If there’s one thing Monday night’s farewell draw with Bafana Bafana highlighted, it’s that Australia appears to have lost touch with the reality of where its national team is at.
The overwhelmingly negative reaction to the team’s performance became a storm, with just about every Tom, Dick, Harry and former Socceroo lining up for their stab at Ange Postecoglou and his team.
The latest to join the bashing brigade were Paul Wade and Zeljko Kalac.
It’s as if Australia and Australia football has lost all sense of the fact the Socceroos are only just starting the rebuild process from the mess that was allowed to fester for so long.
Fair enough that mainstream Australia mightn’t understand where the national team is at in terms of its rebuilding cycle, but for the Australian football community to jump on the bandwagon and bash the team so openly has been quite mystifying.
To think that Postecoglou would just come in, have no more that a fortnight in total with his newly assembled crew, and wave the magic wand is the height of naivity, to use a term thrown the way of the team in the past couple of days.
Remembering this has been only the third time the manager has had the squad together, and on the previous two occasions they barely had time to complete introductions before playing.
In that time Postecoglou has not only had to turn over his playing roster, but many of his support staff.
Kalac, in particular, should know better, having been a part of Guus Hiddnk’s rebuild in 2005 and 2006.
He would know, for example, that Hiddink had the best part of a year to rebuild his side ahead of the World Cup and that the ‘Roos weren’t as smooth in the playoff against Uruguay as they were in Germany eight months later.
That sort of fluency doesn’t happen in the space of just over a week on the training track.
From what I saw in Gosford on day three of camp and from all the noise coming out, the intensity of training has been extremely high.
Peter Cklamovski had been working the boys hard, and high standards have been demanded throughout.
Little doubt that’s to do with the way Postecoglou wants the ‘Roos to play, centred around a high octane pressing game.
The plan is undoubtedly to build that mileage into the legs in the early part of the camp and then taper off as the opener against Chile approaches.
Kalac should remember more than most the intense workload that Hiddink put his players ahead of the Cup and the resultant impact that had on the lead-up performances, where there were only sporadic signs of what was to come.
It made sense at the time when Hiddink and his men put those performances down to training legs.
Yet when Postecoglou mentioned it on Monday, he was criticised for seeking an excuse.
Perhaps the manager could have done himself a favour by pre-empting the tiring legs in his pre-match press conference. Yet to these eyes it seemed a valid mitigate..
Far from being the catastrophe it was made out to be, I saw signs of a team building through its foundation phase.
Admittedly there may have been more of an emphasis on the team’s defensive structure, but Postecolgou has rarely been one to rebuild from the back.
Indeed, he appears to me to be building a structure where the defending happens higher, and as a team, thus reducing the burden on the back four.
What I saw on Monday was a team, especially in the opening half hour, looking to evolve from their work in Postecoglou’s opening two friendlies.
Whereas he has used a 4-2-3-1 against Costa Rica and Ecuador, here he adjusted from a 4-3-3 in attack to a 4-2-3-1 in defence.
The subtle difference was in the position of central midfielder Mark Milligan.
When the Roos were on the ball, Milligan pushed up into a position known as the number 8 role, advanced of the holding midfielder but not as high as the number 10, in this case James Troisi.
When Milligan pushed up, Troisi would would peel over to the left, so the Roos would have only one midfielder screening, James Holland.
It was a staggered midfield.
The Socceroos in attack first half (4-3-3)
—————–Cahill——————–
—–Oar———————Leckie——-
——————————————-
———–Troisi————————–
————————Milligan———-
—————-Holland———————————————————–
Davidson—McGowan—Wilkinson—Franjic
——————————————-
——————Ryan——————-
The fact Milligan found his way into the box in the first minute and then had a strike from the edge of the box minutes later tells you how Postecoglou is thinking.
In fact, the opening quarter of the games was some of the best football seen from a national team in years, involving quick circulation of ball and bodies, overloading on the flanks, and some eye-catching combination play.
With sharper finishing, admittedly a problem area for a team without too many natural scorers, the ‘Roos might have had two or three goals rather than be chasing an equaliser.
When the Socceroos lost the ball, Milligan would retreat into a more traditional screening role on the right of Holland, with Troisi moving to his right in a more traditional number 10 position.
The Socceroos in defence first half (4-2-3-1)
—————–Cahill——————–
—–Oar———————Leckie——-
——————————————-
——————Troisi——————-
———-Holland——Milligan———–
——————————————-
Davidson—McGowan—Wilkinson—Franjic
——————————————-
——————Ryan——————-
You can see Postecoglou is looking to evolve the team and make it more dynamic in attack.
But it will take him some time to find the right midfield balance, and not having Mile Jedinak and Tom Rogic available gave him an opportunity to assess his alternatives.
We saw in the first half against Ecuador how effective the Tom and Tim show, Rogic and Cahill, can be.
In the second half Postecoglou introduced Matt McKay for Troisi and, in doing so, shifted the balance to a slightly deeper one, with Milligan and McKay advanced of Holland, but in the same line.
This is the conundrum for Postecoglou.
If he wants a more proactive Brisbane Roar style three-man midfield with one screener, then players like Rogic and Troisi might not fit.
Even Milligan, as we saw on Monday, struggled to cope with the non-stop run required in such a three.
Funnily enough, one of the players most suited to such a midfield is Oliver Bozanic, who caught the eye with his cameo.
Mark Bresciano, if fit, would also fit into such a three, but you have to have doubts about his ability to play huge minutes against the Chilean, Dutch and Spanish midfields.
Overall, Postecoglou will have been disappointed his alternatives, Holland, McKay and Troisi, didn’t take their chances.
But there were also some good signs, and neat passages of play.
Particularly when the ball was at the feet of the wide men, Tommy Oar and Leckie, they looked dangerous, dribbling, making South Africa’s defenders defend.
Often they were guilty of not showing the requisite patience, blazing away from the flanks, looking to hit Cahill.
It’s undoubtedly a tactic that could work against the Chileans, but the Roos mustn’t do it to a fault, ensuring there is always variety in their attack.
Given the historic problems in defence, it was perhaps surprising to learn Postecoglou has so far focussed on the attack. But then again, it is Postecoglou.
Undoubtedly his idea is to defend from the front, protecting the defence with high pressing.
If he can get it working in such a short time, it’s a noble tactic.
But given the quality of the opponents there’s every chance they will find a way through the Socceroos press and expose the new look defence.
Jedinak will make a big difference screening, but there’s still plenty of work ahead on the defensive set-up.
True, there isn’t alot of time, but fans must remember the World Cup is just the start of the rebuild. Bigger things await for this team.
Yes, everyone want the ‘Roos to make an impression, even be competitive in Brazil, but the reality is, given where we’ve come from, given our current position both in ranking and as a unit, we were never likely to upset any of our group opponents.
Expectations these days are high for the national team, and that’s understandable, but their ought to be a fairer assessment of where the ‘Roos are at, and heading.
The facts are Postecoglou is doing the work the governing body and it’s previous national team boss put off, and that he’s doing the critical rebuild at a time when we don’t have a bevy of regulars starring in European leagues.
This isn’t to say that Postecoglou should be above any criticism, but the noise after Monday night appeared well out of touch.
Hitherto the manager has the runs on the board, and Australia would be best advised to give him and his young team an opportunity to grow and breath.
Neil
Guest
Spot on !
Jack
Guest
I agree with this article. We will be a bit like the Gold Coast suns in our first year but come the third year hopefully the 21 and 22 heR olds will have a bunch of games under there belt and we can become feared in the next wc qualifying campain
realfootball
Guest
Indeed. Milligan can't play the Culina role. Hasn't got the engine nor the technical ability and turns the ball over with monotonous regularity. Have no idea why he is a starting 11 player.
AVictory
Guest
2002 Dutch squad over the hill? No way. Their squad was full of super stars at the peak of their careers, many of those players continued to play in the 2004, 2006 and 2008 major tournaments. The problem is that their coach, Van Gaal and their players weren't able to put their egos aside and function well as a team. Their qualifying group had Portugal and Ireland. Portugal at that time were a top 4 side in the world and had their golden generation. In the critical matches, the Dutch would draw at home against Ireland, and lose to Portugal. These are the crucial head to head 6 pointer matches. The Dutch also failed to win away from home against these 2 teams. Despite the Dutch beating the 3 other teams in 6 matches, they finished 3rd overall in their group. Which wasn't enough to get a play off spot against another European side.
Rob
Guest
Schwarzer was dropped because all 3 goals at the tournament prior to that were attributable to poor play on his part - hopeless on the cross against Japan, and beaten on his near post twice against Brazil (2nd goal rebounded off post for a tap-in). Yes, Kalac made a howler, but Schwarzer had been ordinary as well.
Birdy
Guest
What 'speaks for itself' is that Oz moved to the Asian Conference. Australia have won the WC lottery by manipulating that one. To take just Europe as an example; only 12 teams can qualify. There are 29 teams from Europe ranked higher than Australia (and probably a few more who are, in reality better); so 17 of them will be watching the World Cup from their sofa. Gratitude for just being there would be my advice.
Hamish Alcorn
Guest
Truly I have nothing to add and would not have said a thing if it wasn't for some of the nonsense in comments. So Tony, I am merely adding my public thanks for being a voice of sanity in the maelstrom of passions and ignorance. I will be looking forward to your contributions throughout the World Cup.
Kasey
Guest
When I saw Kalac's name on the teamsheet I wasn't the only one who thought Guus was off his rocker. The ‘howler’ that let Croatia score was so frustrating because longterm fans of the Socceroos had an inkling it was likely:( Aurelio Vidmar(?) should have piped up at the selection table. Who changes their inform keeper mid-tournament with no injury worries?!?! IIRC, Guus flirted with subbing Schwartzer with Spider in the Uruguay game as it looked likely to go to pens.. Oh God, that doesn't bear thinking about:( I wonder if I’m the only one who later thought of connecting the Croatia goal with future revelations regarding Spider’s gambling debts?
j binnie
Guest
Roarfan= I accept eveything you say and I am presently wondering if AP is going to take on at least 2 of the world's best teams whilst maintaining his philosphy. Let us not forget that that same philosophy was found wanting when Ange took his all conquering Roar team into Asia.Has that experience left it's mark and ,under the present circumstance he now finds himself,will his basic philosophy be "tweaked" to allow for these circumstances. Time will tell and I look forward to seeing how he takes up the challenge he now faces.Cheers jb
j binnie
Guest
Punter- Interesting that you should mention Glasgow in 85 when Scotland,or should that be Davy Cooper, beat us 2-0.You will remember it was played in a freezing cold winter night in November and the Scots decided the pitch needed watering pre-game.We then flash forward to the return and the Australian coach of the day Arok wanted to return the favour and play in Sydney starting at noon,the hottest part of the day nearing the peak of our summer. What happened.? The powers that be decided much further south in Melbourne in the balmy weather of evening was the right place to "welcome"'our guests (under Alex Ferguson) and it took a super human display by the Scots keeper Jim Leighton to keep the score to 0-0. Never mind the niceities,we were out of the World Cup. Me???,I would have nominated Townsville or Darwin for the replay held at noon if I felt that would have given us the "edge" But that was Aussie football at the time,has it changed all that much today?????jb.
ripEnke
Guest
Agree, Oar only missed games becuase of injury these last two years, maybe three, but my memory gets foggy.
ripEnke
Guest
Bundesliga 2 is a pretty good level, most teams could compete in the Eredivise imho. But yes, not world class but has been scoring a lot. As I said he plays pretty much CF sitting back, like a false 9, so he has to work out what to do on the wing again, whilst trying to understand what Ange wants, add in a few nervs maybe. I hope it's sorted by WC as well and prove you wrong, haha.
j binnie
Guest
Punter - I replied to you earlier but it appears to have disappeared. I am sorry you read me as "complaining", I prefer to think I am stating the facts as I see them. An agenda? None unless you class examining our preparation for the world's greatest tournament and finding it to being somewhat low key. You then ask me to say what should or should have been done and I cannot answer that for the time has run out but I wiil say again that 5 games in 6 months, against what only could be termed as "lower than us" calibre is not what I would call a hectic preparation schedule You bring up the GG again and seem to forget that, with all their experience and a World Class coach to prepare them for over a year pre-tournament,they could only scrape into the round of 16. I am very much aware of who we are to meet in Brazil and don't think for a moment that doesn't worry me, never mind Ange ,who is actually in a situation not of his making. You seem to agree with Tony that we are at the bottom of a cycle,I don't agree for we have had a full time professional leagur for nearly 10 years,something your GG never had,nor did Rasic in 1974, but the time for re-building has been very badly timed especially when you throw a WC competition that has to be competed for into the mix.Negative? Criticism? Definitely not, but facts that have to be faced,so lets hope against hope that the boys acquit themselves well against all the odds and that will help Ange to continue his re-build with some sense of achievemnt behind him. Ok? By the way you can disagree with me any time that's what makes the world go round. Your pal jb
j binnie
Guest
Fadida,Thanks for changing your criticism of what I wrote.You call it the "bleeding obvious" then tell me if I was positive I should be saying how it can be cured,that to me would in fact be criticising any work AP has done up to now,and I certainly don't blame him for the fact he does not have a regular scorer.. You then link the lack of a consistently scoring central striker with a "conondrum" that faces Ange and that was exactly the point I was making to both you and Tony, and with that you appear to agree. You then go on to cite the quality of our defensive players,something I did not do but if you combine both of these problems it points out to a system that AP may have to embark upon when facing some of the best strikers in the world and it is in that area I fear for AP and his players ,for if they appear to be "going defensive" in South America then heaven help the press he will receive. On the other hand if he attempts the game most are advocating, open attacking football,and gets "smashed" do you think our learned press will treat him and his players any differently? Now to try and tell you what I feel,AP has been appointed to re-build the Socceroos and I doubt if there is anyone in the country who appreciates that more than I. but along the track he has been forced into an almost impossible situation,he has been forced to play in a competition where he can't hope to achieve what I think he would lke to achieve.That is a fact of life and I feel for the guy, much more than most for I do think he may be the man for the long term job. but I would not wish what he is facing upon my worst enemy,to coin a phrase. By the way I am not one of those posters that think we should withdraw from the WC but I certainly wouldn't criticise Ange if he went out and played a game based on defensive strategies in order to steal points from the world's best.In all honesty can you say you would be pleased if he parked 9 men behind the ball using young speedsters Halloran or Leckie to perhaps sneak away and steal a goal. Now believe this if you like ,that strategy would not bother me in the slightest,in fact my admiration for AP would probably grow, for it would show he had read a situation not of his making, and recognised how he could probably overcome the danger.It would not be pretty,but????? Cheers jb
Fadida
Guest
Wrong. Oar was getting plenty of gave time. Cornthwaite was a sub in Korea. Anyone can see Sainsbury is the vastly superior player; pace, technique, reading of the game. Osieck chose his favourites regardless of who was playing. Schwarzer did ok in the CL, behind an excellent defence, and was rarely tested. Chelsea have now released him. It doesn't excuse Osieck for picking him in EVERY friendly. Again, I've advocated picking the best team, regardless of age. It so happens that Neill and Og are both too slow, which doesn't fit in with AP's tactics. This isn't to say I'm happy with our back 4. I just don't think Neill and Og are going to be much better, and certainly not worth changing a managers entire philosophy over
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
In any case I have said that Ange is a good coach, but his high pressing game plan will not work for the group stage of this WC. He needs to take a look how Ancelotti won the UCL with a system that does not expend too much energy against the top nations of the world---an Italian game which is zonal defending---not the hell for leather high pressing game... Because, we are simply outgunned in the quality department with the players we have at our disposal.
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
Cornthwaite was playing in a superior Sth Korean league and was well respected there at the time when Sainsbury was just a mere HAL hopeful. So he gambled and Sainsbury still yet to prove himself. Brosque was playing for the J-League when Oar was struggling to get game time sitting on the bench for his club not getting any game time. You really think Wilkson or McGowan are better than Og. I know who I would prefered to have. McGowan showed us his naivety against SA letting his opponents to get inside of him countless amount of times---not being able to force them wide or show them the line as it were. Schwarzer just had an incredible run in the UCL with Chelsea---still up to it (but Ryan is OK). Age has no bearing if you can still perform at the highest level. I suppose you would recruit all the Olyroos for the world cup just because they are only 21 yrs old.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Drawing up formations is one thing - being able so say the names on the page have a capacity to mix it with the best is something entirely different. Parts of what Tony is describing here is not too dissimilar from the 4-1-1-3-1 formation Hiddink used regularly in 2006, with Culina playing in front of Grella and regularly getting to the top of the D. Now I accept that Jedi is very close to Grella in ability (althoughI doubt Jedi has had the sort of education Grella would have received in the Serie A in terms of understanding the game at the very highest levels). But can anyone on here seriously compare Spike to Culina? (who was a semi-regular in a top Eredivisie team). Spike as a go-forward mid? Seriously? This is where the theory hits reality and comes a cropper.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
SlickAs El Tel commented on it as well, so I think it's a fair enough observation. The only problem is - doesn't really count for much. One day in the future, we might have a player who is worth getting baited by a Materazzi-type of A-grade mongrel. Let us hope when that day comes, our little aussie battler won't respond with a head butt to the chest, but will give the perpetrator a good old fashioned smash in the face.
Fadida
Guest
He chose Cornthwaite over Sainsbury. Neill when SUSPENDED. Schwarzer in all of the friendlies. Brosque over Oar initially. I could go on. In your fantasy world is Neill still forming a defensive partnership with Og at 50?