As the Socceroos begin life post the Ange Postecoglou and Bert van Marwijk years, expectations are varied.
The above sentence often reads somewhat differently and ends with ‘expectations are high’. In the case of the Socceroos however, that is rarely the case.
Sure there is hope and a living breathing passion within the fans of Australia’s national team, yet cautious optimism is more reflective of the mindset most commonly adopted.
Being such a small fish in the global footballing pond and with the game still slowly but surely growing in both participation and popularity, the Socceroo brand remains a battling one.
Due to population, financial restriction and the talent pool available, the Socceroos are just an average team; courageous and committed no doubt, yet one that enters World Cup competition with a sense of hope rather than expectations of victory.
So will it remain the case in the short to medium term future and moments of triumph and despair will feature prominently. Despite four successful World Cup qualification campaigns, Australia’s place on the world stage is never assured.
That reality will play out clearly in January at the Asian Cup, as Australia faces some improving nations at the group stage before, hopefully, being tested by some of the big guns later in the tournament.
Whilst Jordan, Palestine and Syria will appear a walk in the park to those somewhat removed from the game, the Socceroos’ past experience with the Syrians should be a reminder of the challenges and increasing strength in the Asian Confederation.
Graham Arnold is the new ‘Roos coach. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
With all this in mind, what is a fair and justified short term expectation for the team, as Graham Arnold takes the reins?
As reigning Asian Cup champions, victory is certainly within the realms of possibility. South Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia produced mixed performances in Russia and the Socceroos match up evenly against all three.
The Japanese, despite their inspiring run and unfortunate round of sixteen World Cup exit, had showed little in the lead up to the event. The United Arab Emirates will be buoyed by home support and loom as another nation likely to advance to the knock-out phase.
The journey begins on October 15 when Australia travels to meet Kuwait in a friendly. It will be the first hit out for the squad since the World Cup and Arnold’s methods will be under scrutiny.
Many fear a replication of the hard-nosed and sometimes brutal approach that he implemented so successfully at Sydney FC.
Sitting back and absorbing blows before applying manic pressure in search of a turnover is a common strategy and Sydney had the tools to execute the plan well.
A problem arose when the game style proved ineffective in Asian Champions League play. The officials seemed a little less lenient than A-League whistle-blowers and the physical brand lost its punch.
Throw in the quality of the opposition and questions arose around whether Arnold could devise a more subtle plan than the one he was using to bully A-League opposition.
By the time the team returns to Australian shores and faces Korea Republic in Brisbane on November 17 and Lebanon three day later in Sydney, Arnold’s hand should be apparent.
Hopefully, a certain degree of enterprise and adventure will be evident. Socceroo fans will be looking for an improvement in service from the flanks and enhanced cohesion up front; areas that were problematic in Russia.
The critics will be in waiting. A continuation of the fruitlessness in front of goal and the inability to create chances will be pounced upon and potentially used as an argument against the manager’s appointment.
In his defence, it has been a long standing and seemingly unsolvable issue. Moreover, until the Socceroos are gifted a world class striker and more reliable and consistent service from wide areas, it will most likely remain the case.
Will Graham Arnold find a way for the Socceroos to score? (AAP Image/Joe Castro)
Arnold is on record as highlighting the psychological factors behind the goal drought. It all sounded a bit simple when he suggested our men up front required a clearing of the head and a fresh start. However, perhaps Arnold sees a hidden key in the team that merely needs unlocking.
Nothing less than a semi-final place in the Asian Cup will be deemed acceptable by many and if achieved on the back of improved play in the friendlies later this year, Arnold might lure a few believers back from the dark side.
It is hard to know what to expect and even more difficult to apply a fair measuring stick. Any early cracks and Arnold will appear on a hiding to nothing.
Contrastingly, bright football, plenty of goals and an Asian Cup trophy might be the start of a glorious new generation for Australian football.
Paul
Guest
Arnold will be better than his previous stint. But he won't get a a game if FIFA suspends us because of the intransigence of Steven Lowy and the FFA board.
Drt
Guest
Australia needs a coach who's had consistent success in any of the top 5 European Leagues.
Drt
Guest
The guy has never coached overseas! The A-league is 3rd Bundesliga standard. Only an Aussie could believe in the guy... From a neutral point of view his appointment is a joke.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
the stats show the complete opposite. Syndey FC were last on passes pressured. https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/a-league/stats/teams?category=defenceAndDiscipline&sortBy=passesPressured MV were the physical team by a fair margin. They had Antonis, Barbarouses , Valeri and Geria doing a lot of tackling without conceeding many fouls. On the other hand Troisi and Berisha they basically fouled a lot without winning the ball, and the Sanchez guy he was the most ill disciplined player while more effective than Troisi and Berisha , got a lot of fouls and cards per minute.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Grant did not play in the A-league last season, I know conspiracy theorists aren't the smartest tools in the shed but you laying it on a bit thick.
AGO74
Guest
You guys have long memories considering Grant hasn’t played A-league for over a year! Your comment on Simon and wilkshire (grants replacement) is valid - although it’s worth noting Matt the axe only played 10-20 minutes tops per match. Hardly a material contributor to the overall team performance.
Fadida
Guest
Simon is a thug, Wilkshire was actually worse, and Grant seems to be immune to punishment.
Paul
Guest
Rhyan Grant should have red carded multiple times in the last 2 seasons
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Great to have these three matches to really iron out some of the creases. I am really looking forward to what Mr Arnold brings to the team. I find myself feeling like a believer. I'm not sure why, but I think he might do a little better than some may think. Either way, he won't be there to make friends. Expect more of the same from GA. From a personality sense that is. From a footballing sense, lets hope we see something quite different.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Very true about the cards. I thought there was a degree of brutality about some of the pressure, others may prefer a different word or phrase. Fair call. I know there was at least one Sydney player who was brutal, although he has returned to the Central Coast.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Fair call AG, yet I did point out that it was a common tactic and that Sydney was blessed with the tools to execute it well. Whilst there is a physicality in all teams these days, Sydney were able to make that aspect quite intimidating. I also chose the word 'bully' quite intentionally. Bullying an opponent in sporting parlance is not necessarily a negative thing. Certainly used in a different manner to the way it might be in the workplace. Arnold's men were excellent bullies, it took a hell of an effort to stand up to them and Victory physically matched them, as so few teams have done. There were certainly some real discrepancies in free-kick counts and whether these were real or perceived is certainly debatable yet the questions remains whether a similar approach can work for the national team. Personally, I think not and hope Arnold has another layer of strategy waiting to be implemented. I hope!
Griffo
Roar Guru
Preparation will be tight before hand but we should be aiming for nothing less than semi-final of the Asian Cup. It is expected that all games are analysed closely, especially to glean what Arnold will be thinking although I think he might keep one or two things hidden early. Of course Arnold needs to be given the time and chance to prepare. I'm not sure a couple of early, poor results will matter to some, which may spiral down quickly and affect the team and Arnold.
Fadida
Guest
They weren't brutal but employed rotational fouling whenever opponents threatened to break. Many teams around the world do so. The frustration came because the officials were unquestionably lenient and slow to punish them with cards. I wish Arnie the absolute best, and I hope he wins the AC. He's a very hard man to like, but as long as he shows more flexibility and adaptability that Ange I'll be happy.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
I’m inclined to think that many fans and occasional supporters have unrealistic expectations when it comes to international sport. Living in a country where the other three “football” codes have a history of international success, it seems to follow that the Socceroos must therefore be under performing or are not in step with the nations sporting prowess. Champions of the world at AFL, regular winners of the Rugby League World Cup and a Rugby Union history littered with highlights until relatively recently but still there is hope because “this is Australia”. By contrast though, there are over 200 countries that enter the FIFA WC and just about every nation eligible enters the Asian Cup. So many countries have the round ball game as number 1 and it is played and taught almost to the exclusion of all else. Whilst ROK and Japan are big on Baseball and ‘I’m not suggesting no other sport is played, I strongly suggest that in many countries football is a well resourced sport. Entering a tournament with hope rather than expectations is the domain of almost all countries bar the top 12 or so. I don’t imagine for one minute that Croatian fans even considered they would make the WC final before the tournament started. Even England notorious for having to deal with unrealistic expectations got it almost right and had very happy fans overall although I’d argue that they slipped into old habits in approaching the Croatia game. Even the venerable commentator Martin Tyler was talking the Croatian team down, suggesting tiredness, age and other frailties and nobody realised just how much motivation they were providing for what was already a quality opposition. So the Socceroos. Asian Cup holders - yes by a thread. They just got over the line agaist ROK and stumbled along the way. There are plenty of good teams out there and everyone will want to beat the champions and knock over the White Anglo Saxons that have tapped in to an area that some still believe they shouldn’t be. The Asian conference switch was designed to provide regular and more challenging opponents than Oceania and yet many appear to believe it should be a cakewalk.... we are a strange lot. I’ll be happy if the football they play doesn’t spend time showing they can pas the ball backwards and forwards in midfield but continues to lack in terms of pacey and skilful forward runs that open up defences, carve out half chances and make the crowd go “ooh aah” rather than “zzzzzzz” as another pass goes across the field and back again.
AGO74
Guest
I fear Graham Arnold is on a hiding to nothing from a good proportion of the Australian football public. Almost as if some are willing him to fail simply because they don’t like him as a person and/or the perception that sydney played negative football (just on that Stuart did you watch Sydney play last year? - if you did I’m not sure it was “hard-nosed” and “brutal.”. Yes Sydney is physical but EVERY team in this league is physical. The difference is that Sydney were able to use that pressing and physical presence to create pressure, turnover and opportunities which often lead to goals. Other teams were incapable of that - is that sydneys fault? I should also add that Sydney also played some fantastic football at times and scored some fabulous goals). Australian football fans are a very hard lot in general. We are quick to moan about other internal and/or external forces potentially at play in destabilising our game - yet at the same time we are quick to deride from within such as what the early anti-Arnie sentiment is that exists.
Paul
Guest
If Australia get suspended because of Lowy, it would be ironic. Scouted by the FFA from the Smurfs (still part owned by the Lowy family) and then not have a coaching job depending on the length of the suspension.