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It might be the engine room and the area Ange Postecoglou most needs to address ahead of the Asian Cup, but it’s perhaps still surprising to see more than half the outfield players selected for the Japan friendly are central midfielders.
In bringing in Matt McKay, Mitch Nichols, Terry Antonis and Aaron Mooy, 11 of the 21 outfield players selected by Postecoglou are central midfielders.
Add Mile Jediak, Mark Milligan, James Holland, Mass Luongo, Josh Brillante, Mark Bresciano and James Troisi and there are 11 players essentially competing for the three starting midfield spots.
The seven-day camp leading up to the November 18 match in Osaka is sure to be the scene of some feisty midfielder pressing as the incumbents defend their positions and the newcomers clamour to impress.
In among the competition Postecoglou has to find a chemistry.
It’s clear from the number of the midfielders picked that this remains a headache area for the manager, and it will be fascinating to see what the pecking order looks like after this camp.
I wrote after the Socceroos Middle Eastern sojourn about how Postecoglou adjusted his midfield from the twin screening formation we saw in Brazil to a scattered midfield which features only one screener and two more advanced midfielders, essentially ‘twin 8s’, although one is more advanced than the other.
It is a structure that, on paper, is meant to lead to a more proactive passing style, with the staggered midfield allowing you to build through diagonal combinations.
Listening to Postocoglou after he announced his 23-man squad yesterday it was clear that he wants to use the seven days ahead of the Japan game to work on this new midfield dynamic.
He claimed that the Middle East was essentially about introducing the new shape, and Japan will be about embedding it.
But the question now is what personnel will he use in his midfield?
By selecting so many midfielders he opens himself up to questions around not yet knowing his best combination. It might be time to bite the bullet.
Hitherto he has steadfastly backed his skipper Jedinak as an anchor, although there was evidence in the second half against Qatar that he was prepared to have a look elsewhere.
Whether this was just a one-off or a pointer to things to come remains to be seen.
What is clear is that Jedinak, a ball-winner more than a ball-user, hasn’t looked the answer as the “6” in a team that wants to build through the middle.
While Postecoglou stubbornly stick with a player that doesn’t fit his preferred modes operadi? Who else can play as the deepest lying midfielder?
Well, Milligan and Holland are the two most obvious, but neither has been particularly great for the Roos.
Does it open the door for Antonis, Mooy or McKay to be used as the midfield pivot? Or are they being looked at as one of the ‘8’s’?
Antonis and Mooy in particular offer good passing range, although the question is whether they can be consistent and imposing enough at international level?
McKay, like Nichols, is known more for his buzz in the middle, and looks suited the role as the left 8. Against the UAE, Milligan played there and looked hopelessly out of place.
Nichols, you sense, is being looked at as the more advanced of the 8’s, expected to provide the support in attack and be at times a ’10’.
This is an area the Roos lacked badly in the Middle East. Luongo played there against the UAE but is more of a hard-working 8 than the most advanced midfielder.
Against Qatar Postecoglou swung the stagger around, playing Bresciano deeper on the right than Troisi on the left. It didn’t flow.
Now the manager has to make it happen, finding the three-man combination that can help the Socceroos control opponents with and without the ball.
My sense is that the most suited to the new mode appear to be the likes of Antonis, Mooy, McKay and Luongo, while the likes of Jedinak, Milligan and even Holland have a lot to prove.
Even Bresciano might best be used as an impact player.
A week gives Postecoglou the chance to see who is adjusting to the requirements of the system and the hope is at the end of it that we start the see a midfield mix that brings some much needed confidence ahead of the Asian Cup.
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