Captains are the key to any sporting success – Michael Clarke and Lucas Neill, in particular. The baggy greens are on the brink of chalking up their second Test win in 14 months, with Clarke playing positive cricket. And it’s rubbing off on the team.
But the Socceroos should have been beaten last night by lowly Thailand in a World Cup qualifier, instead of winning 2-1, simply because Neill didn’t spark his side.
That’s not the way Holger Osieck coaches. It looked as though that disaster Pim Verbeek was back.
Captaincy is the key, alright.
I’ll put my cards on the table straight away. I never rated Clarke captaincy material, nor deserving the second most important job in the country after the Prime Minister.
But Clarke won the ODI series 3-2 over Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. No mean feat. And he’s just five wickets away from a 1-nil lead in the three-Test series.
Sri Lanka’s still 259 runs in arrears, and no chance of saving the Test unless it rains for two days.
A win at Galle on a dynamite pitch will do wonders for both Clarke and his troops.
Like the vast majority, I’m only watching the Test on television. But it’s abundantly clear that Clarke has the side more focused in the field than his predecessor Ricky Ponting.
Maybe it’s Clarke to lasso the wild one Mitchell Johnson and make him a consistent cricketer, instead of a liability. Ponting couldn’t do it.
And Clarke has certainly made Nathan Lyon and Trent Copeland feel at home from the get-go. Both debutants have been instrumental in the Australians dominating this first Test.
It’s important to return to the winner’s list.
Australia won the third Ashes Test at the WACA mid-December last year. But the previous Australian win was mid-July 2010 at Lords against Pakistan.
Just two wins in 10 Tests is the reason why the Australians have dropped to fifth in the world Test rankings, and deservedly so.
If Clarke can turn his batting lineup into focus, instead of playing far too many suicide shots, the side will be competitive again, and move up the ladder as an automatic progression.
But to be fair to Clarke, he can’t fix all the woes at once. Sufficient to say, he has done better than I thought possible and deserves more public support.
Lucas Neill lost a lot of public support last night.
A good crowd of 25,845 turned up at Suncorp to be greeted by an abysmal display by the Socceroos against an opponent rated 25/1 by most betting agencies. Rare odds in a two-horse race.
And the Socceroo stats – 67% possession, 65% in the opposition half, with shots at goal, Socceroos 15 for two goals, Thailand four for one.
Even worse, the Socceroos were in the Thai penalty box 50 times, the Thai’s just seven times in reverse.
Enough for 10 goals and counting. Just two?
But the Thai’s led 1-nil until the 58th minute and only fell behind in the 86th – having dodged a barrage of bullets.
Think about it, the Socceroos are ranked 22nd in the world. Heaven help the 178 ranked behind them.
As to be expected from a world-class goal-keeper, Mark Schwarzer was brutally honest.
“That performance feels like a loss. That’s the worst we have played for a very long time”.
Amen to that.
Neill added: “It showed if you don’t approach the game right you find yourself down against any team. They made it very hard for us”.
That quote should read: “We made it very hard for ourselves”.
Osieck gave up his players: “Everyone expected an easy win, they didn’t play the football in the first half I would like to see.
“In the second half we did a lot more, they knew what they had to do.
“Maybe it was a good wake-up call”.
Maybe?
Next up, Saudi Arabia away on early Wednesday morning our time, a far better side, with 40 degree heat, and a hostile home crowd.
If the wake-up call hasn’t registered, the Saudi’s may well declare at half-time. Unless the far more experienced Lucas Neill takes a positive leaf out of Michael Clarke’s book.
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
The thing is Clarke only Captains the Cricket team against a hand full of countries. On the other hand Neil has captain the Australian Football team against 5x as many countries perhaps more under different conditions and climate and so many different styles of play. So yes Clarke would learn more from Neil then Neil from Clarke.
apaway
Guest
What seems to be missing in the analysis of the game is that the Thais played to the best plan they could to get the best of the Socceroos. Their goal was wonderful and they then defended like their lives depended on it. They came close to creating a big upset and hopefully will go on to better things. In relation to David's comparison of Lucas Neill and MIchael Clarke, I honestly think it could be the other way around - Clarke should look at Neill and other Australian sporting leaders to get a handle on the top cricketing job. Not that Clarke is doing a bad job, but he has only been in the role for a period of less than 1 series.
asanchez
Roar Guru
David, the captain of the Socceroos didn't have a bad game on Friday night. He did make one bad error of judgement when the Thais scored, but that was about it. In Football, being a flowing game, all the captain can do on the pitch is lead by example in the way he plays. And as I mentioned, apart from one slip up Friday night he wasn't really called upon to do anything major, his job is to keep a tight defence, and all other times he did his job. The Socceroos have done a great job in getting to 2 consecutive World Cups, and the public now expects them to smash teams like Thailand on every match played, which is understandable. The stats that David put up in his article showed a massively one-sided match, with any Football follower reading those stats and then the 2-1 scoreline would know that the match was either 2-1 because of the Aussies inability to finish off their chances or the Aussies just being massively unlucky not to score more. I'd say it was probably a combination of both. And I also thought the Socceroos got their tactics and team selections wrong, which has nothing to do with Neill. They underestimated the Thais which almost left them red-faced at full-time. Almost, but they got the points in the end. But for someone to say that the Socceroos should have lost the match is taking a very cynical view. It's almost as if the writer wished they'd lost. On the other hand Michael Clarke has now captained a hand full of games, it's a tad early to say that the captain of the Socceroos, who's had that position for over 4 years needs to learn anything from a 10 game captain. Perhaps the cricket captain could learn a thing or 2 from the Socceroos captain on how to exude professionalism, and on how to keep his playboy lifestyle under wraps...
PaddyBoy
Guest
Big part of the reason I love the Socceroos. Never seen any serious diving (the Bresh did it in Serie A but refrained in the Green and Gold), and they always have a bit of humble pie, when they shouldn't need to eat it. A lot of it has to do with the very rapid rise in their popularity one would think, so they'd be acutely aware of how precious their popularity is in Aus, and I hope the tradition is continued to the next generation. Other sports have their serious ups and downs (Rafter vs Hewitt, Gilchrist vs Ponting) but the Socceroos and out golfers have their feet firmly planted on the ground.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
If I was referring to "on-field matters" you would have a valid point. However, in my opinion, a team captain's primary function is to be the public face of the team and to provide leadership and direction for the way the team behaves - both on and off the pitch. Whilst I don't watch other sports, I do watch the news and am truly appalled by the lack of sportsmanship, and humility in victory demonstrated by some of our other National representative teams. Additionally, I've read reports of boorish and thuggish behaviour, which seem to have the explicit or tacit approval of the team's captain and management as "boys being boys".
punter
Guest
David, I think the general concenus was that you are wrong. I think it should have read Michael Clarke has a muchto learn from Lucas Neill.
Brian
Guest
Isn't saying 'Lucas is one of the most distinguished captains of an Australian National Team – in ANY sport.' having an opinion on the other codes? The same problem you have with 'non football people' (lol) commenting on soccer?
PaddyBoy
Guest
It's an old saying. The other one is it's not true, it's way more important.
PaddyBoy
Guest
Sorry, Santon in the squad, and Balotelli was an unused sub in the final. Santon is now at Newcastle, and Balotelli is warming the bench at Man City.
PaddyBoy
Guest
As I said there are exceptions, but they are hardly what you'd consider a top 10 team anymore. The WC they perfotmed well below what they are capable of, and the Germany game was not the just result (didn't see the Spain game). Italy were rubbish and only snatched the draw late (stoppage time or almost from memory). Germany dominated them in third gear, and before the goal, the best chances they had were yelling at the ref for penalties. Brazil, Argentina, Uraguay, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, even England or France would take Italy at the moment in a competitive environment. It's no coincidence that the last Italian team to win the CL was Inter, who had no Italians in their entire squad, let alone starting 11 (Santon wasn't there from memory). Teams like Juve stock up on Italians and get pommelled.
c
Guest
is lord out of the same school as becky wilson namely no idea nor love for the world game
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Think you'll find this "not 2006 Italy" side beat Spain 2:1 ... 3 weeks ago. I reckon Spain are a "big gun" ... or, do you consider Spain to be one of the "mid teams"? And, earlier this year Italy drew 1:1 with Germany. Yes, both Spain & German were friendlies but most of the top-ranked UEFA nations don't have an opportunity to play another top-ranked UEFA nation outside of actual tournaments.
PaddyBoy
Guest
I watched that one, Van Persie seemed to be having fun :). In reality, there are easy matches for most people. The comment on Italy is a bit far fetched considering a lot of the players profile is due to the fact they play in a high profile league, most of the team atm are rubbish. They play horribly and inly seem to do well against the "mid teams". Big guns scare them, bad teams bore them. There have been exceptions, but this is not 2006 Italy we are talking about. Australia is also the second most successful tennis playing nation in history, we are no good anymore.
PaddyBoy
Guest
They were in tge penalty box 50 times and yet I can't remember once that wasn't a cross. Sure, the Thais aren's particularly tall, but that was a bit much.
David Heidelberg
Guest
LOL, Thailand had one nice period of play, lasting about 10 sec, and then they parked the bus. Australia applied relentless pressure for the rest of the match and finally crcked the Thais when they made tactical and personnel changes to adapt to the Thai system. Maybe Holger can take some blame for not reacting faster but to blame Neill is a bit much. To suggest he learns from the captain of a team that has only won once in the last year, and is openly reviled by many sports fans is just plain stupid.
UK Steve
Guest
Yep, that's proof that there are no easy matches in International football. Surprised you didn't mention Holland beating San Marino 11-0 last night. Maybe the scoreboard didn't fairly reflect how close the match actually was.
BigAl
Guest
Were any of the Italians smoking on the field during this game ? I remember they used to do so during their Americas Cup challenges - you could tell they were about to change tack when they flicked their butts over the side !
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Italy is a 4-times Champion of the World and currently ranked 7th in the world. The Italian National Team team contains superstars, who are amongst the most recognisable and highest paid footballers on the planet. Faroe Islands is ranked 111 in the world. The Faroe Islands National team often includes blokes, who are semi-professional footballers - farmers, accountants, publicans, etc. Last night, in the city of Tórshavn, on the island of Streymoy in the Faroe Islands, mighty Italy scraped a 0-1 win against the Faroe Islands in a Qualifier for Euro2012. Anyone, who thinks there are easy matches in international football needs to watch, read and learn more about the vagaries of the Beautiful Game.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@ KP What's a "good captain's knock" in relation to football? In 35 years of playing and observing football, I've never heard that expression. I don't think any of the players would be happy with their individual performance last night and I notice you, too, agree that Lucas "seemed to have the defensive end covered" ... so he couldn't have played too badly?
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@ KP We can't always agree, but I appreciate the feedback - maybe I was too harsh on David, but I just don't understand this fascination amongst the non-football media to offer their opinions on football! If David had said we lacked creativity, urgency and structure I'd have agreed 100%. Rather, first Lord makes a nonsensical comment about the team that dominated the game should NOT have won. Heck, you don't even need to be a football person - you just need to have the smallest amount of basic logic & reasoning - to realise such a conclusion is ridiculous! Then, Lord makes some comments about Lucas's captaincy. As far as I'm concerned Lucas Neill's captaincy last night had ZERO, ZILCH, NOTHING to do with the way we performed. Lucas is one of the most distinguished captains of an Australian National Team - in ANY sport. He's polite, articulate, affable and held in the highest regard by his peers - the perfect ambassador for Australian Football around the globe. As Bozza recently said - in football every player on the pitch is a captain. The main role for the official captain in football is off the pitch.