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.
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.
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.
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.
Meh
Guest
Let's hope that Traore is not courted by a European side between now and then, otherwise he may not ever reach his required 5 years.
Michael_Newcastle
Guest
Didn't Oar get man of the match in Saitama? What does he need to do? I reckon you've ignored the fact that by playing so far wide (which Osieck may have instructed him to do), he pulls the opposing team out of shape. By doing this down both wings it provides much more space for creative play in the center and effective combinations. Holman seemed to be linking preferentially with Kruse which might just be that he drifts to the right when playing forwards.
j binnie
Guest
Max - While not wishing to enter into an endless debate about the fineries of defensive football my only gripe with your observations is that you seem to me to be missing the "big picture". Let's forget names for a minute and talk about when a left wing back makes a run forward but for some reason or other the team loses possession and the ball is immediately sent to the opposing right wing.Where we differ is that I immediately look to where the defensive left midffielder has positioned himself allied to the left sided centre back,for, having noted their wing back in an advanced position, they must then supply cover until the aforesaid wing back can get back to his operating zone as a defender. So your observation that there was danger for the opening 15 minutes of the second half from out wide on the right is not only a flaw in the left wing back's play it is also an indictment on the performance of other defenders who should nullify that threat. So we are back to our own opinions,you do not like Mackay as a full back, i cannot rate his perfrmance as a wing back until the team's set up allows for that type of tactical play. Thomson did create that space but it was too late to measure how a left wing back would have used the space his running created. Now if and when the team is set up with players who know how to use 2 attacking wing backs I feel your criticism of one of those wing backs is misplaced,It should surely be aimed at the person who set up the pattern in the first place. jb
TK
Guest
Thanks for the advice. I''ll set off after breakfast !
Ralph Nadeer
Roar Rookie
They're not bandwagoners, Sydney has the biggest football base in the country and they turn up when they need to man. Financial bonanza from the sell out for FFA too with the promise of millions more if they qualify man.
Max Weber
Roar Pro
A word of advice (though I'm sure you're prepared for this) if you're getting the train in, do it as early as possible. For the Oman game I was at Strathfield (the connecting station to Olympic Park) about an hour and a half before kick-off and only got there a couple of minutes before the game started - and that was with a crowd of 35K. The services will have been drastically increased, but CityRail is still liable to fail immensely.
TK
Guest
I for one have put my faith in tiger airlines from brisbane tommorrow night, which by my way of thinking provides another 24 hours for plans B, C, D etc if the plane doesn't get off thee tarmac. the irony will be once at my brothers house in sydney, getting to homebush is likely to take longer than flying to sydney from brisbane. Way too spoilt here in brisbane with the simplicity of geting to suncorp. I'm travelling with only limited cabin luggage -- I hope I don't pick up more socceroos WC campaign baggage.
Max Weber
Roar Pro
The atmosphere at the Oman game was abysmal. Having said that, I can't begrudge people coming out in droves for this game, it'll be historic if we get the right result. I just really wish that it didn't take the final game of WC qualifying to bring out a brilliant crowd.
Max Weber
Roar Pro
Holman barely receives a mention in this article because the focus is on the left side of the team.
Viva La North
Guest
Sydneysiders are quick to forget that only 34,603 turned up at the Oman game in Sydney only last month when it was still all to play for and not basically in the bag. The Sydney “crowd” was even out chanted by the opposition and some of the home supporters booed the Socceroos off the ground, talk about creating an atmosphere. Sydneysiders are the definition of Bandwagon supporters.
Cameron
Roar Guru
*cough* bandwagoners...
David Jones
Roar Rookie
Its been impossible to get decent tickets since Thursday unless you want single tickets or restricted view http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/socceroos-versus-iraq-a-sell-out/69055 Capacity is 83,500 but should be around 82,000 because of some members. Great response from Sydney sports fans.
Max Weber
Roar Pro
When I speak of 'tackling' I'm talking about the 3-4 instances of the Jordanian right winger taking the ball past an inert McKay. Whatever you want to call it, he was at fault virtually every time Jordan had a meaningful attack. There were 15 minutes at the beginning of the second half where a good final ball and some decent finishing would've had Jordan back on level terms - McKay is a defensive liability and offers nothing of note going forward. I'd rather have either a defensively solid (Lowry) or a decent attacking outlet (Zullo, Behich) rather than someone who offers a 'jack of all trades, master of none' approach.
j binnie
Guest
Max- As probably the first to suggest that Zullo be tried at fullback, (that as when Kruse and Oar were playing on the flanks at Roar) I am well aware of his possibilities in the position.When Mackay was playing in the same high scoring Roar team, he was not noted for his finishing and in today's game that is looked upon as a weaknss in an attacking midfielder so it should have come as no surprise when the national coach,obviously impressed with his fitness, attitude, and "go forward" decided to try him as an attacking "wing back". Unfortunately, with the way the latest teams have been set up with two wide running wingers,it becomes extremely hard for true wingbacks to perform as they are supposed to.Only when Kruse started to attack inside did Wilkshire come into the game as an attack weapon and, as said, as long as Oar stayed out wide it would not have mattered who was playing left back ,the attack possibilities were non existent.Thompson's introduction showed both Osiek and Tommy how the game ,using the system in vogue,could be played in a manner that did not isolate Cahill and also produced spaces that could be exploited. Another thing that has been discussed in these columns often is the term you use "tackling". In today's game "tackling" is not nearly as important as it was 50 years ago."Marking" yes, "Picking up" yes, "Jockeying" yes, but an actual "tackle",which in fact is a 50/50 chance at attempting to win possession, should only be used as a last resort when trying to stop a "goal chance" being attempted by an attacker.When watching Barca or Real you will seldom see tackles being made, players of that quality tend to try and use "interception" as a way of gaining possession, or pressuring opponents into committing"turnover". Cheers jb
my left foot
Guest
The thing with Zullo is he plays regularly with Oar, so there would be an understanding btween them. If Oar is going to feature as our LW, you would assume that Zullo would be a good fit as LB, well as long as he gets more game time. The last few months havn't been good to him, regarding minutes on the pitch.
fadida
Guest
Yes, I'd like to see Rose given a chance. Intelligent, can defend and also get forward
j binnie
Guest
Kurt - Obviously, in the opinion of the one who matters,Osiek, Thompson is not too old, or he would no be there.Just as obviously he did not help to get the result against Japan,----- he did not play. the coach readying him for substitution just before the final whistle. I think that shoots down your views in flames. jb
Max Weber
Roar Pro
Zullo is a converted fullback from left wing, McKay from midfield. Zullo's positional sense is better, and he's much better going forward too. It's the technical aspects of defending - tackling, marking - where he's not quite up to scratch. I'd argue that he'd still be a better option than McKay, whose showing in both games was poor. He's static in the tackle and non-existent going forward, his passing range is wasted and he's positionally unsure. Zullo is a better option in the immediate future, unfortunately judging from Holger's recent statements he's not going to play.
my left foot
Guest
Hey mate, do you live in Phnom Penh, or hail from Cambodge? Great place to visit, been a couple of times with an ex, anyway, I hope they'll once again be great footballers again like the old day's and put that football stadium to good use.
Bondy
Guest
I would have a greater confidence in a specialised left back and that can be from the A League, I don't believe we need to necessarily need to rely on somebody form the reserves at Eindhoven, I'd give J Rose ago at some stage, an attacking left flank player and Hal champion, he threatens to score goals too..