There was little public outcry last week when Ange Postecoglou axed two high-profile Socceroos in Luke Wilkshire and Brett Holman.
The latter has become a shadow of the player that was – arguably – our most important contributor for a two-year period.
A transfer to Aston Villa that cost him game time was followed by a move to the United Arab Emirates, a geographical location Postecoglou has made perfectly clear he has little respect for.
The former, though still playing for the powerful Dinamo Moscow, has seen age slowly creep into his game.
Aimless long balls, the occasional mistimed and overly aggressive tackle and dwindling pace have seen Wilkshire surrender what was an almost automatic starting spot in the Socceroos XI.
While I both respect and thank these two players for their contribution, I see little need for either to re-enter the Socceroos frame.
In regards to Wilkshire’s omission, in particular, it leads to some exciting versatility opening within the back four.
There are currently five options that could potentially fill Wilkshire’s spot at right-back; Rhys Williams, Ivan Franjic, Chris Herd, Ryan McGowan and (hesitantly) James Holland.
Where Postecoglou needs to differ from his predecessors is in his ability to be malleable with his back four.
Australia doesn’t possess a set of four players that have the requisite quality to demand selection for every variety of opposition they will face; a fact Holger Osieck never came to a full understanding of and possibly what ultimately cost him his position.
Postecoglou needs to look at the opposing team’s strikers and weigh up which of his options will best suit his needs.
For this reason, players like Rhys Williams become an invaluable tool.
Capable of playing not only on the right, but also in the heart of defence and as a screening midfielder, Williams provides exactly the kind of versatility Postecoglou will require.
For example, against the shorter, but technically adept attacks the Socceroos face in Asia, Postecoglou could play the mobile combination of Williams and Mile Jedinak/McGowan in the heart of defence with a player such as Franjic on the right.
However, for taller or stronger defences, Williams could easily be switched out to the right for a taller or more traditional central defensive pairing (perhaps the too-long overlooked Alex Wilkinson could feature here), that would minimise the aerial and set piece threat.
Herd and Holland also show a similar versatility to Williams – but both have serious issues at the moment.
Holland, though playing regularly in the Champions League, hasn’t managed to convert his club form to much of note in the national jersey in his native position of an anchoring midfielder.
In addition to this, his short-lived foray into the right back position left no one convinced he could adequately pick up the role on more than an emergency basis.
Herd, similar to Holman, has been frozen out of the Villa squad by Paul Lambert and though injuries haven’t helped his cause, he needs to seek game time soon if he is to figure in calculations for Brazil.
Franjic has shown a versatility within the A-League and when given the responsibility by Mike Mulvey, has acquitted himself to the task of playing with aplomb.
The question mark here is whether his A-League form can convert to the leviathan task of competing in a World Cup.
Still, for me, Franjic is only second to Williams in calculations for the role.
Many will remember Neymar flaying Ryan McGowan time and time again at the Maracana and shudder, but he needs to be given another chance; Neymar routinely outwits the best in the world and this would have been invaluable experience for McGowan, who can also play centrally.
All in all, my preference for the right back position would be one of Williams/Franjic, depending on the opposition.
Postecoglou has the tactical acumen and creativity to make sure that his back four is more of a fluid proposition than it was under Verbeek/Osieck, but with only three opportunities to test his hunches before the World Cup he may not have time to get the balance exactly right.
Fingers crossed.
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