Ange Postecoglou doesn’t miss much when it comes to appreciating the tactical nuances of world football. He also likes to be innovative and adventurous.
It’s been a long time since his early days as one of Australia’s national youth coaches, but it’s obvious he’s learned from his past mistakes. Postecoglou’s previous failures have driven him to achieve something special for Australian football.
Following a brief stint in Europe and his progression through the A-League coaching ranks, he’s made a triumphant return to the national stage to become head coach of the Socceroos. It seems a long way from his youth team failures and public embarrassment on national television at the hands of SBS football analyst Craig Foster.
Indeed, it now seems Foster is one of Postecoglou’s admirers now.
Under Ange’s leadership, the Socceroos’ results in the recent World Cup were encouraging but not flattering. Ange adopted an expansive, aggressive approach against clearly superior opposition, but the bottom line is that we lost three games, conceded nine goals and came home early empty handed.
Under the direction of Football Federation Australia, Postecoglou’s brief also includes watching over our junior national teams to oversee improvements and ensure a consistent, aggressive, attacking approach, in line with Australia’s sporting character.
“We don’t need an overhaul, but we need to keep improving,” Postecoglou said.
“We’re set in stone in terms of the way we want to play. We’ve been tested now and we need more depth.
“Our underage national teams will be a key part of that, that’s why FFA has asked me to get involved – the more exposure we can give these guys at international level the better.”
Ange’s quest to identify and nurture the next generation of Socceroos has begun. The list of potential young stars is growing and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get noticed these days. The competition for squad places is becoming fiercer, and so it should be.
One of those on the list, but probably unknown to many Australian football fans, is former Sydney Olympic striker James Demetriou.
Demetriou has always shown great potential in youth football and was spotted by Stevie Corica, the youth coach at Sydney FC. They quickly drafted him into the club, but shortly after Tony Popovic stole him from right under Sydney’s nose to bring him to the Western Sydney Wanderers.
In the end it was Sydney Olympic who offered him a better contract during the Wanderers’ off-season, and he made his senior team debut as a teenager and regularly got his name on the score sheet.
Demetriou had barely been at Olympic a few months before the then 17-year-old got the call up from Nottingham Forest FC to trial with them. They were so impressed with his audition that they signed him to a two-year contract on the spot.
Former Olympic coach Peter Tsekenis was quoted in a Football NSW praising Demetriou last year.
“James has lots of potential and he is most dangerous in striking distance of goal, because he loves to shoot with that awesome power, which will take him to higher levels in the game,” Tsekenis said.
After the first three rounds of the English Championship, Nottingham Forest are top of the table and there’s the real potential this season for promotion to the Premier League.
Demetriou leads the attack for the Forest Under-21 team again this season and has scored five goals in six matches so far. He was awarded with a pay rise and an extension of his contract.
His efforts obviously haven’t gone unnoticed by senior team manager and former Nottingham and England regular Stuart Pearce.
Demetriou has ancestry in Cyprus and has already been selected for Cyprus national youth teams. Like many other promising young players, he could one day be lost forever to Australia’s cause.
It’s also worth noting that Demetriou played junior football with his best friend Chris Ikonomidis, the young Aussie Seria A sensation who plays his football at Lazio FC.
“It would certainly be a dream come true if Chris and I could team up again one day, we developed a great understanding together as twin strikers playing in the youth teams,” Demetriou told Football NSW last year.
But like Demetriou, Ikonomidis faces the same uphill battle to be given a start in one of the senior Socceroos squads.
Demetriou, together with Ikonomidis were once selected for an overseas-based training camp in London by Under-20 Young Socceroos head coach Paul Okon, but nothing substantial ever came of it.
Instead James will be focusing on Cyprus training with the Under-21 national team ahead of an official Euro Under-21 game against Serbia. The Cyprus Football Association certainly believes that this is a huge win for them and a potential boost for their future national squads.
Are we in favour of investing in young talented football players in Australia, only to see them go abroad to play professionally and ultimately end up playing for their country of ancestry?
The overseas talent scouts are obviously doing their jobs. Does Postecoglou and the FFA have their own reliable network of football talent scouts? Or is it simply a matter of large distances and lack of resources hampering their work?
In the meantime, there is a growing number of young talented Australians of overseas background who have been discovered and selected by foreign football federations showing more interest in investing in these talents, right under the FFA’s nose.
Should we be concerned? Do we relax and place our trust in Ange that ultimately he will get it right and will always pick the best possible starting 11? Maybe in Ange’s estimation, Demetriou and Ikonomidis are just not good enough to play for Australia.
At this point in time, all Postecoglou will do is add James Demetriou to his watch list and hope for his sake, and the future of the Socceroos, that he makes the right assessment at the right time, for ultimately the right decision.
Kiwiana
Guest
Dylan burns is a Kiwi - he won the Nike Challenge earlier this year and was scouted from the Nike Academy in the UK by Forest.
Cosgrove
Guest
Have to disagree with you there Brian. Ikonimidis and Skapetis (at Stoke) both played for Australia at the AFC U/22 Championship last year (we took an Olyroos team made up of players eligible for Rio 2016). And both played for the Young Socceroos and helped us qualify for the AFC U/19 Championship. Furthermore, there's a young defender from Villareal, Rafa Jimenez, who played for the Young Socceroos at the same tournament. Unlike Ikonomidis and Skapetis who were born and raised in Aus (at least as far as I know), Jiminez was born and raised in Spain and has never set foot in Aus. Yet his dad was born in Sydney, and thus he has an Australian passport and has represented the Young Socceroos at the COTIF tournament and the aforementioned U/19 qualifiers. This kid has been brought up at Real Madrid and Atletico, and is now at Villareal, but what chance do you think he has of playing for Spain when his home country turns out talented players like a factory? So he's set his sights on us, and I'd be happy for any defender brought up in Spain to help out our defence a bit. I think it goes both ways with the nationality thing. Ultimately, if they want to play for us, they will, and if they don't, then good luck to them. It all evens out in the end, and we've got some great kids coming through.
Brian Orange
Roar Guru
Absolutely, but this guy is something special and should be blooded early and not lost to Cyprus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKY4NW4Gi1M
Brian Orange
Roar Guru
Not my heading/title, the moderators changed it. Why don't you write an article about what happens prior to Ange choosing his squad. I'd be interested to read it.
fadida
Guest
Spot on Ben
fadida
Guest
Bailey Wrighht is playing regular first team football. The two young guys mentioned were playing reserves. Do we cap every player around the world who scores a few reserve goals?
Futbanous
Guest
Ideally all young players would star in the A-League for a couple of seasons before venturing off overseas. We know this will never happen as the tentacles of the giant squid, World football spread far & wide. Having said that it still surprises that many talented Australian youth players escape the small tentacles of the Aussie A-League octopus. For me the Australian talent scouting department is either understaffed or incompetent, or a combination of both. They( the mysterious ones) reckon that in most cases(Messi's,Neymar's excepted) that you can't spot a real talent or they don't generally prove whether they are top drawer professional football material until around the age of 22. IMO this heading is misdirected as Ange is a man definitely focused on the job ahead. The article should be directed more at what happens prior to Ange choosing his squad. In other words National team players should be jumping out of the woodwork smacking Ange in the face with their obvious proven talent. Scratching around in all sorts of leagues,indicates to me that something is broken further down the ladder than the. Socceroos.
whiskeymac
Guest
quite. For every Kruse theres a couple of others (Sarkies, Patafta, Kilkenny...)
Griffo
Roar Guru
Agree Ben.
whiskeymac
Guest
ah yes i have seen this chart before - albeit a long time back so theres lots of new names. its massive. a lot of names and a lot potential, talents yet to be confirmed.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Demetriou does indeed have potential, however so do Dylan Burns and Josh McDonald who are also at the Nottingham Forest u-21s. The problem is the term 'potential'. We have a plethora of young players in academies and reserves sides who are loaded with potential, only a limited number of those will step up to become regulars in a top league. Ange can only select those who have shown the capacity to take the next step. Until these players find themselves cracking senior squads then there will be little scope for their selection beyond underage representative sides.
Griffo
Roar Guru
They are big lists. Critical about being smart on who is likely to have potential but not cast the net too close, or use too small a net ;-) Other issue is trying to bring in some of these guys at our youth NT level; camps and preparation tournaments. If it is hard at senior level with playing stocks world wide, it's harder still at youth level. @OSAussies do a good job to keep tabs on overseas players and what they do in games, particularly the youth players.
Griffo
Roar Guru
Brian, I agree there is often many related parts to the issue of international football allegiance - forcing the hand of a country could be it for some, not for others. Reading between the lines of some I think a lot of it is just getting experience at 'international' level (similarly to going abroad for 'better youth development opportunities', or access to more professional club opportunities), that if the option of (international) experience presents itself, you grab it as a means to 'grow' as a professional footballer - particularly if representing an U17 or U21 team while holding of multiple passports doesn't lock you in to that country (as opposed to Adama Triore). Part of the problem in the past as well is that being looked after well by another countries NT setup helped sway when there was no hint of communication from home. That appears to be changing... Looking at it from another angle: If other countries are putting in the effort to increase the size of their talent pool for future NT success, why shouldn't we?
Griffo
Roar Guru
Holger Osieck did try Ersan Gülüm, although it may have been one part cultural tug-o-war, another part seeing which national team would bite. Agree that it has been made clear to Ange regarding bringing through the brightest talents (regeneration by another name), in which I think Ange will carry that out, where Holger may not have been pressured to do so (World Cup qualification). Personally I hope all Ange's plans work out as it would lay a fantastic foundation for what the NT coaching role will entail post-Ange. I do think that the true test and longevity of what Ange is trying to do will be tested once 2018 World Cup qualification is in full swing. It would be nice to return to the days when any talented young player coming through was brought into the NT camp. This putting pressure on the incumbents will bury entitlement and keep standards high while also implying that form plays a part in being selected...
Brian Orange
Roar Guru
Here's a list of Aussie footballers playing professionally abroad right now. http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Abroad/index.html There's a lot of talent out there, which must be an exciting challenge for Postecoglou.
Brian Orange
Roar Guru
Cyprus U21s are not a bad team and have recently beaten Northern Ireland, Croatia and Serbia and only lost to Italy by one goal. Demetriou is the youngest player in the squad and just turned 19, so he has some potential.
Brian Orange
Roar Guru
Good point about the communication Griffo. A lot of these players may be on the verge of selection and they just need to be patient, but don't know it. They probably play for another country at youth level to get noticed or to force the coaches hand at making a decision and then making some contact.
whiskeymac
Guest
Agreed Griffo. Not aware of panaldinho or rafa jiminez... will google now =)
whiskeymac
Guest
Well maybe. But if he chose Wright it was because we also were in desperate need of CBs only a few weeks ago. And creative mids. And strikers. He can only chose 11 players.... FFA had a similar request of Holger too though... the main difference is Ange might actually remain true to it!
Brian Orange
Roar Guru
The difference these days whiskeymac is that Postecoglou is in charge and he is more likely to blood good new players. He has also been asked by the FFA to oversee youth team selections and tactics, which has never happened before. Why did he select Bailey Wright and not Ikonomidis or Demetriou? What we need more than anything is to develop some great new strikers at the moment.