Arnold backs Rogic for Socceroos call-up

Central Coast coach Graham Arnold believes teen sensation Tom Rogic’s “scary” talent will be hard to ignore when Holger Osieck selects his Socceroos squad to face South Korea next week.

Rogic, 19, was brilliant as the Mariners humiliated NSW rivals Sydney FC 7-2 in Gosford on Saturday night, netting two goals and creating danger virtually every time he touched the ball.

Australia coach Osieck watched on from the stands and would surely have been impressed amid growing calls for the youngster to be given a shot in the national side.

The German coach is expected to use the November 14 friendly in Hwaseong to experiment with his squad ahead of East Asian qualifiers next month, where a squad predominantly made up of A-League and Asian-based players will be used.

It means Rogic could soon get his chance and former Socceroos coach Arnold believes it’s a no-brainer if Osieck is looking for fresh playmaking talent.

“I don’t think Holger’s got a tough job to pick if he’s going to play with a number 10 because he (Rogic) is the only Australian number 10 in the whole league. Everyone else has foreigners,” said Arnold.

“Tommy, he’s a player for an occasion. You could see it in his face when he walked into the dressing room (before Saturday’s win). It was like `here we go, this is what I want to play for’.

“The kid’s still a player in nappies when it comes to outdoor football … but his natural talent is scary.”

Rogic’s performance was one of many positives for Arnold in a satisfying victory over the club he knocked back to coach this season.

Arnold was also full of praise for veteran striker Daniel McBreen, who remarkably became the first player in eight seasons to score a hat-trick for the club.

The coach revealed a new, lighter training program was working wonders for the 34 year-old.

“He’s such a hard worker that even at training, he gives 110 per cent,” Arnold said.

“Probably he’s been guilty himself of working that hard at training that when Saturday comes, he’s a little bit down.

“We’ve lightened the training loads up enormously to keep his feet fresh and his mind fresh. I think you can see he’s getting the rewards from it.”

Saturday’s match in front of more than 15,000 fans reinforced Sydney coach Ian Crook’s view the Mariners were the best side in the competition while Arnold said his team had set a new standard it now had to maintain.