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Stick or twist: Osieck's left-flank dilemma

Roar Pro
15th June, 2013
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The Socceroos have their toughest qualifier, against Jordan. (AAP Image/Mark Dadswell)
Roar Pro
15th June, 2013
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With strong back-to-back performances in crucial games, the Socceroos have been providing more answers than questions for the first time since the reign of Holger Osieck began.

But on one pressing point of inquiry the water has only been muddied further: what to do about the Socceroo’s left flank?

The consistency of Australia’s starting XI against Japan and Jordan is undoubtedly a promising sign, an indication that Osieck is working towards forming a prospective World Cup squad.

The fact that it was the first time in over two years that the Socceroos had played an unchanged team from one game to the next speaks as much to the promising nature of the performances as it does to the truncation of our international fixture list.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the performances have been not so much the individual performances, but the partnerships forming positionally. At the back, Lucas Neill and Sasha Ognenovski felt as solid (if not as sprightly) as ever.

Marks Milligan and Bresciano complement each other exceptionally well as a centre-midfield duo, and on the right flank Robbie Kruse and Luke Wilkshire are forging a good bond, Kruse’s propensity for inside runs being adequately complemented by Wilkshire’s touchline movement.

The exception to the general pattern of team-building and potential is the troublesome left flank, with incumbents Tommy Oar and Matt McKay turning out to be the weak links in recent games.

In Saitama, a fortunate goal obscured the otherwise poor performance of Oar, where McKay’s performances have looked every inch as nervy as you’d expect from a centre-midfielder at left back. Both seem to suffer from the same affliction that grips kids in under-10 teams throughout the country; if you’ve got a decent left peg you’d better stick to the left touchline.

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Oar in particular seems to be tactically unsure of how to play; his preference is to start centrally and push wide, but starved for room on the flank he’s been ineffectual.

The problem is easy enough to identify – all four of Australia’s goals against Jordan came from the right flank, while Japan’s equaliser in Saitama, as well as all meaningful Jordanian threats, came down the defensive left for Australia. With partnerships melding all over the field, what to do with the problematic left flank?

The constant refrain from Osieck has been that McKay is the best option in the squad at left back, which seemingly speaks more to his lack of faith in Michael Zullo than it does to McKay’s quality. There are, however, other options.

Jason Davidson of Heracles hasn’t been given a look-in since a disastrous debut against Scotland.

Aziz Behich impressed during the East Asian Cup but his move to Turkish club Bursaspor has not reaped rewards as yet, while David Carney’s career has been on a downward spiral for a couple of years now and doesn’t look close to a return, sans club.

Michael Thwaite, though in the squad, has not seen time at left back since the East Asian Cup, and doesn’t represent a long-term alternative.

One option that has not been explored yet is 23-year-old Shane Lowry. A regular in the Millwall side that made the FA Cup semi-finals, he plays on the left at club level and crucially, is a first-team regular.

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Meanwhile, Melbourne Victory’s exciting Ivoirian Adama Traore excelled in this season’s A-League – though his lack of citizenship currently means a chance in the pragmatic pre-World Cup schedule is unlikely.

Further up the field, Tommy Oar could cement a starting spot for the next decade – the very fact that he has been starting under as conservative a coach as Osieck is a testament to his potential.

After a middling game against Japan it would have been cruel for him to not reprise his starting spot against Jordan, where he was the obvious weak link in attack.

It was only upon the arrival of Archie Thompson at the expense of Utrecht winger did Australia start to put the game to bed.

Indeed, Thompson has his detractors but his striker’s foresight makes him look a good option on the left – his incisive decoy run opening up an acre of space for Tim Cahill’s goal in Melbourne being a typical example.

Alex Brosque’s return to fitness offers Osieck a ‘safe’ option, though few Socceroos supporters would like to see the potentially mercurial Oar replaced with a rather more pedestrian veteran.

Osieck has also been loath to start Tom Rogic, though an attacking three of Holman, Rogic and Kruse behind a lone striker is one that has potential to be a first choice line-up for years to come.

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Dario Vidosic is another option, while outside of the squad, fringe players like Nikita Rukavytsya, James Troisi and Adam Sarota may all figure in the future but don’t seem to be in the immediate plans of the Socceroos management.

Whether Osieck sticks or twists regarding the left flank will reveal much about his future intentions for the problem roles.

A manager who has displayed repeated conservatism when selection dilemmas arise, his natural inclination towards veterans in Oar’s stead may be tested by the temptation to name an unchanged team.

Whatever his decision, the problems posed by the left flank promise to be a key area in both the decisive Iraq fixture and heading into a World Cup year.

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