Is desire a problem for Australian football?

True but Uruguay when they qualified for the 2010 world cup performed exceptionally by getting to the semi final, a feat they haven't achieved since 1970 and one which I thought was quiet frankly beyond them given their population size and the improvement in the rest of the footballing world. Plus they won a continental championship which included Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Mexico. Having said that, I don't think the Oz national team is as bad as people are making out. Its just that our younger players are only just starting to come through because our sport in since 2003 has underwent a massive upheaval which has resulted in two things that will have affected our production line of players. a) the NSL was disbanded and the A league created which meant for a season we had no national domestic league, only state leagues. PLus pour national league went from 14 teams to 8 teams meaning a lot less positions were available for younger players. b) with the parlous state of our game between 1997 to 2005 a lot of promising players may have jettisoned ideas of a professional career in football. I can't comment on the second thing but with the first issue we had Matt McKay, Alex Brosque, Joshua Rose, Mile Jedinak, Jade North and Mark Milligan started their careers during the last years of the NSL and then resuming their careers in the A league, or in the case of Jedinak and Rose having to go back to part time state league before resuming a professional career. How would this have affected their development as players? Furthermore as a Brisbane Strikers fan at the time we had young players such as Matt Hilton and Wayne Heath become established first teamers in a Strikers team that routinely challenged for and appeared in NSL finals football who disappeared from the scene almost completely. Compare that scene to the scene now where such players can earn full time wages in a professional and sustainable competition. And what a lot of people forget is that this generation is now at their peak. Yet despite these upheavals they have qualified for the world cup.

That is exactly how I read it.

Silly article. Of course he was going to say something positive about his club's new signing. That, no doubt, was his brief from Perth Glory.

Yep

Agree

I think the comment has been taken well out of context. "A dream" does not equal "The dream". He was simply appreciative of an opportunity afforded to his team that was previously unthinkable.

Tenuous article at best. Thwaite was no doubt asked "how do you feel about having Gallas join the club?". I doubt the answer was in response to the question "Michael, what was your football dream as a child". Thwaite , "my dream was to play with a world cup winner". I think not. Thwaite was responding positively to a high profile player joining the club. Welcoming him. No, Australian players don't lack hunger or ambition. It was a criticism from a couple of our NT veterans defending their positions on the team

''To suggest he dreams of playing alongside a guy who has played in two World Cups and at the biggest clubs in the world shows a lack of desire; from Michael Thwaite at least'' . No it doesn't - take his comments in context; he was expressing his opinion about the signing of William Gallas and how pleased he was about it. If he'd been asked about his chances of making the squad for Brazil 2014 I can guarantee that he would said that 'every footballer dreams of playing in a World Cup' but he was being asked specifically about William Gallas wasn't he? Neill's comments were self serving and a smokescreen to camouflage his myriad failings which include being the worlds slowest footballer, probably slower even than William Gallas.

The socceroos will rejuvenate, it was always going to be painful, when the transition eventually came, and it did, finally. The recent results point to this. Now, we can see a team around 25 years old compete in Brazil, instead of a team averaging 34 years of age. When elder statesmen usually move over, a younger crop usually step up when entrusted with the reigns. We need to experience abit more pain, better now than potentially in 8 months time. Getting the right mix is the time now. Ange has forsight and imagination, lets not give up.

Is the author serious if michael thwaite at the age of 35 is still in the team going to russia ill eat my hat shirt and shorts. Hardly good enough now. Playing with gallas is as good as he'll get.

The "lack of esire" argument is ad always wa rubbish - in ay age. It is the last bastion of those who have run out of football solutions.

Bede mate, Ah look, Don't you reckon lack of skill is the Socceroos decisive failing?

National team players in Australia have never in my experience lacked desire. Lacked technique,football nous certainly, but desire to perform on the park no. Until those two 6-0 defeats recently I would have said that was a rock solid proposition. I remember Australia losing against Brazil 6-0(confederations cup minus Mark Viduka sent off) lost because they were outplayed not through lack of desire. If desire is a yardstick for measuring whether a coach should be sacked ,then what happened with Osieck was a no brainer.

@Michael W Since 2005, Australia has qualified for its 3rd consecutive World Cup. Uruguay has not yet qualified for WC2014. It still has to play a 2-leg knock-out fixture against Jordan - the 5th best team in Asia. Football - particularly, knock-out football - can be full of surprises, joy & heartache ... there's still a chance we'll be watching "Al-Nashāmā" and not "La Celeste" in June 2014.

What happened with Australian football? After beating Uruguay in 2005, they've become one of the best teams in the world, we'd be lucky to win a game in Brazil. Nice article.

What's that saying? "You dislike in others, what you dislike in yourself".