Jade North actually would've been awesome in a back 3, back in the day.

I'm also worried Spira is slowing down.

And I think DeVere is better at carrying the ball forward, although he his prone to the occasional lapse in focus. 

Spiranovic, Sainsbury and Jedinak would be my 3.

If we're going to keep this system we need 2 more fast, ball playing defenders. Spiranovic would work and probably Milligan. Degenek and Wright are too rigid and slow. 

I really don't think Wright or Degenek offer anything that DeVere doesn't, especially in a back 3. UAE noticed it and put their best player on Wright. He's a great blood and guts CB, but our weakness in a possession-based back 3.

I noticed Saudi Arabia played 2 friendlies in January. One against Slovenia and one against Cambodia. Ange doesn't really believe in friendlies and the calendar is already very full. 

Some UEFA nations seem to get a lot of practice in with domestic players. Scandinavia has it easier with their season but many Balkan nations practice together without their bigger names. 

We have a few A-League players in the squad but the logistics would just be too hard. Plus the clubs would refuse a release on a non FIFA date.

I guess the best we can do is that U23 camp in Spain. 

that is the entire point of his formation change.  to fit the players he has.

So this is totally random but I thought I'd do some searching for players who might have gone under the radar that might be worth looking at for the national team (or the youth teams or A-League clubs). Many of them are definitely unproven and are playing at levels very difficult to discern the quality of, but should be noted somewhere:

- Gabriel Cleur: 19 year-old right back AND right midfielder who can play as a right wingback (basically our weakest positions). Plays for Virtus Entella in Serie B, and has made 17 appearances in Primavera, playing every match since February with the team undefeated in every game he's played.

- Chris Duggan: 23 year-old striker playing for East Fife in Scottish League One (not a great league, but still worth noting). He's scored 7 goals in his last 9 games and is off contract at the end of the season. Maybe worth bringing to the A-League to see what he's capable of?

- Jordan Lyden: 21 year-old midfielder (who can also play at right back) for Aston Villa. He's been playing sporadically for the Villa first team and U23 team, but seems to be rated decently by the Villa fans. Maybe worth getting on loan in the A-League or being tried out for the U23 team?

- Aiden O'Neill: 18 year-old midfielder who's probably one of the more recognizable names on this list since he made a handful of appearances for Burnley in the EPL this season, and is now on loan at Oldham Athletic in League One (having made 10 appearances so far, with only two losses in games he's played). He's currently in the U23 setup but given his position he seems like a natural successor to the likes of Jedinak and Milligan. Maybe worth a senior call up in a friendly in the coming months?

-  Reno Piscopo: 18 year-old striker who was Inter's Primavera team top scorer two seasons ago, and has since moved to Torino who currently have Andrea Belotti (the best young Italian striker in Europe) on their books. It's very difficult to find any stats about Reno but surely he's worth exploring further, especially if he can get a loan or be continually involved in the youth setups for Australia. Since he's eligible for Italy, it may be worth capping him at senior level as a preemptive move, particularly if he ever breaks out Belotti-style in the future.

- Joel Rollinson: 18 year-old midfielder/winger playing for Reading, having appeared 23 times this season (~2000 minutes) for the U18 team, with 10 goals. He hasn't appeared for Australia at youth level and hasn't been mentioned at all in any of the development squads/training camps, but seems like an interesting prospect for the future.

- Kwame Yeboah: 22 year-old striker playing for Borussia Monchengladbach II in the fourth division of Germany. He's most likely well known to most people here, especially for being a classic example of leaving Australia too young. He has started finding his feet this season with 7 goals in 21 appearances, and is apparently off contract at the end of this season. Maybe worth a look-in for an A-League team or elsewhere in Europe? Either way, he's still young and should be in the back of the mind especially considering how desperate we are for Australian strikers that can finish.

  - Kenny Dougall: 23 year-old midfielder/centreback playing for Sparta Rotterdam in the Eredivisie. He's appeared 17 times for Sparta this season, and has been in the matchday squad a further 10 times. He's made more appearances for club than Smith, Sainsbury, and Degenek have this season, but he hasn't had a look-in at any level nor really been in the discussion. Maybe worth a call-up in a friendly to see what he can do?

- Cameron Burgess: 21 year-old midfielder/centreback playing for Bury in League One, on loan from Fulham who are in the fight for promotion to the EPL. He's played nearly every game for Bury this year, and has been in the Australian U23 development squad this week. Worth keeping an eye on to see how he progresses, especially since we'll need some more defensive-minded players in the coming year.

And for some better known players that probably deserve a shout out at some level (either at youth level or a call-up to the senior team for a friendly/qualifying) over the next 6 months if they keep up their form this season: Adam Taggart, Jamie Maclaren, Awer Mabil, Brandon Borrello, Brandon O'Neill, Liam Rose, Joe Caletti, Alex Gersbach, Callum Elder, Alex Wilkinson, Jonathon Aspro, Ruon Tongyik, Danny Vukovic, Lawrence Thomas.
 

Formation of 3-2-4-1 is idiotic.

Postecoglou is a stubborn b*****d who needs to fit the formation around his players not fit players into idiotic system.

We are going to be slaughtered at the Conferations Cup with this formation.

If we qualify for WC and don't get banned by FIFA I'm still predicting Gersbach and Ibini on the left.

Yeah nah. Dreading to think what kind of pitch Suncorp would throw up

I would imagine so yes

Milligan is suspended for the next game. Can we name separate Saudi/ Brazil and Confederation Cup squads?

3 at the back works in patches. Smith and Leckie are the right wingbacks. 

Tonight you could see Irvine and Troisi much further up allowing Milligan and Jedinak space. 

In future matches I'd like to see Troisi up front, Rogic in his position, Mooy next to Jedinak being allowed more space and Milligan in Wright's spot.

Speaking as someone who'd love to go to that Thailand game, please don't play at Suncorp. It's during NRL season and Suncorp honestly don't give a shit about the state of the field for football.

Play it in Canberra, guaranteed maximum temperature of 3℃.

Surely we want to send the Thais somewhere colder? There's a good chance we'll still need all three points by this stage.

Suncorp Stadium bid to host crucial Socceroos World Cup qualifier

BRISBANE is poised to host its first Socceroos World Cup qualifier in more than five years.

Australia’s crucial clash against Thailand on September 5 has been pencilled in for Suncorp Stadium.

It’s the final match of the Socceroos’ group campaign and will likely decide whether Australia qualify directly for next year’s World Cup in Russia, have to rely on playoffs to get there or miss out altogether.

Including tonight’s clash against the United Arab Emirates at Allianz Stadium in Sydney, the Socceroos have four Asian Football Confederation third-round Group B matches remaining.

Australia is in third place in its group, three points adrift of first-placed Saudi Arabia and second-placed Japan.

The top two teams qualify for Russia, while the third-placed nation must navigate a series of playoffs to earn a Cup berth.


Suncorp Stadium last hosted a World Cup qualifier in 2012 when the Socceroos drew 1-1 with Japan.
The Courier-Mail can reveal that the Queensland Government has bid to host the Socceroos.

“Negotiations are commercial in confidence,” Tourism and Events Queensland corporate affairs group executive Megan Saunders said.

“But we have made an offer for a Socceroos match in good faith and we hope that FFA caters for Queensland soccer fans by staging a match in Queensland.”

Suncorp last hosted a World Cup qualifier in Brisbane was on June 12, 2012, when the Socceroos drew 1-1 with Japan in front of 40,189 people.

That was on the road to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Since that match, the Socceroos have played a further nine World Cup qualifiers on home soil. Including tonight’s game, there will be two more played – one will be in Sydney, the other in Adelaide – before the Australia-Thailand clash.

Suncorp Stadium is not the only venue under consideration for the Australia-Thailand battle, but there is a justified sense Queensland supporters are long overdue.

In a good sign for Brisbane’s chances of hosting the match, Suncorp Stadium general manager Alan Graham will be a guest of FFA at tonight’s game in Sydney.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/football/socceroos/suncorp-stadium-bid-to-host-crucial-socceroos-world-cup-qualifier/news-story/f79dfa97300496967442a2cbae8e0cca

Poor management by Stuttgart over the years. Constant errors by players. They'll get promoted this season. 

Langerak has played more than Ryan this season. Both are great keepers and each have their brilliant and tricky days. It can be confusing on who to select because it involves a lot of hindsight with their performances.

Wait, so why did Langerak start?
What happened to Ryan
Speaking about Ryan, wierd to see such a big club like Stuttguard in the second division, they have a crowd capacity of over 60k......

I would think it more likely that the AFC would stick to the current 2 groups of 6 or even 2 groups of 8 with the top 4 in each group going through.  It would also be possible they might prefer 4 groups of 4 or 5 with the top 2 going through.

I just checked and saw the AFC side plays at home last so it'd be in the Americas first. Honduras or Panama would be murder with the atmosphere and set up. Trinidad would be like OFC tropical days. 

The order of the AFC playoff legs will be drawn later. I'd  want to play away first in that round to save on travel. 

Could it happen with larger world cups in the future that AFC qualifying will be one big group? 

Imagine having it like South America. 10 teams. Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, UAE, China, Iraq, Uzbekistan and Syria. 

If the AFC got 8 slots it'd seem near senseless with only 2 teams missing out. AFC is bigger with more.preliminary rounds so such a  format would be pretty hard to enter on the calendar. It'd be epic having 18 games but also very draining.

Our current AFC schedule sees two matches each break except the Thailand away round. Crazily CONMEBOL nations still find time for friendlies. I think we need to make the most out of the calendar. 

We face Brazil after Saudi. Could we tee up something before the game in Adelaide? 

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Jumping to all sorts of conclusions here but in the scenario of a third place finish we are likely to play either Uzbekistan or Syria. We have a good record against the Uzbeks and Syria are an unknown, although we would have the enviable scenario of playing the away leg in a neutral venue. In a favourable scenario CONCACAF would throw up a Panama, Honduras or Trinadad and Tobago - all of which we would back ourselves in against. 

A little known 20 year old fella by the name of Tom I reckon.

I'll throw this out there.

More conservative and stronger though the spine and when Rogic is fit i think he needs to be used as a floating striker to just get about and cause havoc without defensive duties.
He doesn't have the legs to be getting up and down the pitch for 90. Plus he actually takes shots. 

Robbie Slater: A-League carries the Socceroos now

Joshua Thomas

Updated at 12:57 a.m. ET

Former Socceroo Robbie Slater has slammed the national side after their 1-1 draw with Iraq which has left their World Cup qualification hopes in the balance.

MORE: WATCH-Socceroos stumble again in World Cup qualifying

Slater, who played 44 games for Australia, has been vocal in his disapproval of Ange Postecoglou's set-up of late and that continued after the Socceroos could only scrape to a draw with Iraq.

Speaking on the Daily Football Show, the former Southampton midfielder didn't hold back in criticising the side and suggesting the A-League is in a much better place.

"We’ve got a lot more questions than answers at the moment," Slater said of the Socceroos.

"This is what you get when you celebrate three losses at the World Cup.

"The A-league is stronger now than the Socceroos.

"The ratings don't lie, the Socceroos have been on the nose for years. People will watch the Melbourne derby and the Sydney derby more than they'll watch a Socceroos game.

"The A-League carries the Socceroos now.

"I think because of the national team’s failure, the A-League will get better. The foreigners will still come if you pay them and the kids are still going to play the game and dream even if we don’t make World Cups."

With veteran striker Tim Cahill adding another 20 national goals to his name under Postecoglou, Slater believes Australia remains too reliant on the 37-year-old.

"This Postecoglou era would never have happened without the Cahill era," he said.

"God bless Timmy, but he can’t keep going on forever. He’s not going to start games now. "

Despite the Socceroos having three of their last four World Cup qualifiers at home, Slater remains sceptical of their chances of making it to Russia.

"But if you look at the trend we're on, you can't be confident we're going to get the points we need...but I certainly hope we do," he said.

http://www.sportingnews.com/au/football/news/robbie-slater-a-league-carries-the-socceroos-now-footbal/w0iwb72qxlvk16gn1jrc74yt6

:) do you think Slater has any suggestions who he replacement should be?

In any other confederation we would be out of contention already..drawing 4 games in a row in european qualifying pretty much kills you..in asia its actually not that bad provided you win at home..so the real stuff for us starts on tuesday night.

I think we'd be lucky to be sitting third in just about any UEFA group at the minute. Depending on the group, it could be 4th or 5th. Being mindful that only the top finisher goes directly through and whoever finishes second goes to the play-off.