Irvine would not be a bad choice as the CB to partner Trent Sainsbury at the back.

He also can play but he's organisation and defending is also quite good from what i've seen from him with the young socceroos.

One point that Ryan has made is in the past we struggled against teams like Jordan.

The style of play, even against moderate opposition, has never been this good before. As a Proactive team unit, Australia has improved immeasurably under Ange.

Ange has regenerated a team to play a style football that showcases the National Curriculum and FFA's preferred style of play.

I have watched him play a few times this year, as a defender he likes to get forward and is quite effective at it as well. He would suite being our RB tbh, or our third DM.

Ok well well then it would make sense he could play as a RB, can he play well in tight spaces too? As a RB or DM its an important part given the style of play the NT plays.

He is ok, I think he is good at finding space though and he likes to dribble from what I have seen. But I have only seen about 5 of his games. Playing against Celtic he was very good, managed to go around about three players to get a shot off at one stage.

Edited by moops: 6/4/2016 10:24:35 AM

Where is Aziz Behich in the plan of things, he is getting a lot of game time in Turkey at the moment?

Behich was a lot better than Davidson going forwards and communicating with teammates when Australia was in possession of the ball. Behich's problem was winning 1v1s - tackling, strength, heading duels. He is very quick on the turn , if defending.

Zullo was better as a defender in his short stint as Socceroo LB. However, hasn't progressed since he played for the the Socceroos. His form for City has been patchy, but is definitely a better ball winner than Behich. He has greater physical strength and ability to use his body, whilst being quick on the turn augmented with searing pace.

Potentially, Smith looks our best bet at LB.

Poignantly , Davidson looked really good when he first played, but has gone backwards since leaving Holland and since he played at the World Cup.

Some think he has improved his defensive positioning, but I cannot see it in the Socceroos. Davidson seems to always struggle with communication and cohesion with the other players in the Socceroos. Comparatively, Mooy has settled in seamlessly.

Behich communicated far better with his teammates than Davidson.

I don't know about this.. I'd say the person more driven and/or interested in football in general is more incline to become a better player than someone who's been forced into playing to gratify their parents, etc.. There's a reason the kids with nothing in Brazil make top players because they are playing for their lives and genuinely love the game than say a young aussie who may be more interested in the money, the driving factors are different.

Edited by jas88: 6/4/2016 10:52:51 AM

Ok thats good to hear, the RB spot is up for grabs with Risdon, Geria and now Irvine its complementing the left backs options we have we its open to anyone to take for anyone that is playing well for their clubs and cope with international football.

Agree mate.
Just wondering about Aziz as he seemed markedly improved with his defending last time with the NT since his Heart years, just wondering if anyone has been watching him play this season and if he is doing well.

what exactly do you mean when you say he can play right back? has has had much experience in that position, can he cross the ball consistently well? i was under the impression he was a defensive midfielder at his club.

if he is a right back, and is in good form, i would think he's definatelly worth a try there given how unsettled we are in that position.

Yeah that's why I asked about Aziz.

I did see him fill in at CB this year, I think he had to for about 3 games or so, he did well, but still liked to carry the ball out with his dribbles on occasion, I think he could do the job for us at RB, CM as well, but like I say, he seems to like to dribble.

Just a bit of food for thought:

While we know anges preferred formation in a 4231 or even 4141 depending on the opposition would it be worth consideration moving to a 532 defensively with transition to 352 in attack. Thinking about it, i believe this provides us with the best opportunity to get our best players on the park and make use of genuine speed of players like leckie and smith.

Just running ideas around in my head (quickflick will love this) i believe we could line up

----------------------------Ryan--------------------------------
------------Sains---------Spira--------Wright----------------
Leckie----------------------------------------------------Smith
-------------Mooy--------Jedinak------Rogic-----------------
-----------------------------Kruse--------------------------------
-----------------------------Cahill---------------------------------

Arguably this gets our three most creative players on the pitch in mooy and rogic with kruse having a free role to cause havoc wing to win.

Naturally smith and leckie have the pace and fitness to get up and back all match as required. At the back we have two players very comfortable on the ball.

Naturally depending on how things go jedinak could be sacrificed for better ball players and energy in luongo, antonis or milligan.

I also like this formation as i feel we have the depth to cover it. Wilkinson is capable of stepping straight into the back three and god forbid williams or good ever gain fitness again we look pretty sturdy. Replacing wright if required we have alex grant and lowry who have been doing really well this season.

I've no doubt risdon could play the role as deputy to leckie and on the left hand side a wing back role may suit players like smith, gersbach, behich and even zullo more than genuine fullback.

Thoughts?

Unfortunately, Zullo hasn't been consistently good enough for City to play for the Socceroos.

He is one of my favourite players too.

Don't mind that at all...

Prefer:

...............................Ryan

Geria............Sains...........Spira.........Smith

.............................Milligan
...................Mooy................Rogic

Kruse..................Cahill.....................Burns


There isn't enough width in your attack for my liking.

The back three could also be exposed for pace depending on speedy opponents.

I agree though that Leckie and Smith have the engine to be useful wing backs.

I'm also convinced that Milligan is better than Jedi, against any opponents who have less possession than Australia. This is particularly in light of the last two Socceroo games.

Edited by Decentric: 15/4/2016 08:40:31 AM

Yeah that's why I asked about Aziz.

I did see him fill in at CB this year, I think he had to for about 3 games or so, he did well, but still liked to carry the ball out with his dribbles on occasion, I think he could do the job for us at RB, CM as well, but like I say, he seems to like to dribble.[/quote]





Behich was good for Australia when we were in possession and in build ups.

He wasn't as good when the other team had possession.

He is most effective against teams who have a minority of possession.

Edited by Decentric: 15/4/2016 08:44:16 AM

Edited by Decentric: 15/4/2016 08:44:36 AM

I agree about Milligan> when we have possession, but in not sure anyone would play a 5atb like that if you were expecting to dominate possession.
What we can be happy about it that In the space of 2 years, Ange has used at least 3 different formations.
It's great to see that adaptability from an Aussie coach.

This is also transferring to the coaching methodology in FFA.

1-4-3-3 has always been recognised as a good development system. Now any formation that works is being pushed at senior level in FFA, more so since Ange has become quasi TD/national team coach.

There is an equal amount of width to your formation. In most cases in this formation when one wing back goes forward the other tucks in so it can also transition to a 442 quite readily in attack.

When you have a ball player like mooy in there i think there is a better than average chance the opposition fullback will be drawn to him opening up the space behind for leckie to run into and lets be honest leckie needs as much space as possible.

You will rarely see this formation played successfully in amateur football as it is unlikely teams have the players that are fit enough or have the football knowledge to play it successfully.

We won two championships playing this way though we were constantly rotating the wing backs (a luxury you dont get in international football). The year after our second championship win the rules of the league changed to a maximum of 3 substitutions which is where it all went wrong and we were forced to abandon it.

I think another thing that has to be credited is how hard Ange is working as national team coach.

I read he says he spends 5 hours a day watching videos of Aussies playing overseas, just in case he identifies players previously unknown like Luongo.

I don't think Pim or Holger worked anywhere near as hard.

True.

Makes sense.

Socceroos 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers:
Match Day 1 - HOME - Thursday, 01 Sep 16 - Australia v Iraq
Match Day 2 - AWAY - Tuesday, 06 Sep 16 - UAE v Australia
Match Day 3 - AWAY - Thursday, 06 Oct 16 - Saudia Arabia v Australia
Match Day 4 - HOME - Tuesday, 11 Oct 16 - Australia v Japan
Match Day 5 - AWAY - Tuesday, 15 Nov 16 - Thailand v Australia
Match Day 6 - AWAY - Thursday, 23 Mar 17 - Iraq v Australia
Match Day 7 - HOME - Tuesday, 28 Mar 17 - Australia v UAE
Match Day 8 - HOME - Thursday, 08 Jun 17 - Australia v Saudia Arabia
Match Day 9 - AWAY - Thursday, 31 Aug 17 - Japan v Australia
Match Day 10 - HOME - Tuesday, 05 Sep 17 - Australia v Thailand

Read more at http://www.socceroos.com.au/article/socceroos-2018-world-cup-qualifying-path-unveiled/it7xot50a7a210ui2k4cpigah#eQS3kotiwLAsa5HQ.99

Can't find another more specific thread for this.


That game against UAE will b spayed n unbearable wheat an humidity in September. Dubai is insufferably hot and humid then.

Saudi and Thailand will be played in considerable heat ( dry) in Riyadh, and Bangkok is always hot and humid.

Points will be difficult to accrue in the first five games.

Playing the Middle-east in the winter and late autumn/ early spring, is often close to ideal play conditions regarding temperature.

so much wrong with this.

Should be winning every home game, including Japan. If we manage to win most away games, maybe draw a couple, we should be fine.

It isn't that bad, If I was playing Football manager, I might try it, probably swap Kruse with Rogic and Luongo where Rogic was. I think leckie could work well in a formation like this, but it is a formation worked around him, rather than the team as a whole.

Feel free to bust the theory to pieces

My idea was to try and get our best players all on the park at the same time in a functional formation

That formation is too narrow, you would need the wing backs or in this case the wingers to push up to create more width and space for the midfielders.
Basically moving to a 3-4-3 narrow diamond (3-3-1-3) very Cruyff-like formation, aggressive and controlling the game in their half with more numbers forward.
I would not mind this as a plan B if chasing the game but its high risk, probably will accommodate the weaker areas which is right back and centre back.


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

---Sains-----------------Wright-------------Spira---------------------

---------------------------Jedinak------------------------------

-----------Luongo----------------------Mooy-------------------

----------------------------Rogic----------------------------------

Kruse-----------------------------------------------------Smith---------

--------------------------Cahill/Juric------------------------------

Edited by Barca4life: 15/4/2016 12:03:28 PM