Rusty Olyroos fortunate to draw against impressive UAE

Yes I agree with the author, I thought Australia were very lucky to come away with a draw against the UAE , they were too lazy at critical times and some lapses could well have cost them :-)

Fussball - A good question. Lets look at this problem objectively taking in your numerical,in years ,reference to the impact of the National Curriculum. Apparently this N.C. has taken 5 years to implement for we got our first Dutch National D of C 6 years ago,&,as it is based on coaching skills,formations, systems,& data that is at least 50 years old it is not exactly "new". Now if we are to believe it is going to be the "turning point"for our young players you ask if it will be 10 years before we see results.This is where we hit a stumbling block. If we are to believe our ELITE (remember at this time it is for elite players) NEED this curriculum one has to wonder how our youth teams of '91;'93,& '99 (20 to 12 years ago) managed to perform so well in these same competitions without a said National Curriculum for it is being suggested there wasn't one when I for one know there was only it did not have such a fancy title but most certainly cost a fraction of what is being spent now.To attempt an answer to your question it appears our Olyroos (at roughly 22),our under 20's, & our under 17's all have the same problems with basic skills.If we start to try & fix the problem now we must ask how long is it going to take for the curriculum to work it's magic.? Would you agree we would have to write off the Olyroos & the under 20's for in 4 years they will probably be too old .The under 17's, if they work hard might catch up but not all of them would make it.So we must then look to 2019 before we could possibly have today's 15/16 year old's as world class at 22. In other words our curriculum has to produce a conveyor line of Messi's (his development time at Barca).I honestly wish I could believe this but at present there is little on show to even suggest this will take place.Hope I'm wrong but realistically I think there is a long road ahead if we are to see the huge improvement that is required,even among our "elite".jb

jb Will you agree that the u23s, who were poor at the basic skill levels on Wednesday night against the UAE, developed those poor basic skill levels 10-12 years ago and we need to wait 10 years to assess the impact - good or bad - of the National Curriculum?

dasilva - Sorry you did not enjoy the game (on TV it was a bit better you can turn it off) but what in reality you were watching was a team of young men trying their hardest to "play out of the back","play out of defence", "play possession football a la Barca" in fact all the descriptive nonsense being used by our betters in high places who are ignoring the obvious, our youngsters are not being prepared at basic levels to play these types of games.Lets take "passing" (to use the old name for a basic skill). To play these modern tactical systems it is almost mandatory the passes be of the highest standard ie to be played to a team mate in the most advantageous way enabling him to do likewise with his next pass.Unfortunately,with modern coaching methods demanding that 'defenders" pick up "attackers" ASAP this adds two other requirements if a pass is to be successful,speed &movement,.ie moving the ball accurately at "pace" to a mate who with movement "away" from a defender supplies a good target. Simple,isn't it? That is if you are talking about it ,not doing it.That's where our kids are not being given a chance,the basic skill training has to be upgraded quickly if they want to use these systems. jb

KF - This is a very astute observation.Your last sentence sums it up so well. If our Olyroos(HAL version),our U20's & our U17's are all suffering with the same problems the time frame to correct these faults could ,as you suggest, take 10years of applied,intensive correction, to achieve improvement.Time to get started. jb

This is probably the first time watching a football match NOT as a neutral but as a fan emotionally invested to one side where I felt incredibly bored. I felt it was a waste of money watching this match Even matches where australia played poorly and lacked creativity, usually the opposition plays well and there is some degree of tension that the opposition will beat you usually spiced up the game However for most of the first half, both sides were lacking any form of adventure and creativity. It was only in the second half of the second half where both sides started to have some chances but it was a case of too little, too late. Sure UAE were the stronger side and probably had the better of the draw but I wasn't particularly impress with them as well and they did engage in time wasting there was a comical free kick where the goalies was standing there lining up for the goal kick and then just collapse to the floor with "cramps". It's like he was cramping up due to boredom.

Disappointing result, very unlikely we will qualify for the Olympics now. The results of the U17, U20, Womens and Olyroos games makes me question the value and direction of Australia's youth football development program and the people running it. Sure its an A-League 11, but all these guys have gone through the FFA's youth development process and can't compete on the world stage. We are falling behind other countries and doesn't look good for the next 10 years of international football competition.

JB, I agree he didn't play well but there is a touch of class about him. I also agree about Mitch, I saw him against Yemen (live up in Gosford) & he was controlling the game with his runs, but sometimes he runs around without actually achieving anything. But of all the players last night, these 2 plus Behrich showed that maybe there is potential there.

he scored a cracker recently (oar)

Vidmar may be a tactically limited coach but i'd say thats a reason he SHOULD have this job. Its a youth age national team, perfect place for mistakes under the pressure of qualifiers. And if they fail, big deal, we don't make this youth age tournament. No biggie. But in the meantime a developing young Aussie coach is learning something in an AFC qualification process. (This ain't Oceania, no more direct easy lines to these tourneys.)

to make it to the olympics, 16 teams will qualify in the mens, while 12 teams will qualify in the womens. fair to say, with only 16 teams qualifying, it certainly looks more cut throat than world cup qualifying.

Brendo, i think as fans we all realise its not the end of the world if the olyroos don't qualify, and hence have our better olyroo players with their euro clubs to develop and not involved in olympic qualifiers. I also think whats happened is the socceroos are in the middle of a transistion phase, which means they want to see young players coming through. Perhaps the FFA thought the best way to produce young players was to leave our better young players in europe. Of course the FFA won't say that out loud, becuase they don't want to offend the AFC in regards to sending out second string olyroos sides in the qualifiers on another angle....... Australia qualified for the beijing olympics. Were there any benefits?

AGO74 - Careful. I take it you meant the "big" World Cup for our youth teams reached the finals in '91,'93, & '96, & performed passably in the '92,Olympics finishing 4th. jb.

fussball You noted I said Bozanic had an aura about him,not that he played well. No one played well last night & everybody was guilty when it came to the simplest of passes. You are right. When a midfielder mis-passes a ball the outcome can be catastrophic but Bozanic's worst blunder last night was rectified,not by another "defensive" midfielder, but Bozanic himself by rectifying HIS own mistake. That's part of the 'aura" I was talking about. When I said "better players", in last year's Grand Final the young Bozanic was a stand out for 90 minutes.jb

jb you make interesting comments about Mitch. Last night I felt he was getting frustrated b/c the players around him were not reacting the way he has been used to under Ange? I think he has raw talent but rushes things and you're right, watching the game live at the stadium is the only way to fully appreciated or critique the player movement. In relation to Bozanic I'm surprised by the positive feedback he is receiving. Whilst he was not the worst, he certainly made some awful errors that should have been punished. I thought his passing was absolutely AWFUL - and not just missing targets, but missing targets that left us exposed and vulnerable at the back. But, maybe, I missed the good stuff he did?

Fussbal. It was never my intention to criticise a whole league with my statement,in fact I don't believe that generalisation can be done, for each game has to be taken on it's merits & you can bet when the coach analysed this incident AFTER the game the 5 players in error would be told.Back to the under 23 & your view on Mitch Nichols. Ever since Mitch came on the scene I have watched him very very carefully & I disagree with your overall observation.Unfortunately TV is not the ideal way to "chart" a players movement,on or near the ball yes, but unless the camera is on a constant wide shot this task is impossible. Movement is an all encompassing talent,dragging defenders to where you want them to be is a skill to be learned with application & Mitch lets me down in this for at times he seems to be chasing the ball & if not reaching it ,the expending of energy stops too quickly. I think his problem may lie in the fact that he has not yet found an ideal position that suits his talents. He works hard but not as hard as McKay,he scores,but not as often as Barbarrousos,he does not appear to like playing a defensive role like Paartlu, doing so only intermittently,but the lad has something & I hope Ange can sort it out for him this year.My "pick of the bunch" last night was Bozanic. It was not the best game I have seen him play but he has that certain aura about him that gives off promise & with better players around him he could lift his game accordingly.But the distribution,----how that is to be fixed I don't know????.jb

Thanks, Tony - missed that and Soldado will be thanking Valdes for saving him the blushes! As Fozz pointed out, today, Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish missed a goal even easier than Torres in a game against Man United at Old Trafford. But, it was in the age before youtube so the miss was soon forgotten. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/sportvideo/footballvideo/8778801/Fernando-Torress-open-goal-gaffe-against-Manchester-United-no-worse-than-Kenny-Dalglishs-miss-for-Liverpool.html

Don't forget Ruben Zadkovich ;-)

Less than 6 years ago we hadn't qualified for a World Cup in over 30 years. Hence the Olyroos were one of our few opportunities to see our boys compete on a comparitive big stage. Same goes for the under 20's. Consecutive senior world cups qualifications certainly can impact on what we want to gain from our junior national teams.