Australians have every reason to be delighted with the progress of Ange Postecoglou’s Socceroos as they navigated their first phase of qualifiers with a style reminiscent of some of the play we saw under Guus Hiddink.
But as we move into the next phase of qualifiers, Postecoglou’s focus will be on ensuring we have a defence ready to control opponents in transition.
For all the Roos’ swagger over the past two matches against Tajikistan and Jordan – and it was a sight to behold seeing the likes of Aaron Mooy, Robbie Kruse and Tom Rogic together in full flight – the quality of opposition will go up a level in the next phase, where only the top two from each group go directly to Russia.
Take the United Arab Emirates, for example, who could potentially be the third-ranked team in a group also likely to contain either Japan or the Uli Stielike-managed South Korea.
Omar Abdulrahman joined up front by Ali Mabkhout and Ahmed Khalil is a potent attacking trio, as we saw at last year’s Asian Cup.
The third-placed teams in each of the two groups are forced into a play-off for the right to face the fourth-placed CONCACAF (South American) side for a spot in Russia – a precarious position Postecoglou will be keen to avoid.
But finishing in the top two won’t be a walk in the park.
With Chinese and Qatari football on the improve, and Saudi Arabia now coached by former Dutch manager Bert van Marwijk, who took the Oranje to the 2010 World Cup final, we’re starting to see a little more consistency and depth across the continent.
Saudi Arabia, for example, has a proud World Cup qualification history, having made four straight from USA 1994 to Germany 2006, but has missed the past two as the likes of Australia, Iran, Japan and South Korea have dominated.
The fact they’ve got van Marwijk, who was criticised for playing a largely physical and reactionary brand of football despite getting the Dutch to final, tells you about their ambition to crack back into the ‘big four’.
Then there is the ambition of the likes of Syria, Thailand and Iraq, who are doing it with home-grown coaches Fajr Ibrahim, Kiatisuk Senamuang and Abdul Ghani Shahad respectively.
That Oman, Jordan, Kuwait and North Korea all missed out on the top 12 tells you of the growing quality as money pours into the development of Asian football and nations start to become smarter and make better managerial appointments.
To that end, the Socceroos need to be switched on defensively against whomever they play, and with such an emphasis on controlling opponents through position and offensive speed, their ability to manage opponents in transition will be a big factor in the next phase.
Postecoglou spoke about this post-game on Tuesday night, saying how delighted he was that the Roos were able to stop Jordan’s counter to Hamza Al-Dardour by getting his defence in contact with defensive midfielder Mark Milligan.
He spoke about the “good distance” between them, meaning he doesn’t want to see defenders isolated in transition. He wants two or three defenders within touching distance as teams try to counter, and he wants them to work together to win it back quickly.
Until Kruse calmed the nerves against Jordan by setting up Tim Cahill for the opener, I was nervous about the ability of Bailey Wright to do the job described above.
This is the type of defending which requires defenders to stay completely switched on and calm, and there were signs in Adelaide last week, against Tajikistan, where Wright was a little over-aggressive one-on-one.
Even on Tuesday, while much was made of the bad tackle on Kruse in the second half, Wright was also at fault for a poor coat-hanger effort.
Postecoglou can’t afford his central defenders to lose their composure and give away free kicks, which the likes of Abdulrahman would relish.
At the moment, with Matthew Spiranovic missing the past two matches due to injury, it seems Wright has the front-running for the left centre-back spot, largely on the basis he is a left-footer and specialist there.
They seem harder to find than right centre-backs, where Postecoglou has the choice between Trent Sainsbury, Alex Wilkinson and Spiranovic.
He seems loath to use either Sainsbury or Wilkinson at left centre-back.
At the successful Asian Cup it was Sainsbury on the right and Spiranovic on the left. At the World Cup it was Wilkinson right and Spiranovic left.
My feeling is that Wright is filling in at the moment while we await the return of Spiranovic, but it would be worth seeing the Wilkinson-Sainsbury partnership.
Elsewhere, I was delighted to see Brad Smith take his opportunities at left back over the past week and he looks the best long-term option of the many we have seen so far under Postecoglou.
Right back remains a headache, and while Ryan McGowan did a good job against Tajikistan, Josh Risdon looked less convincing against Jordan.
If Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy keep up their recent form, playing England in May will provide a much sterner test for the Socceroos’ rearguard, and it will be interesting to see who Postecoglou picks at left centre back and right back.
Come September, when the next phase of qualifiers begins, the hope is he’s found the personnel he is confident can offer something in attack, but also have the smarts to control opponents when we don’t have the ball.
Lachlan
Roar Rookie
12 goals in 2 games. No better way to defend than by scoring a boatload of goals! CB is settled as long as Sainsbury and Spiranovic are fit. They have it sewn up and have played very well together. Importantly both are comfortable with the ball at feet and playing out of tight spaces. Neither Wright nor Wilkinson have the same confidence. McGowan played well at RB, better than Risdon, but opposition was weak. Upcoming friendlies will be revealing. I'm still not sure who the best RB is yet, hence Ange's tinkering. Maybe a few more caps for Risdon will help him settle. As for LB, everyone singing Smith's praises, but real test again will be how he defends against quality opposition, which we'll face in next round of qualifiers. Midfield was great last 2 games, Mooy is now our best player and Rogic and Luongo battling it out for other CM job. Jedinak might not have passing range of Milligan, but he does make me feel more comfortable defensively. Up front Giannou looks a find, Kruse back firing and Timmy great as ever. Leckie slightly underwhelmed but overall fantastic to see is scoring bags full.
The Phantom Commissioner
Roar Rookie
Nice to know there's also Rhys Williams and Chris Herd who can be used there as well, though we all know their track record with injury.
RBBAnonymous
Guest
How exciting is it to see the socceroos playing great football and not fearing anyone when they play. There is a real confidence to this side and how Ange is going about things. The thing I am loving at the moment is that you could put at least 2 players in each position and know that the person coming in can do a great job for you. I think our problem spot of fullback is well and truly covered and we have various options. We could choose Risdon, Gersbach, Geria, Wright, McGowan, Tarik Elrich, Franjich, even Hingert has been mentioned in the frame. Sure we need to play against better opposition but I am more than confident we will more than hold our own and give any team out there a run for their money and that is the mentality we need to have. Sure beating the absolute elite is difficult but we still need to have that belief because what is the point otherwise. I am more than a bit curious to see how we do against Greece and against England. At home I give ourselves a great chance of beating Greece and a decent n chance of beating England away, who have actually played well recently.
Sleemo
Guest
Haha it would be a great occasion, unfortunately though FIFA do their very best to have a qualifying system in place that virtually assures the US qualify automatically (think of TV rights, sponsorships etc); by virtue of their likely opponents in the Hex, the chances of the USA finishing as low as fourth are pretty slim.
JR Salazar
Guest
Can you imagine the USA and Australia having to be in the playoff? As I am from the USA, this would be a titanic home-and-away.
Batou
Guest
I can definitely see Jedinak moving back into centre back at some stage in his career but whether Ange would do that before it happens at club level or not is another question. It seems more like something Holger would have done in order to squeeze all of his favourites into the team.
Declan
Guest
With the midfield going so well, woould converting Mile Jedinak into a centre back be an option?
jupiter53
Roar Pro
I should also say that I have faith in Ange's capacity to figure who is right for the team at the time. I think he [and his support staff] have done an amazing job of rejuvenating the squad while maintaining a consistency of style and results.
jupiter53
Roar Pro
As the Phantom has mentioned, fullback is a very tough position. McGowan's quality of crossing is better so far, and he does not look worse than Risdon defensively, so he would get my vote at this point. On the other flank Smith has produced some good crosses, and he certainly has an aggressive approach. He does seem to be prone to giving away free kicks however, and does not look a particularly neat defender at this point. I may be unreasonably biased as a SFC fan, but I would love to see Gersbach get a chance at some point. I would not claim he is better defensively, but he may be better going forward. I find it hard to pick between Wright/Spiranovic/Sainsbury/Wilkinson. None obviously better or weaker than the others.
The Phantom Commissioner
Roar Rookie
I don't see anything defensively that should keep any Socceroos fans up at night. As with most positions we have good depth at CB it seems Ange is still playing around with combos in that position. Full back is constantly brought up as a problem area but there's not many sides around the world where it isnt, it's probably the toughest position in world football in the modern age. There's plenty of promise with the two that played against Jordan, the next three friendlies are the perfect opportunity to give them more minutes in the side. Those who didn't rate them might just have to deal with it as we don't really have anyone who are heads and shoulders better atm.
BES
Guest
I agree McGowan looks a better prospect at RB than Risdon at this stage. So when does Jack Hingert get a run there??
Crowdpleaser
Guest
CONCACAF is the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football and not South America. While I would hate for it to come to this for the Socceroo's it is a slightly less precarious position we need to avoid than facing one a South American team.
eric
Guest
hoping curtis good comes good....he is a bright prospect and left footed
James Anderson
Roar Guru
Bailey Wright certainly is a no-nonsense defender, but not a bad option to have. Playing in the lower leagues of England has helped him develop that aggression, and whilst it might look like a hindrance, we saw elements of his composure in playing out from defence. He is only young, too, and with so many games already up his sleeve I can only see him getting better.
Kaks
Roar Guru
We did pretty well defensively against all these teams in the Asian Cup. We also have Spiranovic to come back who is a great partner with Sainsbury. We only conceded 3 goals in the asian cup, 2 of those goals were against South Korea on separate occasions. We even went up against the UAE who had Abdulrahman and we nullified him.