The Socceroos have copped a 4-1 thrashing in an international friendly against Norway in Oslo, in their first match under the management of Bert van Marwijk.
What a disappointing result for the Socceroos as they begin their preparations for Russia. The new manager will learn much from that performance and no doubt be alarmed by some of the defensive frailties on show.
Norway were the better team by a considerable margin; in terms of both possession and purposeful possession which still appears to be the central issue for this Socceroos squad.
The Australians did look like a collection of individuals rather than a team tonight and their defence often takes on that look.
An early exit for Bailey Wright was not a good sign for the right back who might just be the first name crossed of the manager’s list for the precious trip to the World Cup.
Things started reasonably well for the Socceroos despite the Norwegian dominance in quality possession early and a shock goal against the run of play from the header of Jackson Irvine saw them take an unexpected lead.
From then on, Norway took control and with countless long balls in behind the back four and better movement through the middle third, they began to cut the Socceroos open through the middle.
Ola Kamara fed off the successes of those around him and slammed home an impressive hat-trick that built a score line that reflected the dominance of the home side.
Certainly nothing to panic about for the Australians, just a whole lot of work to do in the lead up to the clash with Colombia on Wednesday.
Van Marwijk will now have a better feel for the group and should give us a better indication of his thinking each time the team takes to the pitch.
Norway 4
Australia 1
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Losing 4-1 to Norway is a brutal reality check. Norway is not a good team and they very rarely score four goals in a game.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Surely its time now for Aussie Bert to re-call Matty Simon. Like any good rat, Ange seemed to know when to jump a sinking ship. As I said before, it didn’t matter who they appointed after Ange, this is the worst Footballroos team since 2005. They have little to no chance of getting out of the first round. The problem isn’t the tactics nor the coach, its the lack of junior development that is the problem. We have not produced any world class players since the golden era around 2000. The FFA had a golden opportunity to continue to develop great young players for future years to come, but blew it. As with the very disapointing results from the Joeys, U20s and U23s, the poor results for the Footballroos will continue. We should have invested in our young players as Japan, Korea, Iran and other Asian countries did, to give them the technical skills to catch up with the rest of the world. Instead we focussed on propping up the A-League and bidding for world cups. The federal government has also dramatically cut funding for AIS and Junior Football and is giving more money to Victorian Rules instead. The FFA has had to close its Junior football Centre of Excellence last year due to lack of funding. Instead of paying for Football exhibition games in Asia and using football to develop relations with Asian countries and promote trade, the federal government is bankrolling Victorian Rules games in China. Our junior football development is now the worst in Asia.
Nemesis
Guest
"This is has been our worst area since Hiddink. Bailey Wright at right back? " Since Hiddink? Did you see our defending under Verbeek against Germany at WC2010? Or, against France & Brazil under Holger in friendlies 4 years ago? Pretty sure I was at the MCG about 9 months ago when AUS got smashed 4-0 by Brazil in a practice match. Australia's defending has been poor for a long time. We usually get away with it because our goalkeepers make save again & again. The reason Mark Schwarzer was so highly valued for the National Team was not because he stood in goal doing nothing all game. It's because he made match-saving saves after Golden Generation defenders had failed to protect the goal. Having said that, it's not just the Back 4 who must take blame. The midfield is letting us down by not holding the ball & protecting the back 4.
fadida
Guest
I didn't make any judgments on Ange until he had played 5-6 games. I do remember saying " It's impossible to make any conclusions about a new coach after a couple of days and one game.
Newie
Guest
Indeed. But they will learn and improve. BVM is not a fool. This was a first practise match.
Newie
Guest
Please stop that commonsense and get on the "we're terrible and nothing will help us" bandwagon like the rest of the posters...
chris
Guest
spot on
chris
Guest
The back 4 is the most important group of players in a team. Get it right and the rest of the team can function and prosper. Get it wrong and it all falls apart. The back we had this morning will not be the back 4 in the WC. The players also seem to really struggle with the slippery icy surface. BvM will get it right I'm sure. He just needs to see who is not up to the job first.
morebeer
Guest
Meh... Croatia lost to Peru...friendlies mean Jack sh*t...when there is money on the table let's see...
Drongo
Guest
The roar don’t charge that is true, but the selection of players was very poor with players personally known to the roar coaches having a big advantage in selection. The two best players on my son’s npl team didn’t get an invitation but 4 others, three of whom are not academy class, who all had a previous relationship with the roar coach did get invited. The best player was made an offer but declined and stayed with his current club.
Lionheart
Guest
rep juniors - the former FFA Centre of Excellence is no more, the role being handed over to A League clubs thus the Roar Academy Waz referred to, but apparently the others (not all A League clubs have an academy yet) charge to attend. There's also the State sports academies, which have produced a lot of good players in the past.
realfootball
Guest
I hope you're taking medication, because this is going to hurt. All that pressure building up.
realfootball
Guest
Agree completely.
shirtpants
Roar Guru
He may be ordinary in the grand scheme of things but a) there's tonnes of money in football. you don't need to be amazing to make better money than most people who work traditional jobs. b) we don't really have anyone better to fill the position. For all the criticism, nobody has answers to who should replace the majority of the team who aren't up to everyones standards.
TheVolley
Guest
We won the Asian Cup after Ange took over 12 months. The bigger goal was to take the squad to the World Cup after having developed it for 4 years. Now that plan is gone along with style of play that the players had gotten used to. Now it's a complete change with less than 3 months away from WC with a new style of play. All the development over 4 years is gone.
Drongo
Guest
37 v 57 and we lose 4-1. That is disappointing but, as others have said, early days.
Caltex TEN & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
Lol, can't you at least give us some input on the way we played with a back four?
LuckyEddie
Guest
True but if we had failed a lot of money would have done down the drain. What I'm trying to say is relying on a couple of weeks at the WC every four years is not going to get HAL firing.
LuckyEddie
Guest
Thanks for that I'll keep an eye out for the next one.
LuckyEddie
Guest
Not exactly what I was hoping for.