Despite pre-tournament fears, the Socceroos have defied expectations and made the Asian Cup final thanks to an impressive campaign.
Besides the loss to South Korea, it has been a good campaign for our men so far as they’ve impressed throughout the tournament, with their results and style striking a chord with fans.
Ange Postecoglou had been the target of scorn for months beforehand but the style and pace of football played by the Socceroos vindicates his appointment and the route he has taken to mould an Asian Cup squad.
While it’s important they continue to play with style, the ultimate key to victory tonight lies in central midfield with Mile Jedinak.
The Socceroos captain and how he performs will be crucial to Australia’s chances of victory.
To understand this in context, we need to look at how he plays for Crystal Palace versus how he plays for Australia.
In the set up at Palace, Jedinak plays defensive midfield and has two major responsibilities.
He’s the clubs quarterback who when moving the ball out of defence, has the job of spreading the play by either pushing the ball wide and creating a triangle or knocking it long to allow the forwards to exploit the space with their speed.
Jedinak is also Palace’s problem solver, as whenever Palace encounters a lack of space or needs to play backwards, they give the ball to him and reset.
Importantly Jedinak has been reliable in this role because none of his managers at Sellhurst Park played someone similar to him, thus clarifying his job.
At this tournament it has been a different story.
Throughout the tournament, Ange has played with a 4-3-3 formation that expanded to a more conservative 4-1-4-1 during the knockout stages.
Postecoglou’s latter formation is underpinned by two strong yet cumbersome central defenders, attacking full backs and a three man centre midfield.
The roles Jedinak usually plays at a club level have been shared between him and a combination of Mark Bresciano, Massimo Luongo, Matt McKay and Mark Milligan.
As such, Jedinak is played in a covering role (aka ‘the wall’) with his job essentially to cover the lack of pace in the centre of defence.
It’s a role he is not particularly comfortable with playing and it has shown at times during the Asian Cup.
His performance against Kuwait prior to injury and his first 30 minutes in the clash with China exposed how out of place he was.
Unsure of whether to support midfield or sit back in support of his central defenders, Jedinak was getting caught out of place repeatedly and finding himself in no man’s land.
With Jedinak out of position, the space between midfield and defence opened up and this in turn exposed Spiranovic and Sainsbury’s and their lack of pace to the opposition.
In contrast, Jedinak’s performance in the same position against the UAE was a more polished effort.
Granted the UAE were poor the first hour of the semi, but Jedinak seemed to have come to terms with what is required of his position.
He occupied the space between midfield and defence stoically which helped protect his central defenders from being run over by the speedy Gulf side.
Importantly, he didn’t look confused nor did he try to do more than his position required of him, thus protecting the structure of the Socceroos midfield.
Considering the skill and pace of Jung-Hyup up forward and Tae-Hee through the middle, Jedinak’s number one priority must be to consistently protect his centre backs and resist the urge to push forward.
Tonight sees the biggest game in the history of Australian football take place in Sydney, with the Socceroos having on the cusp of Asian Cup glory.
Australia needs a big-time performance from its captain who’ll need to be on his guard against a tricky Korean side.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Come on you mighty Roos !
BES
Guest
he is also the dictionary definition of cumbersome, prone to the red mist, cannot pass short or long and has the subtle touch of a rhino on heat.
BES
Guest
Absolutely spot on fadida. Mind you, i was still trying to recover from reading the heading and the laughing fit that that caused and then I read those lines and lost it all over again. Jokenak should not be in the squad. Read my typing. By the end of the article I was kinda agreeing: he is key to our potential of wining this game - because he is the No 1 risk that we will lose it. He is the slowest and most cumbersome player in the competition. He cannot pass short or long, he has no touch and (I believe) he is all too aware of his shortcomings and gets all upset at himself and then tries way too hard to over compensate by doing the only thing he truly knows how to do and that is tackle people! If there was a betting ring around that had Jokenak getting sent off and us going on to lose tonight, I would probably be tempted to put a few dollars on.
britesparke
Roar Rookie
Agree with many of the comments here. Nothing wrong with the Sainsbury-Spiranovic pairing as these guys are brilliant, particularly Sainsbury who gives us options in attack. i thought Jedinak had a good game against UAE and his decision making is getting better. Yes he is slow but he is a defensive midfielder and that is how Palace use him. Simply our attack needs to take their opportunities against Korea this time around- and there might not be as many as the first encounter.
James Anderson
Roar Guru
Not sure if you remember the game against UAE, but spiranovic was up against the very agile al hammadi in the latter stages of the match, and in a 1v1 situation, hammadi pushed the ball past spiranovic, but spiranovic recovered and got there first. Against china, i remember on several occasions sainsbury out pacing their centre forward on counter attacks. This is the most agile defence we've had in years, but you did get one thing right - jedinak is slow.
Uncle Junior
Guest
The key to Australia winning tonight is for the boys up front to put the ball in the net when they get their chances. We had 3 real scoring chances against Korea a few days ago: Troisi turns beautifully in the box and puts his shot 10cm too far to the right; Juric is 6 yards out and set up beautifully by a cut back but the ball bobbles just before striking his foot and it skies over the bar; Kruse slaloms past the Korean defence and releases a powerful shot on target but the Korean goal keeper gets fingertips to the ball. Australia doesn't need to find ways to break the Korean defence since we already did that numerous times the last time we played, as did Uzbekistan when they played Korea. I missed the 2nd half of the Korea vs Iraq semi-final but, from what I've been told, the Iraqis got behind the Korean defence regularly.
AZ_RBB
Guest
I would agree Jedinak is key tonight. But only defensively. If he plays like he did against China or even at times against UAE, our back 4 are going to have a rough night cleaning up his mess. WIth the quality South Korea possess I don't think we'll get away with it like we have before. If he plays well and is able to shut down Son Hueng Min for us, then at least defensively we might have a better night. In terms of attack, I can only see him contributing in set pieces. He will be one of our many players with a strong aerial game.
fadida
Guest
Sainsbury and Spiranovic "lack pace" and are "cumbersome"???? This is the most ridiculous comment, and there have been plenty, from Roars article around the AC that I have read. Spira isn't lightening but he's no slouch. He's certainly not cumbersome - Jedinak is our most cumbersome player without doubt, but that doesn't fit with the EPL star narrative you're trying to push. Sainsbury? Leckie aside, I doubt we have a quicker player. He is lightening, agile, explosive. What games have you been watching? Ridiculous comment