Predicting the 2018 WC team?

Impossible of course. But we can always try. Let's hope we qualify first. It is becoming harder and harder in Asia so lets hope we just qualify.

But if we do............

(age during 2018 WC in brackets)



Subs:

Langerak (29), Birighitti (27), Galloway (23), Wright (25), Gersbach (21), Brillante (25), Irvine (25), Luongo (25), Oar (26), Ikonomidis (23), De Silva (21), Cahill (38).

EDIT:

I'll list the next lot of players who could come in for inevitable injuries:

Federici (33), Geria (25), Good (25), Degenek (24), Elder (23), Antonis (24), Milligan (32), Hoole (24), Amini (25), Mabil (22), Ibini (25), McLaren (24)

Between now and 2018?............... (I don't mean to jinx)

Ryan - Struggles for game time at Valencia and signs for recently promoted Alaves where he dominates
Williams - Middlesborough will be promoted without him and he will sign a permanent deal with recently relegated Aston Villa - and get the team promoted to EPL as captain.
Sainsbury - signs with a big eredivisie club like Feyenoord.
Spiranovic - Stays in China and signs for Evergrande.
Smith - regular at Liverpool who are now a mid-table club
Jedinak - signs with Premier League strugglers with West Brom for his relegation battle expertise
Mooy - Playing with Torino in Seria A
Rogic - Celtic. Will be mad to leave.
Kruse - Gets relegated with Stutgart then goes back to Leverkusen. Plays off the bench, before signing permanent deal Bundesliga strugglers Enitracht Frankfurt.
Juric - Roda are relegated and he signs with PEC Zwolle.
Leckie - Bundesliga relegation threatened Ingolstadt

Langerak - gets relegated with Stutgart and finally gets plenty of gametime in Bundesliga 2 for two seasons before helping the club to promotion just prior to world cup
Birighitti - signs for Bologna in Seria A as back-up and is loaned out to Modena in Serie B where he becomes a fan favourite knows for his new buck-tooth smile
Galloway - signs for Feyenoord and frustrated at limited game time goes on loan to Ado Den Haag
Wright - Captain and regular at Preston - mid-table Championship
Alex Gersbach - signs for Schalke in Bundesliga and is immediately loaned to Bundesliga II club Kaiserslautern where he establishes himself for a season or two
Brillante - Como get relegated. Disillusioned, he returns to Fiorentia where he struggles for the occasional cup appearance before going on loan to Brescia in Seria B where he is a regular and key player in helping them being promoted back to Serie A
Jackson Irvine - Signs for recently promoted Rangers where he thrives and after two season helps them back into Europe and the SPL title.
Luongo - After three shit managers, finally gets Brendan Rogers at QPR who stabilisers the club where Luongo becomes a key player and helps them to promotion play-off where they just miss out.
Tommy Oar - Plays regularly off the bench for Ipswich. They make play-offs this season but miss out. Coach gets sacked and new coach takes a liking for Oar who has now filled out and is handling the physicality of the Championship where he becomes known for his crossing. Helps the team to promotion is his third season there.
Ikonomidis - Loaned to Slaernitana. Plays regularly but can't help the team from being relegated. Then is loaned to Perugia where he becomes a regular and key player.
Daniel De Silva - Roda are relegated. He becomes a regular starter and key player for Roda in Eerste Divisie and after six months is signed by newly promoted Sparta Rotterdam where he plays regularly.
Cahill - Signs for new Southern Sydney A-league franchise as their inaugural marquee. Maintains his trademark aerial ability in the box. Loses the ability to last 90 mins but remains an important super-sub for club and country.

Edited by u4486662: 10/1/2016 10:27:02 PM

Edited by u4486662: 10/1/2016 10:27:48 PM

your post U4486662... EPIC..

although your post is probably a bit too positive (judging from the aussies abroad recent history). i reckon there are a lot of fair assumptions there.

if we look at the best performing 30 or so aussies and where they are likely to be we can start making some real comparisons. against the 2006 golden boys. ill take your lineup + plus add some of my own.

This is for 2018 russia..

Level 1 - Big 5 league and Champions league teams

Ryan ---- La Liga
Sainsbury ---- big ED team (although I reckon he will be picked up for gemany, italy or france)
Smith -- EPL
Jedinak -- EPL
Rogic -- Celtic (Champ L) I reckon next january he will be gone if he keeps his minutes up. EPL like good SPL performers.
Kruse -- BL
Leckie -- BL
Langerak -- BL (pine free?)
Ikon - Serie A
Federici - EPL
Anotonis - (PAOK CL)

Possible big 5


Mooy --- Torino hey? let see how this transfer goes. I hope its france - marseilles. prob will be holland.
Williams - -- should be in EPL but will be in the championship/emergency room
Irvine -- Rangers CL. (imho - he will outgrow the SPL - great season atm)
Luongo - WIll do it under a decent manager.


Level 2 - Decent not top 5 leagues

DeSilva -- Holland
Oar - Championship
Juric - Holland (if he holds up and keep scoring I can see him in getting picked up in germany)
Spiro --- chinese graveyard
Biriighitti -- Serie B
Galloway -- Eredivisie (he might be a big 5 bolter)
Wright -- Championship
Gerbaschio -- B2
Brillante -- Serie B
Cahill - South Sydney Phoenix


When you look at it like this, there is a real chance that by 2018 the current crop will match the 2006 team in quality of club team. Except the average age will be almost 5 years younger.(edit - the ages actually look pretty similar, just a touch younger for the 2018 squad. blame cahill.)

my prediction russia 2018 we can get out of the group - but we will need a few good breaks eg. the group and injuries. but after our shitty group and ridiculous injury list in brasil, we can't get any worse.

qatar 2022. serious quarter final contenders.

Edited by inala brah: 11/1/2016 01:01:37 AM

Edited by inala brah: 11/1/2016 01:06:27 AM

Edited by inala brah: 11/1/2016 01:17:38 AM

Inala , I have to say as a season ticket holder for Hammarby 2006 the standard was well below Holland, Switzerland and Championship. Above A-League.

Hammarby was 1st before the WC (season runs mar-nov) which helped Covic.

We came 3rd , got -3 points after pitch invasion during derby which was going to be our 3rd loss in a row
[youtube]JQYwboY0I[/youtube]

so drop covic down to 'level 3'? no worries, thanks :)

Edited by inala brah: 11/1/2016 01:15:25 AM

I love Covic.
2 things that were always off,

He punches the ball way too much
&
He goes all-in (cleans up his own players sometimes)

Holland and Sweden are close now, because the Dutch league has gotten worse.

3rd tier

One huge problem is we don't have a single striker, in the main setup or youth side that is or has the potential to be a starting striker in the big four leagues and finish off the chances we create. (timmy wont be here forever.)

Literally i can't think of anyone. Big problem.

they are not yet a solution, but - juric, bulut and taggart have a chance to make it. we might be ok.

there are a few younger prospects around.

My predictions are somewhat optimistic of course. I haven't factored in injuries which will definitely happen of course just when they make an important transfer.

Fornaroli looking good in 4 1/2 years

novillo as well

there will be some. i cant imagine how we could ever have the same run that we have just had.

half the starting 11 were out with injury for brasil.

is there anyone not on that list i made above that anyone on here thinks will be a big 5 league player by russia 2018??

Lol spira - chinese graveyard. So true.

the way things are going china should be pushing for top place in asian leagues in a few years. but at the moment it feels more like a new oil league. am i right?

ive watched a few games and it's like league one or 2 with a handful of elite foreigners + a couple of monsters at the top of the league of course.

Edited by inala brah: 11/1/2016 11:27:01 AM

Sums it up. Like when we played them in the Asian Cup everyone was saying they werre threat. Something I have heard since 2001.

The Chinese league may have a lot of money, but each club is only allowed a finite number of foreigners (maybe 4+1?). For this reason their squads are made up mostly of Chinese players and until they sort out their player development in China then the league won't improve. And thats the same everywhere. Of course China has vast numbers so lets hope they don't sort out their player development or we will all be fucked. :lol:

Too many cultural issues at play - there is no desire for the top Chinese player to 'be better' which, in footballing terms, means going to Europe. Like many Arab players (Abdulrahman is a classic example), they see no need to leave their pampered lifestyles within their own culture to go abroad and learn how to be a better footballer from the best. Until they as a culture develop this desire to compete against the best and fail, learning in the process, then they will never be a meaningful challenger. Just my 2c but Chinese football is not a threat on the international stage and won't be any time soon.

The Crazy thing is that they'd only have to improve 2-3 pathways in major provinces like Shanghai, Guangdong and Beijing, and they'd still be able to blow everyone else away.

In terms of a football career, good remuneration and living in a good country ( apart from the climate and crowds) England is probably a very good choice for Australians to play professional football.

However, if one wants to progress as a footballer and succeed in a long term international career for Australia, then playing on the Continent in the better leagues, or even in the HAL, is probably a much better option. The financial rewards may not be as lucrative, but one will probably develop a better skill set to play for the Socceroos.

The catalyst for this post, was Gerard Pique saying that Barca or Real Madrid could never win the EPL because of being unable to keep up with the weekly intensity of it. This is even though they've won big European titles in recent times.

So to stay in England and play one's career may be counterproductive for international team aspirants.




Edited by Decentric: 12/1/2016 11:11:04 PM

Ryan
???- Sainsbury-???-Smith
Jedinak- Mooy
Rogic
Ikonomidis Leckie
Cahill

Leverkusen manager did say Kruse was part of his plans, so if he is playing swap him with Ikon

the non chinese 11 - - i think there is enough quality in the HAL to start looking at that over some other big money/low quality leagues.

in the thin diamond that ange has played the last couple games.

++++++++++++++++++++++++Ryan
Milligan++++++++Wilkinson++++++++++Wright+++++++++Smith
+++++++++++++++++++++++Jedinak
++++++++++Luongo+++++++++++++++++++Rogic
++++++++++++++++++++++++Mooy
++++++++++McClaren+++++++++++++++++Leckie

it's way too early to call the russian team. i can see all the aussies losing their contracts in china by the time russia comes around. it's more fickle than the premier league.

you can see the expectations that australians have on the HAL imports, imagine that but with 20x the money involved.

also the competition is mediocre. you have a couple decent teams with a couple world class players. you get more competition in scotland. celtic is a better rounded and more competitive team than ghuangzhou evergrande.

giannou, sainsbury, cahill, spiranovic are all going to be wilted by the time in the CSL.

ange put his foot down about the oil leagues - and frankly the saudi and uae (and possibly qatar) leagues are better quality than the CSL.

you need to be playing regularly, in good form, and at a decent level - I would count HAL as passable - to be considered worthy of a NT call up. these aren't really high expectations.

Edited by inala brah: 3/3/2016 01:37:27 PM

Thanks for bringing this post over.

12 months ago id have totally agreed with you in regards to CSL but with the money they are spending and players they are bringing in the league is going to be significantly boosted as far as quality goes in the next season or two

it's not yet there. i agree that is will be a different story in a couple years. i am not sold that the story will go to plan.

So why do they keep losing to a-league clubs ?

I think their form will even out later in the tournament once they get some games under their belt. But it's an intriguing question.

takes more than a couple imports to win games. this is why SFC still struggled with ADP. this will be an issue for a while in the CSL.



Edited by inala brah: 3/3/2016 11:28:24 PM

New Signing

Thanks for a considered and well-informed reply. It adds a lot to the discussion.



It's just a bit of fun. There's no need to take it too seriously (although one can make a reasonable argument about this or that despite Russia being a while away). It doesn't have to be some perfectly accurate selection, as you correctly point out- there are far too many variables. But it is nice to try and guess and suggest whom we'd pick. Most of the writing I do gets formally critiqued so writing stuff on 442 makes a nice change.

[New Signing]I don't agree that langerak is a better keeper than ryan. His poor career choice and false dawns at Dortmund have meant his progression has stagnated. He still has time to improve but im not sure he'll be able to reach Ryan's level.
[/quote]

I think Langerak is a better shot-stopper than Ryan. I think Ryan's shot-stopping ability and athleticism are suspect. I'd be happy to be proved wrong. But I don't think he's fast enough or agile enough. For a goalkeeper who is less than 6 foot tall, I think it's a big problem if he has deficiencies in terms of his ability to keep out goals. A goalkeeper Ryan's height needs to be faster, more agile and have a better jump on him than ones who are 6"3. If they're not as good in those respects as the bigger goalkeepers, it's a problem. Fabian Barthez was considered somewhat small (and he is taller than Ryan) but he more than made up for his lack of height by excelling in those other areas. Keeping the ball out, holding onto it where possible and commanding the area are the primary responsibilities of a goalkeeper. And this is where I believe Langerak is superior to Ryan. Ryan is outstanding in terms of his distribution. But prizing that is a bit like prizing a fast-bowler who will bat at number ten because of his ability to score quick runs. It's very handy but not why Ryan is there.

I don't think Ryan's level is anything too special. Langerak's natural ability mean that if he can get any sustained form at club level, he ought to be surpassing Ryan (unless Ryan starts to demonstrate qualities that he has, hitherto, not demonstrated with real consistency). I think Langerak finally made a very good career choice by moving to Stuttgart. But he's just followed by terrible luck. That's unfortunate. There's still time between now and Russia, though.

You'll notice that I've still kept Ryan in goals, instead of Langerak. I'm going by the status quo in that respect.



I agree it will be a very good thing to have two excellent left backs in Smith and Gersbach. But do you not think Gersbach has the attacking qualities to be a winger? I, personally, do. I think he's technically a solid player and he's very quick, so I can see how it could work rather well. There are other examples of players who have been converted from fullback to winger. I think one of the problems in Australia is we tend to think inside the box too much. We need to use our imagination more. I agree he has a lot to learn as a left-back (and he certainly can learn and become a very high quality defender). But if he played on the wing, this wouldn't be such a problem, would it now? He wouldn't have quite the same defensive responsibilities.



Agreed on most of that. I'm guessing you mean the Netherlands, not Germany? I do not think Leckie has the technique to start on the wing unless the circumstances are very specific. Your point about the World Cup backs up what I was saying a few days ago perfectly. I was saying he is only useful off the bench when the game has opened up and there is more space (Theo Walcott is not dissimilar in this way, albeit a naturally more gifted footballer) or when we are protecting a lead (or looking for a draw) and we need a lot of defensive grunt work higher up the park. But, in ordinary circumstances, why can't we start with Burns or the Ikon? They're technically far better players than Leckie and far more likely to create goal-scoring opportunities. I'm fed up with players being in positions when they lack the basics but excel in supplementary skills. For the reasons you've mentioned, Leckie shouldn't be starting matches in an attacking position.

Fair point about Leckie not having the passing to play the ball out from the back if he were a right back. If we had a vastly superior option then I'd say that just about rules out Leckie to start at right back. But we don't. And I think his jockeying ability and tackling ability make up for it and that he can develop the knack of passing out from the back. Especially if he has the right support. If he can pass okay, I think he'd do a great job at right-back.



Agreed. I put them there for lack of better options.



Your second last sentence is my train of thought. I think what they need is one slightly bigger holding midfielder who can break up play with tactical nous and some technical ability. Basically, Jedinak but better at holding onto the ball, ball-carrying and making diagonal passes. This is what Irvine will hopefully end up being. Such a player should play as CDM alongside a more technically-gifted player with a lot of talent at ball-carrying and play-making. For that I'm thinking Luongo or Antonis. I think Mooy is too slow on the ball and will make too many mistakes against superior opposition. Even against weak opposition, he makes mistakes. He just makes up for that by making world class passes when he has all the time in the world. He needs to move to Europe and be tested properly.

If we could play Luongo and Antonis as CDMs together, that would be great. And maybe that will be possible against some opposition. But I think Irvine will add a physical presence which is sorely needed in the heart of midfield.

Edited by quickflick: 4/3/2016 03:21:52 AM

like this one.. my same question marks would be on that whole backline