Getting what we think is deserved in life is a cloudy concept. Throw in the simple fact that there are many other sharks circling the waters, seeking precisely the same thing as ourselves, and it is easy to see why people are so often disappointed.
Graham Arnold had the short-term fates of around 30 to 40 young men on his mind and in his hands prior to making a final decision on the 23-man squad to represent Australia at the Asian Cup in the UAE next month.
With the long-term absence of Daniel Arzani the only significant injury eliminating a player’s name from the selection table, Arnold had a fit group from which to choose. Then a poorly timed minor knee issue to Aaron Mooy threw the proverbial spanner in the works. It led to an emergency dash to the UK by Australian medical experts in an effort to assess the likelihood of the Huddersfield man appearing in the latter stages of the tournament.
News has since come through that Mooy is indeed out.
Monday morning saw Australian football fans awake to the news that Hertha Berlin’s Matthew Leckie had tweaked a hamstring and was now also in doubt for the tournament. With the freshness of that injury and its seriousness still unclear at the time of writing, it might be a few days before Leckie’s chances of competing are thoroughly assessed. At this stage it looks like a three to four-week injury.
The announcement of the team last Thursday brought few shocks. Terry Antonis and Thomas Deng would have been disappointed and considered themselves unlucky not to have earned a spot in the squad. Tomi Juric appears to have fallen out of favour with the new manager.
Juric’s limited pitch time in Switzerland had Arnold looking elsewhere, with Awer Mabil and Jamie Maclaren earning the two attacking slots that appeared to be up for grabs. They join Robbie Kruse, Chris Ikonomidis, Martin Boyle and Leckie up front; all four appeared to be locks for a spot on the plane.
Australia’s 2015 Asian Cup hero, James Troisi, was not so lucky. The Melbourne Victory man has been a little hot and cold this season in a very hot A-League team. The attention that Keisuke Honda and Ola Toivonen have attracted has been well deserved, and Troisi has played a minor role. Kosta Barbarouses is enjoying his best season for some time, sparkling up front and feeding off the world-class distribution of the Japanese and Swede.
Troisi has not enjoyed such a positive early run. Graham Arnold had probably pencilled in Boyle’s name after his stunning international debut for the Socceroos and Mabil’s based on potential development and recent good form.
(AAP Image/George Salpigtidis)
That left just one space, and Jamie Maclaren, finally getting a decent run in Scotland, demanded a spot with nine league goals in 26 appearances for Hibernian in 2018.
Thus there was no space for Troisi, Juric, Antonis or Deng. Yet Troisi’s handling of the rejection was poles apart from that of the other three.
Just as Maclaren and Massimo Luongo kept their cool during and after the disappointment of inactivity in Australia’s World Cup campaign under Bert van Marwijk, three of the four men to miss out took their medicine and will live to fight another day.
Contrastingly, Troisi spat the dummy and threw his toys from the cot with some force.
Despite admitting that he had not even “seen the team yet”, Troisi made his feelings clear that, in his opinion, the squad had “not been picked on merit or performance”.
A little tip for the 30-year-old Adelaide-born attacker might be to zip it next time, especially if he holds any hopes of pulling on the national colours ever again.
I’m not exactly sure what Troisi was attempting to achieve. Maybe Graham Arnold did draw a line through the three Victory players – Deng, Antonis and Troisi – based purely on feelings of hostility that stem from his recent rivalry with Kevin Muscat’s team?
Finding room elsewhere in the squad for Rhyan Grant, Alex Gersbach and Matt Jurman certainly adds weight to that conspiracy theory. However, Graham Arnold is far from that stupid. Taking anything but the best available squad into what will be a mighty challenge for the Socceroos would be foolhardy.
Troisi cited a lack of courtesy and communication over the last few months, preferring to know where he stood in the selection process. Now he has inferred that the coach is biased and selecting his mates rather than picking a squad on form.
Good luck the next time Arnold announces a squad, James. I will not be expecting to hear your name.
Of course this could all end in disaster and Arnold may have only a short time in the job. Troisi may be hoping that is indeed the case. Now with Mooy out and Leckie in doubt, the question must be asked as to whether Troisi regrets the comments he made while filled with disappointment and anger.
A third postscript was the fantastic match Troisi produced in the Melbourne derby on Saturday. He was superb and potentially taught himself a lesson.
Letting his football do the talking might be a far better approach for James Troisi to take if he ever wants to play for the Socceroos again.
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