Socceroos vs Greece highlights: Socceroos fall to Greece

MF - The tactic is thought to have it's origins in Switzerland of all places when an Austrian coach,given the national team job,admitted to himself that his immediate opponents in the area ,powerhouses Austria, Germany and Italy etc, had far better players than he had at his disposal and became the first coach of note to set out his team with a view to making it harder for his opponents to score. His system was called "Verrou" and is thought to have been taken to Italy by itinerant Italian coaches who proceeded to develop the tactic within the talents of the "better" players they had. The cracks began to appear in the system in 1967 when Glasgow Celtic ran the ageing Inter Milan into the ground by simply doing what Brazil did a few years later in the WC, They literallly ran Inter "into the ground" with pace and aggression and from that point in time the tactic's days were numbered. It has raised it's ugly head every now and then but thankfully it has never gained acceptance from the fans for it nearly sent major clubs in Serie A financially broke with the huge fall off in attendances in it's heyday. May it RIP. cheers jb

Good comment. We need a discussion about Australia's defensive issues. There is far too much ball-watching in the defensive third for a team that plays high up the pitch, but doesn't press in the front two thirds. Similarly to Greece goal, in the England game, the Aus defender on Wayne Rooney ran AWAY from Rooney towards the player with the ball, as England broke forward (the player WITH the ball was being targeted by another Aus defender), leaving Rooney in acres of space to receive the ball and pick a spot to shoot. It was terrible defending. If Aus are going to play a high game, we need to press harder in the mid and front thirds, which we do not do. A more suitable strategy would be to play our defenders further back. That is if we are not playing a high press game (which honestly, it doesn't look like we are). Many goals against us come from naïve defending against teams counterattacking. Anyone else noticed this in Ange's play?

Carl You don't have to tell JB about catenaccio (that's the correct spelling) - he knows more about it than you and I combined - and I am quite knowledgeable. Here is the Italian wiki page: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catenaccio Il catenaccio è un stile di gioco del calcio. Consiste in uno schieramento che si caratterizza per una spiccata propensione difensiva. Sotto la definizione di catenaccio ricadono una serie di moduli e schemi contraddistinti dall'atteggiamento del reparto difensivo di una squadra, volto essenzialmente a evitare di subire gol, chiudendo a chiave, appunto, la propria porta. Il termine catenaccio ha dato origine all'aggettivo catenacciaro (al giorno d'oggi utilizzato con accezione per lo più dispregiativa) per indicare l'allenatore o la squadra dediti alla difesa a oltranza, alla distruzione del gioco altrui e alla rinuncia a costruire qualsiasi trama di gioco d'attacco pur di non permettere che gli attaccanti avversari giungano a tirare in porta. In summary, what that is referring to is the original meaning of "catenaccio", which is used in the phrase "chiudere con il catenaccio" which means to bolt (as in to pull a bold across a gate, for example). It describes the ultra-defensive approach quite well, as in closing off all routes to the goal, noting that in Italian, the word for goal is "porta" which means door.

I gotta say, I did not see either of the two matches as I don't have Fox. I did get to watch the Matilda's again and at least there was entertainment in the fact that they played well below their own standards which gave the Kiwi's a huge sniff. In fact the Kiwi's should have had a penalty 10 mins before they scored from a clear hand ball by Cately. My point however is, I have seen more of the women than the men this year because they are on free to air. And quite simply, if the money is more important than the supporters then stuff the Socceroos, I'll watch something else, like the impending return of the premier league.

What the Italians did I believe was called Catatenacio, way of the knife. Where tight passing and runs off the ball were used to break down tightly packed defences. It got them to the 1970 WC final where a rampant Brazil demonstrated the flaws in such a defensive game plan. What gives me the irrit's are the referees. It is now a firmly established edict that kicking the ball away after the whistle has gone is a bookable offence yet we are not seeing any action by the Aussie and Asian referees in regards to this. At least have a word with the first player to do it. Then, friendly or no, the next guy has no complaint if he gets booked for kicking the ball away.

The long range shot was nothing to worry about from the Socceroos point of view, totally opportunistic and it came off. That can happen in any game. What is more alarming is the first goal which was like the ones scored by England. That is, two Greek players broke to their right and no one followed them. Everyone focussed on the ball carrier who deftly slide the ball to his compatriots giving them a clean run on the goal. Ange has to fix that problem, when the defence is scrambling it has to do more than get back, it has to pick the likely targets for the killer pass.

Joshua - When Greece got that ridiculous second goal the die was set for a European style defence of what had been attained, a two goal lead. It became almost farcical as players went down with perceived injuries,the ball was consistent;ly kicked away when fouls were awarded and worst of all the Socceroos got completely sucked in.That was the lesson to be learned,when a team starts to play like that they have to be hit hard and fast and those were 2 traits the local lads never showed all game,making the result almost inevitable.Now what Greece did is not a new tactic ,it has been around since the late 50's when the Italians took it to a new level and it is to be hoped Ange now realises his teams have to react differently when the opposition ,and how they are playing,have to be considered. Cheers jb

Good to have a loss like this and even better to learn from it. Ange will do that. There could have been a few red cards in a true competitive game.

Football is truly a global game.

Thought we made too many changes defensively but was a good hit-out regardless. Greece where good value while for us a couple question marks hang over the likes of McGowan, Wright, Giannou and Federici IMO

South Melbourne Hellas. go boys

Without Jedinak, they are rudderless in midfield. Milligan didn't step up to the plate. Lucky it wasn't Japan in a WCQ. You gotta play a shocker every now and then. Ange is a smart man, he will learn from this too. Trouble is not many more games together before the WCQs start.

Which one? The ones in yellow or blue?

Well done Hellas!

Yep but he wasn't the only one. Was Rogic on the pitch in the second half?

Sack Ange

Probably the worst Socceroos performance since Ange took over. Reality check - still a long way to go to get to Russia. Maybe the inferiority complex is still warranted.

I don't think Andy Harper has watched the same game. Aaron Mooy was terrible tonight. He looked lethargic, dwelt on the ball and failed to put any balls through. The only club waving a contract will be Melb City. Well done Greece thoroughly deserved victors!