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Opinion

Arnold is sending the wrong message with his World Cup squad

9th November, 2022
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9th November, 2022
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In life, mistakes need to be made in order to learn and develop to do better in the future.

For Australia coach Graham Arnold, his first stint as manager of the national team presented some regrets.

“I can sit here today and say to you in 2007 I wasn’t a coach,” he said, according to FTBL. “I inherited a job that I didn’t deserve – and I do feel that I’ve walked away from that a much better coach after making the mistakes I made,” he said in 2018.”

At domestic level in the A-League with the Central Coast Mariners and Sydney FC, the 59-year-old was able to win championships at both clubs and cemented his status as one of Australia’s top coaches.

Arnold has been criticised for his reactive football approach in the past, but it has been effective at club level, and his results are a testament to that.

For the Socceroos, however, is this really the approach that we want to see for the years and generations to come?

When Arnold took over the reins from Guus Hiddink, he demonstrated a similar tactical philosophy even though possession-based football was not so dominant 15 years ago.

The one area in which he learned from his first experience is galvanising this current playing group with all of the challenges it has faced with COVID and the like. In 2007 it was completely the opposite.

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He admitted to those errors in regard to keeping the golden generation together on the same page.

“I can sit down and talk to those guys I coached and I’m actually embarrassed to say I coached them because I didn’t coach them in the right way,” he said.

Yesterday’s World Cup squad announcement raised a lot of eyebrows and brought up a few shocks from some decisions a lot of people were not expecting.

Firstly, let’s address arguably the biggest talking point to come out of it, which has even broken headlines over in Italy: talented 18-year-old Cristian Volpato rejecting the opportunity to represent his country of birth despite being offered a place in the 26-man squad.

Cristian Volpato of AS Roma celebrates after scoring the goal of 1-2 for his side during the Serie A football match between AS Roma and Hellas Verona. AS Roma and Hellas Verona drew 2-2. (Photo by Antonietta Baldassarre/Insidefoto/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Cristian Volpato of AS Roma (Photo by Antonietta Baldassarre/Insidefoto/LightRocket via Getty Images)

There are few people past and present associated with Australian football who hold the national side so close to their hearts and who show more passion than Graham Arnold.

He should know that if a player has a single ounce of doubt about playing for the green and gold, they don’t deserve to be a part of the squad.

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Volpato was neglected through the youth set-up at both Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers, where he was deemed not good enough, even though Roma legend Francesco Totti scouted the teenager as a great prospect.

If this has played any part in his decision, so be it. It’s his life and he has the right to choose the nationality he wants to represent, which should be respected no matter how bitter a pill it is to swallow for Australians.

He has previously stated multiple times that his dream is to play for the Azzurri, so why did Arnold speak to him three days straight to convince him otherwise?

This move can easily unsettle the dressing room and provide discomfort for those who have earned their positions through the build-up and qualification phase, especially because Volpato has never had his heart set on Australia.

After the Aussies secured a ticket to Qatar due to the incredible heroics displayed to knock out Peru, Arnold made it clear to his players that no-one would be guaranteed a spot on the plane. Only form and fitness would count.

“It’s about performance and form,” Arnold told Fox Sports. “And you know, the message I drove straight after the Peru game to the players was no-one signed a contract. No-one’s got any guarantees. You have to get back to your clubs.”

If that is the case, then why was goalkeeper Mitch Langerak snubbed? He has been a consistent performer for club side Nagoya Grampus in the J.League, which led to the former Borussia Dortmund shot-stopper’s award for the club’s best player this season.

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Mitchell Langerak

(Photo by Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images)

Compare him to the inclusions of Mat Ryan, Andrew Redmayne and Danny Vukovic. Langerak, 34 years old, has played 690 minutes more than Ryan and 600 more minutes than the other two backups combined.

So much for form and fitness.

Players who should also feel hard done by include Jason Davidson, Harrison Delbridge, Kenny Dougall and Ryan Strain, who have all been racking up game time along with adequate form with their respective clubs.

It makes a mockery of Arnold’s claims.

The biggest let-down from the squad announcement was the exclusion of the talented trio in the form of Tom Rogic, Daniel Arzani and Marco Tilio.

Why didn’t Arnold pick these attacking players who can change a game in an instant if he was stubborn enough to select players like Ryan and Fran Karacic?

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Rogic by no means has had the best luck in terms of injuries and fitness, but he has been playing recently for his new club at West Brom Albion in the Championship.

The 29-year-old knows the Australian camp well and used to work under the current coach in his time back at the Mariners.

Arzani was recognised as the next big thing to be produced for Australia at the tender age of 19 at the 2018 World Cup. Has his form and fitness been that poor lately with Macarthur FC to warrant him missing out?

Tilio was involved in the Olyroos and Olympics squads, which have proven his potential and ability, and plays for Melbourne City, where he was instrumental in winning a championship.

Take reigning world champions France, for example. Despite the obvious discrepancy in talent on paper, if Paul Pogba were available to play after missing the entire season with Juventus, he would be selected because, in spite of form and fitness, he has an incredible gift that very few possess.

Graham Arnold does not have the luxury of dropping players based on form and fitness.

Australia has nothing to lose at this World Cup, so why not bring along an arsenal of weapons that can challenge it to get out of the group stages?

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The counterargument would be that youth is being focused on to build for the future and to gain experience for future World Cups. Riley McGree (24), Keanu Baccus (24), Cameron Devlin (24), Kye Rowles (24) and Joel King (22) are a handful that can turn this journey into a vital learning adventure.

While this is admirable, will those same players still be involved in this youth project in four years’ time?

Will Graham Arnold even be in charge of the national team in the foreseeable future?

Ange Postecoglou was supposed to lead a young generation to a better path and pave the way for an exciting new era. Instead he had a falling out with the board, and we have not seen players like Massimo Luongo appear again since his breakout performance at the 2015 Asian Cup.

This current Socceroos core possesses glimpses of developing prospects in the making, but Arnold’s decisions around his squad selection could cost him his job sooner than he might have anticipated.

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