While the prospect of Usain Bolt’s first run-out for the Mariners has sent bolt fever spreading over Gosford – I’ve been inoculated, luckily – Graham Arnold’s first Socceroos squad has sent bolter fever tearing across the nation at large.
15 members of the 31-man training camp squad have fewer than five caps, including five players who are earning their very first call-ups. Many of the freshest faces are attackers, with PEC Zwolle’s Denis Genreau and SC Heerenveen’s John Iredale two of the more obscure picks.
The injury-forced absences of Matt Leckie, Tom Rogic and Andrew Nabbout have given the squad a highly experimental inflection; the feeling was compounded by talk of Tim Cahill’s prospective testimonial. Out with the old, and in with the new.
As he had in his first press conference as manager, Arnold again waxed lyrical about the standard of the youth ranks creeping slowly toward the senior team. This squad has seen Arnold crank the conveyor belt up a gear, promoting more than a few young starlets.
Awer Mabil, 22, was mentioned by Arnold at the squad announcement – “He seems like he’s developed a lot physically,” he said – as was Genreau, about whom Arnold had consulted John van’t Schip, ex-Melbourne City and current PEC Zwolle manager.
While Iredale was marked out as more of an Olyroos prospect – Arnold has taken charge of the Olyroos too, let’s remember – Genreau, and certainly Mabil, could feature in the upcoming friendlies; one game is still to be finalised for October, and then the two friendlies against South Korea and Lebanon in November.
The fact that Dimi Petratos and Josh Risdon were the only A-League representatives was not cause for concern; Arnold made sure to emphasise that he intended to test out the lesser known European prospects in this camp, and that the A-League – and within it Socceroos hopefuls James Troisi, Josh Brillante, Adam Taggart, and others – was still a primary source of national team talent.
It was odd that Cahill’s testimonial hadn’t yet been finalised; Arnold had mentioned that one of these friendlies would likely stage a grand farewell for Cahill back in his first presser, so it would have made sense to confirm it along with the announcement that Sydney would stage the Lebanon game – not to mention given a boost to the ticket sales.
But no, negotiations with “Cahill’s camp”, as David Gallop put it, would probably happen next week. It will be a strange thing, dedicating an Asian Cup warm-up of sorts to Cahill’s swansong. He has contributed more to the Socceroos than just about any other player, but there is the slightly knocking sense that he may have been bade a warmer farewell had he retired, say, after the Asian Cup – the last few years have not enhanced his legacy, the Trojan performance against Syria notwithstanding.
There is a sense, too, that once he is well and truly gone, the team – the strikers in particular – might feel a weight lifted.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
So, what combinations can be made from the lot Arnold has plucked out and assembled? Well, perhaps a midfield three of Mile Jedinak, Mass Luongo and Mustafa Amini? A front three of Mabil, Jamie Maclaren, and Daniel Arzani?
There is room – as there always is in the opening throes of a new reign – for experimentation to occur, for gambles to be won and lost.
When asked how his team would differ from that of his predecessor, the stiflingly rigid Bert van Marwijk, Arnold answered “I think we’ll be more flexible. Systems are systems, but it’s about flexible play, and giving players the opportunity to express themselves.”
Having restated how Australia has to now move on finally from relying on Cahill’s goals, it seems Arnold will search high and low, sifting over the full length and breadth of the Earth, to find a solution to that problem.
It may not be a single player; it may be an alchemical combination of attackers, who click and whirr and slide suddenly into potent coherence. These coming months will be the time to tinker, and so the tinkering has begun.
Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
Nestory Irankunda has sensationally rejected the chance to play at the Paris Olympics this June after a late bid from the Olyroos to include…
Mathew Ryan's tenure at AZ Alkmaar appears to be over, as the Eredivisie side are seemingly moving on from the 93-time Socceroo. The decision…
One down 49 to go. Socceroos striker Kusini Yengi raised some eyebrows this week when he declared himself to be the talisman striker the…
