I don't particularly like McKay but he does a job for the NT and I respect him for that. He is generally very composed on the ball and doesn't overcomplicate his game. His best quality is his fitness which allows him press the opposing midfield for a long period of time which is massively important for our game plan. We wouldn't have looked as good as we did against recent tough opposition if he wasn't playing. I'd prefer a midfield of Milligan, Rogic and Luongo but for now McKay balances out the squad and that's important.

Don't mind your lineup JLM, we're light on at RB, so Elrich is a must. Would rather see Wright given a chance instead of Wilko. Wouldn't mind seeing Leckie play as a centre forward and Burns out on the wing.

I don't particularly like McKay but he does a job for the NT and I respect him for that. He is generally very composed on the ball and doesn't overcomplicate his game. His best quality is his fitness which allows him press the opposing midfield for a long period of time which is massively important for our game plan. We wouldn't have looked as good as we did against recent tough opposition if he wasn't playing. I'd prefer a midfield of Milligan, Rogic and Luongo but for now McKay balances out the squad and that's important.

Don't mind your lineup JLM, we're light on at RB, so Elrich is a must. Would rather see Wright given a chance instead of Wilko. Wouldn't mind seeing Leckie play as a centre forward and Burns out on the wing.

I really like that lineup. Wright deserves a chance after the way he has been playing in the championship.

The only thing I would change would be having rogic give it a go at dm seeing as he has been playing well there for Celtic and having luongo in the center of the park as part of a 4-2-1-3.

Thoughts on the olyroos squad? i put it up on the other thread (under17/19/23 NT thread)

I think Vidmar has made a mistake by not selecting young gun Devante Clut, and Edwards shouldn't be there.

But otherwise its a decent squad.

Olyroos squad: Mustafa AMINI (Randers FC, Denmark), Terry ANTONIS (PAOK FC, Greece), Brandon BORRELLO (Brisbane Roar), Joshua BRILLANTE (Empoli, Italy), Cameron BURGESS (Fulham FC, England), Daniel DE SILVA (Roda JC Kerkrade, Netherlands), Milos DEGENEK (1860 Munich, Germany), James DONACHIE (Brisbane Roar), Jack DUNCAN (Randers FC, Denmark), Ryan EDWARDS (uncontracted), Giancarlo GALLIFUOCO (Swansea FC, England), Scott GALLOWAY (Melbourne Victory), Jason GERIA (Melbourne Victory), John HALL (Adelaide United), Andrew HOOLE (Sydney FC), Paul IZZO (Central Coast Mariners), Jamie MACLAREN (Brisbane Roar), Chris NAUMOFF (Sydney FC), Connor PAIN (Melbourne Victory), Steven UGARKOVIC (NK Osijek, Croatia), Brad SMITH (uncontracted), Adam TAGGART (Fulham FC, England), Riley WOODCOCK (Sydney FC)

Against a weak opposition at home I think Ange will invert his midfield the way he did at the Asian Cup. Luongo and Rogic as dual 6s would cause opposition teams to shit themselves. Cahill will probably start but I hope he doesn't.

Ideally

---------------------Ryan
Risdon Spiranovic Wilkinson Davo
-------------------Milligan
--------------- Luongo Rogic
------------Kruse Leckie Burns

Narrow front three, overlapping fullbacks.

Won't be done though, I am sure we will see Cahill, McKay and Elrich.

Risdon has not been selected.

We really need a fit R. Williams or Herd at RB. Milligan is another option.

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2015/08/19/cisak-bolter-socceroos

Socceroos squad is:
Name   (Club, Country)    - A International Caps (Goals)

Mat Ryan (gk) (Valencia, Spain) - 21 (0)
Adam Federici (gk) (AFC Bournemouth, England) - 10 (0)
Alex Cisak (gk) (Leyton Orient, England) - Debut

Matthew Spiranovic (Hangzhou Greentown, China) - 27 (0)
Alex Wilkinson (Jeonbuk Hyundai, Korea Republic) - 15 (0)
Ryan McGowan (Dundee United, Scotland) - 12 (0)
Bailey Wright (Preston North End, England) - 3 (1)

Aziz Behich (Bursaspor, Turkey) - 11 (2)
Jason Davidson (Huddersfield Town AFC, England) - 18 (1)

Tarek Elrich (Adelaide United, Australia) - 1 (0)

Mile Jedinak (Crystal Palace, England) - 59 (9)
Mark Milligan (Baniyas SC, UAE) - 40 (3)
Jackson Irvine (Ross County, Scotland) - 1 (0)

Matt McKay (Brisbane Roar, Australia) - 56 (2)
Aaron Mooy (Melbourne City, Australia) - 6 (3)

Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers, England) - 12 (2)
Tom Rogic (Celtic, Scotland) - 9 (0)

Robbie Kruse (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany) - 38 (4)
Mathew Leckie (FC Ingolstadt 04, Germany) - 25 (1)
Nathan Burns (FC Tokyo, Japan) - 13 (0)
Tommy Oar (Unattached) - 23 (2)

Tim Cahill (Shanghai Shenhua, China) - 83 (39)
Tomi Juric (Roda JC Kerkrade, Netherlands) - 13 (2)

[size=4]Socceroos Match Details:

Australia v Bangladesh
Thursday 3 September 2015
nib Stadium, Perth
7pm (AWT) kick off (9pm AEST)

Tajikistan v Australia
Tuesday 8 September 2015
Republican Central Stadium, Dushanbe
6pm kick off (10pm AEST)[/size]

What dates are these guys playing?

milligans shift at RB was second only to Rhys williams in the last decade.

McGowan has been poor at RB. With this calibre of opposition he may be OK. Milligan is the best option in the squad. However with Jedinek out Ange will most likely want Milligan's experience at DM.

Looks like it will be Elrich v McGowan for RB. Would like to see Elrich given a start under the circumstances.

Edited by Krusen : 27/8/2015 10:06:33 AM

Elrich.

Has more speed over the turf than Millsy or MGowan.

Elrich has improved as ball carrier too. Last night I thought an action by a AU player was Cirio, one of the best ball carriers in the HAL. It was Elrich.

Elrich's balance, changes of direction and improved control, were good enough so that I initially thought it was Cirio.

In terms of turning and chasing speedy wingers, and his aerial crossing, I think Elrich is the person for the RB job. That is, until Franjic gets fit and if Herd ever sorts out his club career.

What's your opinion on our best candidate for LB?

Would rather see Wright given a chance instead of Wilko.

Tough one.

ATM little in it between Davo, Behich and the untried Elrich.

Behich is better on the ball than Davo, and makes less mistakes too. He also has superior game sense and ability to work in combination with other players going forwards.

Davo is a more muscular ball winner than Behich. Even though he says he has improved since leaving Heracles, his performances for the Socceroos have declined.




Edited by Decentric: 27/8/2015 01:15:35 PM

Apart from a major mistake in his first game in a friendly, Wilko has been a revelation at CB.

He is incredibly intelligent as a player. He rarely makes individual mistakes and is a decent 1v1 ball winner.

Wilko is not as good a distributor as Spira or Sains, but he rarely tries to pass unless he is 100% sure of being accurate, certainly in the defensive half anyway.

Also, he is our current most experienced CB having played more football than the others.

Any team needs a coach on the pitch. I'm sure Wilko is organising players around him. Wilko now has World Cup and Asian Cup experience too with a great deal of pressure associated in games in those comps.

Ange deserves a great deal of credit it for selecting Wilko.=d>

He has definitely done a great job, but we need to create more depth in the back, not just our full backs but our centre backs as well. The more caps given to Bailey Wright now, the better we'll be in the long run. He'd be about 22-23, whilst Wilko is nearing 30 if not 30 already. Against sides such as Bangladesh and Tajikistan, Bailey Wright should get a good hit out and a few caps under his belt.

You obviously rate Elrich at RB what do you think of him as an option at LB? Granted we have only really seen him play in the HAL.

We really do need Brad Smith to find a new club ASAP.

Defensively both Davo and Behich have been found out on numerous occasions.

He has definitely done a great job, but we need to create more depth in the back, not just our full backs but our centre backs as well. The more caps given to Bailey Wright now, the better we'll be in the long run. He'd be about 22-23, whilst Wilko is nearing 30 if not 30 already. Against sides such as Bangladesh and Tajikistan, Bailey Wright should get a good hit out and a few caps under his belt.

Curtis Good is a viable option at LB although not as proactive going forward and much preferred at CB the sooner he and Devere are brought back into camp the better it will look.