Aside from Cahill's goals, was the Socceroos performance good enough to beat Japan?

Well I think nerves at the start could have lost us the game and ability for nobody else to score toward sthe end of the game. Probably won't help our course. This team is learning to slow, but at least they're learning.

My guess no. Some sloppy incident will beat us , and there were a shit tonne.

Definitely not whilst Bresc was on. The team performance once he left would have at least been competitive

Yeah I agree. I love the guy so much for all he's done in the past but looking forwards he's not really up to it anymore.

Iran would be a far bigger issue for us than Japan

Based on the first half, no not even close. The second half we were better but we need to be at the top of our game to hang with Japan. They are a classy side with a lot of weapons to contain. To do it for 90 minutes will be difficult.

Need to play our strongest 11 on the park. I have a feeling we might revert to 2 holding midfielders in Jedi and Milligan but I think that would be a mistake. I thought Sainsbury was awesome tonight and with Spira coming back our central defence should be rock solid. I prefer Behich to Davidson on the left fullback. NO BRESIANO at all anywhere. Everyone else coming in can do the business. I can see Juric coming off the bench last 30-35 minutes especially if we are a goal down but I wouldnt start him. Should be a cracker of a game.

If Jedinak pulls his finger out like we know he's capable of and Bresc doesn't start than yes.

Anything can happen. Japan have problems of their own and maybe UAE will exploit them. You should never peak too early in a tournament so the next game is when we have to hit everything to perfection and play our best 11. Should Wilkinson retain his spot?

God no.

Japan would have scored a goal every time Bresc had hold of the ball.

-PB

Not scored but missed 100% clear goal scoring oppurtunities.

Stop posting.

Did we play Japan? No. How can you draw a comparison between how we set up and played against China and how we set up and play against Japan. It's such a stupid fucking question. And obviously, by the way you set up the question, you are fishing for negative reactions.

Fuck off.

This. It's a whole new ball game.

Huh, Chill dude, question is legit. I see no problem with it.

TSF has had a few tonight :lol:

I'll try the more toned down version. People thought we were going to beat South Korea because of our performances against Kuwait/Oman in comparison to their performances.

People thought we were going to get battered against the Dutch after they put 5 passed Spain at the WC.

These comparisons are illogical and don't make any sense as football has too many permutations during a game to try and draw such a linear comparisons. It just doesn't work.

Let's just be happy we made it to the Semi's. =d>

Free beer for every goal at the pub. \:d/

Coach against oman the same way you coach against japan.

Get back to me with the results and see how the comparisons stack up.

Thank you. Another Sainsbury believer understands. No surprise.

Wouldn't have a clue atm. Utterly pissed and it's a miracle i'm on 442, let alone made it home. Keen to watch the replay in the morning for a full decentric style breakdown.

:lol:

Tbf his breakdowns are class

Fixed. That first half by Mile must be the worst half of football ever played by an Australian captain.

If you weren't in swan st you missed out.

Nah im not THAT into the national team.

Lets go UAE

Pretty sure Bresc turned it over more.

Mile just had a poor touch and flung some wayward passes.

-PB

Assuming Japan win tonight of course, Id say they'd go in as favourites. They're not playing their usual style of football and I think that hurts them a bit, but they have still looked quite sharp. If they can be more ruthless up front we could be in a bit of trouble, especially with our slow starts.

For me, we'll need to remove the slow start and hopefully score an early goal so we can get into our rhythm.

Edited by gk99: 23/1/2015 07:34:00 AM

1st half no. 2nd half possibly.

I'll be really interested to see how Japan play against us. Worst Korea & China decided that we were too lethal against Oman & Kuwait, so sat a lot of men behind the ball with the aim to make it hard for us to break them down + attempt to counter. Japan I don't think will play as "negatively".

I thought, as many have said, Bresc looked not up to it last night. What I think we were missing was McKay - his mobility gives us so much. If we have that same lineup but with McKay in place of Bresc (and the obvious exclusion of Wilkinson, who is dreadful at this level), I think we should be good. Japan know how to play the ball around, but with that potential lineup we'll be so mobile that we'll close the ball down all night, and I feel like we'll be tough to break down because of how much pressure we'll be putting on the ball.

If we start Troisi, I'll be less confident.

I have faith Jedi will be sweet vs Japan. Needed that tonight to get some confidence back in the ankle. Also thought getting that slice of cheese early made him hold back a bit.

All this thread confirms is the about 99% of people on football forums

1. have no idea about football
2. have never played football
3. have never coached football
4. have no understanding about shape or setting up a team to play against certain opposition.....

lock thread please........

This has actually made me excited to go to the UAE/Japan quarter final now

And that 100% of batfinks are try hards.

My worry would be Japan use their fresh reserve players to pressure, hoping they play Kagawa and Endo.
We saw in Japan how once they changed their line up and pressured they dominated Australia easily.
McKay was easily dominated by them in Japan once they pressured. Bresiano looks much worse physically has gone downhill at knots.
Ange may well use Milligan alongside Luongo.

So Japan have beaten the UAE already?

Fuck I hope UAE beat Japan..

You can only play the team you are facing . Trying to decide if we can beat Japan based on the China game is pointless.
Simple answer is yes we can beat Japan...but it has zero to do with our game against China.
BTW Japan are no certainties to beat UAE.

thank you...

like they say

"it's better to be a has been than a never was" or "it's better to be a try hard then a lame arse"

Honda picks up a red 2 minutes into the match against UAE. Causing the match to be competitive. Making them more tired. Minor injury to both shinjis. Japan win but head into the semis in a dreadful condition. We could possibly beat that team. Especially if Kawashima picks up a red really early.

milligan was so much better. bresciano was noticeably slow. his worst performance that i can remember.

jedinak needs to refrain from passing beyond 10 m. short passes. give it to sainsbury or spiro to move forward with the tricky shit.

Agree

Bresc has done his dash I'd say. An unbelievable servant for Australia, but his time is up.

I wouldn't even mind seeing Milligan in that advance role. He's been excellent this tournament, and we know he can score goals.

This

I'd say about 30-50% of people here on 442 but agree with the rest.o:)

Edited by AEK Spartan: 23/1/2015 11:49:14 AM

no, china aren't even close to having the sort of cohesive attacking strategy that teams like japan or even s.korea have. Anyone who was worried or nervous about the china game doesn't pay enough attention when they're watching football. China never showed any hint in their other games that they had the tools or method to unlock the socceroos.

Japan are not playing well. Long balls from the keeper, high crosses in the box to short players, not sure what their coach is doing.

Perhaps they're pacing themselves.

OTOH our form as abysmal in yesterday's first half.

Should we play Japan the game will be won and lost in the middle. The refs have been letting things go that they don't usually in Asia. If they stop that I can see Jedinak being sent off. I'd start Milligan Antonis and Luongo.

The other concern is giving up free kicks in and around the box. Unlike us they do have dead ball specialists. Our full backs will be also be under a lot of pressure.

Hard to pick this one if it in fact eventuates.

He'll get better, just needs to find his feet at international level.

It's hard to tell how much the pitch and conditions affected performance. It was impossible to get good first touches in tight spaces. The ball would bobble into the air when trapped. China could counter our game just by rushing us

What does that even mean? Japan is probably the only Premier League quality side here... International level is usually much lower than what he plays.

real shame Antonis couldn't make the Japan trip and get that much needed time in camp.

he and Loungo could be great 8s for us.

Even if we play horrible we have a chance to beat Japan.

They can't put away chances, they can't deal with physicality, they can't deal with crosses.

Anyone forgot the WCQ matches between the socceroos and japan? both finished 1-1 and we were shit :lol: the match in brisbane we were defending in the 6 yard box :lol: A slow oggy spent 90mins pushing, elbowing, pulling the Japanese striker who couldn't do anything with him.

Ange will have to tell the boys to whip in more crosses and play on the counter. This is why Japan has always had a lot of trouble against the Euro sides at the World Cup 2/7 wins against Euro sides at the World Cup. Ivory Coast beat them at the World Cup by countering well and using their physical strength. Greece drew with them at the World Cup playing with 10 men for an hour.

x2

I am really worried about:

Honda and Kagawa vs Davidson and Franjic.

Beacsue his poor touch and wayward passes are a chronic problem, lower standard or not. And there's nothing "just" about it. Having a poor touch and wayward passing are damning for a midfielder. it shouldn't even be a discussion point at this level. We won doesn't mean we ignore it

For whatever reason international level is different to club football

Technique seems even more important. There tends to be a twenty game adjustment period though some take longer, others never adjust

Not sure why

Also I'd argue that most teams in asia are seriously underrated by a lot of Aussies. When we had a strong epl quality side we struggled against even the weaker teams in Asia apart from the occasional game

Two pot screamer?

We can definitely beat Japan, the friendly last year showed that we can match them and we've improved since then
The biggest worry is at each end of the park, making the sure the back 5 don't freak out and put Ryan under constant pressure and then getting the front 3 to convert chances, last night we should have had minimum 4 goals

Underrated to an extent, we should be beating most teams in Asia that's a fact. Asia has a clear separation in class. Our World Cup 2010 qualification was a breeze, unbeaten in the final round, conceded 1 goal etc. We were terrible in World Cup qualifying in 2014, in what was possibly one of our weakest squads in history and what many fans considered to be an inept manager, yet we qualified directly.

South Korea, Japan who have made the last 3 World Cups directly, Iran have made 2 of the last 3 World Cups directly. I feel as though these are the teams at the top of Asia.

There are some ok second tier sides that can be competitive with the top sides but after that there is an enormous drop.

Qualifying is more difficult due to the lack of preparation, travel, playing away etc. Japan and Korea normally separate themselves. In the past 15 years it is quite clear the most consistent sides have been Japan and Korea. Japan have made every world Cup directly and made the Semi Final or better at every Asian Cup since 2000, South Korea is the same and has made the Semi Final or better of every Asian Cup since 2000 except for one. The bigger sides generally, not always find a way to get through in the Asian Cup and WCQ even if they have slip ups on the way.




Edited by jonomv: 23/1/2015 01:43:40 PM

Must have been one hell of a night!!!

they will murder us.. they are better attacking team then Korea

Agree with all of this except I think Bresciano will make an appearance of the bench if we're chasing the game.

Listen up. The purpose of forums, on this and other websites, is to encourage discussion. Some of the topics I post don't get a good response. This one seems to have stimulated some discussion. That's life. For all we know, the fact you post so much could mean you have no other life except on this forum. If you're depressed, and are the sort of person that takes it out on strangers, seek help, because you're probably doing the same thing to the people around you.

Milligans decent but not nearly creative enough I think he should just be first drop for the padawan. Handy for a goal hear and there but I cant see it working if its his full time job to score / create

=d>

lol:-&

Milligan or McKay can't create, let's just end it there.

Also not one of our so called 'creators' moves enough off the ball to help create anything.

Watch Bresh after he passes, stands still. Watch half of the team do this. It's a habit, fuck blaming the conditions or the pitch . This is why they get left out of their clubs squads for Belgians and Holland players. Not proactive enough.

Troisi for Bresh any day of the week. lol'd at Sainsbury getting forward over the defensive mids. Fucking split the defense open a few times

If we are picking on form Luongo, McKay and Milligan should be the midfield trio. We'll need there movement both on and off the ball, if we send out Jedi & Bresc together against Japan we'll be blown off the park.

Mckay was alright back in the day but is well past it now. I remember he set up 3 goals against Uzbekistan in Asian Cup Semi final 4 years ago was solid. Sains is a beast he is going all the way Bresciano really increased everyones work load it wont work against Japan he has become to lazy playing in the Middle East you can tell the game there is far less intense than what it was like in Serie A for him. Will cost us the game against Japan if he starts guaranteed.

Jedinak won't play that badly twice in a row. Milligan or (and it pains me to say this) McKay offer more than Bresciano on current form although McKay was pretty average against Korea (but was excellent v Oman).

Pity for Milligan that he didn't put away that excellent chance last night, would probably have guaranteed him a start in the semi.

Hopefuly UAE do the business v Japan.

Spira can play at FB, can move forward with the ball and put in a good cross. Keep Wilko and Sainsbury together and replace Davidson with Spira.

I'd also say thanks for the memories to Bresc and partner Luongo with Oar.

SelectFew is actually training / learning a course to be a teacher.
His influence could drastically reduce the IQ of the next generation of kids in Australia....scary but true.

Edited by SocaWho: 23/1/2015 06:33:11 PM

Will never happen

I don't think it will either. But neither Davidson or Behich instil any confidence.

Yesterday, Luongo, though a AM was helping out Franjic but Davidson got no help from Bresc. Oar could do the same job for Davidson. Even Milligan when he came on balanced the side a lot better and helped out Davidson.

Case in point this current UAE game.

35 shots, one goal.

So are we good enough to beat UAE?

Well at least we don't have to worry about that any more :)

New thread

dammit....i was hoping to see au v japan

i feel robbed

Edited by kavorka: 23/1/2015 11:30:52 PM

:lol: we always smarting in hindsight

Japan will slaughter Australia because they are so good. Honda will score a hattrick against the Socceroos because he is so good...

Oh wait, Japan are out. Fuckin morons. Suck shit to all the Japan fans on here. Socceroos for the Asian Cup 2015. #AngeIn