Good.

I think he is still too quiet for captain.

When a player receives the ball, it isn't simply a question  of stopping the ball dead, but most of the time the first touch requires taking a ball away from an opponent . 

Mabil often takes a first touch away from his opponent quite effectively.

When Mabil has the ball at his feet and under control he is one of the most  dangerous  players we have as a 1v1 dribbler.

 Even as a winger I think Mabil has scored 4 goals from not many Socceroo games.

6 and 8 are the same, effectively known as the 6 being the right sided DM and the 8 being the left sided DM  in a  midfield triangle 1-4-3-3.

I think you mean as a twin number 10. 

If an attacking midfield  triangle manifests in a 4-3--3 or 4-2-3-1, weirdly the twin attacking mids are called twin number 10s in football vernacular.

I disagree though about Mooy.

Mooy doesn't have the speed over the  turf and acceleration in  ball carrying or explosiveness to break lines and and ball carry into opposition   penalty boxes at speed like Ikon, Rogic and Da Silva, if he plays as an AM.

In the WC in Russia his forte was having more time on the ball and pinging some longer passes from deeper. Mooy is also  a good  player in patient build ups from the back of the pitch to the front. Also,  his ball winning  and defensive  positioning have improved where he is  now able  to break up attacks.

In addition, his lack of speed over the turf means he struggled in Defensive Transitions as a twin attacking mid . The DT is the moment we lose the ball - when he plays as AM   he struggled to turn and chase running towards our own goal. Players like Troisi  and Ikon are at better  this as AMs.

In the  deeper role in the DM position and the second line of defence, Mooy faces the opposition attacks more often in Ball Possession Opposition and Defensive Transitions than when he plays AM in the next line further advanced  towards the opposition to goal  and has to run and chase in these phases of play.

It is important  to evaluate a player in Ball Possession, Ball Possession Opposition and the two transitions, Defensive and Attacking.

Furthermore, it is important  to evaluate them depending  on their efficacy of the three thirds of the pitch that  the game is played in.

Might aswell call every goal excellent then.

If you throw the word around for everything it loses its meaning.

Definitely, but he can lead on field by example.

I find it kinda funny that this is technically his 5th World Cup campaign now

No, I suspect he does mean 8, not 10.
My understanding of an 8, and the way I see how what I call a number 8 play, and how I coach it in teams I have coached, is a midfielder who operates "between" how a 6 and and 10 operate, or what I would refer to as a box-to-box midfielder. In general, playing a more advanced role in attack than a 6 would normally do, and playing a deeper role in defence than a 10. I perceive that most teams I see playing so-called dual DM's, quite often play with one of them (not always the same one, often they vary from one DM to the other) in a more advanced role than the other in attack, in what I would call a number 8 role.

I'd written Milligan off over a decade ago but he kept hanging around. At some point he became a real leader. It was probably 2012 or so and since then we've seen how vital his experience can be. Unfortunately his errors stand out and it feels like he's blocking someone else from coming through. He's been a valuable servant and it'll be over soon. Will the replacements stand up?

https://www.transfermarkt.de/mark-milligan/nationalmannschaft/spieler/37372 Really out between WC 06 and 10 but crept into both squads. 2012 is where he hit it. Holger liked him and that was the frustrating part. He lacked decent performances but always got chosen. Thankfully he took off under Ange and BVM saw his qualities too. The Asian Cup final was an epic performance from him. He was absolutely spent.

Just viewing that our 2nd place prospects also look strong if things go pear shaped. Always fun to see how that table updates. Hopefully more draws amongst teams in all groups

If you ask me, the best way to look the future is to maximise our chances of qualification. This means picking the best squad to get the points each matchday. We've got a tad over three years to gel the squad that will eventually go to the cup, if we qualify.

Building for the future is fine but a core of experienced players is vital for any team.  Milligan has been a solid performer for a long time.  

Don't think we can win this one. Chinese Tapia have been really good in training this week, putting away some quality goals. 

Expect a different Chinese Tapai tonight. 

Agree, the upset is in place. I'm expecting a few goals from Taiwan on the counter.

Taggart's form has dried up, unless Arnold can find another route to goal, pen this one in as a loss.

In regards to the Captain talk, I would say Ryan seems very likely candidate and another could possibly be Degenek??

For me Milligan's age is irrelevant, it is up to others to earn the spot not for him to give it up. Saying that I feel that there probably are better options currently for his position, although I guess the issue is that he is tried and tested (the others have the skills over him but have the same grit??)

James Holland unlucky to have been given a run of late, saw him in some of his LASK European games and he was a standout player in the middle in those games. 

I hope you're not a gambler.

Taiwan are certainly very under rated as a footballing nation & their FIFA ranking doesn't reflect the real quality & depth they possess in the player & coaching ranks.   

yet despite the "real quality and depth they possess" they were recently beaten by.....wait for it.... Nepal.. Sometimes this place resembles cloud cuckoo land !

so what is the lineup for tonight and score predictions? 

i say 

redmayne

smith degenek wright ryan

jeggo irvine hrustic 

borrello taggart mabil 

Why’s Ryan playing left back?

whoops ryan grant haha 

Will Donkin a dangerman, apparently. Ex Chelsea academy.

Guess it's lucky we're playing Chinese Taipei instead then...

For Christmas please obtain a sarcasm detector & look at the two preceding posts to it.  ( facepalm ) 

They were up there with Germany at one stage.

Hope Arnold has done his homework on this one, however, not including Rogic shows just how stupid he's being about this game.

It's one of the great tragedies of a professional career to skip out on this game or not to play for one reason or another.  The shirts of the Taiwan players are quite frankly worth more on Ebay than Ronaldo or Neymar, especially in the football hipster market.  

a league memes on facebook is saying Suwon Samsung Bluewings fans are travelling from korea to watch taggart talk about commited fans! 

That puts us to shame, I didn't even go for my own national team lol

Anyone putting money on Taiwan to score @$3.60

Would love to see a front 3 of Mabil - Taggart - Hrustic, all of them don't mind a shot from outside the box.