If i was Ange, i would look to play a different formation to accommodate the fact we will have less possession of the ball, and given we have the players to play on the counter attack, we should look to drop the number 10 and play with the one 6 instead of two.

Otherwords a 4-1-4-1 like Bayern under Pep Guardiola, in defensive the wingers are in line with the two 10s or 8s, and we break they would go in line with the 9 up front.

Just my opinion.

:)

----------------------------------------Ryan

Williams------------Spiranovic----------Good-------------Davidson

-----------------------Milligan-----------------Jedinak

Leckie?--------------------Bresciano-------------------Oar

-----------------------------Cahill/Kennedy


Ryan - because his foot skills on the deck give Australia the option of another player/sweeper in defence. He is that much better than his rivals, Jones, Langerak, Eugene, Frederici in this aspect of football, even if any of them are better shot stoppers and more proficient coming off their line. Ryan is more valuable in Ball Possession than any other keeper we have.


Rhys Williams - as a RB, where his heading ability and aerial crossing ability gives him the edge over Franjic and Wilkshire
(heading). He has played better at RB than CB, where he has been overpowered in physical strength on to many occasions. His defensive positioning and game sense has been better at RB than CB for the Roos.

Spira - currently the best CB we have. Probably, the only person in football who may not agree may be Popovic, who has made some strange decisions for WSW personnel. Popa may know something about an injury Spira is carrying that we don't.

Spira was a little weak a few years ago in 1v1 heading, tackling and strength duels for the Roos, but he was improving in these areas before his club issues manifested. Now he is better having worked ion his weaknesses. His defensive positioning is pretty good. He was the most consistent young player for the Soceroos, before he was dropped by Holger for club issues. His distribution is probably as good as Neill's, so other than experience, Neill has no advantage over him in any facet of the game. I'm not sure about his recovery speed if beaten.

Good - selected because of his superior 1v1 physical strength ability over Williams. A better tackler and header of the ball too. Good seemed like he had reasonable distribution skills too and is still young, so should keep improving. For an embryonic partnership he did well in distancing and communication with Spira. Good has been tested more than McGowan at CB. Ogger is a great ball winner, but his distribution has never been that good.

Davidson - not so much in the Ecuador game, he threw a lot of weight around against Costa Rica. A physical presence, also reasonable distribution, can cross aerially, is still young and will continue to improve. Seems to have a bit of pace and can recover quite quickly if beaten. Holds more than his own in strength and tackling duels. His game sense is shaky at times though, making some poor decisions.

If Gombau is leaving Zullo out for AU at LB because of a lack of height /aerial ability, he is even more suspect as a Socceroo, even though he did well when he played as Socceroo LB.

Milligan - times have changed. Possibly our best current player. Cannot believe a player can improve so much in his mid -twenties. Good balance of ball winning and distribution skills. He almost seems to improve in every Socceroo game he plays. Often plays better for the Socceroos than Victory. He also has leadership qualities, excellent game sense, and mental strength. Players like Bresciano and Jedinak seem to play better with him, than combining with other players. For some reason Millsy seems to fit well into the team.

Against Ecuador he played many good balls when receiving the ball in unfavourable body positions. He is becoming very two footed, receiving well with both sides of the body when playing from back to front. He is now starting to pass well over range, like Grella. Credit to Ange P and Muscat for developing him so much.=d>

Has consigned Valeri, even at his peak, to non-selection. Milligan does everything better. Even if Sarota, Holland, Williams play in better comps in Europe, Milligan does the business for the Socceroos. His weakness is probably pace and speed on the turn to recover if beaten and chase down players and tackle or barge off the ball.

Jedinak - he has also improved late in his twenties, after being a HAL reject and unwanted in the Croatian league. Jedda's handling speed in ball possession has sped up from the limited time and space he has had in the EPL. Similar to Milligan, except better aerially, but not as mobile.

His weakness is the same as Milligan's, except he did better against Ecuador in being dribbled around. He is much better in this facet of the game since when he first played for the Roos. Seems to have lifted since some of the veterans have been dropped - Wilkshire, Neill, Carney, Holman.

Leckie - may not have the talent of Vidosic, but has performed better and more consistently for the Roos. Of course Kruse is injured, but he may be the best option as right flanker. His aerial crossing quality is mediocre and his first touch needs a lot of work though. Leckie is a good defensive player in the attacking half of the pitch (better than Cahill and Kennedy) and runs well off the hall defensively and offensively.


Bresciano - after seeing Rogic run out of gas so much, Bresc , if he can play some club football, even though a veteran hasn't faded like most of his peers. Great vision, very good technical qualities, superb first touch, he cannot ball carry like Rogic, or dribble around players like the Celtic bhoy, but his defensive game, and stamina make him the best person for the job, given Holman's high pressure game is not being assisted by playing in the Middle-east. Other than the fast improving Milligan, along with Spira and Ryan, Bresc may still be our best player.



Oar- his last performance against Ecuador clinched his spot. His aerial crossing has improved, as has his whole game. He can drift out of games. His physical strength has improved, winning some aggressive tackles and strength duels.


Cahill/Kennedy - both are similar these days. Poor defensive players, not closing down as well as most of their team-mates, but they are both our most clinical penalty box predators. Cahill holds the ball up better than he used to. Both players are outstanding in the air. With his incredible positioning in the box, Cahill probably gets the nod over Kennedy.







This team may not win a game in Brazil, but they are the best we have at this point in time. They should do better at the Asian Cup with bit of experience. A shame Postecoglou couldn't have had this lot playing for the last year for the Roos.

I'll do the squad players in another post.





Edited by Decentric: 26/3/2014 06:17:52 PM

Edited by dr. bellows: 25/3/2014 02:34:16 AM

Great squad Decentric, agree with all your points. But unfortunately Rhys Williams won't be there because of another injury.

I'm off travelling overseas in a couple of days until the start of the World Cup.

I might only do the stats after Brazil and enjoy observing the many other teams on show. So for the statistically minded, Grazorblade, Neanderthal, et al, I'll probably put all three games up together, some time in July.

I cannot imagine the Aussies playing any more games than three at the WC, but we can only hope.

I'v just done the Chile game.

When I've done the Dutch and Spanish games in a few weeks I'll put all of the stats up.

I've been in a remote location for a lot of the last few months.

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/forums/default.aspx?g=posts&m=2036964&#2036964


I'm heading off tomorrow for a few days in a remote location.

I've posted all my thoughts on the performances of all players at the World Cup, with a summary of each player in the aforementioned thread.

When I return I'll put all the games up that Australia played.

Funnily enough, the A League players selected, probably averaged out to be the best Aussie players - Spira, Milligan, McKay, Franjic and possibly Troisi's cameos.

AUSTRALIA v CHILE in Brazil World Cup

Australia 1, Chile.




Australia had 35% possession, Chile had 65% possession.



This is based on completed passes. There was a differential in 15 metre plus ball carries of 15 to Australia and 11 to Chile. So possession would have been slightly more to Australia.






Australia completed 236 passes, Chile 431 passes.


In the break up of those passes Australia had 117 in the defensive half and 119 in the attacking half. Chile made 196 defensive passes and 235 attacking passes.



Oar only completed 6 effective passes in the 68 minutes he was on the pitch.



Milligan was busiest for the Roos, completing 36 passes at 90%.

Davidson was quite busy, completing 26 passes at 76%.

Leckie completed 26 passes at 96%.

In the all important defensive pass accuracy, Milligan made 16 at 100%, Wilkinson 16 at 100%, Spiranovic 14 at 93%, and Davidson 15 at 88%.



Milligan also executed the most for passes difficult passes - 12. They are defence splitting passes, eye of the needle passes, killer passes and passes made under close defensive pressure.




Australia won 39 more 1v1 duels.




There were 142 1v1 duels altogether. This is an average figure.



Milligan featured in 16, 1v1 duels; winning 7 more than he lost.

Leckie featured in 19 1v1 duels; winning 8 more than he lost.

Jedinak contested 17, 1v1s; with a win/loss ledger of 0.


The lowest contested 1v1 duels figure for Australian players on the pitch for most of the game, was Bresciano, 5, (whose ledger was minus 3), the worst in the team.

Spira won 5 more than he lost, out of 7 contested.

Davo won 5 more than he lost, out of 12 contested.

Wilko won 6 more than he lost, out of 9 contested.

Franjic won 5 more than he lost, out of 9 contested.

Oar won 1 more than he lost out of 9 contested.






Australia had 876% pass accuracy[/b][/i] for attempted passes , Chile had 92 %.



The all important defensive pass accuracy was 94 % for Australia , whilst Chile achieved 98 % .

Attacking pass accuracy for Australia was 79% , whilst Chile achieved 88%.


Australia had 16 shots for goal, Chile had 8.





Australia had 4 shots on target, Chile had 5.

Aussie keeper made 1 saves, whilst the Chilean keeper made 3.



The ball carrying favoured Australia 15 to 11. Leckie achieved the highest number of 15 metre plus ball carries for Australia with 8.



Edited by Decentric: 31/8/2014 04:10:41 PM

AUSTRALIA v HOLLAND in Brazil World Cup

Australia 2, Holland 3.




Australia had 50.5% possession, Holland had 49.5% possession.



This is based on completed passes. There was a differential in 15 metre plus ball carries of 15 to Australia and 14 to Holland . So possession according to ball carries would've been similar overall if added to possession based on passes.





Australia completed 271passes, Holland 266 passes.


In the break up of those passes Australia had 160 in the defensive half and 111 in the attacking half. Holland made 169 defensive passes and 97 attacking passes.



Oar only completed 4 effective passes in the 76 minutes he was on the pitch.



Wilko was busiest for the Roos, completing 46 passes at 94%.

Spira was also quite busy, completing 43 passes at 98%.

Jedda completed 27 passes at 87%.

McKay completed 25 passes at 83%.

Bresciano completed 18 passes at 90% in his 51 minutes on the pitch.

In the all important defensive pass accuracy, Wilko made 40 at 100%;
Spira, 37 at 100%;
McGowan 13 at 87%;
Jedda 14 at 87%.



Bresciano executed the most for passes difficult passes - 8. They are defence splitting passes, eye of the needle passes, killer passes and passes made under close defensive pressure.

Leckie also achieved 7 difficult passes.




Australia won 26 more 1v1 duels.




There were 176 1v1 duels altogether. This is an above average figure and 34 more than against Chile.



Oar featured in 19, 1v1 duels; with a ledge of minus 5.

Cahill featured in 19, 1v1 duels; winning 1 more than he lost.

Jedinak contested 11, 1v1s; winning 9 more than he lost.


The lowest contested 1v1 duels figure for Australian players on the pitch for most of the game, was Taggart, 1, (whose ledger was minus 1), the worst in the team. He played 45 minutes.

The worst win loss ledger was Wilko's at minus 2, out of 11 contested.

Spira won 7 more than he lost, out of 15 contested.

Davo won 7 more than he lost, out of 18 contested.

Bresciano won 6 more than he lost, out of 14 contested.








Australia had 90 % pass accuracy for attempted passes , Holland had 93 %.



The all important defensive pass accuracy was 94 % for Australia , whilst Holland achieved 97 % .

Attacking pass accuracy for Australia was 84% , whilst Holland achieved 87%.


Australia had 10 shots for goal, Holland had 13.





Australia had 4 shots on target, Holland had 6.

Aussie keeper made 6 saves, whilst the Dutch keeper made 2.



The ball carrying favoured Australia 15 to 14. Leckie achieved the highest number of 15 metre plus ball carries for Australia with 4.

AUSTRALIA v Spain in Brazil World Cup

Australia 0, Spain 3.




Australia had 42% possession, Spain had 58% possession.



This is based on completed passes. There was a differential in 15 metre plus ball carries of 19 to Australia and 21 to Spain. So possession according to ball carries, would've been similar overall, if, added to possession based on passes.





Australia completed 294 passes, Spain 403 passes.


In the break up of those passes Australia had 198 in the defensive half and 96 in the attacking half. Spain made 189 defensive passes and 214 attacking passes.



Oar only completed 2 effective passes in the 60 minutes he was on the pitch.



Spira was busy for the Roos, completing 38 passes at 100%.

Wilko was also quite busy, completing 37 passes at 93%.

Jedda was busy, completing 41 passes at 80%. He mishit 2 in the defensive half and 8 in the attacking half.

McKay was busiest completing 44 passes at 85%.

Davo completed 32 passes at 86%.

In the all important defensive pass accuracy, Spira made 35 at 100%;
Wilko, 37 at 100%;
Ryan, 28 at 90%;
McKay, at 96%;
Davo, 23 at 96%
Jedda, 31 at 87%.



McKay executed the most difficult passes - 9. These are defined as defence splitting passes, eye of the needle passes, killer passes and passes made under close defensive pressure.

Leckie also achieved 7 difficult passes.

Bozanic achieved 6 in his 71 minutes played on the pitch.

Notably, Bresciano achieved 4 in his 20 minus on the pitch as a sub.




Australia won 18 more 1v1 duels.




There were 141 1v1 duels altogether. This is an average figure, similar to Chile, and 35 less than against Holland.



Oar featured in 14, 1v1 duels; with a ledger of plus 2.

McKay, contested 13, winning 5 more than he lost.

Jedinak contested 11, 1v1s; winning 4 more than he lost.


The lowest contested 1v1 duels figure for Australian players on the pitch for most of the game, was Taggart, 4, (whose ledger was minus 2), the worst in the team. He played 45 minutes.

The worst win/loss ledger was Wilko's at minus 2, out of 11 contested.

Spira won 4 more than he lost, out of 13 contested.

Davo won 5 more than he lost, out of 11 contested.










Australia had 84% pass accuracy for attempted passes , Spain had 91 %.



The all important defensive pass accuracy was 95 % for Australia , whilst Spain also achieved 95 % .

Attacking pass accuracy for Australia was 67% , whilst Spain achieved 88%.


Australia had 6 shots for goal, Spain had 13.





Australia had 1 shot on target, Spain had 6.

Aussie keeper made 3 saves, whilst the Spanish keeper made 1.



The 15 metre plus ball carrying favoured Spain 21 to 19. Spira achieved the highest number of 15 metre plus ball carries for Australia with 6, and Leckie 5.

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/forums/default.aspx?g=posts&m=2058659&#2058659


This is the link in the Australian Section for the stats/ analysis for the Socceroo games against Belgium and Saudi Arabia.

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/forums/default.aspx?g=posts&t=96503

Completed the UAE game.

Haven't finished the Qatar game yet. I'm at half time, but I've posted a few bits of info in Australian section.

There is more to like about the Qatar game, that we lost, than the UAE game, that we drew.

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/forums/default.aspx?g=posts&t=96686


The match stats are in the General Discussion section for Australia v UAE and Qatar.

It would of been of greater benefit to the game had you concentrated on th u21 teams an games.

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/forums/default.aspx?g=posts&t=96686

Here are the two games against UAE and Qatar.

You could be right.

I is just that I have a base to work from comparing like for like in the Socceroos.

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/forums/default.aspx?g=posts&t=97627

Japan /Aus game is in Aussie section ATM.

Could never get a replay of the Asian Cup final to do the Australia/South Korea game.:cry:

I'm pretty jaded from doing the Socceroo current team . Having done stats on Jedinak, Milligan, McKay, and particularly Cahill for years, I was going to leave the stats for a year or so until some new players come in. I just know their games so well and there is little new of significance.

That is, other than Milligan still improving as a player. Also, Jedinak being so effective as a single midfield screener , whereas when working in a twin screener combo, I believe many other combinations are better than Jedinak in any of them, with various combinations of personnel of Milligan, McKay and Brillante, in that Jedi should not warrant a place in the team.

After watching Germany this morning , I'm interested in having a look at DeVere and Nathan Burns. So I'll do whole team comparisons in stats, which takes a lot less time and work and only look at DeVere, and Burns. I will also add Milligan playing as an attacking midfielder instead of a defensive one.

From a one off look, I think Burns should be our first choice forward bar none - Cahill, Kruse, Leckie, Troisi, Juric. It might be different when I go through the game assiduously. I think Burns has better technique in Ball Carrying and 1v1 Attacking skills than any of these other guys, only superseded by Rogic.

There are also implications of some overseas coaches being poor at talent identification, when it seems Burns and DeVere look to have so quickly adapted to playing international football under Ange's tutelage against the world champs, despite playing in what so many in Australia are so critical of - our own HAL.


Under Ange it may be the case that the best Aussies playing in the HAL are as good as any playing overseas. Milligan, Spira, Burns, DeVere and McKay seem to be able to play HAL and perform at a reasonable level in international football. It must be the coaching that players are receiving in the HAL,seamlessly extrapolating to similar style coaching at international level under Ange.

There are also more stats available now in other places, but they don't differentiate between attacking and defensive passes, or whether they are made under pressure or not, and they don't provide analysis of them.





Edited by Decentric: 26/3/2015 04:46:30 PM

Certainly looks that way, I think Ange takes it up a notch which you expect from an NT coach anyway. Don't think Holger or Pim could do this well with Australians

Pim would find it a lot easier to coach the current HAL Aussies. I think he was an excellent coach, but couldn't coach players who had had poor tactical and technical coaching prior. He said he would consider coaching in the HAL given the massive tactical improvement he has observed in the HAL if offered a position.

Pim was the coach we needed to have to navigate us through Asia for the first time. The culmination was beating Serbia in the 2010 in South Africa.

I think Holger was a bit of a dud. He was a product of old school German coaching, not the wonderful revised curriculum Lowe and Klopp are products of. To his credit, Holger gave Ogger, McKay and Brosque a go in the national team.

Ange has a different role than Abrams, the new TD. Ange oversees players in the national team after they get to 17. Abrams does a lot of work with those below.

Berger had a massive job. To his credit, we are now seeing the benefits with senior players, who are not that good technically, be able to play effectively as a team. The team unit is greater than the sum of their parts.

Up to this stage of looking at the German game, 50 minutes, Burns has done little defensively. His first touches have been extraordinary for an Aussie, his composure on the ball in tight spaces is unmatched by any other current Aussie, apart from Rogic. At this stage he hasn't won tackles, made intercepts or caused turnovers though.

After 30 minutes, DeVere has really lifted and looks to be a great prospect. He hasn't got an understanding with Wilko yet either, but no doubt has similar quality individually to Spira and Sainsbury. =d>

Disturbingly, Sainsbury, Spira, Wiko and Devere are playing far better as CBs, than Davo and Franjic are playing as full backs ATM.

McGowan has no hope of further selection unless any of this aforementioned quartet are injured. Bailey Wright needs to move to a different league than League One if he is to progress.

Davo has gone backwards since a couple of good World Cup games and has made a big mistake moving to the EPL.

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/forums/default.aspx?g=posts&m=2192500&#2192500


Here is the Germany game.

it was a good one to do, because the stats, and watching the replay, with many slowed down frames, showed up a different impression of the match from what I thought from a live viewing.

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/forums/default.aspx?g=posts&t=100347


Here are the stats for the Macedonia game.

I don't think Australia have ever dominated a game so much in terms of possession and territory.

At he same time, they had few shots on goal for all the territory and possession they enjoyed.

Will do the Krygystan game now.

I've been unable to access the 442 forum for 8 days. Thought the whole forum may have been closed down.

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/forums/default.aspx?g=posts&t=103939

This is the link for the Krygystan/ Australia game.

Anyone looking for the two WC qualifiers against Bangladesh and Tajikstan, I will start doing these over the next few days.

They will take longer than normal because Australia had so much possession.

http://leopoldmethod.com.au/tajikistan-0-3-australia-midfield-overloads-create-space-out-wide/



Given Tim Palmer and /or Kate Cohen are starting to address some technical aspects of football in these two games, I might give the whole team stats/analysis a miss.

They've done a good job with these games.=d>

I might have a look at some new players and experienced players playing in different roles - Mooy, Rogic, Elrich, and Milligan instead of Jedi at number 6.

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/forums/default.aspx?g=posts&t=109172



Here are the links in Australian section for Bangladesh and Tajikstan.

Edited by Decentric: 28/9/2015 02:31:05 PM

thought even rogic was weaker than in tight spaces than our u16s with rogic being the best

in particular the u16s were great with their first touch 1v1s sheiding the ball in tight spaces and being effective with their backs to goal

Grazor, transferred this quote to the thread in Australian section.




Edited by Decentric: 28/9/2015 02:33:46 PM

ATM in theJordan game I've done the first 15 minutes. In hindsight, it is some of the best football the Socceroos have ever played.

At this stage though, the Socceroos have only had 2 clear chances on goal. Both shots from range, from Oar and Rogic, which forced the keeper into desperate saves. In this stanza of the match, Jordan barely touched the ball.

In terms of coaching and selection we would've been applauding Ange, as Andy Harper was.

By the end of the game, Ange was culpable for his non-selection of McKay. He is far better than Mooy or Rogic when the other team has the ball. As the game progressed, Leckie not playing on the flanks was also missed, defensively, as he was playing as central striker. Troisi's defensive engine and speed was missed defensively as well.

In the first 15 minutes, when Australia dominating possession, I don't think any line up , even with all players fully fit, apart from having Kruse on the wing instead of Luongo, could've played better.

In his only 1v1 dribbling action, Rogic completely beat a defender all ends up, with a flashy Jairzinho turn, but unfortunately ran into a cul de sac of three Joradians a few metres later. The worse thing about Rogic is the running to link the shape he has to do when the other team has the ball.

ATM as an attacking mid, he needs a faster player than Mooy next to him, like Luongo or Troisi in particular, in the midfield triangle to compensate for his ponderous movement over the turf.

At the same time, Mooy along with Milligan, and probably Spira, has been our best outfield player over the course of the year.


He has been our most effective attacking midfielder, being a more two sided and both footed player than Luongo, Rogic and Troisi. He is so comfortable receiving from back to front of the pitch on either side of the body , like Milligan. ATM there is an argument that he should be the first attacking mid selected.

Edited by Decentric: 16/10/2015 09:14:12 AM