- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Now that the Socceroos are without a mentor in the short term, the candidates interested will start jockeying for position. Those on the radar of the FFA yet still oblivious to their interest will be approached.
It stands to be an interesting time and one that will shape the short and medium-term direction of the team.
A caretaker or interim-like appointment has been mooted and a wise choice it would be, if the decision makers are looking long term and waiting for the right person to appear.
Alternatively, a more risky and daring long term appointment might be their thinking, presenting the manager with a tough initiation, yet time to learn and grow in the job.
Whichever way they do decide to go, the new man must have support and faith placed in him by the powers at be, with another potential change in set-up, style and selections, there will undoubtedly be a teething process.
The new manager, the FFA and the broader public don’t want Ange Postecoglou the sequel.
His achievements with the team are unquestionable, however, the new man must be allowed to firstly, be his own man and secondly, with appropriate autonomy and faith invested in him, steer the team in the direction he best sees fit.
The criteria that the FFA set out will undoubtedly be filled with clichéd acronyms such as KPIs and a list of performance measuring tools that will gauge the success or failure of the squad.
In essence, as is the case with many workplaces, it will be convoluted and contrived. In reality, the criteria should drive towards two simple things.
Which of the candidates will encourage bold and aggressive football from the national team and at the same time, keep the team competitive and winning?
Eliminating all the verbosity and jargon, a layman’s criteria might look something like this.
1. An awareness of the idiosyncrasies of Australia football
Appreciating the travel requirements and the diversity of the domestic clubs for which many Socceroos play, is paramount to having realistic and well thought out plans for matches.
With only limited time available for players to gel in camp and prepare after significant travel time and distances, an acceptance of this and strategising around it, would be sage advice for the new man, particularly if he stems from beyond our shores.
Additionally, an awareness and knowledge of the unique aspects of our game in Australia is important. The fan-base, A-League, our commercial limitations and chequered history, all inform who we are today and approaching the job with purely a European or South American lens won’t sit well with some.
The assistants will play a considerable role in educating the candidate in some of the complicated and power based relationships in the game and the dynamics that make Australian football so unique.
Better to tell them up-front and foster a sense of acceptance of the situation rather than set them up for failure.
2. Back the A-League
The local competition has finally received the shot in the arm it required with the recent announcement of the proposed second division, that could eventually lead to promotion and relegation.
Seeing the likes of Mark Milligan, Aaron Mooy and James Troisi playing significant roles for the Socceroos reminds us all of the value in the home product and a manager who derides the competition could be disastrous for the game.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
With players like Thomas Deng, Nick Fitzgerald, Andrew Nabbout, Daniel De Silva and Jason Geria looking like potential long-term Socceroos, they must be given opportunities and readied for the significant step up to senior international football.
A manager who engages and embraces our local product will win much support here and also help accelerate the development of players who will eventually find their way overseas.
3. Be realistic
The chances of Australia winning the FIFA World Cup are zero. Sorry to blow that for some of you, however, we need to be brutally honest. You know what? It’s okay.
The run of 2006 in Germany is something near our ceiling as a team. A good draw with two winnable games is what Australia needs to have a realistic chance of progressing beyond the group stage.
We have done it before and with a favourable lottery, we could do it again.
Resistance to setting the bar ridiculously high and encouraging our boys to play in a way in which they are just not skilled enough to manage, is doomed to fail.
Sure, be aggressive and move the ball quickly, our qualification campaign looked well off course when that ball movement became stagnate, however, play with a measured, simple and clear purpose that reflects the talent at your disposal.
Striking that balance could potentially be the toughest thing for the new mentor to achieve.
4. Find the next Timmy, or two
As plain as the nose on your face, is the simple fact that Australia are not a potent attacking threat to most teams. Controlling the ball and maintaining possession against like-for-like opponents is our thing.
Going beyond that and putting teams away is just not our forte.
The new manager could do a lot worse than focussing some energy on the younger Australian forwards, both at home and abroad and trying to find that hint of genius which is untapped at this point.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
This is perhaps a more long-term proposition and a task more relevant after our successes in Russia. However, without unlocking the secrets to Tomi Juric and James Troisi or helping Jamie Maclaren and Danny De Silva reach their substantive potential, Australia will continue to struggle with goal production.
There are always a few nuggets of gold out there and let’s hope the new man is able to locate a few and allow our young promising forwards to flourish into gifted marksmen.
They are desperately required to fill the void that will be left by you-know-who, after the World Cup next year.
5. Enjoy the ride
Watching the anxiety and angst of the final days of Postecoglou was gut-wrenching and disappointing, especially considering the undoubted limitations in the current squad. It made us all a little sick, not least the man himself.
A manager who remembers to smile along the way, enjoying the sheer pleasure of managing a national team on the biggest stage would be a refreshing change, yet can’t happen without perspective.
If we are a little short on raw talent right now and other teams, particularly in Asia, appear to have closed the gap, let’s keep the pressure valve in the release position more often and face our reality with aggression yet balance it with humility and acceptance.
The step forward is keenly awaited and the architect of our immediate future still unknown, however, if the new appointee is able to achieve even half of the above, we might just be heading in the right direction.