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New coach Ange Postecoglou is set to create a new-look Socceroos side to transition away from the disastrous Osieck team not just for the World Cup in 2014 but also major tournaments in 2015 and 2018.
A number of players are already hitting the media praising the appointment and trying to put their names in front of the new boss.
While some of those might realistically be given a new lease on life, others probably shouldn’t be too confident of wearing the green and gold in the near future.
Meanwhile, a number of veterans will be wondering in the lead-up to Ange naming his first squad weather they might’ve played their last game for their country.
Strategy-wise, Ange is a versatile and adaptable coach. His structure at Melbourne Victory is quite different to his title-winning formation at Brisbane.
Given Osieck’s tendency towards a 4-4-2 with attacking players out wide and defensive central midfielders, I’d expect the easiest transition to be to Postecoglou’s similar 4-4-2 that was utilised at the Victory.
The key difference is that Postecoglou’s two attacking midfielders play centrally; effectively a playmaker and a false-nine ahead of the defensive duo.
To provide width, the forwards tend to then start out wide and attempt to run inwards between the opposition full-backs and centre-backs.
Within that framework, the first job would be to pick the two players on which the team is built; the two defensive midfielders.
An obvious first candidate is Mark Milligan, who Postecoglou has built the team around at Victory and who was a regular choice in the previous Osieck side.
Partnering him, Osieck tended to prefer a central ball-player such as Bresciano and struggled to accommodate a second defensive midfielder.
Ange should have no such problems given his ‘box midfield’, and expect Mile Jedinak, a Premier League captain, to be installed as one of Australia’s most important players and possibly captain of the side.
Holland, Valeri and McKay are likely to serve as back-ups while youngsters Jackson Irvine, Josh Brillante and Aaron Mooy, or former Roar star Erik Paartalu could all come into the picture for roles in a wider squad.
Behind the two anchors, Postecoglou has a preference for reliable ball-playing centre-backs and mobile, attacking full-backs.
This could be trouble for veterans like Neill, Ognenovski and Wilkshire who may be phased out in search of a younger, more modern back-line.
Youngsters Jason Davidson and Rhys Williams are capable wide defenders but are more suited to the middle of the field given the likely playing style.
These two will compete primarily with young-guns Sainsbury and Lowry in a position where Australia seems to lack depth. Roar captain Matt Smith may be a bolter.
Postecoglou could turn to players he knows can play his system in Zullo and Franjic at full-back.
David Carney’s attacking style means that despite the distinct lack of support from Socceroos fans he may still be in the frame at left-back. A number of fringe players and A-League talent may be looked at if Wilkshire is not retained at right-back.
Up front, Robbie Kruse has established himself as possibly the best Australian player based on club and national team form.
Despite having left both Brisbane and Melbourne before getting a chance to work with Postecoglou Kruse should be the first name on the team sheet as a wide right forward.
Josh Kennedy may have scored the goal that took us to the World Cup, but his traditional number-9 style might mean he reverts to a role as a pinch-hitter off the bench when Postecoglou wants to change from his default formation.
Despite being Osieck favourites, the poor form of Holman and Brosque might see their opportunities severely limited. Instead, one of Leckie, Vidosic, Troisi, Rukavytsya or Oar will be expected to make the left-forward role their own.
If the youngsters are struggling, Postecoglou has two known quantities to fall back on; personal favourite Mitch Nichols or the man who is always there or there-abouts Archie Thompson.
Getting this selection right is probably going to be the new coach’s biggest challenge.
Australia has a far greater talent pool to choose from the the attacking midfielder roles.
Given that veterans Mark Bresciano and Tim Cahill have rarely let their nation down and continue to perform well at club level, it may well be that Postecoglou retains the experienced duo offering a perfect combination of technique and physicality.
Rogic and Bozanic would offer a younger shadow-partnership, while a number of forwards would also be equally capable in a creative midfield role.
Finally, the goalkeeper. Schwarzer’s experience and reputation alone should guarantee a spot in the squad even if he doesn’t end up being first choice due to a lack of game time at Chelsea.
The long list of challengers includes Langerak, Ryan, Galekovic, Federici, Jones, Coe and Theo while even Covic, Vukovic and Birighitti might still hold out hope of pushing into the top three.
Predicting what Ange will do here is hardest of all, but I’ll plump for Langerak just because I believe him to possess the most natural talent and will still be in his twenties at the ‘next’ World Cup in 2018.
My prediction for Ange’s ideal first XI…
———————–Langerak———————–
Franjic——Williams—-Davidson——–Zullo
——–Milligan——————–Jedinak———
—————Bresciano—Cahill——————-
—-Kruse————————————-Oar—–
But the good news for all the potential Socceroos players is that they’ve got virtually a full season to impress a coach who will be absolutely willing to pick the players he thinks are smart and technically skilful, regardless of age or reputation.
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