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Ange Postecoglou's appointment is the good news Australian football was waiting for

The January transfer window will be a busy one for the Australian coach. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Roar Guru
23rd October, 2013
42

Ange Postecoglou will lead the Socceroos to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil next year after being named as the new head coach of the team.

And while Brazil might be still eight months away on the calendar, Postecoglou’s appointment seemingly could not come soon enough for Australian football — taking the attention off the wounds inflicted on the Socceroos with back to back 6-0 defeats — and giving the fans something to look forward to again.

With experience coaching Australia at a junior level (and achieving remarkably good success given the players available to him at the time), Postecoglou will not tolerate the lackadaisical performances seen from certain players over the past few months.

He will demand peak fitness, ultimate commitment, and will begin to level the playing field between the Socceroos and the rest of the world once more.

The former Victory coach will look to the A-League to get the next wave of Australian football heroes rather than sticking with the same players for minimal success — something that many were crying out for under Holger Osieck.

Tactically speaking, he’ll bring a much more positive style of play to that seen in the managers before him. His possession-based style will help the Socceroos play the ball well out of their own half and sustain pressure on their opponents at the other end. His knowledge and insight of the game will ensure that there’s no gaping hole or overarching weakness for opposing attackers to exploit.

Postecoglou will — both in the short-term and the long-term — start to bring Australian football out of the slump that it’s in right now.

He’ll give it life. He’ll give it passion, and inspire us to do the same.

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Balancing the needs of this World Cup and World Cups to come will no doubt prove to be the biggest battle he’ll face in the next 12 months, but Postecoglou isn’t naive about the task that’s ahead of him. “We are preparing for a World Cup next year and an Asian Cup on home soil,” he said in his first statement as coach, “but we must keep one eye on the next World Cup cycle.”

“There is a need to balance a long term strategy with short term goals.” (Insert rejoicing.)

Whether Postecoglou actually turns out to be the knight in shining armour that many (certainly including myself) will paint him out to be in the coming days still remains to be seen. Brazil is—on the calendar, anyway—still a long way away and there’s a lot that has to be done between now and then before any talk of “success at the World Cup” should start taking place.

But for now, just a few hours into the job, Postecoglou is there. He’s passionate and committed and seemingly ready to take the steps needed to give Socceroos’ fans something to cheer about at the World Cup next year.

All of which is more than can be said about that other bloke.

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