AGE is just a number for Socceroos evergreen midfielder Mark Milligan.
Nonetheless, his old head continues to prove ever more important to a youthful Australia side as they strive towards their goal of climbing up the world standings.
Milligan when fit and available is one of the first names inked on Ange Postecoglou’s team-sheets.
A dependable presence through a period of change within the squad in the last four years.
Numbers were on Postecoglou’s mind earlier this week. Irked by questions about Germany’s plans to blood a young side against Australia in the opening fixture in Russia, the bellicose coach challenged journalists to “do the maths” and compare the average age of his first XI and the world champions, claiming his starting team, not Joachim Low’s, would be younger.
They weren’t. Though were Milligan, at 31 the oldest player to take the field in Sochi, six years younger, it would have been a tie. It is a measure of how callow the current squad is, and how vital someone like Milligan is within that structure.
With Mile Jedinak missing the trip through injury, and Tim Cahill now set in a role as an impact substitute, Milligan is Postecoglou’s chief on-field lieutenant. One of few natural leaders in the team, he’s grateful for the coach’s backing. Though, rightly, he insists he has stayed in the team on merit.
“That doesn’t come without hard work and constant effort. It’s definitely not something I take for granted,” he says of Postecoglou’s backing.
“The chance to start for the Socceroos means as much to me now as the first time I ever got called in to a squad.”
Deployed in either one of the two holding midfield roles, or as a member of the back three, Milligan also has versatility in his armoury. Covering space behind wing backs tasked with pushing forward, there is still plenty of running in his legs.
There needs to be.
Though he contests the idea that the 3-2-4-1 formation the side have yet to fully perfect leaves the side defensively vulnerable.
“The new system suits us in the way that we want to play going forward. There is pressure on the defence but we always talk about defending as a unit, and that starts from the front,” he said.
“If we’re on from the very front all the way through, that takes a lot of pressure off the back three. They are the focus because they’re the last line, but in all honesty it starts a lot further up than that.”
Should Australia book a return trip to Russia next summer, Milligan is poised to travel to a fourth World Cup finals. That would likely prove an international swan song, in terms of major tournaments at least.
So he is well placed to judge the potential of the current crop of Socceroos, and believes they can push on, even after he has called time. Precisely because of their collective youthfulness.
“It’s a team that could be together for quite a while,” he said.
“There’s a lot of young boys but who have been around the squad for a couple of years.
“You can see them growing, not just in confidence but in their ability. It’s definitely exciting to think about what could possibly be down the track, but it’s also important we stay focused on the now.”
The now for Milligan, once the Confederations Cup is over, is about finding a club for next season, after his contract with UAE-based Baniyas SC ended before he left for Russia.
One where he can play consistently to keep in the best shape to retain his pivotal place in the Socceroos squad that has ambitions to not just reach another World Cup but compete when they get there.
He is likely to attract a number of offers.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/veteran-mark-milligan-proving-indispensable-in-period-where-socceroos-embrace-distinctly-youthful-look/news-story/07924ca272326676000fbbcc45ea179f