If Rhys Williams can continue some early promising signs and of course not get injured, I'd be potentially looking at including him in the Socceroos squad for the Thailand game. We really do have nothing at right back, except some promise from Risdon and Geria however those two really are no where near ready IMO. And McGowan just doesn't suit the style of football we play. 

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

Williams------Sainsbury------Spiranovic------Smith

------------------------------Irvine----------------------------

--------------------Rogic------------Mooy---------------------

Leckie----------------------Juric------------------------Kruse

Langerak, Federici, McGowan, Wright, Gersbach, Jedinak, Milligan, Luongo, Goodwin, De Silva, Ikonimidis, Cahill

Williams was a decent RB for the Socceroos  in the games he played there.

The only problem is that Risdon is playing at RB in his Glory team, not Williams.



Interesting how many fans call for the inexperienced Irvine over the very experienced Jedi and  Australia's most consistent player over the last three years in Milligan.

jedi/milligan where are they now?

irvine is killing it.  also they play different positions. irvine is played as a number 8 with freedom to roam the front and attack.  milligan and jedinak are out and out number 6's.  the highest performing number 6 we have is luongo - although i think he would probably want to play as a 10.

williams and and early performance by milligan were the best RB performances in the NT in the last 10 years.  dominant.  but williams has looked pretty shakey so far in the a-league. sloppy even.  also williams was a centreback at middlesborough when he was called into RB for the NT.

And yet he's playing football in the UAE and getting no fitter. Meanwhile, Jackson Irvine is dominating in a competition with far higher quality.

You, yourself, have been rather critical of Jedinak in the past. Irvine brings much of the good stuff that Jedinak brings, except with more technical quality. This is absolutely ideal. I'm surprised you're not thrilled about this.

Anyway, there shouldn't be any guarantees. Just because such and such did this whatever whenever they did it, it doesn't mean they're a shoe-in. If Ange operates that way, they'll never develop. Using that idea (and taking it to the absurd), we might as well get rid of all of them and bring back Kewell, Viduka, Culina, Grella, Bresch, Moore, Chippers, Neill, Schwarzer, etc.

If we are going to try and replace Jedinak with an almost like for like in his role as almost a CB that plays 10 metres in front of the CBs, although it is more than that, then a player like Irvine or Degenek who have played at CB (as has Milligan of course) might be the kind of player to select. However I feel Irvine has more to offer than that in the midfield and Degenek probably has a place in the defence long term for the Socceroos.

Rhys Williams should have been the player we build our defence around but of course his injuries have ruined his career at both club and international level. If he can get back to near his best and show that he can be injury free there is a place for him in a Socceroos squad whether competing for a starting CB position, perhaps at RB or even at DM. Many years ago I read an article about how Middlesborough thought DM was Williams best position but there were worried about the durability of his body so decided to make him into a CB so he did not have to run so much. I have not seen either of Perth's games this season but I hope he comes good and has an excellent season. 

I don't disagree about Irvine being able to play more positions. But remember we already have Mooy, Rogic, Luongo, etc. And we need somebody who's good on the ball and good in defence. Hence, Irvine at CDM is a decent fit. It's an added bonus that he can do more further up. No doubt, he'll get chances.

Ange has mentioned we need more depth and quality coming through in the attacking areas, and he isnt talking only about strikers he's talking about players who can play in the wider areas as with right now the only decent options are Kruse, Leckie, Burns and maybe Goodwin but thats bare as it gets in that area of the park.
Otherwise we might not have enough attacking talent to play a 4-3-3 when the options are weak or limited.

Troisi and Oar are good enough, if they can have a good A-league season then they could be looking at a Socceroos recall.

Well Troisi spends to much time changing clubs around Asia and Tommy Oar got homesick and i question he's quality still.

The jury is still out on these players.

Right now theyre a million miles away, I'd have Kamau in the next squad he has pace, good 1v1, good vision and interplay around the box 

Agreed tbh. Problem was a Visa issue, wasn't it?

Socceroos fifa ranking now 41, and climbing.

Kamau is someone ill seriously consider bringing in the squad right now if there was no eligibility issues. 

Great young talent. 

A few things. Irvine is quality IMO, but he is playing now as more of an 8 with Burton, not exactly the stable 6 that we are looking at to replace Jedi.

Another option is Brattan, who I think has been outstanding in the first few rounds of the a-league and certainly suits Ange's system. Alternatively, Mooy and Luongo can both play the 6 role, and despite their abilities going forward, may suit the system better.

Milligan is still performing in the 6 role as Decentric always mentions, and he should not be discounted, but perhaps by Russia neither Jedi nor Milligan will be an option, so it wouldn't be unwise to start experimenting.

I've also been quite impressed with Williams so far, despite that questionable penalty he gave away against CCM. He seems to be moving well, and his ability on the ball is plain to see. I'd keep an eye out for him as both a potential DM and RB solution. A back four of Williams, Sains, Spira and Smith sounds mint to me and certainly still with potential to be playing at a high level until the 2022 world cup

Sorry Decentric, but Milligan can no longer claim to be a consistent player.  Certainly not in the last 12 months.  He has had a great career, is a very good player and hopefully will have a huge World cup, but he is showing signs of aging.  The Second Greece game was the worst i have ever seen him play and his last game (out of position admittedly) was not up to his usual standards. I think Ange needs to monitor his form very closely.

Thailand (and i am probably underestimating them) gives Ange his best chance to experiment in areas we need to cover. I assume he will use a 433 (but that is because i think that diamond set up is ridiculous) I would like to see Luongo, Mooy and Rogic take the central midfield.  This leaves Irvine with the chance to get good minutes if we are winning or we can bring in Jedinak if we need him.

This leaves right back.  I think we can assume that we are not going to see a gamble on a Matt Leckie, Halloran, or Bernie Ibinie type player (i dont think it would be a bad team).  If Ange is going to use a left footer on the right, now would be the time to experiment. Other than that Ange needs to continue experimenting.  I dont think that McGowan is the answer, realistically, i think that the most inform right back in the A league will get that position. 

The last spot up for grabs is Tim Cahill's.  I doubt Timmy will be used from the start (not sure i would agree with this tactic to be honest). Ange is desperate to find a replacement or back up.  Tommy is up the top of the list at the moment, and to be honest as average as he has been, he is showing some improvement and it seems to me that all the other options have not really showed enough.  If Timmy were injured and the world cup tomorrow, i think that Kruse, Leckie and Burns are all ahead of our young striker options at the moment. 

I missed the Greek games and most of the English game as I was in Europe.

Ange said he deliberately pushed a few players, Milligan and Mooy , to see how they performed being flogged outside their comfort zone and regular seasons.

Outside these three games, inexplicably, Milligan has been our most consistent player over the last three years. It seems to be a common phenomenon for fans to want to replace older players with newer ones.

One midfielder who probably has even better on the ball  qualities than Milligan as a DM, is Luke Brattan. He may not  as two footed, but his clever chips, crosses, pinpoint passes and inventiveness should mean he must be a contender for Socceroo selection.

I am no expert on his off the ball qualities yet, such as tackling, intercepts, forcing turn overs, muscle on muscle duels and heading ability. His quality on the ball for City is outstanding.

Rhys Williams was a good RB for Australia. The main issue is Risdon is playing RB at club level for Glory, not Williams.

According to Mike Cockerill he is flogging himself in the gym in the UAE doing sessions over and above his club requirements to stay in sufficient shape for Socceroo games.

One has to appraise players' performances for the Socceroos using football performance criteria - not the supposed quality of the  leagues they play in.

Biscuitman vehemently disagrees with me, but most Championship football I've seen is crap. Apart from the length of the season it is generally worse for developing international footballers than the HAL.

If we selected players based on leagues they play in at club level, Scott McDonald would've played many more games for the Socceroos. The truth was he struggled to adapt to the requirements of international football. Paddy Kisnorbo was another.

Brattan is class on the ball.

His ability to break up attacks is the issue in question. 

Until Geria played against Kamau and  Brandan and was turned inside out, I thought Geria was a leading option for Socceroo RB.

If Kamau keeps up that level of performance against  MV, a Socceroo berth beckons.

The second Greece game was easily the worst i have ever seen Milligan play.  I still rate him, and he is still regularly among our best players but he is not consistent in the sense that he is starting to have mistakes and poor games slip in.  At least not as consistent as he used to be.

Regarding Brattan, i have always agreed that he should be in the socceroos mix and only the disastrous Manchester City signing last year costed him this spot.  He should get a go in the squad (assuming his form continues as i think it will), but the central midfield does look pretty hard to crack at the moment. You would think he would be behind Irvine.

I'd rate Brattan on front of Irvine by some margin on the ball. No current player in Socceroo DM or CB positions is as good as Brattan on the ball, including Milligan.

Irvine may be better at breaking up attacks.

Recently Irvine played under 23 football for the Young Socceroos. He did not stand out in a team who looked mediocre. Brandan O'Neill looked far better.

BP, don't forget the second Greece game was a friendly.

Ange uses friendlies as a diagnostic tool to see how far he can push players. Some coaches use friendlies to try and improve rankings.

I don't agree the Championship is far higher quality than the HAL.

Too many teams play hoofball and fightball in the Championship.

A far higher quality league than the HAL, playing  a similar style of football at a much higher quality, is France. The four  big Continental leagues of Germany, Spain, Italy and France stand out as  having high quality all the way down to the lower teams on the ladder. They are also very technical leagues, relying more on technical and tactical quality than athletic quality like the EPL and Championship. 

We need more Socceroos playing in these Coninental leagues. Generally anyone good enough should walk into the Socceroo  line up. 

I havent seen much of Irvine, but thought he looked good when he came on a while back, and reports of him are great. You dont have to convince me on Bratton, i have rated him for a long time.  It seems though that Irvine is closer to a chance than him, and you would think he is next in line.  Still, Brattan is in the perfect place to push his case.  Melb City should have a huge season and with the players around him (particularly in offence). I think Australia will be better off if Brattan has the form to push Jedinak out of the side, but he is a long way from doing this (though like milligan, Jedinak seems to have been showing signs of aging also).).

REgarding the Greece game,you may be right, lets hope so. While i have said milligan is not as consistent as he used to be, it doesnt mean i think he isnt a definite option in midfield or defence.  In fact, if we have no other options, i still think he is our best bet at right back but it would be silly not to be alert to potential issues and slipping.

i haven't seen any discussion on here about the latest fifa rankings.

but we are now 2nd in asia and 40th in the world.  that's quite a turnaround for a team that is struggling to get players kicking on in big leagues.  the misery of holger osieck is almost wiped away.  

well done ange.  i hope he gets another run after this world cup. the change in the setup and a drive towards positive, aggressive, attacking football is exactly what we need.

 http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/socceroos/fifa-world-rankings-socceroos-up-to-world-no40-argentina-no1/news-story/dc6e1feaaf38ae606c018581eedd3826

kamau is looking the goods.

Aye. Naught but hoofball. Also, the thing about technical quality is not right, imo. You do realise that, much of the time, for footballers to be considered for attacking roles in the Premier League or the Championship, they often need to be fast and very good on the ball. This is technical, is it not? They often have very little time on the ball (all over the park). For that reason, they tend to need lovely first touch. And defenders shut down at the speed of light.

One of the criticisms of Australian footballers is an abject lack of one-on-one ability (except Rogic). Our footballers are, generally, not technically and athletically gifted enough to play in attacking roles in leagues like the Championship. Our other footballers are, often, not good enough in terms of how well they control the ball. The Championship is more technical than the A-League in many respects. Ange would love to have the best attacking footballers in the Championship playing for the Socceroos, I daresay. So would Rogic and Mooy. We'd be far better.

The thing is in the A-League, attacking footballers can do well without too much skill. The defenders aren't much good often. Attacking footballers have so much time on the ball. They don't necessarily need to be that good to do well. E.g. how many did Adam Taggart score when he won the golden boot? He has a terrific shot on him. But lacking in other areas. These areas aren't tested in the A-League. Too many goals he scored didn't require too much skill. Go to the right parts of Europe, it's a different story. All of a sudden there's a host of defenders who don't give attacking footballers any time on the ball. They outmuscle them, too. This forces attacking players to have more skill to do well. It also means that it tends to be attacking footballers with specific skills who do well. All of a sudden, the better attackers need to be fast, they need to be able to read play well, they need to be able to beat opponents with one-on-one ability at speed (think Coutinho at the highest level) and they need to have a lethal feel for goal (good shot and so on). There are exceptions, but that's about it. The problem is the A-League doesn't test these attributes enough. The talent pool isn't as big as it ought to be. And footballers get lazy or less gifted footballers do well.

Also, it's not as if the UAE league is better than the Championship is it now? Irvine is doing better at a far higher level of club football than Milligan. And he's doing better at the same level of club football than Jedinak at the minute.

you mightnt like the style of some teams playing in some matches under the kind of pressure that just does not exist in australia. however the quality and skill of  the players in the championship largely gulfs the a-league.

its not ideal for some players to develop in. but its a good league for most players.  and that, like anywhere, depends on you club and coach and the competitiveness of the league you are in.

Spot on!

Ever played the game where you imagine what you'd spend your money on if you were a billionaire? Or maybe, as kids, how your dream sporting career would work out?  Surely lots of us have done that. That's basically an ideal situation. And, in an ideal situation, young footballers should develop in a league which has both the highest technical standards and wiser tactics than the Championship. Sadly the ideal situation isn't always feasible.  With some of the difficulties for Aussies to play in France, for example, that's not always feasible. In those circumstances, the right football clubs in England will still offer high technical standards and, maybe, some not bad tactics(fairly uneven, imo).