If there were any reservations about where Australia stands in international football, Japan laid such questions to rest in a supercharged 45 minutes in Osaka on Tuesday night.
A first-half façade of first-gear play from the Japanese preceded a second-half onslaught that will have even the most optimistic of Socceroos fans downgrading their Asian Cup expectations.
Sure, Australia flaunted a handsome amount of comfort and control initially, but when the Samurai decided to play – and play they did – Postecoglou’s men were outclassed to the point where a 2-1 defeat was perhaps ultimately flattering and certainly kind.
Played in front of a throbbing 47,000 capacity crowd at Nagai Stadium, the match marked the 22nd meeting between the two nations, and the Socceroos’ ninth consecutive match on foreign soil.
Oh, how the Socceroos will be longing for the comforts of home. Of those nine matches, there have been seven losses, one draw and a solitary win against Saudi Arabia in London.
Granted, this was a Japan who have never conceded defeat to Australia at home, a Japan who were coming off a 6-0 thumping of Honduras over the weekend, and a Japan who will head into January’s Asian Cup as both reigning champions and surefire favourites.
Though such reassurances will do little to quell the reoccurring concerns of the Socceroos.
Postecoglou made six changes to the line-up that fell to Qatar, as we got our first look at a roaming and somewhat narrow front three of Robbie Kruse, Mathew Leckie and James Troisi.
With no number 10 in the 4-3-3 system, impetus from midfield would be crucial, and there was certainly some positive link-up play from the supporting duo of Matt McKay and Massimo Luongo in the opening stanza.
Even more promising, was the on-ball assurance of captain Mile Jedinak – a quality that has been severely lacking from the skipper in recent outings.
Yes, Japan sat back. Yes, the Socceroos weren’t carving out many chances. But there was reason enough to feel that with a few more carefully selected options, the Japanese rearguard could be broken.
How misleading football can be.
In the second half, new boss Javier Aguirre tweaked his system and implemented a pressing game that jolted the boys in gold into submission.
The space and possession that was afforded to the Socceroos was gone, and with it all signs of composure and structure.
The Australian back four, who up until then had limited the thrust of the Japanese attack, was suddenly infested with holes and indecision in equal measure.
It was the sort of pressure that would lead to a calamitous example of set-piece defending for the opening goal, as Yasuyuki Konno was left alarmingly free to head home at the far post.
Japan continued to be better in almost every way and there was little surprise when Okazaki finished deftly past an exposed Maty Ryan.
Just as the Socceroos were on the verge of registering their fifth goalless 90 minutes in six matches, Tim Cahill, Australia’s greatest ever goalscorer, came off the bench for his customary goal – his 19th headed finish for the Socceroos.
Yet it’s a goal that brings about just as much frustration as it does awe – of the 12 goals scored during Postecoglou’s reign, eight of those have come from Cahill; a frightening disparity no doubt.
More worrisome is the fact that there will be no more trial runs before we welcome Asia’s finest next year. Postecoglou finds himself out of opportunities to experiment, to scout, to trial and to test.
When Aaron Mooy came on deep into the second-half, he became the 22nd player to be used by the boss. Postecoglou now fully knows what he has it disposable, yet the whiteboard is now the only place where he’ll be able to play out his permutations.
That’s a major concern, one would think, given that the Socceroos’ starting line-up still remains rather unsettled and undecided. Of the fringe players that took to the field on Tuesday night, not many will be able to lay claim to a good shift.
Massimo Luongo might disagree – the youngster was sprightly in his time on the pitch, showing the sort of foresight that the Socceroos will need when breaking down teams at home in the Asian Cup.
Once upon a time, I was fortunate enough to play alongside Massimo in the NSW Schoolboys team. Even as a 17-year-old, he was millenniums ahead of the rest in terms of his economy and intelligence on the ball.
Deceptively creative, his ability to weave out of harm’s way was matched only by his penchant for Harry Potter quotes (seriously). I would’ve liked to see him play out the 90 minutes, though it wouldn’t have counted for much considering the insurmountable control Japan exerted thereafter.
What we can now take away from the game is the glaring realisation of the task that the Socceroos will be facing in 51 days’ time.
Building for the future is a must, and forging a style of play that’s easy on the eyes is a prospect craved by all, but it counts for little when there’s silverware to be won.
Come the Asian Cup, there won’t be any points for performance.
Jami kruz
Guest
Finally someone with a brain. People should also look at the golden generation form in the Middle East. It was crap. Japan in Japan is hard for any nation except maybe the top ten.. People need to calm there farm the front 3 for the first time they have started together performed well.. With a little help from the mid field I can see these three performing better after more games
Jami kruz
Guest
U sir speak crap ! But continue its hilarious to read.
Jami kruz
Guest
is that a joke ? Holman really. Your worse the bosnich .. Get rid of the old players .
Matsu
Guest
Fuss, I think you are half right, but for the wrong reasons. I agree with you that the dominance showed by Australia in the first half was something they achieved on their own, and not because Japan was "letting them play". The only problem with you line of reasoning is that you havent looked at what changed for Japan, to change the dynamic of the contest. Although the people who claim that Japan used "their best eleven" are fooling themselves (or just dont know the names of the Japanese players), they DID use a unit in midfield that Ange surely has studied in detail, and tried to devise plans to use against them. At kickoff time, Japan was playing with perhaps the most toothless midfield one can imagine. Hasebe was alone in the DMF, while Endo and Kagawa were the two AMFs, Honda was out on the wing and the eager but inexperienced Yoshinori Muto was on the other wing. The two side backs were the least experienced and most defense-minded in Japan's arsenal (because both Uchida and Nagatomo are recovering from injuries). Ange's plan was ideally suited to attack that sort of lineup, and he did it by moving the ball straight through the middle, and trusting in the fact that Endo, Kagawa and Hasebe would be unwilling to challenge the Australia midfielders in possession (and incapable of winning a challenge even if they tried). That worked for 38 minutes, and though I think Australia needed to be a bit more aggressive to make that strategy pay off, it WAS a successful strategy. The only problem was that Aguirre also saw what Australia was doing, and altered the formation accordingly: Step 1 - at the 38 minute mark he had Endo drop back level with Hasebe, Honda move into the attacking centre, and Kagawa move out to the wing (shifting from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1). That helped somewhat, because Honda is far more physical than Kagawa, and Endo/Hasebe were in better position to double-team rather than having to take on Mackie or Leckie one-on-one. Step 2 - At the half he replaced Endo with Konno, who is a far more defensive (and more physical) player. He also had time to coach his players on the way to implement his new strategy. In the second half the two wingbacks played much further up the pitch, compressing the midfield, and told them to challenge the ball immediately when Australia tried to go through the middle, rather than just "shadowing", as they did in the first half. Step 3 - At the 56 minute mark, he replaced Muto with Inui - a much more experienced and somewhat more defense-oriented player. If you re-watch the game, youll see visible changes in the balance of posession/field position at each of those three points, and after the third change, Japan took full control of the contest. The real problem for Australia was not your "Plan A", or even the abilities of the players, necessarily. It was that Ange could not see what Aguirre was doing, or could not think of how to respond, or both. FWIW I was unhappy with the personnel and formation Japan started out with from the outset, and expected Australia to dominate that toothless midfield. Hopefully Aguirre wont try anything similar in January. You are right in saying that the lack of pressure in the first half was "not deliberate" (on Japan's part), but on the other hand, I dont think you can expect any of Australia's opponents next January to allow your midfielders as much time and space on the ball as they had in the first half of Tuesday's game.
Matsu
Guest
Fuss, I think you are half right, but for the wrong reasons. I agree with you that the dominance showed by Australia in the first half was something they achieved on their own, and not because Japan was "letting them play". The only problem with you line of reasoning is that you havent looked at what changed for Japan, to change the dynamic of the contest. Although the people who claim that Japan used "their best eleven" are fooling themselves (or just dont know the names of the Japanese players), they DID use a unit in midfield that Ange surely has studied in detail, and tried to devise plans to use against them. At kickoff time, Japan was playing with perhaps the most toothless midfield one can imagine. Hasebe was alone in the DMF, while Endo and Kagawa were the two AMFs, Honda was out on the wing and the eager but inexperienced Yoshinori Muto was on the other wing. The two side backs were the least experienced and most defense-minded in Japan's arsenal (because both Uchida and Nagatomo are recovering from injuries). Ange's plan was ideally suited to attack that sort of lineup, and he did it by moving the ball straight through the middle, and trusting in the fact that Endo, Kagawa and Hasebe would be unwilling to challenge the Australia midfielders in possession (and incapable of winning a challenge even if they tried). That worked for 38 minutes, and though I think Australia needed to be a bit more aggressive to make that strategy pay off, it WAS a successful strategy. The only problem was that Aguirre also saw what Australia was doing, and altered the formation accordingly: Step 1 - at the 38 minute mark he had Endo drop back level with Hasebe, Honda move into the attacking centre, and Kagawa move out to the wing (shifting from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1). That helped somewhat, because Honda is far more physical than Kagawa, and Endo/Hasebe were in better position to double-team rather than having to take on Mackie or Leckie one-on-one. Step 2 - At the half he replaced Endo with Konno, who is a far more defensive (and more physical) player. He also had time to coach his players on the way to implement his new strategy. In the second half the two wingbacks played much further up the pitch, compressing the midfield, and told them to challenge the ball immediately when Australia tried to go through the middle, rather than just "shadowing", as they did in the first half. Step 3 - At the 56 minute mark, he replaced Muto with Inui - a much more experienced and somewhat more defense-oriented player. If you re-watch the game, youll see visible changes in the balance of posession/field position at each of those three points, and after the third change, Japan took full control of the contest. The real problem for Australia was not your "Plan A", or even the abilities of the players, necessarily. It was that Ange could not see what Aguirre was doing, or could not think of how to respond, or both. FWIW I was unhappy with the personnel and formation Japan started out with from the outset, and expected Australia to dominate that toothless midfield. Hopefully Aguirre wont try anything similar in January. You are right in saying that the lack of pressure in the first half was "not deliberate" (on Japan's part), but on the other hand, I dont think you can expect any of Australia's opponents next January to allow your midfielders as much time and space on the ball as they had in the first half of Tuesday's game.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Tom-san. Learn who he is.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
I don't think Ronaldo, Cantona, Henry and many others lost their football while in England (how about Kewell and Viduka?). The aussies who don't progress there are the ones to blame not the whole EPL.
Brick Tamland of the pants party
Guest
Viduka also said he doesn't have foxtel in the same interview, how much A-League does he even watch i wonder. There are some very technically gifted kids running around in the A-League who would have torn up the NSL no problem. Going over to Europe in 2014 to try and make it is a totally different beast than was in 97, though Viduka would have made it in any era.
Bondy
Guest
Fuss These posts are very familiar does he just change his username ? .... Do you have something to prove Steve ...
j binnie
Guest
rmc - 4-3-3 in top football terms is fast approaching an "age " of 60 years,it being first recorded as being used by the Brazilians in the 1958 World Cup. It was actually a development of the preferred Brazilian attack formation at that time of 4-2-4 but because of a tireless midfielder / winger called Zagallo the team retreated into 4-3-3 when defending (out of possession) and accelerating into 4-2-4 when possession was regained. That aside I agree with your observation, possession has to be gained,retained with essential forward movement, all with the aim of an attempt at goal. Cheers jb
j binnie
Guest
Franko - "We dominated possession and the game in general" and I remember the Japanese goalkeeper having to make 1 save in that 45 minutes,,the header from Leckie. So what did we achieve with all that possession and domination?????.jb
Bj61
Guest
It was funny that a one trick pony could score such a soft goal. Thanks Tim
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
No-one every claimed it would be easy.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
I apologise if this has been said (can't be bothered going through 181 comments). The best ever result we've had in Japan was when the Japanese side was far weaker than today's and we had the 'Golden Generation', it was a 0-0 draw. Japan know how to play football and we've just been reminded. The Honda-Kagawa-Muto combinations in tight spaces were simply a class above. That said the way we allowed the 1st goal in was simply appalling and is a result of poor communication and positional play as opposed to any technical deficiency. Whilst we are indeed technically a class below the Japanese we should be making that up with some smart tactical play and heightened awareness in the back 3rd. Generally we did, however a few brain fades brought us undone and in a game where scoring is so low, a few brain fades is all it takes.
Duncan
Guest
We have the talent it's just stretched over a ridiculous amount of professional sporting codes given our small population of around thirty million.
Terry
Guest
Some people are clearly happy for the Australian association football team to be humiliated publically. The net result of the growth of football in this country is that such humiliations will become more widespread across all the sports Australia competes in so I suppose it makes sense that Australian fans comes to terms such humiliation. Australia's pool of professional athletes is now very thinly spread across 5 major sports ( I have generously included Rugby Union as a major sport). The consequence of this is that the Austrlian rugby league, rugby and cricket will deteriorate while the socceroos will still rarely be able to compete with large countries with good facilities and proper coaching who focus on one of two sports such as Germany.
TomCahill
Guest
Maybe it's time you two agree to disagree? I didn't see the game, though tbqh I'd love it if Fuss' account of the match was on the money, Dom and Steve are painting a pretty bleak picture!
TomCahill
Guest
Fuss can we really rule out that Japan sitting back was intentional though? I feel like claiming either case as gospel is a tough judgement to be certain of.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@Steve I disagree with everything you've said about the Japan tactics & formation last night. You & I must have watched different matches.
Jack
Guest
I certainly don't think ange is to blame. And I think realistic expectation is what soccer is aus need ATM. We are proabably 5 th best team in Asia so this expectation that we have to win is unfair on ange. He has inherit 8 years of verbeek and holger ruble. Side not how the hell is franij playing for nt ?