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Newcastle Jets striker Adam Taggart’s blistering form has him well-placed for a World Cup spot, Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou says.
The 20-year-old has had a sensational season, topping the A-League’s scorers’ list, netting his 11th goal of the campaign in the Jets’ 1-0 win over Melbourne Heart on Saturday.
Jets coach Clayton Zane said after the game Postecoglou should be paying attention.
The Socceroos mentor says he has been and if Taggart keeps it up he’ll be on the plane to Brazil.
“I said that weeks ago, Clayton’s jumping on my bandwagon,” he said.
“Adam is scoring goals and he’s gaining a little bit of consistency now, which is important.
“If he finishes the season strongly, then yes, of course he’s in contention.”
Postecoglou said he’s also been closely watching Taggart’s teammate Josh Brillante among several others in the A-League like Melbourne Victory’s James Troisi and Adelaide’s Osama Malik.
He said while the likes of Brisbane’s Ivan Franjic and Matt McKay, Victory’s Tom Rogic and Western Sydney’s Matthew Spiranovic all got the nod for last week’s Ecuador game in London, several A-League players were very close to selection.
“Josh is another one who I rate very highly at Newcastle,” he said.
“James Troisi has shown at times throughout the year his form has been good. Osama Malik at Adelaide is another.
“Their form since has been pretty good and they all fit the type of players we want to build a team around.
“They’re the right sort of age group and the right sort of experience.
“So it’s up to them to try and step up.”
Socceroos veterans Sasa Ognenovski and David Carney have made comebacks to the A-League in the hope of pushing for a World Cup spot.
Both were overlooked Postecoglou’s two squads to date with the coach admitting they don’t fit the mould.
“There’s certainly an underlying principle in mind that we need to rebuild and when you have that there’s going to be a limited number of spots for guys who are at the tail end of their careers, that’s a simple fact,” he said.
“Sasa falls into that category of player.
“But I’m not going to discourage anyone or rule anyone out. I want everyone fighting for it.
“Even someone like David you don’t rule out because we don’t have a great deal of left-sided players.”
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