McKay had a reasonable WC for Australia.

Originally, Holger played him as a LB, to fill a perceived weakness. McKay had been one of the best players in the team as a central midfielder.

In the interim, Holland and Milligan did well as central midfielders.

I believe Holland, has a wider skill set than Jedinak, McKay or Milligan, and is a more complete player. At this stage, the aforementioned trio appear to be play better as part of a team unit, possibility though experience.

McKay has a decent first touch, constantly turning the ball away form his opponents with the inside of the foot on the left side of the body. He is not a competent going right , with the inside of the right foot, or the outside of the left foot. Sometimes with good diagonal positioning, he can break the line with his first touch , through beating his marker with expert timing and distancing when receiving the ball from back to front.

McKay passes and moves well in confined spaces, an issue with some of his Socceroo team-mates.

His handling speed is pretty good too. In terms of off the ball movement, he is not as proactive as Spanish players, but he sets up the desired diagonal passing lanes effectively, moving quickly after receiving the ball to open further passing lanes for team-mates.

His Running With The Ball is good in terms of control , but he lacks speed over the turf.

In 1v1 defensive skills McKay is a mediocre tackler, but is quick to recover if beaten, and difficult to wrong foot by opponents. In terms of 1v1 heading duels he is good, but too short against many of his opponents.

In an attacking 1v1 context, he does a good standard cut with the inside of his left foot. Unfortunately, he has few other 1v1 evasion techniques.

Importantly, McKay has good game sense and seems to work well in conjunction with team-mates, defensively and offensively.

It was good to see McKay getting an opportunity with the Socceroos. He was able to play in his preferred position as central midfieldder, after losing his spot to Milligan, after covering as LB, where his speed over the turf let him down.



Edited by Decentric: 26/6/2014 03:05:39 PM

Best A-League based Socceroo for me. One of the best I have played against. So sharp.

His work rate off the ball in pressuring the opponents midfield and rushing their passes was far beyond anyone else in the team. His passing accuracy appeared (simply from watching the game for enjoyment) a bit poor, but they were largely optimistic forward passes and so not the worst ones to go wrong. Unfortunately he did have some dud passes that almost cost us.

I'm so glad that he got to play in his preferred position at a WC, and his attitude and professionalism over the years has been top notch.

I was a huge critic and happy to admit I was wrong. Really held his own

I've never been one of the haters but i've had my doubts in recent years. Part of that would of come down to concerns he was in the squad as LB cover. Outshone Milligan I reckon and played his best NT football since the 2011 Asian Cup.

Have never liked him but thought he did a solid job at the WC. Doesn't offer much of a threat attacking-wise but kept errors to a minimum which is important given the way he plays. Still think he should have left the volley off the corner for Jedinak v Spain.

Very accurate assessment of his strengths Decentric. I'm a fan of Mckay's and believe that he and Jedinak are a more balanced combination than Jedinak with either Milligan or Holland.

McKay was part of a very good left side combination at the last Asian Cup - Carney as an attacking LB and McKay as a dependable LM whose job was to play as an additional, left sided, CM player, opening the channel for Carney to attack and covering for him when he did. He often played telling through balls for Carney too, the best being that ball he played against Germany when we beat them with Carney's goal.

But at this WC he played in his normal position as a genuine CM in Millsy's absence and I thought did a very good job. I agree with Decentric that his lack of defensive abilities counts against him and he isn't overly quick (don't really need to be as a CM), but Ange got the absolute best out of him at the WC.

Someone like Antonis has a far more diverse skill set but right now, McKay is a far more experienced player who makes good decisions. I want the young guys to hurry up and overtake Milligan, Jedinak and McKay of course, but McKay certainly didn't let anyone down.