Troisi is one of the most limited players imho
He can't read oppo defenses and goes into areas that are impractical. Often firing a shot off by himself

Troisi offers nothing against quality opposition would be better off with two strikers or Hrustic to give him experience

Get ready boiz


-PB

I mean Ange is a tournament man. After thinking about it the past couple of days the more optimistic i feel.


Sure the world cup was our worst one ever. However he had under a year to prepare for it. Coming in after we had already qualified and basically changing our entire squad and starting eleven. Usually a coach will have the whole qualification period to build up his team and prepare for a world cup. So I don't hold it against him at all. Not to mention a lot of our players were nervous as shit due to never being tested at international level (thanks to Holger not trying them out during his tenure). Which was the main reason why we collapsed at the start of the Chile game.


Also we looked so much better in the world cup than the friendlies before it. The draw against the fourth string South Africa side at home and the flat and disjointed loss to Croatia were very worrying signs that we would be demolished. 


Then the friendlies before the Asian Cup. There was a lot of Ange out sentiment back then as well. Our losses to Qatar and Japan and draw against the UAE were boring, uninspired and disjointed performances. Many people felt we would struggle to get of the group, let alone win. Not to mention the drama of where the goals would come from in the Asian Cup.


Of course people say that the teams we beat weren't that good. But you can only beat the teams in front of you, UAE beat Japan fair and square, it wasn't Anges fault Japan sucked. We also played some great football during the tournament, 100x better than the friendlies before it.


So I am cautiously optimistic. Ange was never good at friendlies, but tournaments he's quite good. And our players always seem to step up and play a lot better in the big important occasions. I don't think we'll leave the confederations cup without any points. I actually think we can make it to the knockouts. Hell go and try and win the whole thing

Just realised we were last to arrive in Russia, I hope a few days rest is enough to get over a 30hr plane ride.. Lets just hope they don't need to acclimatise too much. 

That's what tactical managers do they assess the game and make changes to influence the game, I've yet to see Ange ever do this.. some if subs I just throw my hands in that air and ask why? He seems to be more a man manager than anything..

I'm getting into the spirit with some interesting Russian cartoons.

Tactics are beyond me.

Just the obvious, need 4 not 3 at the back. Don't box ourselves into trouble with the play out into obvious trouble. Kruse simply isn't match ready touch wise. Ryan is too small but langerak has effing weird brain fades.I don't think luongo is on point at the moment.

Out of that, back 4, NO Kruse and I'm happy, leave the rest to the coach and players.

Oh and no short corners. They are a 100% waste of time

Realistically, we are so far off the pace of the better teams it's not funny (I mean seriously, struggling against Thailand and the Saudis?).

But there's no reason why we can't go into the tournament hoping for  a bit of a miracle, perhaps jag a point along the way.

we have always struggled against asian teams

after 12 years in asia people still underestimate them

Underestimate no, overestimate our ability then yes. Apart from Oceania it is by far the weakest confed with currently only Iran being the only good team due to the management and FA disaster in Korea and issues in Japan.

Let's not forget that the last time Oceania played off against Asia for a WC spot, the Oceania team actually won - and acquitted itself quite well in the WC, not losing a single game.

As far as I'm concerned, if we create one chance from open play against Germany, it's high fives all round...

True, one clear cut chance, whether it's taken or not, would be reason to celebrate.

can I hold you to that :D

Yes, absolutely.

If that one clear cut chance is taken, I will be here to express my overwhelming joy.

If that one clear cut chance is not taken, and we are flogged, as many predict, I will be here to tell everyone: I told you so,

Told us so? Wtf everyone here expects us to be flogged.

Even though i've been very disappointing of the team as of late, i have a good feeling about this tournament. So much so i think we'll start with a good result against Germany where we actually don't lose.

our (close to) strongest team with our second best ever coach were flogged by germany

we have also had weaker teams with weaker coaches do very well against decent teams. There is a fair amount of randomness to it

I think if we play this tournament a thousand times on average we have a goal difference of about -4
but a few of those times we make it to the final. Then again a few times we lose each game by more than 4....

he played 4-2-3-1 from the time of his appointment to the dutch WC game.

We have a wonderful record in the Confeds cup, although interestingly, the last time we made it there, it ended up in the sacking of a socceroo coach.

the saudis are a decent team. they would be a handful for a lot of teams in the euros.  the thais are really coming along as well.  and we are not at our best.  some people need to be grateful for the performances we are getting and not expecting our team to play like it is loaded with top tier players - because for the most part it isnt.  outside of midfield we are completely lacking.

i thought australians loved underdogs.  isnt that the kind of nationalist bs propaganda we are fed daily?  shouldnt we all be doing doughies and burning meat on the bbq for our underdog team? fkn.

I think when an aussie underdog has had the public behind them they have often punched above their weight

but the football public is hopeless divided

The Saudis are decent and would be a handful in the euros?  Seriously?

It's only 15 years ago when they copped the mother of all hidings against a rampant Germany (losing 8-0).

They didn't fare much better four years later, the last time they made the WC, losing 4-0 against the Ukraine.

Fair dinkum people, some of these teams are ok playing against other Asian teams, but against quality teams they are miles off the pace

And Thailand?  They have always been hopeless and still are..

So we just have to believe?

teams backed by whingers tend to underperform

My God, you're serious!

It will be our fault, because we didn't believe...:P:P:P:P

you really dont think fan culture makes a difference

Self-belief can take you so far,,,but only so far.

In fact, wasn't there an artilcle recently saying the socceroos were relying on confidence to get through?

Good to go into a tournament with confidence, every team needs that to progress, as long as you can back it up with substance.