I had hope in Russia as Ange appeared to adapt his back 3/5 however one wishes to see it.

He had Leckie and Behich wide. If the ball were on the right,  Leckie would be a right back and the 3 centre backs would move inwards. The same for Behich on the left. We essentially had a back 4 with the one wing back being a little further up with little to do.

It looked like something rolling on am axle. The Chile formation was very effective and then he went back to the old ways in the playoffs and it was nerve wracking. 

I recall all of the shouts for a back 3 experiment after the England friendly. We got it and the tactics just overstretched us too much. Looking forward to a back 4 with BVM.

When you do this you rely on your opponent trying to punch through the centre when they're attacking. It opens gaping holes when they exploit the angles with diagonal balls. Against lower skilled counter attacking teams it'll hold quite well, but you come up against teams with high technical ability in crossing and you're dead meat. I'm surprised how well it held up in Russia.

Our opponents broke through many times on the sides. 

As a die hard Socceroos fan of over 22 years my support died a little bit when Ange left. Having a Arrogant rude prick like Bert coach my team makes me angry after having a visionary and statesmen like Ange for four years in charge who actually gave me hope watching and following the team.Especially after putting up with the crap of the Pim and Holger years. I'm conflicted whether to wake up and watch this Norway match live or just watch it on replay. I shudder to think what we will be like under Arnold. Can you tell I miss Ange and a manager like him. 

Ange wasn't exactly a gentleman with the media haha

Probably the most relevant spot. France host Colombia tonight. Japan trail Mali 1:0 and it's almost full time. Lots of interesting intercontinental games tonight. 

Japan salvage a late draw. Peru vs Croatia live on SBS Saturday morning at 11:35 if my memory serves me right. 

Wright Milligan and Degenek essentially formed their own downfall tonight. Williams  Spiranovic and Wilkinson should be brought in. 

Add to that
Nabbout out without a plane ticket to Russia
Ryan demoted to No 2 keeper behind Jones 
Kruse to start ahead of Leckie
Mooy looks so slow always second to the ball.

Watching German vs Spain. Such high quality football  

ah Germany and spain may be able to hold possession like any old naive team

 but can they break through our defence given our new tactically astute pragmatic style?

Interesting night.

Senegal Uzbekistan 1:1

Tunisia Iran 1:0

Ukraine Saudi Arabia 1:1

Peru face Croatia in just over 3 hours and it's live on SBS. 

after that performance who is your 11?

i would like to see this given a run
--------------------------------------jones
--degenek-----------jurman----------------susnjar----------behich
------------------------brillante--------------luongo
leckie----------------------------mooy---------------------petratos
--------------------------------rogic

----------------------Ryan---------------------
----------Sainsbury------Susnajr-----------
Degenek---------------------------Meredith
--------------Mooy-------Irvine--------------
---Leckie------------------------Luongo----
-------------Rogic^------Petratos-----------

.....................................Jones...................................
Meredith..........Jurman.........Sainsbury........Behich
.........................Irvine...........Luongo .......................
Nabbout....................Mooy.......................Petratos
.......................... .....*Borrello.............................

*Juric/Cahill

Some people are throwing the baby out with the bathwater here. We don't need to replace 80% of the squad because of one poor performance. It wasn't all because of players simply not being good enough.

Ryan
Risdon - Sainsbury - Jurman - Behich
Jedinak - Luongo
Leckie - Mooy - Petratos
Juric

I rate Milligan as a utility, but that performance made me question using him at CB. I think he should stick to CM. I wouldn't mind him playing instead of Luongo in the above if he's back to form.

Also, I don't know what to do re Right Back. I've put Risdon for lack of any good option. Degenek may be a better option. That aside, I can't think of a solution.

We need Sainsbury back in defense. He was the most important piece missing from our back 4 this morning.

Finally, Wright doesn't work at RB. Move him back to CB to compete with Jurman for the spot.

Love to see Jedinak slotted into th@ game. What fucking rubbish that prick brings to a game.
If only we had a fucking DM with high quality technique and passing.
Fuck me, Jedinak's highest quality passing is off the dead centre of his forehead

I feel like Luongo is the closest thing to being a balance of defensive and passing skills that we have.
Would like to see Jedi + Luongo in midfield if we're going to stick to this pragmatic approach.

A side note.

How shit is FFA and Nike. I’m going to Russia for the cup and cannot buy any decent Socceroo gear anywhere. Three months out from a World Cup and nothing.

Did anyone watch the Peru Croatia game? 

Peru very good, very efficient in their way of playing. 

It wont be an easy last game that's for sure. 

Boy oh boy not a great one, but credit to Norway they played well. 

But the defending wasn't great, and with a new structure and the change of style, it will take some time before it settles on the players.

Would it be too little too late? only time will tell. 

Our apparel has always been very poor and limited.

I think Sains is the player best able to fill the rb spot. I'd like to see the r-f, l-f combination of Spira/Susnjar tried at CB but I'm not sure what Spira's status is. Is he ready to play?

Ballsy idea. You’re probably right, but I feel like we need Sainsbury in the center too much to sacrifice him to RB.

Who do you have at rb?

A few years back Sainsbury stated he hated playing right back. If I recall he was played there as a rookie for Australia or in the A League and Holland a few times and really spit the dummy. I know, one should always listen to what the coach wants and give it a shot but he's too valuable in the middle and not worth pissing off. We don't need player revolt.

My ideal back 4 would be

Williams Sainsbury Spiranovic Behich 

With the current situation this week it'd be

Risdon Susnjar Degenek Behich

For Russia we'll like go with 

Wright Sainsbury Jurman Behich 

Interestingly Milligan went to right back after Wright came off but I doubt this will be a permanent idea from BVM.

I'll add that Gersbach played well in a back 5 and Geria did well against Greece in a back 4. Atkinson is looking good and I even like Ryan Strain for the future. Is the door closed on Gethin Jones? Aiden O'Neill could be  a robust little RB. Lyden, big fan but he's dropped off massively. Perhaps Brillante will be tested at RB on Tuesday 

Interestingly our best games have often been without our 'better players.' The Germany friendly had a lot of reserves and they did well. The Chile game saw Mooy and Rogic on the bench with McGowan starting and we did so much better.

Perhaps there isn't really a best 11. We need to mix and match accordingly. Ryan said he's improved due to his sport psychology. How are our players wired? Lack of skill aside can we get ourselves in a better position physically and mentally? We were one of the fittest teams in 2006.

From Danish press

Australia has made a system and change of style before the World Cup, says Åge Hareide, who sees the opportunity for Danish success.
Copenhagen. Football national coach Åge Hareide watched World Cup opponents Australia at the close, when the Australians lost 1-4 on Friday to Norway in Oslo.
It was Australia's first international match under Dutchman Bert van Marwijk. As the result indicates, there is room for improvement before the World Cup.
But even with Australian improvement there will still be good opportunities for a good Danish result, estimates the land trainer.
"We can inspire Norway's efforts. They scored on a dead ball and they scored on a counterattack. The conditions were also good, because there was plenty of room and the match shows where opportunities can arise, says Hareide.
In the World Championship qualifiers, Australia swore for a 3-4-2-1 formation under Ange Postecoglou, while Bert van Marwijk played 4-2-3-1 Friday evening. That was not the only change.
"It was important to find out what the system change means for them. They started playing with four men in the backbone instead of three, and you may say that it did not work optimally.
"You could also see that they were more interested in having the ball. They are still duel-strong, but they no longer play with a lot of long balls, now they would rather hold the ball.
The article continues after the advertisement
"It seems as if they want to evolve towards the World Cup, and I'm sure they'll also get better when we get there," says Åge Hareide.
The North man refrains from assessing whether Friday's 11 starring Australians are realistic recipients when Denmark and Australia meet on 21 June in Samara.
The country coach will await Australia's last three test matches before he relies on Australia's suspected start-up.
"They are going to play against Colombia on Tuesday and we will see them in June, where they play test matches against the Czech Republic and Hungary.
"We will follow all the matches so we are well-informed before the World Championships start," says Hareide.

People really need to calm their farms. BVM has literally only had the group together for a week AND playing a new system in their first hit out with debutantes and 6/10 outfield players subbed in and out. No shit it looks disorganised.