As a certain neurotic man with the surname of Costanza once said, “George is getting upset!”
Thus was my mood on Sunday night as I watched the Socceroos beat their heads against the mercilessly resilient wall that was the Jordanian defence.
Throw in déjà vu, ‘here we go again’ and #ArnoldOut and the myriad emotions experienced by Australian football fans were captured in just a few short phrases.
In all honesty, I struggled to sleep after the match, with Socceroo inadequacies once again exposed in the 1-0 loss to a side that appears to be fast becoming our Arabian nemesis.
Most disturbing of all was the unique opportunity presented to the squad on the eve of the tournament.
Let’s face it, the Wallabies appear to have lost all hope and the support of many of its most loyal and passionate people. Moreover, the Australian cricket team was on the verge of a series loss to the Indians in Sydney, after another humiliating episode of dodgy selections and inept play.
Throw in an ailing Big Bash League – with crowds down a whopping 28 per cent on average since the heady days of 2016-17 – and football had the chance to emblazon itself on the front page of the Monday morning tabloids, with a glorious and commanding victory to open their Asian Cup defence.
Instead, the talk of a ‘suffocating’ performance, where a frantic press in the front third would lead to defensive errors and Socceroo goals, never eventuated. Rather, what unfolded was a nightmare and a visual spectacle that was about as enjoyable as major dental work.
The entire two hours was Groundhog Day, without any of Bill Murray’s humour, and the theatre would have been well and truly empty had this feature played at cinemas.
In a somewhat macabre way, it was exactly what a mighty lot of people wanted. A decent number of Australian fans see Graham Arnold as tactically void, Sydney biased and destined to fail, just as he has done before.
Social media was salivating at another vacuous performance from Australian football’s most maligned player, Robbie Kruse, while Tom Rogic’s poor game was leapt upon with glee.
Josh Risdon took some heat, especially after Rhyan Grant made a difference in the second half, as did Milos Degenek, who turned the ball over recklessly in a couple of key exchanges. The defensive set up that allowed Jordan’s goal was criticised and perhaps only Awer Mabil avoided definitive criticism after a game of which he can be proud.
It opened a gaping hole for the nay-sayers to walk through and lay mountains of “I told you so” and “2007 all over again” on Arnold. Reading their words and sentiments, it appeared they loved every minute of it.
Graham Arnold (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
And that is to what Australia awoke, on what could have been a comfortable Monday morning with a winning national football team. Set against the backdrop of India’s domination at the SCG and a baggy green struggling for dignity after the events of last March, football should have pounced.
With rugby union administratively dysfunctional, competitively lost and the other winter codes in recess, the cards were dealt, the chips stacked high and football stood a chance to go ‘all in’ and finally win a hand.
Instead, the Socceroos started poorly, dispassionately and – by falling behind early – created the very scenario in which they have struggled for what now seems an eternity.
As I sat down to write this piece, it occurred to me that the notion of shooting oneself in the foot, a line I have used before in regards to Australian football, may well have been apt on Sunday night.
Far from death-knelling Jordanian chances and along with the realisation that the potentially toughest challenge of the group stage is yet to come against Syria, the Socceroos should navigate this group.
Any suggestions that the task would be easy are naïve and ill-informed, however, Australia’s internationally based squad and the experience they have on the world’s biggest footballing stages must and should count for something.
Perhaps the squad will recover over the course of the next week and move into the nitty-gritty phase of knockout football. I’ll be up late, cheering them on, although the Socceroos played like a scared child swimming in a pool with floaties on. If they fail to summon the courage to break from that approach against Syria, they will suffer another disappointing defeat.
The day that I see the Socceroos prepared to play free spiritedly, knowing that continued attack is the best method to place and keep a foot on the throat of the opposition, is the day I will care less about the result than the style.
It was the constant battle that former manager Ange Postecoglou fought with a certain measure of success; attempting to build a team that felt it belonged and believed in itself.
Right now, the Socceroos look apprehensive and play apprehensively. A team ranked 109th in the world didn’t on Sunday night and that is a real problem for Graham Arnold.
BWM
Guest
I wouldn't say he did a great job. He did a very professional job. I have no gripes with BVM, he's a very good manager, but I think that if they had decided to employ GA as national team coach, they should have used him for the WC as well. It just sends the wrong message (again).
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
If your not a follower of the national cricket team, which you have mentioned before on more than one occasion, then how did you know that they were humiliated by India. Doesn't make sense.
Nemesis
Guest
Doesn't make sense. If the way the National Team plays normally puts you to sleep, why did you have trouble sleeping after the match? And, the match was played 10pm-midnight East Coast Summer Time, so why not just switch off & go to sleep? You've mentioned before you're not a sokkah fan, why did you bother? Test cricket puts me to sleep, so rather than watch & complain, I just went to sleep and missed seeing the Australian cricket team getting humiliated on home soil for the first time every, by India.
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
In all honesty, I struggled to sleep after the match. The way that the socceroos play most of us fall asleep during the match
TK
Guest
Well on the PM and the cricket team.....birds of a feather flock together. ScoMo hasn't faced his Test yet, but surely when he does the thrashing is likley to be the same with many oiling their bats up in readiness.....
Douglas
Guest
Some of the best comments I have heard about the international game. You understand the sport better than most.
Scarecrows
Guest
Bert knew exactly what he had at his disposal, and set up accordingly. Doesn't look so bad now does it.
Pedro
Guest
Another srep backwards
sheek
Roar Guru
Stuart, Great article. Gee, there have been some wonderful articles across several sports in The Roar recently. Well done! Love the "licking the ashtray" analogy. There were some predictable headlines today, & these are just from the Daily Telegraph. 1. "We're Going to Fix Mess". 2. "Socceroos skipper promises to turn possession into goals". 3. "Naivety & negativity". Let's start with point 3, nativity went out with the 2006 Socceroos. Since then the Socceroos have qualified for every Asian & World Cup. It's not like we're back in the mid-1990s, & our lack of international exposure & experience brings out the naivety in players. As for turning possession into goals, isn't this what the Socceroos were promising us at the last world cup? And isn't it one of the reasons Bert van Marwyck was so maligned, because he couldn't find the magic formula to turn our attacking players into consistent goal scorers? So the Socceroos are going to "fix this mess". Which mess are they referring to? World Cups 2018, 2014, 2010 or 2006? Or Asian Cups 2011 or 2007? I want the Socceroos to win consistently. I want the Baggy Greens to win consistently. I would love the Wallabies to just win occasionally, as something for a change. But as a few writers have observed in a few different articles, what the hell is going on with both our leading players & the coaching in this country, across several sports? Namely football (soccer), cricket & rugby union. Why is it we've become a nation of sporting dunces so quickly & emphatically?
Is Don Is Good
Guest
Maybe we just aren't very good? Have you considered that?
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
"Like licking an ashtray?" Appropriate description as they are the BUTT of jokes after being beaten by Jordan.
Nick Symonds
Guest
NEWS - Socceroos face further injury dilemma at Asian Cup Australia's Asian Cup defence is on the ropes with Tom Rogic, Andrew Nabbout and Josh Risdon all battling injury heading into Friday's crunch clash with Palestine. - With Leckie already sidelined, if Nabbout, Rogic and Risdon are ruled out of Friday's match it will leave Graham Arnold with just 16 fit outfield players to select his starting XI from. - https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/socceroos-face-further-injury-dilemma-at-asian-cup
Kangas
Roar Rookie
Some crazy Chicago Bears fans were apparently sending death threats to their kicker , who missed the game winning field goal yesterday. Now that’s what I call insane behaviour.
Kangas
Roar Rookie
maybe he meant it’s toxic and cancerous to lick an ashtray .
Kangas
Roar Rookie
Socceroos fans have been pretty resilient for the last 40 odd years considering . I see some civilised debate and analysis among fans on this site . toxic and cancerous are your words Brendan.
Aiden
Guest
True. Too my Dad to an A-League game. He watches all of the international games over a decade or so, but never played the game. Despite watching maybe 40 games of football as a very casual 'fan' he was making uninformed comments like 'You can see where he needs to pass it to, that guy out there, but the players don't seem to see it do they.' Thanks Dad. I think this is typical of many Aussie viewers of the sport. They often kind of like it, but they do not really 'get' it.
Nick Symonds
Guest
It'll be interesting in future years to see the India-China rivalry develop. The world's two largest nations battling it out on the pitch with 3 BILLION people watching. Another thing, India might have a smaller economy than China but they still have 141 US dollar billionaires. So we shouldn't ignore them for potential investment in the A-League. - When it comes to physicality, the Japanese women's team, who were the shortest team, came up against Sweden who were the tallest team at the Women's World Cup and did very well against them, using tiki-taka. It was a complete mismatch physically but they outplayed them tactically. A few of the Asian men's teams might learn something from that.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
I doubt if they are the worst....travel around and look and talk to fans in different places and you find things are pretty much the same around the globe except when a side is dominant and playing well....when things don't go well, the knives come out, pencils are sharpened, warrior uniforms of all types are pressed and ready for action next to keyboards and the rest of us are reminiscent of the noises you hear at the wailing wall.
RF
Roar Rookie
Are you suggesting that we should be happy with the performance against Jordan? If you are, perhaps you can send me the address of your lobotomist.
RF
Roar Rookie
Agree on WSW. An extraordinary achievement.