjusting them throughout and getting his teams to defend and attack as a unit.
The examples above, in respect of his selections and tactics in defence, are just a few.
Another was his work when chasing a result against Costa Rica.
Shortly after bringing on Amini for Petratos, who had had an influential start to the second half and was combining well with Antonis, he took off Ben Kantarovski and brought on central defender Gallagher, playing him in midfield.
Chasing a game, needing a result, a more logical move might have been to swap Amini for Kantarovski, push Antonis back, and play with Amini and Petratos ahead of him.
A more glaring error came yesterday.
Versleijen’s ditching of the national curriculum’s 4-3-3 for a 4-4-2 diamond midfield for the start of the game was a move which smacked of desperation, of a manager struggling to come up with answers.
In some ways, it was heartening to see that the players found the 4-4-2 more alien than the one they have been working on for two years. It showed how far they’ve actually come under the system.
The other key area where Versleijen appears to have struggled is in the mental preparation of the players.
While there were the odd moments of technical and tactically awareness, one of the big frustrations was in the players’ inability to find their own solutions on the field.
While much of this comes down to age and them still developing their tactical awareness, the manager must also shoulder some of the responsibility, especially having worked with many of the players for large parts of the past two years.
The classic example here was against Costa Rica on Thursday.
After erring in the opening game by starting Petratos in an unfamiliar withdrawn role, I would argue that Versleijen adjusted correctly for the start of the Costa Rica game, playing Petratos higher and drafting in the more natural deep playmaker, Antonis.
Watching the first 20 odd minutes it was clear Versleijen got his tactics right and had some success in communicating what was required, as the Young Socceroos pressed high and managed to control proceedings.
But what happened as soon as Costa Rica gained control in the second half of the first half?
Australia’s game buckled. They were clueless, simply unable to wrestle the momentum back. It wasn’t until they came in at the break, 2-1 down, that the manager was able to intervene and provide a template to gain control.
In that respect, Versleijen ticked some boxes here.
But he also erred in part by not preparing his men to deal with such a scenario on their own. Developing the tactical awareness of players, to read tempo and adjust accordingly, should at least be a part of the manager’s remit.
But the players are also a figment of a system which hasn’t hitherto encouraged them to think on their feet, to find their own solutions. This is part of the ongoing development of the game.
Funds are obviously not infinite at FFA, but this is as good a time as any to take stock.
All is not lost. A few of the players, provided they work hard enough for the clubs, should be good enough to graduate to the Olyroos, while some of the younger ones might be around in Turkey in two years time.
Whether Versliejen is the man guiding them there remains to be seen.
Anthony
Guest
rubbish!
Vicentin
Guest
Anthony (note the correct spelling), you're a aggro kind of guy aren't you? But seriously, this is a blog. Why should I not be able to contribute my observations to a debate and not be personally attacked by someone like yourself? I have been following and been involved in football in Australia for about forty years. From my observations truely skillful back four players have been exceptions not the rule, as have goalkeepers who rolled a ball out rather than going for distance. There's always been pockets of good coaching, and technically good players but as a whole I feel we've promoted lots of the wrong players, and overemphasised the physical over the technically better and more intelligent footballers. I watch a fair bit of so called elite junior football in NSW and there's plenty of the wrong messages out there - big, strong, direct and very little 4-3-3. You may disagree and I'm fine with that. By the way there still isn't money in junior football since "the Dutch have come in" which is a shame, but at least there's the beginning of a structure. Ok, see ya.
Anthony
Guest
Vincent, where you got your idea that our elite teams in the past 'hoofed' the ball is just wrong, our elite teams have always successfully played out from the back, it is like you have been knocked on the head along with others who have zero idea about what went on at elite level in this country before the Dutch came in. Have a think about the players that have been produced through the elite programs in the past. Stick with your day job and don't write any more essays, when you have little understanding of what went on, we only needed to change what was happening at the grass roots level, but until the Dutch came in no money was made available, certainly all of the elite development programs have worked on playing out from the back for many many years.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Ben G Couldn't agree more with the poor defending analysis. I'm trying to figure out why this is so, since defending has never been a huge problem for Aussie football teams. I can only assume this is now occurring b/c we are trying to make our defenders "feel comfortable with the ball and play out of defence" rather than just hoofing it forward. And, this cannot happen overnight - the defenders don't have the technique to be comfortable with the ball and they don't have the tactical nous to position themselves properly to create the triangles to pass the ball out of defence. It will happen but will take time.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
You make very valid points but I wasn't going to write off Amini & Kantarovski based on one FIFA tournament, since I've also seen some of the world's superstars fail at FIFA tournaments. I've seen enough of Amini & Kantarovski to be satisfied they are amongst the most technically-gifted youngsters we've produced in a while. Kantarovski deserves a medal rather than criticism for even playing - according to his club manager, he's not fully recovered from a knee reconstruction. I do have fears about Oar's physical size and whether he will be sufficiently skilled to make it as a winger in the senior team but ,,, wow - have we found a dead ball specialist? We really haven't had one apart from Bresc & Skoko, who would sporadically provide a gem. In fact, I honestly think Oar may be better suited as, and developed into, a terrific left full back! Antonis is a talent but he was sleeping, which allowed Spain to score their opening goal; he also gave the ball away in a dangerous spot which led to CRC's opening goal. But, he's very young and I've seen enough to suggest he is a huge talent. So, I'm more than satisfied with the technical ability of all the players I saw ... apart from our defenders.
Ben G
Guest
The problem is not only above them, it's behind them. I can't help but notice in our last three WCs (U/17, U/20 and WC) our defenders have been way below par. How can we build up play when the foundations are so poor? It's not all doom and gloom though. Good defenders don't have to be quite at the same technical level as mids and forwards. Many continue to develop until a much later age... Just look at Og. It does, however, continue to be a theme for us and something we should look at.
Realfootball
Guest
I think you need to quantify that assertion. You may be right, but I'd like to see the names and where they went. And we had better clearly define what defines a "top club".
Realfootball
Guest
Have to take issue with on the technical leve of some of the players you mention. In the case of Oar, Armini and Kanatarovski, to my eyes these junior emperors were shown to be singularly lacking in clothes. Oar lacks genuine pace and has no variety to his game. He is a limited, one trick pony. That he has disappeared at Utrecht should be no surprise. He is the most overhyped player I have ever seen. Amini's touch was often poor and he looked relentlessly ordinary compared to the opposition - slow on the ball, lacking in workrate and short on strength. As for Kantarovksi, so much talk, such ordinary performances. I note that Bayern passed on him not long ago. There is so much beating up of mediocre talents in this country. The only two field players who looked up to standard in terms of the players on show for other teams were Bulut and Antonis. Ibini -Esei showed potential. They were the only players who were up to the technical standard of the opposition players in the two games I watched before I gave up in dismay. I admire your optimism, Fussball, but I fear that in the case of these players, it has come with a disconnect with objective reality.
jamesb
Guest
The Special One I disagree. Australia didn't have a full strength line up at the world cup. Players like Leckie, Davidson, McGrath, Lustica and this young kid from Portsmouth Ryan Williams whom the portsmouth manager has huge wraps on weren;t part of the squad http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/211330,pompey-boss-praises-oz-teen.aspx Peter Kandy raised an interesting point about Vidmar at how he coaches more or less similar players to what JV had.
asanchez
Roar Guru
Top article Tony. Always enjoy reading your stuff. This was and still is a Talent Team. I reckon 5-6 of them could easily become Socceroos down the track. But they were let down by the coach and his tactics. For me he missed a couple of players in selecting the squad, and his team selections on match days were very questionable. Ie, not playing Antonis enough, playing Kanta, and not playing Franjic. He needs to go now, has had 3 world cups in the last few years to prove himself and hasn't produced. I understand the change in culture and our game style may take a generation to cement, but I reckon results (not getting smashed and completely outclassed at the very least) should be expected. I think Han Berger is doing a good job, but we need a different Youth coach, even a home grown coach could be very successful.
Tony Tannous
Expert
Thanks for the comment and question QSAF I think you'll find, against Costa Rica, that Versleijen didn't actually revert to a 4-4-2. What he did when Ibini came on was play Oar on the right and Ibini on the left, but Ibini was deployed narrowly, close to Bulut, giving the impression he was one of two up front. If you want a comparison, you can comare it to the Brisbane Roar last season, where the narrow "width" was provided by Barbarouses on the right, who was always working close to the central striker (Solorzano), whereas Broich would start wide the other side. It was a 3 up front, narrow one side, wide the other. That's how I saw the Young Socceroos vs Costa Rica.
Futbanous
Guest
Theres a simple philosophy involved Vicentin & maybe in practice it is more complicated,but no matter which position on the pitch we have to develop players comfortable on the ball. The ball hits the foot it becomes an extension of the body. Comfort = possession=creative for me. Too many players in football still even at top level are not comfortable on the ball. Personally I believe it can be learned at a later stage to a certain level, I saw it with the Roar from Frank to Ange.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Vicentin - brilliant analysis! Thank you for taking the time.
Vicentin
Guest
Without wishing to write an essay on the topic – I’m at work, I want to pick up on few things here. While your comment “if you don’t have the footballing ability to do it” seems very simple and hard to argue with I think it is a complicated sequence of circumstances that gets us to it. While not wanting to outright dismiss the various players used in these defensive positions in the tournament, it seems obvious to me that they are part of our unsophisticated football culture in this country which frankly you emphasised in “and to punt the ball as long as you can instead of trying to play out from the back”. These kids are “old school” defenders – technically average (that’s generous) and tactically seemingly incapable of a simple pass to some midfielders standing in front of them – not that those midfielders necessarily made it easier for them. The problem is that after years of being selected for elite teams because of their ability to hoof a ball long “when in doubt clear it out” (and remember this is a great asset when you’re playing on a full field when you’re 10 which is the format these kids would have been playing in) and physically dominating modest opponents they’ve now been asked to have technical ability, display calmness under pressure and to be the first line of the creative process of “playing it out from the back”. This generation probably isn’t up for it but it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be asked to play that way – you’ve got to start somewhere, and why should our midfielders just watch the ball fly over their heads anyway? If we look at Spain’s back four – who weren’t perfect by the way, their technical ability including the crispness of their passing and vision to find players was on par with our better midfielders – why? Bloody obvious really, they don’t have a culture of hoofing the ball and have been taught to value possession all their football lives. Frankly until Australian coaches – right down to really junior levels, get this obsession with “no risk hoofball” out of their heads our football will suffer. We're not there yet. Why do our coaches (and parents) care about mistakes and emphasising winning so much even a young age groups? Because our whole junior football structure – for the purpose of creating truly elite players – is so effing wrong it is not funny. Too much short term (and short cut) results-based football rather than proper schooling in technique and small-sided games (we could go further with this to older age groups but it seems that 11 a side is the only macho enough “real football” that many will contemplate) etc. Then of course - in NSW for sure but no doubt elsewhere too, once you get to “elite” competitions too much nepotism, financial gains winning out over the best players etc. FFA really does need to step in because frankly most clubs/institutions can’t be trusted with the power. For what it is worth I do think that some of this team will step up and be really good players in a few years. Antonis particularly could be fantastic – isn’t he giving a few years away to some of his team mates, Kantarovski looks good too. Oar, I’m not so sure about – he’s pretty quick and he’s decent but is he technically good enough…not sure? Ok, essay complete/rant over and back to work …ciao.
The Special One
Guest
The most startling aspect of this though is that many countries don't bring their best Under 20 players here. I think England have a third team or something like that. Australia just about brought a full strength squad which qualified thru Asia and played the Asian Cup. These players have played together for a long time and had a lot of resources thrown at them, yet they were well and truly played off the park. The truth is though at age 20 today, if you aren't already at the top level its going to be very hard to make it.
nordozzz
Roar Guru
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/clives-still-struck-by-gold-fever-20110805-1ifd1.html#ixzz1UCrWZRcB interesting interview with clive palmer recently ... "I would only roll it up to expand it" on gcu and their future Would be great if the game had someone like him to roll out the capital required for the sort of setups our A-League clubs need to build our base of talent. Which would from there put Australia in a position to compete at these youth age tourneys. Rather than just changing coaches/systems every so often as Oz has been. Just sayin' ... we can go on and on about tactics or approaches for one tournament and miss the bigger picture.
Peter Kandy
Guest
Our defence was extremely poor obviously-unmarked header from a corner, needless penalty, defenders that were not reading through balls by Spanish players) but credit to the Spanish that showed what a class act they are. Unbelievable to think that they could make 5 or so changes and still produce that type of football! The first goal we conceded sums up the Spanish! Quick ball movement and possession with tactical awareness. Although the Aussies tried to pressure them all over the park (apart from Antonis who let his man go for a free shot on goal) there was nothng we could do to get the ball off them. I think your article is right on the money Tony, lets not get too discouraged, there is talent there but the team was not cohesive as you put it, and that can only be put down to the coach. If the talent wasnt there we wouldnt have players being transferred to Dutch/German clubs. My focus now turns to the Olyroos, lets see what the same talent (with the addition of some good older players) can do under a highly rated home grown coach. Aurelio Vidmar-give us something to smile about.
nordozzz
Roar Guru
true, but only if they see a particular age level as priority ... they probably pick and choose. My point being i thought u were reading too much into a nation not qualifying, like Germany. Age tournaments don't have to be such a focus for countries with strong club systems. Which we aren't ... too much focus on the national program IMO at this point in our development. In 10 years, with the right investment at CLUB level we could be like Spain and go back and try and win one.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Spain is a pretty big football nation and Spain's u20 team is simply outstanding at this tournament. Interestingly, Spain's u17 team did NOT qualify for the FIFA WC in Mexico last month. Australia was one of the few teams that qualified for BOTH u17 & u20 FIFA WCs. It's nice that we always aim to be best, but it's a shame we often fail to smell the roses.
nordozzz
Roar Guru
... and their best and brightest u/20 players are more focused on wanting to tear it up in the opening weekend of das Bundesliga! Age tourneys for the bigger nations seem to get less and less relevant the older they get. If the long term aim is to be among those bigger nations...