Holger Osieck is gone and this is a good thing for Australian football. I’m afraid, however, that the problems run far deeper than this. Australian football is at a crossroads.
I’ll state from the outset that I’m not a passionate follower of the sport itself, although I do support Australia in all the things they do.
I do not profess to be an expert in this area and my general thoughts in this article might (and probably will) draw the ire of many, many people.
I am trying to offer my thoughts into the problems, as I see them. Not many of them have easy solutions.
I think there is a level of reality-checking that needs to be done by all levels of the sport.
From the FFA, to clubs and the everyday joe-average supporter. Two 6-0 defeats are unacceptable yes, but they point to a bigger problem.
As much as we are a country of amazing sportsmen and sportswomen that regularly punches above its weight on the sporting fields across the world, we are small fish in the world of Football.
Brazil and France are World Cup winners. Simple maths would dictate that these are obvious results.
Putting it bluntly 6-0 is probably where we stand currently. If we’re being totally honest, this morning’s result could’ve been and should’ve been a few goals worst – it was 6-0 after 60 minutes.
We have not regenerated and revitalised our team enough in the period between the last two World Cups.
That comes down partly to Holger Osieck, but it also comes down to a number of players that need do a reality check of their own. Are they up to it any more?
When the glory days of 2006 happened and we went within an inch (or was it an Italian dive?) of making the quarter finals, many of our lynchpins were eight years younger.
Kewell, Schwarzer, Neill, etc were in their prime of their careers.
After a quick exit in the 2010 World Cup, what happened? More of the same. It’s high time some of the experienced (read, ageing) players stopped clinging on and let some new kids find experience.
I’d rather lose 10-0 with a bunch of kids that will be playing in 2018 than lose 6-0 with a team of people who will wander aimlessly into retirement after Brazil 2014.
We barely qualified for Brazil as it was anyway – but we did, so credit given where credit is due.
No one ‘deserves’ a World Cup as send-off of sorts, allowing them to retire.
It’s all well and good to give people respect that they deserve for being servants of our game (Harry Kewell, Mark Schwarzer et al) but sometimes these people need to be given a polite tap on the shoulder.
It appeared that Osieck’s role was to provide a proverbial broom. He has failed to do this. Simple as that.
So the question remains: who will that person be? Aurelio Vidmar in the interim is the answer, but in the longer term?
The FFA needs a big look at themselves. It should not be our goal to qualify for a World Cup – and I think that is the mentality at the moment.
Our goal should be to go deep into the knockout stage of a World Cup, though we can’t expect that today. For that to happen in 2014, 2018 and potentially even in 2022 is unrealistic. It is a one to two-decade work in progress.
The A-League is progressing well and junior participation numbers have never been higher. That said, I fear much of the interest in the A-League surrounds the likes of Del-Piero, Ono and the other overseas marquee signings.
Take them out, would interest level still be the same? Young players are not going to stay in Australia to develop their talent as the overseas options will nearly always provide better training facilities and coaching. And money.
As I said, there is no easy answers and I apologise for the vent – but these are key issues as I see them.
Where to next? Any chance we get Aussie Guus back? At least he had some personality and fortitude.
Chuq
Roar Pro
"three years tops". (Is that reference too obscure?)
1860melbourne
Guest
Adrian. As a nation, soccer is not embraced as other sports, like rugby, AFL etc, Soccer has been on the fringe, support base is smaller, http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1170099/A-League-delivers-record-ratings-for-SBS-2
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
"old school….how many times have france lost at home?, i the past 12 months only once to germany 1-2 and thats to Germany". Nope Adrian, they also lost to Spain at home 0-1 a few months ago and that was a crucial game. Again, i am french and i can tell you we havent been playing good football for a very long time, the mini tour in south america was awful in June and even the win in Belarus 4-2 last month was lucky and only took shape in the dying minutes of the game. Deschamps and Benzema have been under enormous pressure from the fans and media, Evra lost his spot, so has Sagna, Mexes and a few others and BenZ hadnt scored for a 1200 min before this game. You know something isnt going well when your RM striker hasnt scored for 13 games. I know you might say again 'losing to spain at home isnt shameful", sure, but we cant accept the way they have been playing for quite a while now. Plus we should aim at competing against the like of Spain and Germany when you have players at Real M, bayern, Juve, Man U, Arsenal etc. Anyway i hope the socceroos game will put them back on track but I wont be pleased until i see 11 players who play as 1 man when they wear the Bleu jersey and i am not sure its going to happen soon. Dont forget we are still traumatised by what happened in SA 3 years ago (players on strike refusing to train and asking coach Domenech to read a letter they asked their managers to write. darkest day in french football if you ask me).
JR Salazar
Guest
Of course you're not an expert, and you didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night either, ST. You're only a Roar Rookie. Decent article, though.
Adrian
Guest
old school....how many times have france lost at home?, i the past 12 months only once to germany 1-2 and thats to Germany, any team can lose to Germany and be not ashamed. And on the fact facing france at this time, i wouldnt suggest France is struggling now, they are getting back on track, see their recent results, i bet france without their internal strive can beat any team in the world, they have class in themselves. As for the Australian team having watched them in the qualifiers, against oman, iraq, i wasnt impressed, Iraq for example played and controlled the ball better than Australian, however Australia had more stability and were clinical in taking their chances. I think the France game just showed the fragilities of this Australian team which has been clothed and hidden for sometime. Better to lose a friendly than to get hammered at the world cup.
Johnno
Guest
But so do the socceroos players live and breath football everyday. They are full time pro's in the soccer comps of Europe/US/Asia/Middle east, how are these socceroos not living and breathing football. And same with the A-league pro's.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@Johnny Thanks for the input on Liga MX & good to know it has at least 1 fan in Australia. As I said, I've watched a few MLS matches this season & see no difference to the A-League, but that's the beauty of different people viewing the same event & reaching different conclusions. I guess I must try to sample some Liga MX on my PC one late morning/early afternoon.
Johnny
Guest
Liga MX is higher then the best league in Asia, the J-league, by a mile. It's clubs compete in Libertadores on a regular basis. If not for a missed penalty, Tijuana would have beaten Atletico Mineiro, the new Libertadores champion. I watch Liga MX games on a regular basis on my desktop. The A-league is not near as good as MLS, just look at the players MLS clubs are signing. MLS teams are competing with Liga MX clubs in the CCL now, and every year are getting closer to one day winning the CCL. Which is not easy when you look at the budgets of these Liga MX clubs.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Adrian I get your point about meeting France at the wrong time, that they needed a good result to restore their confidence blabla but some might argue it might actually not had been a bad time to meet a team like France who was doubting big time and had not had a good match in a very long time (imo their 1-1 draw in Spain in 2012). Its always a catch 22 thing: would you rather meet a team who has won their last 10 games with ease and is full of confidence or a struggling one like France in 2013? Guess i would still take the 2nd option. Regarding BenZ and Giroud, i wouldnt say Giroud hadnt scored for a very long time, nothing like BenZ anyway who hadnt scored for 1200 odd minutes (13-14 90'min games!) and has had a lot of pressure for a very long time. In all honesty i am obviously pleased with this result but at the end of the day there is only one of the 2 teams who has secured a WC spot and its not france. The socceroos dont have to worry about that. Finally, although its extremely courageous to play teams like Brasil and france before a WC, I am not sure it was a very wise decision. The year before a WC is there to put things into place tactically and gain confidence in your abilities imo. Hard to bounce back when you get hammered twice like this.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"Schwarcher is still cutting it in the EPL," I think you'll find Schwarzer hasn't played even 1 minute of EPL football this season. Langerak started for BVB in their home UCL match last week & played 45' on MatchDay 1.
Kate
Guest
Oh u r kidding yourself. Get out there yourself if u think u can do so much better. European players have millions behind them, more than one coach, they train daily, 7 days a week!! Australia is so different, do your home work before u judge others !!
Kate
Guest
How sad for Holger and the team! Holger tried his best , it's not his fault the players did not perform. He organised these friendly matches deliberately against France and Brazil ( they are the number 1 world team) and we got beaten. How is that Holgers fault?? Who has he really got to choose from?? Australia does not have the selection Europe does! Those kids live and breath soccer every day of their lives! They are highly skilled train daily. Some are discovered playing on the streets of Brazil or in the sand dunes playing on the beach. These kids are naturals. Australia needs to pour more money into soccer and start recruiting kids from Europe? So don't blame Holger, he got them to World Cup.So sad for him.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Holding onto players for reasons like you state are exactly why we are where we are with Neil and carney in the team. So it's better to deny langerak and Ryan experience of playing at the WC for the sake of playing a benchwarmer for a fanboy club? Please. We must look to the future. Langerak has shown he can cut it which is exactly why it's time to move on.
Johnno
Guest
But Schwarcher didn't do anything wrong vs Brazil. ANd oldies some have experience, Schwarcher is still cutting it in the EPL, he's at chelsea. Yes he's no 2 to chech, but chelsea wouldn't have bought him if they didn't think he could cut it.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Langarak did very well in the circumstances and can hold his head up despite the scoreline: If anything this should demonstrate the opposite to what you say; the oldies have had their day and its better to have someone less of a benchwarmer and less old who has demonstrated he is capable between the sticks.
SVB
Guest
It's like saying the EPL would be a lesser league without the foreigners. Duh!
Johnno
Guest
Bring back Schwacher if anything, bitter sweet, maybe we now realize, the 6 goals Schwarcher let in were not his fault, but a leaky defence. Schwarcher is one of best shot stoppers in the world last 10 years, but Buffon could not of stopped the rot vs Brazil/France.
fadida
Guest
On this occasion you're correct Fuss :) The article seems to suggest "football not that big here, expect to be thrashed", Relative minnows of world football can and are competitive v France etc because the coach ORGANISES them. Osieck is so poor people are starting to believe we are Tahiti ir NZ
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@ Johnny... "The A-league is still behind MLS, K-league, J-league, Liga MX, and many other leagues outside the few I name" I'm not disagreeing with that analysis, but I wouldn't know because I don't watch enough K-league, J-league, or Liga MX. I have watched a bit of MLS lately & the quality on the park is no different to A-League .. but, i've only watched a few MLS matches in the past 12 months, whereas I've watched more than 50% of A-League matches in the past 8 years. Just out of interest, how many matches from Liga MX did you watch in the past 12 months to reach your conclusion?
Johnny
Guest
Its the truth, with out the marquee signings of Del-Piero, Ono and the other overseas players, the A-league would njot have progress as it has. The A-league is still behind MLS, K-league, J-league, Liga MX, and many other leagues outside the few I name.