It wasn’t that long ago that we could call on Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, John Alosi and Paul Agostino to lead the Socceroo frontline.
How we were blessed.
We also had a midfield where the likes of Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton, Mark Bresciano, Mile Sterjovski and Jason Culina, as well as Scott Chipperfield at the back, who could contribute goals. No wonder they were called the Golden Generation.
You look at the national team today and we have an attacking midfielder-turned forward, Cahill, who remains our greatest goal threat. As he has done for the past six or so years. Between him and the rest is daylight.
Hardly any of the other players who wore the green and gold against Japan on Tuesday looked likely to score. But Cahill comes on and does like has has 35 other times before – he puts the ball in the back of the net, saving Australia’s blushes, keeping us in the hunt. He is the ultimate finisher.
So where have all our strikers gone? And who will score our national team goals when Timmy finally, finally hangs up his Adidas?
He’s 35 in a few weeks and can’t go on forever.
It’s one of the issues, and Ange Postecoglou has a few right now, that must be keeping the head coach up at night.
At the World Cup we had Adam Taggart, who was the top scorer in the A-League last season. Taggart is just 21 and has a lot of potential. But he has played not one minute for his new club Fulham since arriving from Brazil, because of injury. He’s a massive long shot to be right for January.
Tomi Juric has been decent in the A-League – 11 goals from 28 appearances – and has shown a tendency to produce in big games, like in the Asian Champions League final first-leg. Like Taggart he has huge potential but like Taggart he’s also had injury problems. The 23-year-old was rested for the Japan game but should be included in the Asian Cup squad. The Socceroos need him.
Who else is there? Matthew Leckie can play up front but is better on the wing. Robbie Kruse hasn’t got back to his 2012-2013 form yet. James Troisi is yet to ignite at international level.
Josh Kennedy is actually a proper centre-forward who has 17 goals from 33 matches for the Socceroos since 2006. But he is 32, has back issues and hasn’t played for his club Nagoya Grampus since August 23. He’s scored five in 11 appearances this season, but that’s out of a possible 31 fixtures. In the last 10 club matches he has been in the squad once, against Kofu, and in that game he didn’t make it off the bench. Kennedy won’t be match fit for the Asian Cup.
Ben Halloran has been overlooked since the World Cup. Dario Vidosic is not a striker. Nikita Rukavystsya has just come back to the A-League and joined Western Sydney.
We can cast the net wider.
In the A-League the top scorers so far this season are Besart Berisha with five, Nathan Burns with four, Andy Keogh with four, Henrique with four and Michael McGlinchey with three. Except for Burns, the rest can’t play for Australia.
Burns has been out of the Socceroo set-up for some time and is just getting back to regular game-time in Wellington, which is great to see.
The top Australian scorers in the A-League are Archie Thompson with three, Jamie Maclaren with three, Bruce Djite with two, Joel Griffiths with two, Corey Gameiro with two, and Mark Bridge with two.
Thompson and Griffiths’ Socceroo days are seemingly over, Djite has been there before, Bridge isn’t on Postecoglou’s radar, while Maclaren and Gameiro are both raw but in great form.
The young pair recently both scored for the Olyroos in a three-game tournament in China. Both could develop into real stars, and spent time in the UK in their early days, but it’s too soon to know just how far they will go.
You look back at last season’s A-League goal-scoring charts and it’s a similar story – the top marksmen are mostly foreigners. Apart from Taggart, of course, the other prolific Aussie poachers were Melbourne City’s David Williams, Troisi and then Berisha, Stein Huysegems, Alessandro Del Piero, Jeronimo Neumann, Fabio Ferreira and Sergio Cirio.
If you look overseas in other competitions it’s a similar story. Australian forwards scoring regularly are hard to find.
Daniel McBreen has banged in a few in China, Roko Strika is earning his stripes in Croatia’s top flight, youngster James Demetriou is on Swansea’s books but in the development squad, Eli Babalj isn’t getting game-time in Holland, Brent McGrath is playing in Thailand, Brett Holman has retired from international football, and Kerem Bulut is in the wilderness.
Scott McDonald is playing regularly in England’s Championship, but has managed one strike from 18 appearances this campaign and is often playing on the wing. At 31 years old with 0 goals from 26 Socceroo games, is he really the answer?
The days of Aloisi, Kewell, Viduka and Agostino, let alone David Zdrilic, Damian Mori and Aurelio Vidmar, are long gone.
What began as a problem scoring goals has become a drought. And it could become a lot worse in the Asian Cup.
There’s no quick fix up front but every Socceroo fan needs to pray that Tim Cahill remains injury-free and fit for the kick-off against Kuwait on January 9.
Our Asian Cup hopes depend on it.
Follow John Davidson on Twitter @johnnyddavidson
Boyd
Guest
Real shame about kerem bulut. He spent his figjam penny too early. A true striker with killer instinct. What he could have been had he had the necessary discipline. Real shame.
Jack
Guest
Eli baboon is the future make no mitake
The Minister
Guest
You may be right aladdin. There's something I like about Juric, and it's not his stats but something else....MONGREL! ;-)
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
It will be interesting to see how Peter Skapetis develops, we'll find out soon enough however he seems to be bagging goals wherever he goes.
aladdin sane
Guest
#RichardPorta :) Plainly obvious its going to be Juric - provided he can get the injuries/fitness issues sorted. Good time to be a young Aussie striker I guess, I know if I was playing for the u20s etc I'd be hungry as hell.
whiskeymac
Guest
Isn't there a kid playing in Argentina?
LewDub
Roar Rookie
Noticed the same about Taggart's effort in Brazil. Sad, because he did show a goal poaching quality that is rare in Australia, or anywhere. I agree 100% that we won't seem again under the reign of Ange. He wants pressure from the forward line to the back.
Sportsnutbob
Guest
According to Germanroo (an australian based in Germany who keeps track of and communicates with australian players based overseas) Bulut was released by his club in Turkey and seems quite disinterested in finding a new one, football no longer seems to be of high priority to him anymore. Such a waste of a great talent. Also after speaking with Apostolos Giannou, he has shown interest in being part of the socceroos, he was involved in an extended futures squad early in Oseicks time in charge, he is currently getting game time in Greece and is in form scoring quite a few goals of late, doesn't appear to be on Ange's radar which may see him play for Greece
Brick Tamland of the pants party
Guest
He was dreadful i agree, you have to put into account who was marking him i wouldn't blame him for being a little in awe.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Maybe, we have a soft, comfortable lifestyle in Australia? According to Arsene Wenger developed European countries have become 'softer', which is contributing to the a dearth of true No.9 players in Europe. Very interesting article with his hypothesis: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2816544/Luis-Suarez-Alexis-Sanchez-fighters-South-American-roots-claims-Arsene-Wenger.html Wonder what's happening to Kerem Bulut? He & Corey Gameiro are the two No.9's who have impressed me the most at Youth World Cups. Tomi Juric has impressed me the most in the ALeague. Sadly, Corey has ruptured his ACL. Tomi also seems very injury prone.
The Minister
Guest
In all honesty, I didn't watch a lot of the Jets live last season. The stats don't lie he had a great season. But in that match against Spain he was dreadful. And I'm assuming your are referring to Dukes....yes that was something that was held against him and sometimes rightfully so. It was Guus Hiddink who finally got the best out of Mark Viduka. That's when he turned the corner and started to producing the kind of form for the NT consistently on par with his club form. I wish Adam Taggart all the best though and the next time he gets a chance with the NT, I hope he grabs it with both hands.
Brick Tamland of the pants party
Guest
Exactly, a little bit hard to judge him at this point. Interesting comment about the '' lazy disinterested '' shift he put in against Spain we used to have another bloke up front who used to get accused of the same, interestingly Taggart is probably the first young striker to score over 15 goals domestically since that very same player. If you watched Taggart play in his final season here you could hardly call the kid lazy, nothing was ever put on a platter for him in a very poor Newcastle side and he won the golden boot.
Janek Speight
Expert
How has Taggart been found out in Europe exactly? He's been injured ever since preseason...
Brick Tamland of the pants party
Guest
Well don't forget we lost a real gem in Tombides, he was a bit special and a huge loss.
RBBAnonymous
Guest
The only two I would consider as out and out strikers and who are playing in the A-league are Tomi Juric and Bruce Djite. Of those two, everytime I see Tomi play he has that x factor about him that makes me think he will score a goal at any moment. To show no hint of bias I definitely include Bruce Djite right up there and maybe a shade below Tomi, although not by much. The guy is an absolute menace in front of goal and looks dangerous everytime he touches the ball. His work off the ball is phenomenal as are his lay offs and touches. The guy has improved out of sight under Gombau and is having a ripper season. All he has to do is maintain this form or better it and I am certain he will get a spot in the squad.
DT
Guest
Thanks mate, I completely agree it shouldn't be done but just wasn't sure on the rules.
Bovs
Guest
I agree 100%... while we might never expect to produce another Mark Viduka, how we'd kill now for just an Aloisi, Zdrillic or even a 20-again Archie Thompson. I think we have plenty of forwards doing well... Oar, Leckie, Troisi, Vidosic and Kruse are all good attackers and the likes of Burns, Halloran, Williams and Djite would be viable options in the mix. But what we need is someone who doesn't just take part in the build up play and generate attacks... they need to have that X-factor to beat a man or time a run or win a difficult ball in the final third and put a shot in the back of the net. I think our only viable alternatives to Cahill in this regard are Kennedy and Juric. With Kennedy seemingly out of the equation I think Ange has to bite the bullet and accept that while Juric might not fit his ideal mould as a centre-forward who can create and keep possession as well as others, he is the one guy who might actually score goals. All our games follow a similar pattern... we play well and match it with the opposition, but once they work out our possession rarely leads to genuine scoring chances they can keep forwards ahead of the ball, absorb the little pressure that comes from our passing play and break us with a couple of goals themselves. Without a Juric to turn our possession into actual pressure for opponents, we may as well not even bother having the ball.
Barca4life
Guest
I think its safe to say that our current players are simply not good enough like we produced them back to our golden generation. So the reality is we to from here? What do we have to do see the some light at the end of the tunnel? Im quite worried about the national team's hope's in the next 10 years IHMO.
billyelliott
Roar Guru
Paul Agostino in the same sentence as Kewell, Viduka and Aloisi? You must be an Adelaide fan, sure he scored 7 goals in his 18 Socceroo appearances but the guy was never in the same league as the aforementioned. And DT, FIFA's eligibility requirements don't have the same 'flexibility' as cricket and league and for good reason. While it isn't perfect, it is actually something that I think FIFA do better than most governing bodies.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Assuming you've never represented your own country before at a senior level, it's still a 5 year wait after you receive your citizenship before you can represent the country. These rules are a result of some countries doing exactly what you suggested effectively turning them into club sides.