Last week I looked at the twelve European-based players, I believe could be in the mix when Ange Postecoglou this morning names his squad for next week’s Ecuador friendly in London.
Here I look at the potential A-League represent.
Eugene Galekovic: the big thing in his favour is his consistency at A-League and Asian Champions League level over the past six or seven seasons. Should be in the final three with Mat Ryan and Mitch Langerak, and I have him vying for the number one spot with Ryan, ahead of Langerak. Has proved this season how adaptable he is and that he can adjust to playing in a proactive system where distribution is key.
Michael Zullo: left back remains problematic with no-one really banging Postecoglou’s door down. Zullo is at least playing in a system similar to what we can expect under the new manager, is playing well, and is adaptable enough to play higher up on the left hand side. Defensive game is improving.
Matt Spiranovic: if Ange is looking for a defender comfortable on the ball, than Spiranovic has shown this season that he is maturing into a more consistent footballer. While he can still be a little passive at times with his defending, having Ante Milicic on the Socceroos coaching panel should only aid his chances.
Jade North: an experienced central defender who has rarely let Australia down in the past, is playing in an open, proactive system at club level, and is composed on the ball.
Ivan Franjic: while he continues to be an adaptable option for Mike Mulvey, used in central midfield or even higher, in the top three, he hinted against Costa Rica that he could be the long term successor to Luke Wilkshire at right back. Now he just has to produce that sort of form consistently at international level, as he has done in the A-League.
Matt McKay: while used ostensibly out of position at left by Holger Osieck, the good news for McKay is that Postecoglou appears more likely to use him in his nominal role, in central midfield. The bad news is he has more competition there, but his adaptability and leadership means he has every chance of being in the mix here and for Brazil.
Mark Milligan: now that he’s sorted out his knee injury, should be one of the first players picked, and for me, is the Socceroos skipper in waiting. Adaptable enough to play in central defence, it appears more likely he’ll be used as a twin pivot with Mile Jedinak, charged with the responsibility of containing the likes of Chile, Spain and Holland, and triggering our attacks.
Aaron Mooy: whether he has done quite enough in the eyes of the national team boss remains to be seen, but after appearing a little unsettled a month or two ago at Western Sydney Wanderers, he appears to be developing the consistency required in both his defensive and attacking game. The fact Tony Popovic was able to leave Mateo Poljak out of the Asian Champions League squad tells you his faith in Mooy is growing.
Tom Rogic: has come back into the A-League and immediately looked comfortable and influential, giving defensive midfielders constant headaches with his ability to find space, turn and play forward. Getting games has been his biggest issue and now that he has both the A-League and ACL, Rogic should be in decent condition for the World Cup.
James Troisi: there haven’t been too many Australian attackers shining in the A-League this season, but Troisi is certainly one, seamlessly stepping into one of the twin number 10 roles at the Melbourne Victory. Been impressed by how sharp he’s looked with and without the ball.
Five others making an impression, perhaps not quite ready:
Adam Taggart, Dimi Petratos, Luke Brattan, Osama Malik, Tomi Juric
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Ange doesn't need to look at Galekovic to know what he is capable of.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Tony, I must say I was applauding Galekovic very loudly on Saturday night, when his air kick set up Archie ;-) But, in all seriousness, I also think Galekovic is a wonderful GK. But, surely you can't think he's technically better than Langerak? If Eugene were technically better than Mitch, he'd be earning 10x his current wage in Europe. I've never even heard a distant rumour about Eugene being involved in any transfer.
Tony Tannous
Expert
Overall a very good squad. From the 22 I nominated, 15 picked. 10 of my 12 Europeans, 5 of the above 10 A-Leaguers. The most surprising omissions to me were Galekovic & Troisi. Galekovic esp, I've got him ahead of Langerak & Jones, vying with Ryan for the no.1 spot, Ange obviously not of the same view. Also thought Zullo would be close. But understand Postecoglou would want to have a look at the likes of Good, Luongo, Herd
Punter
Guest
Best footballer Australia has produced since Adam was a boy.
Punter
Guest
I'm in agreeance with Bratten, I thought he along with Mitch Nicholls, Matty McKay & Aaaron Moody have been the best Australian midfielders in the A-League this year until Rogic, too early to comment arrived.
clayts
Guest
What, no Cornflakes? :)
clayts
Guest
Agree with Brattan. Had a pretty dodgy game against Heart last weekend but overall I 'd say he's up there with the best in the league this year
clayts
Guest
Could not agree more. Seems that all of a sudden the "experts", the same experts that said Roar had no depth at the start of the season, decreed that Troisi was a world cup bolter, Admittedly he was leading the goal scoring after 10 rounds but I think he has done bugger all since then. And if we were taking players based on 8 or 9 rounds of form, David Williams would be more likely to get the nod. But we all know what people think of that idea. Seems to me that people somehow think Troisi is somehow more consistent than David Williams when he in fact is just as inconsisent.
Sam Clark
Roar Rookie
A good squad, albeit lacking a little firepower, aside from the inclusion of McKay. I think he could have been jettisoned for another attacking option such as Rukyvystya, who has been garnering regular game time along side Leckie at Frankfurt. Keen to see Luongo, Herd and Halloran. Surely Jedinak is a lock as captain without Neill.
melbourneterrace
Guest
There was no need for Ange to call up Milligan and McKay. Ange surely already knows what they are capable of and last thing milligan needs atm is another long flight to play 10 minutes off the bench.
melbourneterrace
Guest
Bratton definitely should get a look in, he's been the best central midfielder in the competition this year.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Zero complaints. Very happy for Spira.
Midfielder
Guest
Squad named. NAME - CLUB - COUNTRY - CAPS (GOALS) Oliver BOZANIC - FC Luzern - SWITZERLAND - 1 (0) Tim CAHILL - New York Red Bulls - USA - 66 (29) Jason DAVIDSON - SC Heracles Almelo - NETHERLANDS 4 (0) Ivan FRANJIC - Brisbane Roar FC - AUSTRALIA - 6 (0) Curtis GOOD - Dundee United FC - SCOTLAND - Ben HALLORAN - Fortuna Dusseldorf - GERMANY - Chris HERD - Aston Villa FC - ENGLAND - James HOLLAND - FK Austria Vienna - AUSTRIA - 12 (0) Mile JEDINAK - Crystal Palace FC - ENGLAND - 42 (3) Brad JONES - Liverpool FC - ENGLAND - 3 (0) Mitchell LANGERAK - B.V. Borussia 09 Dortmund - GERMANY - 2 (0) Matthew LECKIE - FSV Frankfurt 1899 - GERMANY - 5 (1) Massimo LUONGO - Swindon Town FC - ENGLAND - Ryan MCGOWAN - Shandong Luneng Taishan FC - CHINA PR - 8 (0) Matthew McKAY - Brisbane Roar FC - AUSTRALIA - 45 (1) Mark MILLIGAN - Melbourne Victory FC - AUSTRALIA - 26 (2) Tommy OAR FC Utrecht - NETHERLANDS - 12 (1) Tommy ROGIC - Melbourne Victory FC - AUSTRALIA - 8 (0) Matt RYAN - Club Brugge KV - BELGIUM - 4 (0) Adam SAROTA FC Utrecht NETHERLANDS 3 (0) Matthew SPIRANOVIC - Western Sydney Wanderers FC - AUSTRALIA - 16 (0) Dario VIDOSIC - FC Sion - SWITZERLAND - 19 (1) Luke WILKSHIRE - FK Dinamo Moscow - RUSSIA - 79 (8) Read more at http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/anges-squad-face-ecuador#BWEm07Y3QUexa1lb.99
Midfielder
Guest
I would add Braton to that list ... Troisi IMO is our best left sided mid and should be in the side... Just on MV with Troisi, Miligan and Rogic in their squad they will take some beating...
Pale Paxton
Guest
Btw is this a starting XI because if it is have you realised that you have only put 10 names in there?
Pale Paxton
Guest
Easily Spiranovic will be in the squad for this friendly as well as the trip to Brazil. He is very comfortable on the ball and defensively very solid as shown with the Wanderers this season. Adds height, compsoure and positional play. Would like to see a quicker player to partner him as Spira doesn't have 'outstanding' pace and hopefully if Ange picks the younger centre backs that we hope for (Wright, Good, Sainsbury, Mrcela, Lowry etc.) we can find a good center back partnership for both the World Cup and Asian Cup. Galekovic will probably be the 3rd keeper given that he is experienced, has leadership qualities, playing well (apart from the Victory game of course) and improving in his passing! Mooy is definately a player for the future. Can easily become Bresciano v2 though probably needs more time to prove himself. Ange would love him and improve his game more especially defensive wise. Rogic of course has talent and if he starts most of the games in the World Cup and performs well he will certainly get overseas scouts chasing him, hopefully going to a better league than the Scottish league. The others like Mooy are probably not in contention at the moment. They need to consistently be getting minutes and performing. Troisi for example hasn't really performed consistently in the A-League. Zullo hasn't been that impressive as well.
Punter
Guest
We all have our players who thinks a certain player is overrated & mine is James Troisi, very, very good player, capable of much more, but to me was outshined by Mitch Nichols earlier this year. Everyone said he would rip the A-League on his return as an ex ELP & Serie A player who also shined in Turkey. Good player, but not outstanding in my opinion. Not done enough in a very highly competitive position.