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Mentality, Mile and the missing midfield machinations

Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has seen the transformation of football in Australia. (AAP Image/Paul Miller)
Expert
15th October, 2014
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Among the big questions with less than three months until the start of the Asian Cup is whether Ange Postecoglou can lift the team’s mentality, and whether there is still room in the grand plan for his skipper Mile Jedinak and wide-left player Tommy Oar?

In truth, there are many other questions, and I’ll explore them a little further on, but the three above are among the biggest headaches facing the manager for now.

Postecoglou took his men to the World Cup by convincing them, in a short time, that they could anything – even against Arjen Robben, Alexis Sanchez, Robin van Persie, Andres Iniesta and Diego Costa.

He turned the team over, filled them with condition and made them believe they could compete, and that they certainly did.

The Socceroos relished the role of underdog, taking it to each opponent, no doubt surprising them, the world and many an observer back home.

There was little doubt the team, despite not registering a point and making many a rookie defensive error, left Brazil with the feeling it was on the rise.

Yet three months on that positive, free-spirited mentality appears to have disappeared and been replaced by a tightness that sees team struggling to find any freedom and fluency.

The question is whether Postecoglou can lift this mentality enough that they feel emboldened rather than burdened by a home tournament where good performances and results will be expected.

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It’s almost as if, after being locked away and primed to perform in Brazil, the players have had time to stop and think.

The confident swagger with which they pressed the Chileans and Netherlands appears to have been sapped by the thought they came away from the World Cup with little return.

This confidence hasn’t been helped when they look at the overall record of seven losses from 11 under Postecglou, or not scoring in four of their past five games.

Things weren’t supposed to look so negative three months out from the Asian Cup.

Postecoglou has a huge challenge to turn this mentality in such a short period and with only one scheduled friendly against Japan next month and limited time together in camp.

The mood of anticipation and excitement which the Roos went to the Word Cup with has been replaced by the feeling this team will struggle on home soil in January.

Having expectations hosed down mightn’t be the worst thing in the world, but he still has to convince himself and his men that they can go out and go far in the continental tournament.

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Having given opportunities to many players over the past 12 months, it’s time for the manager and his support staff to reflect and possibly make some tough decisions.

One could argue there has at least been some progress in defence since the World Cup, and with the quality of Asian attacks not up there with the likes of the ruthless Dutch, Chileans and Spaniards, there is life at the back.

It’s not that the likes of Jason Davidson, Aex Wilkinson and Trent Sainsbury have filled us with compete confidence, but if Ivan Franjic and Matt Spiranovic can get club games, there is still a better base than four months ago.

With Matt Ryan also growing more comfortable, more recently the problems have been further up the pitch.

The biggest appears to be in front of the back four.

I’ve long argued that Mile Jedinak is never the type that will enable a team to play. His passing has never been a forte.

Many who praise his great work at Crystal Palace ignore that much of it is about shielding the defence and breaking up opponents.  

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In fact, I would argue that Jedinak would have been there to pick up the loose ball in midfield that resulted from Chris Herd’s poor clearance just before the Qatari winner yesterday morning.

But he wasn’t in the pitch in the second half. Perhaps Postecoglou had had enough? Was his half-time substitution a pointer to the manager finally accepting how much pressure Jedinak’s poor passing was putting on the team?

The question is whether the manager has the strength to make a move that seems a must if the team is to move forward.

One of his big headaches is that there are few begging to usurp the skipper from his position.

There’s certainly been a change in formation in recent times. Postecoglou has looked to advance the team by dropping the twin screener tactics and instead playing with just one, with two midfielders further advanced.

The commentators for the game against the United Arab Emirates spoke of playing with twin ‘8s’, but it was more a scattered midfield with Mark Milligan advanced of Jedinak on the left but deeper than Mass Luongo on the right.

Yesterday it was Mark Bresciano who was advanced of Jedinak on the right and James Troisi who was further advanced on the left.

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There’s no doubt the manager has chopped and changed in search of the right formula, but a game out things look far from settled.

Technically the idea of a scattered midfield triangle is a correct one. It allows you to play forward, angled balls, and gives you the potential to get close and play link-up with the two wide players.  

But the chemistry between the personnel used in recent times has looked off.

Take Milligan. He’s not a running ‘8’. If you’re playing with one screener, either he plays there or not at all.

Take Luongo. He doesn’t have enough creativity to play as the highest of the three midfielders.

Fundamental to the system flowing is the number six holding midfielder. Postecoglou has to find an answer if he wants a proactive team.

Then there’s the issues higher up on the pitch.

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Like Jedinak and Milligan, Tommy Oar has disappointed so far under Postecoglou, both at the Word Cup and since.

Again yesterday Oar was very poor on the left, always looking off the pace with his pressing and reading of the game.

Whereas Troisi and Brad Smith had combined so well down the left in the final 30 minutes against the UAE, Troisi and Oar could barely string a combination against Qatar.

With Robbie Kruse back on deck, Matt Leckie still about and Smith making strides, the pressure is on Oar.

Postecoglou has to find a formula that works up front. He is still so reliant on Tim Cahill for goals, but it can be and awfully one dimensional and predictable way of getting to him from wide.

Teams are starting to work this out and congest Cahill and work to block his supply, and clean up any second balls.

Qatar coach Djamel Belmadi did this very well and highlighted the growing tactical and technical quality we are likely to see in January.

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Kruse and Leckie, too, are the types that like to operate with space, in transition. Yet transition on the ground isn’t Cahill’s game.

A Roos team trying to be more proactive against some Asian sides that might sit back will need a little more creativity and off the cuff combination play to break teams down.

Right now everything in attack looks slow and measured, a little pre-fabricated.  

Postecoglou has to sit down and find the right balance, assessing the tactics of his Asian Cup opponents and coming up with plans and contingencies.

His track record proves he can build a flowing formula over months and years working day-in, day-out, but the international scene – where he has far less time to build – is proving much the challenge.

Postecoglou has already made some tough decisions in his time in charge, and the feeling is there might need to be another small shake-up or two before we see his final product in January.

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