To be fair Holger was moved on in 2013, it’s now 2019. International squads should have a large turnover in a 6 year period. Not that I’m making excuses for Holger, he was well out of his depth and worst manager we’ve had during my lifetime.

Risdon on the wing????

Fascinating  to see this squad.

It must have been late 2013.

Looking at starting players  McGowan, Oar and Holland, all a good age for international football it is interesting to observe they've stagnated and not been rated by Ange, Bert or Arnie.

Of the squad players,  the erratic Vidosic, Davidson, Duke and Bozanic, are all young enough, but have  fallen off the radar since. Davidson has the best chance of returning.

Now Jedi has retired, only Kruse is a starter from the Holger era, who is still a starter and has been one under   Ange, Bert and Arnie since.

The one I think we might see again is Mitch Duke. A very versatile player these days playing all the way down the left side and as striker. Also can play RM and RW. He has played under Arnie and knows his systems. Also fits the current speed requirement form Arnie. 

Ollie apparently likes his chances but we have a lot of options now and he is definitely back in the pack. Holland is probably behind him, always was on the Coast, and has a reputation for ignoring coaches instructions.

Duke had been released by his club in Japan. 

He was offered a contract but is looking to go to Europe during the window.

Duke's skill on the ball and first touch was shaky, but he claims to have  improved a lot from playing in Japan - a very technical league.

Although the camera was on the Socceroo back size  a lot, I thought Aus played a 4-2-3-1 against Oman.

Opta says it was a 4-4-2 with a midfield diamond.

With the heat map, showing players' most common positions in the game, Kruse tucked inside. It also showed Ikon was often advanced.

What I thought occurred in Ball Possession: 




...................Amini...........Milligan


Mabil....................Ikon.......................Kruse

..........................Nabbout 




Had Nabbout and Mabil changing positions. 

Had Kruse and Ikon changing positions.

It also had Mabil and Kruse changing positions.

It created havoc and confusion for Oman.

 Conventional KNVB  doctrine advocates swapping right and left wingers, but Arnie's interchange system in the front  is something else. Pim was impressed!  

In Ball Possession Opposition the formation against Oman manifested as a flat midfield 4-4-2. 




Grant............Sains..............Deg............Behich


Mabil............Amini...........Mill.................Hruse


..................Nabbout..........Ikon

I can see why Arnie left Giannou out now. He isn't mobile enough, or quick enough for Arnie's interchange system in the front four.

I would've thought keeping  him in the squad would be useful for a different game plan though.

Apparently Degenek is being courted by Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League.. Whats everyones thoughts on this?? should he take the money or finish the season with Red Star and potentially earn a move to a better European team?

ATM things are working out well for Degenek. He has improved in recent times and has played something like 13 UEFA Champ League games.

I think he is only about 24, so he will probably stick with Red Star.

If he was about 30 he could go for the oil money.

Degenek moving to Saudi would be disastrous, should stay where he is and accumulate champions league experience and hopefully move to a stronger euro league in 18 months or so.

I prefer Milligan and Sainsbury to swap I.e. Milligan at c.b. and Sains d.m. Milligan did well at c.b. at the W.C. and Sains has shown his quality at d.m. at Grasshoppers:

Sainsbury’s manager praised his influence after a shift into midfield.

“The first half did not go as we had imagined,” coach Murat Yakin explained.

“In the second half, Sainsbury moved from defence to midfield.

“This gave us a better grip on the game and gave us many opportunities.”

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/coupler.foxsports.com.au/api/v1/article/amp/football/socceroos/roo-radar-trent-sainsburys-new-role-in-grasshopper-debut-brad-jones-howler-brings-club-sack-talk/news-story/1595e95edd865fb1f4a1f7b16921ed0e

Although it was written with the W.C. in mind, this is still worth reading regarding Sains:

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.theroar.com.au/2018/05/24/trent-sainsbury-key-hook-bolt-russia-2018/amp/

I think Sains has sufficient foot and handling speed to operate as a sole d.m. enabling the likes of Luongo, Amini etc to operate closer to goal, where I feel they are more effective. 

The only qualifier I have is Sains current form. That opinion is based on him regaining his best form. 

at 24 he should at least give it a few more years in europe.

kind of 442 i would even call it a 424 or 4222 to be more accurate.  

and we definitely dropped into a 344 with the fullbacks pressing up - milligan dropped in between the centre backs much like man city does with fernandinho.

i thought milligan also sat as part of a back 2 when sainsbury pushed past him up the field

Screw Amini, he's an interception -> goal just waiting to happen. 

yeah it's out there, but you gotta admit he has been sensational in the front third and offers a lot more creativity than most of the other wings we have.

I watched him at the world cup he was horrendous in the final third

That's where he is weakest, all of our attacks died because he can't do anything going forward.

Risdon has been solid defensively, but since our RB has been horrendous for a while he looks like a saviour.

In attack in Ball Possession it often manifested as:




.................Sains.....................Degenek
...................................Milligan
...............Amini
Risdon.............................Ikon..............Behich

.......Mabil........... Nabbout..................Kruse


Although Kruse and Ikon interchanged a lot, with Ikon often going forwards more centrally, when Kruse did his tucking in midfield.

When Ikon adopted the midfield role,  Kruse seemed to play wider.

Both played where Ikon is shown in the aforementioned formation.

Kruse struggled in the more central role in Ball Possession, but was more comfortable in Ball Possession Opposition.

It was as though Arnie wanted to have Ikon more centrally in advanced  positions in BP, because he rated his scoring ability, more than Kruse's.

In  this scenario, it wasn't as frustrating as Kruse's profligacy around goal wasn't on show. 

He has played RW with Glory.

He did.

Most players cover for someone going forwards at this level.

Realised I posted this in the their national team thread which has a few glitches and never loads. Somehow it loaded for my post but now it's not working.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZCdZJumt3c

Was the first Iran goal offside in 97? Comes off an Iranian into our defenders and the Iranian was standing in an offside position. Was the rule different then or just a bad call?

Holger was better than some of his predecessors before Guus.

that's more of a statement on how poor they were

The qualification process for the 2022 World Cup has not yet been announced. All FIFA member associations, of which there are currently 211, are eligible to enter qualification. Qatar, as hosts, qualified automatically for the tournament. However, Qatar is obliged by the AFC to participate in the Asian qualifying stage as the first two rounds also act as qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. If they reach the final stage, their choice on whether to continue with World Cup qualifying is subject to FIFA approval. If the hosts choose not to compete, the next-ranked team will advance instead.^[2]

Regardless of how we do at the Asian Cup I'm feeling concerned with how we'll go in round 2 world cup qualifying. We've not had a winning mentality for a number of years now with lots stuff ups. Saudi will be pot 1 this time round but a potential group of Australia, China, Philippines, North Korea and Hong Kong is tricky. 

Middle East would be worse with Jordan, Lebanon, Turkmenistan and Yemen. 

No, just a bad call. I remember at the time yelling at the ref. (I was in Canberra) and the kids all telling me to shut up!