Insofar as a head coach can sound philosophical about a 4-1 humbling in his first game, Bert van Marwijk’s comments after the Socceroos loss against Norway suggested a man who was both concerned yet relatively sanguine.
“Sometimes these losses can be beneficial,” the Dutchman ruminated to The Guardian after the defeat in Oslo. “You see how the players react in these circumstances.”
But alongside the acceptance that this Australian team is a work in progress, Van Marwijk also knows there is limited time to find his best side and drill them in his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation. “I have to find the right combination,” he said to ABC. “We all need time to find it.”
With just one friendly – against Colombia on Wednesday – before the Dutchman names his preliminary squad for Russia, there are a few questions that Australia’s interim coach needs to solve. None are necessarily insurmountable but Van Marwijk needs to have an idea of the solutions by the the time the domestic seasons start to wind down.
How best to shore up a defence that has struggled through qualifying?
As poor as the Socceroos defenders were in Oslo, the good news, if it can be considered as such, is this isn’t just a problem that’s reared its head by Van Marwijk switching to a back four. The bad news is Australia have long been vulnerable to both long balls over the top and a high, quick press to defenders.
Van Marwijk has always been a coach who sets up an organised defence, so the lapses for the first three goals will have been particularly concerning. Bailey Wright belied the fact he’s been a regular at right-back for Bristol City this season and may well have made his new coach’s squad decisions a little easier, while Milos Degenek and Mark Milligan looked exactly like a centre half combination who had been thrown together for the first time.
Only Aziz Behich looked solid and is probably one of the Socceroos’ form players going into the World Cup.
Yet it’s also hard to read too much into the defensive performance as Van Marwijk has made it clear that Trent Sainsbury and Matt Jurman are the main contenders, while debutant Aleksandar Susnjar did his claim no harm indeed. In goal, Mat Ryan’s mistake for the third goal was out of keeping with his performances for Brighton this season but both Brad Jones and Danny Vukovic are solid alternatives.
(AFP PHOTO/GLYN KIRK)
However, the Dutchman needs time to drill his back four and needs a plan in case either Sainsbury or Jurman are unavailable come June. Building a solid defence is probably the most pressing issue in Van Marwijk’s in-tray.
Who fills the centre of the park?
In contrast to defence and attack, the centre of the park is one area where Australia are overstocked. Mile Jedinak, Aaron Mooy, Jackson Irvine, Mass Luongo, Mark Milligan and Josh Brillante are all in form or established members of the side, yet in the 4-2-3-1 there is only, at best, three spaces for the six of them.
On paper Mooy and captain Jedinak are the most obvious combination, and the pair Van Marwijk opted to start with. Yet in practice they combined like an Aussie version of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard: both talented players but with little cohesion as a pairing. It was notable when the more scurrying Luongo replaced Jedinak that Mooy started to find more space.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Yet Jedinak’s still remains one of the few players who is capable to hauling the Socceroos into a game: a huge presence both physically and as a leader, and the most vital player in the two-leg qualifying playoff against Honduras.
If Mooy and Jedinak are to be Van Marwijk’s starters against France, then they need to find a way to gel, as well as offer greater screening to the defence and a link to attack.
Can Bert get his creative players firing?
Jackson Irvine, starting in the number 10 role, didn’t disgrace himself with a goal and a lot of running and harrying. Yet for all Irvine’s all action performance, the Hull midfielder isn’t quite a natural in the support role, and frequently dropped back, leaving Andrew Nabbout isolated for periods of the game
The most natural fit for this position would be Tom Rogic. On his day, the Celtic midfielder is one of the most naturally gifted Socceroos and is capable of opening up defences with a weighted pass or, as he’s shown in his time in the SPL, scoring attractive goals. Yet when it’s come to the national side, Rogic has often flattered to deceive and Ange Postecoglou never quite got the best out of the former Mariners attacker.
Who will spearhead the attack?
In fairness to Van Marwijk, Australia’s lack of a world class striker has been a cause for concern for the best part of a decade, even since Mark Viduka hung up his boots and Tim Cahill hit the wrong side of 30. It was a problem the Dutchman’s predecessor never fully solved and appears to be no closer to a resolution as Russia approaches.
The emergence of Andrew Nabbout has given Van Marwijk another option but the former Jet is untested at international level and has the challenge of adjusting to a new league and culture as he starts the latest chapter of his career in Japan. Nabbout didn’t disgrace himself on his first Socceroos start and can justifiably point to a lack of service from his midfield colleagues, but equally his first appearance didn’t suggest he would be the answer to Australia’s striking problems.
That leaves Tomi Juric, Nikita Rukavytsya and the 38-year-old Cahill as the alternatives. Juric is probably the most plausible candidate but still lacks the consistency in front of goal and has a respectable, if modest, eight goals from 32 caps. Van Marwijk’s system may bring out the best of the FC Lucerne striker but it also asks a lot of Juric to make the step up against France, Denmark and Peru.
Likewise, Rukavytsya’s international record and recent role as a late substitute doesn’t suggest the 30-year-old will be the main striker in Van Marwijk’s plans, while Cahill is Cahill: still capable of nicking important goals as he approaches 40 and attempts to fight off the effects of time as well as a lack of appearances for Millwall.
Few would bet against the veteran boarding the plane to Russia or even scoring in a fourth consecutive World Cup but it would be concerning if Australia are forced to rely on an ageing veteran who is struggling for game time in the English Championship.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Worst Footballroos team ever. The Class of 1974 would thrash these pretenders.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Do we really want somone to "succeed Ange's style of play". I thought under Ange we developed into a pretty ordinary team that was pretty boring and predictable to watch. We only just scraped through thanks to a couple of Tim Cahill goals. You can't do that in Russia. In the end we really found out what the Footballroos meant to Yokohama Ange.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Old habits die hard. The old brigade were playing like Yokohama Ange was still in charge. Slow build up, slow short passes, leaving the opposition plenty of room and time on the ball. No urgency or pressing. No fast counter attacks. Nabbout was screaming for the ball and ignored. Maybe try lots of new blood in the next game and build on the new approach or its a quick exit from Russia stage left. Then again it seems a mission impossible before it begins. Surprise us Footballroos!
Kangajets
Guest
Not sure brilliante will get away with his tackling style with better referees .
Doran Smith
Roar Guru
Josh Brillante warrants a start, with his current form.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Players come from a range of backgrounds to begin with, so there is no way in the short time Ange had them that he imprinted something so deep that it would act as an impediment to picking up Lambertus' bog standard 4231 (which they all would have come across throughout their careers in one form or another).
Cool N Cold
Guest
According to Massimo Luongo, the players took Marwijk's words too literally. Ange wanted pressing and possession. As for Marwijk, he wants positions first in defense. Marwijk tells that just let the opponents come. What Luongo means is that socceroos should be a bit flexible upon some situations. So, expect a long adapting time for the socceroos as "press" and "positions" are 180 degrees opposite. Still, can socceroos adjust in 3 months? That is the reason why some want a coach who can succeed Ange's style of play.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
H Because Mooy commences alongside Jedi does not mean we have two holding mids. Invariably in the standard 4231, there is only one holding mid, with the other mid being more a deeplying playmaker (think Pirlo in 2006 for Italy, or even our very own Culina in 2006), who has a bit of a license to go forward. In my opinion, it's the perfect role for Mooy.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Sounds like a typical safety first debut game from a new manager, seeking a deeper defensive line, and fairly fixed positions (in the end, the players took it a bit too far, looking a little bit too static).
Nemesis
Guest
"I hope it doesn’t turn out that we have got one of the managers that has a fixed idea and isn’t flexible enough" In his press conference, BvM explained quite clearly that he creates a style to in games based on the players he has. He was pretty clear: he does not simply choose a style based on some ingrained philosophy. He wants to win. And, he will choose the plan to win with the players he has chosen. He said he didn't think his Dutch team of 2010 had the best individuals, but they had a great team. This interview with Lucy Zelic was quite informative - particularly BvM's irritation that people don't seem to have watched the WC2010 when they comment about his "pragmatism". The FIFA Technical Team ranked the Netherlands one of the 3 most attractive teams at WC2010. http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/1154490435951/bert-van-marwijk-one-on-one-interview
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Kris You're making some good points, but I reckon you can bet the house on a 4231 for the WC (or at least some variation thereof).
Kris
Guest
The one tactical change that was obvious was that we didn't press at all. Nabbout dropped 20m back off the Norwegian central defenders in possession and we seemed willing to let them have the ball in their own half.
Kris
Guest
I am not basing my concerns on the WC final at all. By 'concern' I mean - "I hope it doesn't turn out that we have got one of the managers that has a fixed idea and isn't flexible enough to change to suit his cattle, because that will be bad - we will have to wait and see if BVM is one of them" I'd go further and say that that sort of WC pragmatism is what we need. We need to park the bus. Put Jurman, Sainsbury and Spironovic in the middle, 2 wing backs tucked-in and play on the counter-attack. Have a centre forward to hold the ball up for midfielders coming from deep.
Nemesis
Guest
"My only concern is that he might have a fixed idea of tactics, strategy, formation etc and is determined to shoe-horn Australia into it even though he doesn’t have the players." You're not the only person to bring this up. But, what are you basing this on? I can't recall the style of play BvM adopted at Feynoord when they won the UEFA Cup in 2002. But, I do recall the style of football Netherlands played when they blew away Brazil & Uruguay at the 2010 World Cup. Superb attacking football. And, the Saudis under BvM scored 1 more goal than Australia & conceded 1 fewer goal Plus the Saudi team's movement of the ball was more fluid & more purposeful than our ball movement in the 2 matches we played. It seems too many people are just focusing on 1 incident in the one match when Nigel De Jong was a bit over enthusiastic with his challenge. He only got a YC, which indicates how this incident might be over dramatised by onlookers. The Spanish team that day were no angels. Puyol could've been given a red for holding back Robben as he charged towards goal. Busquets & Ramos were as brutal with their challenges as we expect, but because it's Spain everyone looks the other way.
Hughster
Guest
Not convinced that Mooy should be considered alongside Jedinak as a holding midfielder. He is our key playmaker and if he is controlled it makes the path to the attack very difficult. He should be playing as a 10 with Luongo alongside Jedinak. Luongo has proven that he has the hustle and tenacity to be effective in transition.
No1 in particular
Guest
Did the roos put much pressure on Norway?
Kris
Guest
I think he knows what he is doing. He is a good appointment. My only concern is that he might have a fixed idea of tactics, strategy, formation etc and is determined to shoe-horn Australia into it even though he doesn't have the players. I will be watching if he comes out of these friendlies thinking - we can't play my Plan A, we need to change things a bit to suit the players I have.
Kris
Guest
Struggled to get on the ball (which most of them did). Reduced to cutting inside from wide through that number 10 space to try and get a touch. One good cross early that I remember that whizzed across the area and might have been a goal on another day. He and Behich didn't really combine too well - which is understandable. I reckon Nabbout and Petratos need quicker, counter-attacking sort of play. The slow build-up and determination of Mooy and Jedinak to retain possesion and pass to each other and the defence; and Irvine more often than not rolling the ball backwards, basically meant we did nothing doing forwards at all. Even Behich was cutting inside and playing back to Mooy.
Kangajets
Guest
From what I heard , he played well I wouldn’t mind hearing what others think , as I missed the game .
Kangajets
Guest
Go away mr afl