Now it's right back that looks barren for Postecoglou

Risdon has started the season slow but deserves his call up. Franjic and Elrich are injured, so know doubt that impacts their availability ;) Storm Roux is another Perth product, developed by Arnold at CCM who got capped by NZ pretty quick. Thought Georgievski rejected Macedonia so he could potentially get a call up. I know the Victory fans were all in on Geria last year getting a cap so they're not limited on choices. It's a shame that Scott Neville became so injury prone, he was another that looked good. Maybe one of the other Adelaide boys, Dyl McGowan or Michael Marrone will press on, they have plenty of talent.

One time we had huge problems at left back and now its changed to right back, how things can change. :D Given the amount of right footed defenders we have would it be a good idea to one of them in the right back slot. Maybe put Wright or Sainsbury into that position, or even from what we saw in the Asian Cup final put Milligan in there, given how good a job he did in that game when Franjic went off. Not ideal but some options, but i preferred we have a problem in the RB slots rather than the left back dilemma we had. (Carney, McKay omg)

Thank you Juan, this is exactly how I see it. I watched the earlier games & even though we were outclassed at times, you could see what we were trying to do & there were some players who felt very comfortable on the ball. I have yet to see the game against Nigeria. I remember watching the Socceroos v Japan, under Holger, it was attack after attack from the Japanese.Our defenders never went further then just outside our penalty area. Honda, Shini & Endo were just having a field day, though the big issue with Japanese football is end product. We held out bravely for a draw, but we hardly strung 2 or 3 passes together & this was with the end of the golden generation. Adam Peacock while delighted we manage a draw, said there was a big gap in footballing skills & Bozza said 'we can still catch up, the gap is getting smaller', when Ange piped up, 'the gap is widening, if we don't start now, the gap will never get closer'. These last couple of years, we have started & there are going to be games where we will get caught out badly like against Nigeria or against Spain in the WC. This is unfortunately the only way we can learn.

Look,for success there are an number of crucial steps that have to be taken. 1) expert scouts need to identify the most talented players in the various age groups. 2) need to appoint the most experienced and highest qualified coaches available. Go overseas if we have to like other countries do if we can't find them here. 3) then provide them with the football curriculum. From this morning's game,most of the boys were embarrassing with their huge mistake rate.These were mainly quite basic ones or unforced mistakes. There is no way that some of these boys are the best players in the country. I'm sure they have failed in the identification process. Secondly,are these our super coaches that we need? With all due respect,, do the coaches have Uefa A level qualifications,the highest in football (and no, Australia's highest is not an acceptable substitute) and do they have a long and successful history of coaching? Or have they been given the position because they were former players and are learning on the job. Each reader can make up there own mind,but the answers are quite obvious to me.

Depends how much you read into the other three matches we played. In Germany, Mexico, Argentina, and Nigeria we played some absolute giant nations of world football. Germany beat us in the firs half through better tactics, and we played much better in the second half where it was 1-1. Mexico have been historically strong at this level, and they went on to beat the Germans after thy played us. We drew with them 0-0 in a great match, we had chances to win, and we really controlled the second half as they tired. For perspective they just beat the hosts Chile 4-1. And we beat Argentina 2-1, a game in which we quite easily could've won 3-0, 4-0, or 3-1. Yeah, we shipped a few late to Nigeria who like Mexico have been historically strong at this level, but to look at 6-0 and judge the tournament, the generation, or the curriculum would be a mistake. Having watched all 4 games, I saw a lot of positive play, both from very creative individuals beating players in one vs ones, important tactical readjustments which brought us back into games, and some solid proactive football. Of course there were plenty of things to work on. We were often exposed at the back, but as I said tactically we were able to fix these issues during the 90mins. Fozz is consistent in his message too, that these problems we faced this tournament, and all the way up to the Socceroos, are new problems because of the way we play proactively. The goal is to eventually play proactively AND to be tactically and structurally strong at the back. Especially important is for our players to learn how and when to apply our strong pressing. The whole SBS team pointed out that we needed our players to get closer in order to exploit our quick first touch passing better. Having watched our junior teams play for a number of years, you can see clearly a huge difference in the individual technical skill. Look at the results and how we played both individually and as a team across the 4 games and it's quite clear we're on the right path, but not near our end goal yet. We've got work to do, but I fail to see how that's a problem.

seriously?

Dear o dear

There's no doubt we came up against a far superior opposition. Even at 1-0 we weren't looking that great. You could tell that they were trying to execute a positive style of play but within that they were getting some basics wrong such as securing the ball when in possession and hitting the target with passes. Nigeria were a joy to watch. The French are looking good as well.

I think part of the problem Towser is that the understanding of the National Curriculum (it is a bit like the handball rule ... everyone has their own interpretation, but most aren't aligned with what the document actually says). The National Curriculum highlights a major problem with the youngsters is how to develop the individual skills. It talks about the issues relating to kids not kicking the ball on the street / parks anymore in their free times, how coaches should and can encourage individual showmanship, etc. The issue is that the NC doesn't focus much on developing their skills (there are hundreds of drills for team drills ... but none for individual skills/drills). So many people think the NC is about "systems" but the document itself highlights the importance of not forgetting that individual skill needed to succeed.

Where does Nigeria get the skills from? It can't all be natural ability, and they're not ranked that highly at the senior level. Frustrating to see the Joey's playing out from the back, moving sideways 3 or 4 passes then giving the ball to an opponent in a nice attacking position. It seemed pointless, sticking to a philosophy when even blind Lionheart could see it had no purpose.

AZ_RBB How much do we read into this 6-0 result. Firstly Nigeria are 4 times World champions at this level,but having watched the match I won't give that as an excuse. Not for the first time I heard Foz waffle on about this style all takes time and we're doing the right thing, but at this age I don't bother with all this possession playing from the back voice that is stuck in Foz and others heads, I look at the quality of players and what they can do with the ball ,whether it's close control,quick accurate passing, scoring when in a position to do so all in a timely manner at speed, without turning over possession. Across the park Nigeria had better players in all aspects mentioned. Makes me wonder whether the old European influence in the NSL through blokes like Les Scheinflug had more impact than the current National curriculum in producing better players , rather than better systems of playing football.

What I found most frustrating was the lack of respect for ball possession. I know they're young but the shear number of "hopeful" passes I saw was disheartening. Nigeria made sure of their passes throughout the 90mins and held possession with great skill. Above all they were incredible on the counter. When one team throws away possession carelessly and the other is strong on the counter, it's a dangerous combination.

Also must be remembered that this is Risdon's fifth season as a starter for Perth Glory (he's only 23). On the ball I think he is probably the best right back in the competition (A-League), nearly every time he touches the ball he has to beat a player before laying a pass off (as the Glory's midfield this year are MIA). I think he'd be a better option than McGowan on the right for both games ... whether he impresses Ange enough in the remaining games and squad training may decide who starts. Geira is a similar age to Risdon with very similar attributes ... I think both are a step up from Davidson on the left.

I watched the game, lot of bad things going on there. I hadn't seen their earlier round games, but defence looked bad this morning and they failed to take the several chances they created. Can't be too critical as Nigeria looked very good and our guys looked tired, but a terrible scoreline has to tell us something.

No mention of Hingert? Has been outstanding I believe in the 2 games he played as RB Brisbane this season so far. And he was always the understudy to Franjic so very similar in his playing style.

Not a good look AZ

Nigeria piled on 4 goals in 15mins. 6-0 now. From what I've seen 4-0 or 4-1 would have been a reasonable scoreline. But this is complete destruction now.

Tony Nice article.... what's your thoughts on playing Sainsbury as a right back he played there a lot for the Mariners and he was IMO as good a right back as he was a Centre Back... he is quick and has a brilliant passing game from out wide and a big engine to get back... We have a number of players who can play CB... BTW I appreciate his best position is in the centre of the park but he is also a very capable right back.

I really like Herd. Sadly injuries have scuppered him I really like Rhys Williams. Sadly injuries have scuppered him I don't mind Brillante. Sadly lack of game time has scuppered him. He seems to be getting some games at Como thankfully.

Agree on Risdon. Deserves a chance. Very mobile and has a great recovery. Shares many of Elrich's strengths but is more a longer term option. Agree on the SPL, Celtic aside (and they are pretty poor) it would lucky to be as good as the A-League.