In 2005, Socceroos coach Frank Farina was stood down less than five months before the crucial World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay.
Guus Hiddink came in and navigated Australia past Uruguay and into their first World Cup finals in 32 years.
The Aussies were knocked out in the round of 16 but could’ve realistically made it as far as the semi-finals, had they been able to get past Italy.
So here we are, September 2013, nine months from our third consecutive World Cup finals and it’s imperative that Holger Osieck is shown the door sooner rather than later.
After being taught a football lesson by the Samba Kings I don’t think anyone believes we can repeat the success we had in Germany in 2006 or even the achievements of South Africa 2010 with the current set up.
Many fingers are being pointed straight at our national coach for this lack of belief as he continues to drag out our ageing Socceroos and refuses to give young talent a chance in the national shirt.
The recent friendly against Brazil in which Australia had their pants pulled down to the tune of 6 – 0 further highlighted Holger Osieck’s lack of belief in our generation next.
I’m not sure how friendly translates in German but to most people it means, the result doesn’t matter.
What matters is exposing players to the atmosphere of international football and giving them experience so that when the World Cup or Asian Cup qualifiers come around they are battle hardened, they know what is expected of them and they can form combinations with the players around them.
If Osieck had put out a team that had a blend of young talent with a few old heads and they had gone down 6 – 0 most people would’ve had no problem with that.
At least he’d be using the friendly for its intended purpose.
Hypothetically if Osieck is kept as national coach and Australia gets knocked out in the group stage, or even makes it to the round of 16 in Brazil.
What happens after that? Given Holger’s track record the only players who are going to be around for Russia 2018 that will have had serious game time are Tommy Oar and Robbie Kruse.
The likes of Schwarzer, Neill, Ognenovski, Wilkshire, McKay, Bresciano, Cahill, Kennedy etc etc etc either won’t or shouldn’t be there in 2018.
So we’ll be left with two, maybe three if Osieck realises that Tom Rogic has talent, players with World Cup experience to lead the Socceroos into the 2015 Asian Cup.
Hosted by Australia, bringing with it huge scrutiny unless the Socceroos win the tournament. After that, this inexperienced bunch of young players will be left with the burden of qualifying for Russia 2018.
I’m not giving up hope that the Socceroos can do something at Brazil 2014, success is success and getting out of the group stage will be huge for the hype and the interest around football in Australia.
But I have to question whether carrying the older players through is good for the development of the national team.
I would honestly rather see a blend of youth and experience being narrowly knocked out in the group stage than carry an ageing squad though to the round of 16.
For the benefit of our next two World Cup campaigns the coach, whether it’s Holger or not, has to start giving some of the young and enthusiastic players some game time. It might even make a few senior players wake up and realise that their spot cannot be taken for granted.
For the friendly against France I would love to see a starting line-up of Schwarzer, McGowan, Williams, Neill, Zullo, Kruse, Jedinak, Herd, Rogic, Oar and Leckie.
Honestly what’s the worst that could happen?
It should also be mandatory to make at least three substitutions at half time, give Ryan or Langerak half a game between the sticks, otherwise what experience are they going to draw on when Schwarzer finally moves on?
The experience that these players will gain playing against some of the best players in the world is invaluable.
I’m sure Australian football fans would love to see how Rhys Williams fairs against Karim Benzema, or if these youngsters can thwart the attacking prowess of Frank Ribery and Samir Nasri.
These friendlies need to start being used for their intended purpose and Australian football needs to move past this game by game mentality and start looking beyond Brazil 2014.
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