One of the interesting topics likely to come out of today’s Socceroo squad announcement for their friendly against Ecuador is who will be the side’s captain.
With Lucas Neill unlikely to be selected, candidates for the captains arm band will be lining up for Ange Postecoglou.
Realistically, Postecoglou has five options: Tim Cahill, Rhys Williams, Marco Bresciano, Mark Milligan and Mile Jedinak.
Cahill has only ever been a fill-in captain at former club Everton and a representative captain for the Socceroos in the rare absence of Neill and Mark Schwarzer.
While he is one of the most experienced Socceroos and one of the stars of the side, his lack of actual captain’s pedigree negates those pros.
Williams could be a brilliant move as someone who could captain the Socceroos for the next five or more year.
He is the club captain of Championship side Middlesbrough, so he is a notable leader. But he is currently injured, which disappointingly rules him out.
Bresciano is in a similar situation as Tim Cahill – while he has got an abundance of playing experience at some big clubs, he simply does not have captaincy experience, so that rules him out.
That leaves Milligan and Jedinak. The former is the club captain of Melbourne Victory and the latter is the captain of Crystal Palace.
Both are at an ideal age (28 and 29 respectively) but there is only one who should really be given the armband – the Crystal Palace midfielder who has had a stunning rise.
From the Illawarra Premier League to the English Premier League, Mile has developed into the ideal captain who makes his opinions heard and leads through his actions.
Jedinak has over 100 appearances for Crystal Palace and was given the captain armband last season leading the side to the playoffs – a game Palace won with a 90th minute strike from Jedinak.
He was awarded the club’s player of the season, with Crystal Palace supporters singing their praises for their messy-haired Australian.
In the current campaign, Jedinak has played a pivotal role for the Eagles, screening the back four with extreme diligence which has helped them fight off relegation to this point.
Jedinak will be the first player picked for Brazil and the first player Ange writes on the team sheet. He is the sort of blood and guts player that should be leading out our boys over the coming years.
Ange may disagree with me and opt for Milligan or Cahill or someone else entirely.
He could even decide to go with the current captain Lucas Neill, who may still earn his place in the squad in Brazil since signing on with Championship club Watford.
I do feel if Neill was to play, it would have to be as captain.
Do you think Mile will get Ange’s backing or will Neill earn his place and the armband? Or could someone else be lined up for the hardest role in Australian football?
Follow Dylan on Twitter @dylaneloi
Franko
Guest
You'd probably find the likes of Maldini, and Rio Ferdinand average a very low tackle count. A tackle should only be a last resort, positioning is everything.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Agreed. If he is good enough to trouble the midfields of the likes of Man City and Arsenal then I dare say we can find somewhere to fit him in.
Norfolk
Roar Rookie
are there no quick players in the EPL?
Da`
Roar Rookie
I didn't use to be a huge fan of his either. And then I saw how he plays for Palace and that he was their player of the year in 2013. I actually think he is at the peak of his form, and we're lucky to have him. He did have some issues previously, but seems to be playing better these days.
Adam
Guest
Jedinak seems to perform a solid role for crystal palace, screening the defence and spreading balls to better distributors
Adam
Guest
Hahaha spot on!
AZ_RBB
Guest
Media asking Ange who the captain will be....his response... "I don't know what the fascination is with the national captain. If I say it's Michael Clarke will everyone be happy?" Zing!
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
No doubting Jedinak's commitment, courage & attitude .. but, based on touch & techique, I wouldn't even have Jedinak in the starting XI ... unless he's converted into a central defender. I'd be keen to see Jedinak's stats for passing accuracy when passing the ball forward - would make depressing reading. I think Timmy would be a good on-field leader, however, has he ever been captain of his teams? Milligan is a born leader & has captained underage National Teams.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Just looking at stats from the 11/12 season. Slightly dated but not that much has changed in terms of style. Top 10 tacklers in Europe 1. Giampiero Pinzi - Udinese - 4.8 tackles per game 2. Scott Parker - Tottenham - 4.1 tackles 3. Felipe Luis - Atletico Madrid - 4.0 tackles 4. Navarro - Sevilla - 4.0 tackles 5. Kyriakos Papadopoulos - Olympiakos - 3.9 tackles 6. Sven Bender - Borussia Dortmund - 3.9 tackles 7. Yohan Cabaye - Newcastle - 3.8 tackles 8. Arda Turan - Atletico Madrid - 3.8 tackles 9. Mohammed Sissoko - PSG - 3.8 tackles 10. Lucio - Inter Milan - 3.6 tackles Jedi average 4.0 tackles per game this season.
Brian
Guest
I wouldn't worry how much possession are we going to have?
fadida
Guest
Not "one of the best tacklers in world football" at all Iangou. Just down one who makes a hell of a lot of tackles. A very big difference. Again in Spain, Grrmany, Italy and France they don't make as many tackles because they simply don't have to. Maldini never "tackled". England is all about rough and tumble and physicality. Jedinak struggled badly against smaller, sharper ball players in qualifying. He doesn't see too many of those in the EPL!
Punter
Guest
Mid, His first 2 passes against Costa Rica were woeful. But I agree getting better, I have no issues with Mile in the team & being captain as long as we have a distributor next to him (Massimo LUONGO). He, Mile, is playing regularly & captain as well & consistently performing at the highest stage of any Australian player.
Midfielder
Guest
Jedi ... by a long way but others have said he needs to have players around him... Rogic in front would help him a lot as with Bresh alongside him..
Midfielder
Guest
Punter Not as bad as it used to be he is getting better ... OK that not that hard many would say ...
langou
Roar Guru
That is a really impressive stat AZ We are talking about one of the best interceptor and tacklers in world football. Considering the teams we are playing are likely to dominate procession that makes him a certain starter in my opinion. And lets face it, fans will always notice the couple of missed passes per game but rarely notice the 1 percenters (to borrow an AFL term).
SVB
Guest
In our last World Cup qualification campaign Jedinak gave away silly free kicks and penalties to which we conceded goals against the likes of Oman and Iraq. He even scored an own goal in one of the games. He is slow of the mark and extremely slow at turning. A little quick guy will carve him up. I can't imagine what some of the Spanish and Chilean players will do to him.
wotdoo
Guest
1 thing to remember is that Ange when at victory got rid of the captain (Leijer) and replaced him with Milligan so he must rate him pretty highly.
AZ_RBB
Guest
The advantage though of having Jedi is that he plays week in week out for team which doesn't hold much possession in any given game against far superior opponents. I think it's safe to say that we're going to spend most of the world cup defending. So a player with the defensive strength of Jedi will be incredibly valuable. He only completed 26 passes against United last weekend but 4 of them created chances for his team. Showing he does have some degree of attacking ability. How impacts on his ability to captain is a different matter.
Andy
Guest
Agreed Fadida. Whilst his achievements indicate he may be one of the better players, we desperately need a decent combination in midfield. I don't know if Jedi fills that role. I like the guy a lot, and he's a toiler but we need to ensure that our midfield can obtain and then utilise possession when the do get it. I have heard suggestions that we could play him at CB. I don't usually agree with playing players out of position but with his skill set it almost makes sense. He would be better than most available options.
Mike
Roar Guru
I'd go for Jedinak. But if not, Cahill or Bresciano.