After a disappointing display by the Young Socceroos in their World Cup, the knives are out for coach Jan Versleijen.
Numerous commentators, former players, coaches and analysts are calling for his head, an end to the Dutch coaching philosophy that has permeated Australia, and also for sacking of the FFA’s head of national teams John Boultbee.
It’s understandable when you consider the nature of both the Young Socceroos’ World Cup campaign, which saw them gain just a point from their three group matches, as well as the Joeys going out meekly just after the group stage a few weeks before.
All Australians want to see our junior teams do well, and despite being placed in difficult groups, expectations were high heading into both of these tournaments. But when analysing the Young Socceroos campaign, we need to take a deep breath and add a little perspective. A few points to consider.
The Young Socceroos were missing some vital players. Matthew Leckie, an A-League star who has now broken into the Bundesliga, was denied permission by his club to play in the under-20 World Cup. Leckie was arguably one of the best three players in this Australian team, and his absence was sorely missed.
Steven Lustica, now at Hajduk Split, and Brondby’s Brent McGrath were also unavailable. Lustica is a rising star while McGrath has already made his senior debut for the Socceroos. Both are playing in Europe and both would have significantly boosted the squad.
Ben Kantarovski was severely underdone. The defensive midfielder, captain and leader is probably the most vital player in the squad. Practically an A-League veteran at just 19 years of age, the Newcastle Jet spent six months recuperating from a knee injury and came into the tournament with very little game time under his belt.
His club coach Branko Culina stated that he should not be playing and during the World Cup he looked off the pace thanks to his lack of match fitness.
After already appearing at an under-20 World Cup in 2009, as then one of the youngest players in the team, Kantarovski now boasted a wealth of experience with 25 games for the Young Socceroos and was a huge asset this squad.
A fully fit and healthy Kantarovski would have made a big difference but it wasn’t to be.
The group was very tough, lets make no bones about it. Getting out of a group featuring Spain, Costa Rica and Ecuador is virtually mission impossible.
Picking up a draw against Ecuador was a good result, and a point against Costa Rica would have also been fantastic, but crucial individual errors cruelled us in that match.
The Spain game can be held in isolation, considering the quality of the opposition and the embarrassing scoreline. Spain was in a different class to us, and it showed.
Despite one point from three games, there were some bright spots. Kerem Bulut continued to show his class and goal-scoring pedigree. A Socceroo cap cannot be far off. Despite showing some Mario Balotelli-like petulance at times, he is a real star with speed, strength, height and a quality touch.
Another player to emerge from the World Cup the better was Tommy Oar. He already has four caps for the Socceroos, and he did no disservice with his displays in Columbia which featured two goals and some great play. Expect to see more from him in the green and gold in the future.
Terry Antonis was another who continued his development and will get better and better. The child prodigy is only 17 now but he will learn from this experience and be stronger for it.
Now I’m not saying there should be no criticism for Versleijen or the FFA, or that perhaps Versleijen should make way. There definitely should be a thorough overview of our junior system, the AIS program and the performance of the national junior teams.
Questions that should be asked include – why was the Australian formation changed before the Spain game? Why were we unable to play the ball out from the back? Was it down to the coaching of the players, or the players themselves?
Questions might have also been asked about some of the selections, like why was Matthew Ryan, lasts season’s A-League Young Player of the Year, omitted from the squad?
And I agree if the decision of this review is for the Dutchman to go, then fair enough. But lets not set the noose and hang him before he has a trial.
All of us want to see the Young Socceroos (and Joeys, Matildas, Socceroos and every national football team) succeed and see our football pedigree continue to improve. But we have to remember that this takes time, and we have to have both the coaching and the cattle to do it.
Jack
Guest
Together with Antonis who was picked Versleijan omitted 2 of the best 3 attackuing midfielders in the country in Tom Rogic & Brad Inman! For that alone he should be sacked asap!
j binnie
Guest
Nathan - The term "Total Football" was a term used by the press to describe the fluid style of 4-3-3 played by Ajax & the Dutch national team in the mid 60's through mid 70's. It is actually a misnomer which was denied often by the man who is purported to "invent " it ,one Rinus Michels, the coach of both teams. Actually it is widely thought that the term actually finds it's roots in a theory expounded by Hugo Meisl, "father" of the pre-war so called Austrian "Wunderteam". Meisl theorised that if a coach could get 10 players with the same physical,mental,skill,technique,fitness,& disciplinary aptitudes he could create the perfect system for them to play.This was christened the "Meisl Whirl " for,being a student of human movement ,he theorised that when a player moved in attack he would simply stay where he had arrived at & continue there till next he moved to another area.Meanwhile all his team mates would have "whirled" to take up the positions necessary to maintain whatever system was being played.You can see the benefits this would have, firstly in the amount of energy expended during a game, not to mention an opponents chagrin at facing a different player constantly. Now you will note that this was a THEORY only & Meisl himself was the first to admit it would be almost impossible to accumulate 10 such players. However there are many who believe that with the improvements from those days in the 1930's,what with full time professionalism,better equipment, & physically better prepared players this "theory" has in fact been the driving force in many master coaches constant striving for better results in the last 80 years,men like Rappan (Switzerland),Rocco & Herrera (Italy),Sebes (Hungary),Feola (Brazil),Arkadiev (Russia),Ramsey (England) Guttman (Portugal), Herberger (Germany) & of course Happel &Michels (Holland) to name a few who have in their own time altered dramatically the way the game has been played to where we are today,at the Nou Camp,where the wheel has almost come the full circle with all players on attack when in possession and tracking back to defend when trying to get the ball back.jb
punter
Guest
Kevin Sheedy was no winger, Davie Cooper had the ability to beat a player. The other 2 average at best. While I too watched alot British football in the 80s, 90s, there is no comparison to what we have now. Just watch the Brazil v Mexico game in the under 20s to see where the game is now, most of those players you mentioned would struggle to play for a top team now.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
I wasn't advocating systems vice each other, I was commenting that chopping and changing between different curriculum based on current fancy seems counterproductive. Like the old Bruce Lee dictum of practising one move vs one thousand. My understanding of the term Dutch System is a training and development system of systems to train and foster understanding of the tenets of Total Football, which originated in the Netherlands, ie. the emphasis on extremely fluid play with players participating in all phases of play with an emphasis on fitness.
j binnie
Guest
Nathan - Thanks for the reply.You are confused? All I asked you to do was explain your understanding of the term "Dutch System". You see there is no such a "system" for the game has been tactically evolving since around 1925 when certain coaches began to question how the game was being played & what they would do to improve it. So, to use your vocabulary, there has been an "Austrian System", a "Swiss System", a "Russian System", a "Hungarian System",a "Brazilian System", a "German System", an "Italian System",& an "English System", all leading up to your "Dutch System" which faded somewhat when the "French System" took over. Are you getting my point? Tactical development has taken place over years in many different countries & all this hogwash emanating from high places about our great leap forward with the "Dutch System" is just that, hogwash, used by people who are either ignorant of the true development of what is the WORLD game, or are trying to impress with their limited knowledge of what is the truth.Our problems in Oz are much deeper than what can be cured by words,we have to develop ideas that started in Oz back in '75 & have been allowed to stagnate under administrations who just did not know what needed to be done. Until this is fixed we will continue to have the situation where young Oz players have to go overseas to be "finished off". We send young bright people to Universities for at least 3 years in order that they are equipped to teach,a skill in itself. However we appear to think we can take any experienced player off the playing field & he will be able to do the same job. Make sense????? jb.
Realfootball
Guest
John, "no speed problems"? Are you joking? The kid was outpaced in a straight line by every fullback he was up against. I've seen him live on a number of occasions - trust me, his pace is only upper average. I have seen Zullo on the pitch at the same time and Zullo is markedly and perceptibly quicker. Which is why Zullo starts for Utrecht and Oar can't make the bench. Oar's future at elite level - if he has one - is not on the wing. Yes, there have been short players who have dazzled, but they have either had stunning skills (Juninho, Messi) or exceptional pace (Overmars, Messi). Oar has neither. He just has a very good left foot. He was owned by the fullbacks in the YWC.
Realfootball
Guest
Completely agree on Oar. Vastly overrated and not nearly fast enough for the wing at this level. To single him out as a highlight is mystifying. Oar is going nowhere fast at Utrecht. The hype around him has always bewildered me. He is not, nor will he ever be, elite class.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
I don't think I'm advocating what you think I'm advocating? :confused:
RIP Enke,
Guest
The formation is all a little irrelevant, it is the way a team plays in the formation, the tactics of the game that creates the different options in attack and defense. We know that we have talented kids but it's the coach who should be teaching the basics and intricacies of player movement within the said formation, I really think Jan is not the man for the job. Every one said they looked a bit lost, not a sure sign of understanding your role on the pitch, that's the coaches job and his post game comments were terrible, I can only presume how he engages the players and my assumptions are not a comfort. A lot of teams play 433, yet a lot of teams play it differently, this is where a good coach understands his players tactics of said formation and teaches the players the roles, movement, runs they need to make,positioning that makes chances and defending easier. Brisbane Roar showed us this last year, that. Is why they'll do well this year again, not just individual talent, but well implemented tactics organized and trained by their coach. It has nothing to do with Dutch coaches, but the quality or ability to coach youth. Just because you bring in a Spanish or Brazilian coach means just as little, or even a good senior coach. IMO it counts as small change,in the larger currency that is youth coaching if they are not good communicators or teachers of youth.
j binnie
Guest
Nathan - Would you care to point out to me & others who might be interested, exactly what it is that you describe as "the Dutch system", & please,if you do, don't just repeat the piffle that has been emanating from the sources of power for the last 5 years or so.Professional football as we know it started in Holland around 1955 & actually made huge strides forward under English coaches,Jack Reynolds, who had gone there from Switzerland pre-war but returned to manage Ajax in 1945, & in1959, Vic Buckingham arrived to win Ajax the championship in 1960.By 1965 Buckingham had gone & returned but finally was replaced by Michels & it is then the popular version of Dutch supremacy begins but no one will mention that Michels greatest attribute was one of exercising great discipline in his coaching which, strangely, was the aforementioned Reynold's greatest asset.Ajax began to win major games under Michels but were actually playing 4-2-4 as practised by the Brazilians much earlier (1954).Another Dutch club,Feyenoord became the country's first European Cup winner under the famous Austrian Ernst Happel who,by this time had changed the team's system to 4-3-3 (ring a bell?).When Michel's changed Ajax to a similar system the great run of success began for Ajax had by far the better players. " Total Football ??? ". Michels himself always denied being party to this title even after he took on managing the Dutch national side which under him reached the World Cup Final in 1974,only 20 years after their professional league started. A magnificent effort but one which I have shown you was influenced by not only Dutch coaches but also English & Austrian master coaches. jb
John Davidson
Roar Guru
I didn't know that about Matthew Ryan, thanks for the info. I think Oar is improving. He can score goals, cross the ball and get past defenders. I don't think he has any speed problems, but yes height-wise he ain't going to grow anymore. But height should be the be-all and end-all for football. There's been a lot of great short players. Ryan Williams is certainly one to watch - making your first-team debut at 17 is impressive. Great comments by the Pompey manager: "I'm delighted we've been able to get young Ryan Williams on the pitch. I've got a thing about him. He's a player for 17. He'll get better, he's a great kid."
Nathan of Perth
Guest
There's a limit to how much you can really attribute here. The national curriculum is only just starting and if you go out and look at the juniors there are an absolute plethora of styles. I've seen short-passing teams, teams that live on Route One, seen teams that play from the back, play physical or not. When they hit a certain level you need to tie them together into a system and the Dutch one is pretty good. Performances at this age are just naturally pretty erratic, is all. Maybe another system would be better, but its not good to just chase trends. I'd say better to be great at a decent system than okay at lots of great systems.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Nope. I have a football background in Australia that stretches to the late 1970s when I started playing competitive football at grass-roots level - well, only at grass-roots level since, alas, I was never good enough to be a pro - and I have never enjoyed following football in Australia more than I have in the past 6 years, since Frank Lowy and the new FFA administration took over. There are things I'd like to change but, overall, I'm happy with management decisions. It's a bit like my role as a shareholder in corporations - there are things I'd like to change at most of the companies where I hold shares but, overall, I'm happy with management. If ANYONE is unhappy with the direction of the FFA, here's a thought ... ... rather than whine and whinge at the keyboard, how about you get off your backside put yourself up for election and see if you have the support you think you have.
David V.
Guest
Oh dear, what would you have said about John Robertson? Davie Cooper? Kevin Sheedy (no not that one!)? Ian Woan?
Standover
Guest
Care to discuss the pro-Dutch agenda then?
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Well done, John Davidson. Thank you for providing a calm and reasoned analysis of the situation; as opposed to the hysterical shrieking that has been prominent from those with an agenda and an some axe to grind.
jamesb
Guest
you could also add Ryan Williams from Portsmouth to the list of players who didn't take part with the young socceross.
punter
Guest
Mathew Ryan was injured & not considered. I think you overflate the value of Tommy Oar, great left foot but lacking in speed, height & ability to beat the man to be a great winger/player.