Ange Postecoglou’s 30-man squad is set to be named next week, and with Lucas Neill reportedly left out, that leaves up to between seven and ten defensive positions open for the taking.
The problem is, though, no-one has taken them.
Matthew Špiranović, Australia’s supposed bright light in a gloomy Brazil campaign, has proven better in central midfield than in defence.
His mistakes in the final against Brisbane Roar were costly, and ultimately it was he responsible for marking Besart Berisha when the Albanian struck in extra time.
Špiranović is a good defender, but every striker that he will come up against in Brazil is twice as lethal as Berisha – a scary thought as we near the World Cup.
Ivan Franjić can sometimes struggle with his defensive duties, though loves to get forward and attack.
Curtis Good hasn’t played since the Ecuador match due to injury, though is apparently now fit. Ryan McGowan has been deployed at left-back when he has played in recent weeks, and Trent Sainsbury is still struggling to recover from his freak knee injury.
Bailey Wright, Tomislav Mrčela and Alexander Jovanovic all sound like great defenders playing week-in, week-out for their clubs, but they have no international experience at all.
In fact, Jason Davidson and Alex Wilkinson are the only regular starters in recent weeks from Postecoglou’s first-choice defenders. Good luck to him indeed.
Perhaps Davidson – who started his career as a centre-back – would be the best choice for now in the centre, with Ryan McGowan or Micahel Zullo coming in at left-back.
Whatever the case, a list of 30 names will be released next week – 23 of which will go to Brazil.
My list looks like this:
Goalkeepers
M. Ryan, M. Langerak, B. Jones, E. Galekovic
Defence
C. Good, M. Špiranović, I. Franjić, J. Davidson, M. Zullo, L Wilkshire, Alexsander Jovanovic, Alex Wilkinson, Ryan McGowan, J. Brillante
Midfield
M. Jedinak, M. Milligan, J. Holland, M. Bresciano, L. Brattan, J. Troisi, T. Rogic, O. Bozanic, M. Luongo
Attack
T. Cahill, J. Kennedy, M. Leckie, B. Halloran, T. Oar, D. Vidosic, A. Taggart
Would you change anything?
AZ_RBB
Guest
I've found that a lot of strikers don't peak til their mid to late 20s. If Juric hits his peak in 2018 at 27 I would be pretty happy with that.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
The only problem being he isn't that young. He's 23 this year. That's not old, but starting to be a bit long in the tooth to still be labelled a "prospect". You'd want him to be fully realising that potential by this sort of age.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Maybe, although the Australian team has done okay at playing a possession game over the years at times, and the main other method for playing the top teams is to defend hard and try to hit on the counter. That tactic requires speed up front. So if they wanted to play that they would really need to select some players with speed. We haven't had a lot of that in the past, but I think there are a few young guys around with some pretty good speed who could potentially be there. Either way, speed is an invaluable commodity in football. We've not been great on that in the past, hopefully that can change.
James Anderson
Roar Guru
The only problem is his turn on the ball is slower than Emile Heskey on a bad day. Hence the reason he is effective as a Screening Midfielder, because he can get away with being slow by using his body to shield the ball. Plus he has utilised his passing range, strength and vision to become one of the EPL's best holding midfielders. He has had a terrific season with Crystal Palace and is one of the reasons they aren't heading back down to the Chapionship.
fadida
Guest
Agree Chris. Juric looks a fantastic prospect, vastly superior to Santalab, but there must be a few aspects of his play that Popovic isn't happy with
fadida
Guest
I stand by that statement Real. I see Brattan every week. Great when given space, but as we saw in the final he struggles when pressed and is frequently caught in possession. Lack of athleticism means he's not great defensively either
redtotheend
Guest
Osama Malik should be given a chance. He has had a terrific season and is able to play a number of defensive positions.
Dog
Guest
Is it too late to train Jedinak to play CB? The guy can't pass and has a poor first touch for a CM, but he is a tackling machine / strong in the air. Good leadership skills too. Most tackles in the EPL this season I believe… although probably the most fouls too.
Griffo
Roar Guru
Reginald, I think that is exactly the reason we won't look back and give them a red-hot go instead (I am hoping in a similar vein to 2006). Really we are in transition, with 3 games against quality opposition, in pseudo-preparation for a home Asian Cup. I don't expect we'll take the World Cup, but I am looking at the Dutch as a good chance to gain maximum points off in a boilover. We have a good record against them, and they have a good record of imploding due to various matter-antimatter personality clashes that seem to make it into the team at times.
Griffo
Roar Guru
Kyle, my point with Galekovic is that he is playing regularly and regarding as one of the better keepers in the A-League. Playing regularly means he has a little bit over Langerak. He also is in a similar mold to Ryan in that he is comfortable with his feet in a sweeper role and looks to begin the attack immediately, which Ange likes. He may not be in the same class as Schwarzer, but behind Ryan there are few other keepers playing regularly that will take the second keeper position imo.
Kyle Stewart
Roar Pro
sorry can't agree on eugene the man is 32 years old good keeper that never got a look in due to the brilliance of schwarzer
Kyle Stewart
Roar Pro
are you serious? Jade North? BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Reginald Bomber
Roar Guru
Its great to try and speculate about what team Ange is going to pick and what tactics we will employ, but does anyone really think we have any hope of getting a result against Spain, Holland or Chile. This is the worst group of death in the whole tournament and a Mission Impossible for the Socceroos.
Reginald Bomber
Roar Guru
Yes, you may be right Chris. I can't see us playing possession tika-taka against Spain or Holland. Maybe he might have to revert to the Graham Arnold football school approach of hit the long ball and hope for a goal :)
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
That may be the case. Although there is one big difference between club coaching and international coaching, you aren't as free to recruit players to suit your style and often have to be more ready to adapt your preferred style to suit the best team you are able to put together. Hopefully one of two things happens. Either Ange's style suites the players we have available, or he realises that he needs to adapt a bit to suit the players at hand and not try to squish them into playing a way that will never suit the available players.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I'm a fan of Juric. He seems to really have a good eye for goal, and as you point out, can finish with either foot or with the head very well. But clearly Poppa thinks he's still got plenty to work on in his game to even be the regular starter for the Wanderers. Though that could just be work rate as much as anything. Santalab is in there basically to run flat out for 65 minutes and harass the opposition before bringing a fresh Juric on. As a pure goal scorer, Juric is far superior to Santalab. But still can't see him going from the bench at the Wanderers to the Socceroos.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
From memory, Ruka had one thing the Socceroos could seriously do with a bit of, speed. Whoever they pick, I hope they can get some real speed on the park. One of the issues over the last few years with the top guys aging and the young guys just not good enough has been a real lack of speed in the Socceroos starting lineup.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
There's a lot to like about Juric, he seems to really be that natural goal scorer that we need, but it's hard to think that someone who has been coming off the bench most of the year in the A-League would get picked in the Socceroos squad.
Griffo
Roar Guru
I thought Sarota too, but it appears he didn't play in the final Utrecht game due to an "upper leg injury" so hopefully nothing too serious and can be named in 30-man squad: http://en.fcutrecht.nl/news/latest/7582/fc-utrecht-win-final-game-of-the-season Not a bad list. Will be interesting to see next week. Brilliante for sure, can also fill in for midfield (preferred position) but right back will be where Ange has his eye. Out of you keeper list, not sure on Brad Jones, but not sure on who the fourth would be (do we really need a fourth keeper?). Ryan, Galekovic, Langerak - in that order. I think we need to take the likes of Daniel De Silva for experience if not part of the squad. Just hope he doesn't end up like Petafta who Hiddink brought along in typical Dutch fashion in 2006.
Reginald Bomber
Roar Guru
Unfortunately forwards like Juric and even Josh Kennedy won't get a look in with Ange's style of play. He plays without an old style centre forward and invites the whole team to attack in possession and defend when not.