For Mooy to dictate play, he needed runners, he had them in the first 20 mins, but after that nothing, Duke was spent, Goodwin went quiet, Leckie too, McGree better for the run, but.....

It was terribly obvious we had no leaders out there.

We haven't had one since Mile retired and may not have one for a few years yet.

And I don’t mean to call out the National Curriculum, but I think that qualifying through Asia has changed the way we play. We used to be criticised for playing “a game of first intent”. I think we’ve gone too far the other way and prioritise under-utilised possession.

On the weekend I watched the 06 Japan game again and was stunned how direct we were, constantly playing forwards. That might not be appropriate against France, but we don’t do that against anyone anymore. We’ve lost that aspect of our game.

Yep, and then at 25 mins we stopped doing what was working. We are now scared of the long ball, even though when used properly (diagonally), it can be a legitimate tactic.

Slow build up play with not enough movement, same as the qualifiers, what I woke up NOT hoping for but expecting.
Unsure if I was impressed with France defensively.  

A better team (or more adventurous team) than us would have had them in all sorts of trouble

Mate the Saudis turned over the odds on favourite playing players JUST from their own domestic league.
Yes it was a boilover and the Argies were unlucky and flatfooted but they were tactically outmastered by a very simple game plan...
Sometimes saying "we dont have the cattle" just isnt enough......

Exactly.
That attitude is weak of heart and limp of wrist

Because they're not small Asian defenders that we can easily out jump.

Yeah, I'm not buying that statement either. 

We've thrown the Australian philosophy out the window in favour of some sort of piss-weak football we are throwing up these days. It is fucking dire to watch. 

It comes back to mentality. 

Australia used to be criticised for being an overly physical team. It's like we've taken offence to it and have gone the other way to being a shy/pathetic team of wt lettuces. 

I think he just ran out of steam to be honest... His positioning wasnt terrible earlier but we had to chase the game and bringing on Kuol and that overweight SpermDog guy was an absolutely diabolical move in this game for me. ..... Anyway .... lets see what the rest of the cup brings us :(

No "limp of wrist" in Qatar mate.... you know that :)

We just saw A league winger score tidy goal against France!? And mid table A league club in Sydney FC beat celtic 2-1!? Hardly piss poor.

at least the WC brings you back to the forum zimbos despite the defeat.....
Agree with your comments, above all how many of us have been going on of the problems within our game falls on deaf ears and or others just don't accept it think we're IMPROVING ?! the crowds are getting back etcetc
I'm come to the conclusion the players we have are not to blame but its on the FFA/FA more than anyone else incl our mate Lowy/AL.
The kids of today are showing improved technical skills compared to the past BUT we have NO Aussie DNA left since the GG NOR do we have any Leaders since Cahill/Jedi, who was the Leader today barring Irvine of all people as mentioned having a go when he could make contact.
NO player in any top flight league says it all but we all love Ange at the bloody SPL and how good players are going there (its all deflection) - I don't expect to win the bloody WC far from it but making it 5times all these people are happy surely you'd expect getting out of the Grp by now or at the very least perform above your expectations like SA/Tunisia have, especially the 1st game.
Our guys hearts from 2-1 down, you sure wouldn't need Arnie to scream at you to lift your fucking game and you'd know how you played the first 15 you got try get that rythem back, win some ball back as they did 50/50's and play long balls back up to Leckie or Goodwin.
By the way Leckie/Mooy, you guys needed to step up more with so many green players and not adding what hasn't been said about Ryan errors or not mine is being Cap reading between the lines why didn't you lead more and say we're feeding more long balls forget the play from the back approach deal with arnie end of the game about it.

Our DNA has gone awol, why ? because we have implemented a system that isn't working, AL taking over developing close Canbra down, shut out the NPL you can't make this shit up......
Living on the past glories has dried up and so many newbies have bagged the GG being full of themselves, idiots etcetc HK's constructive criticism wasn't crap in the commentry but truths how to play basic football.
No running off the ball, basic right, Mooy got slam dunked near the sideline because there was no one to pass to.
Change your tactic seeing its not working in real time.
Other games the last night or 2 you marvelled at the movement on the ball off the ball, slide tackling as if your life depended on it, like wtf basics.
Thats not just about banging on Arnie he's this he's that, its about players own drive/ambition and outright passion being damn competitive.
I watched at times a player just giving up after losing the ball.
We are soft all over, in mind and in play what was shown today.
GA going on about the ol Aussie DNA, well where was that, you are accountable going soft imo as well all talk.
Thats 15yrs of nothing fellas, having a cushy paycheck and your Club doesn't even have concerns being relegated because business as usual next season.
I hope for all of us and them they stand up alot more next game for this was gutting on the world stage.

edit, yes nice bit of play the first 15, gawd Leckie collected and delievered a killer cross for Goodwin to slam away, very nice indeed.

Better to realise late than never.

Has anyone on here mentioned how well Tunisia played against Denmark? Mmm.

It is a pretty good result given the gulf in quality between the players on the teams.

However it is also completely unacceptable when we compare it to where we were in 2006, getting out of the group and being very competitive with Italy.

We should be producing better players than we have been over the last 15 years or so. It is simply pathetic that we cannot produce a half decent striker

The 1997 team which failed to qualify certainly was a lot stronger in attack and probably overall a stronger team than the team we have today. 

Only watched the 3 minute highlights but yeah....
Still, no two games follow the same patterns and certainly not when different teams are involved.

Notice Arnie played ugly football parking bus thr qualification campaign even at home against Saudis n Japan even Vietnam in 2nd half. Never seen in my 20 years watching the Socceroos. And why did we always play worst in the 2nd half under Arnie?!! Why?!!

I will caveat that by adding "being very competitive with a 10 man Italy" and getting pretty resoundly beaten by Brazil in the same tournament where in VAR times we would have been down to 10 men as well.

Not saying we haven't regressed by the way but our place in the world has only fallen within certain limits aha

Probably the most diabolical part of it was keeping Duke on for as long as he did. Apart from that worldie he almost scored, he was absolutly dogshite in pressuring the French defence when they had the ball. I suspect he had tweaked a muscle somewhere because he's usually okay with that aspect of his game. Whether it was Cumdog or MacLaren a move had to be made.

Thats the problem mate... its ALL glossed over with "we qualified for the WC 5 times in a row" its just abut enough for the suits that they can be a part of this 4 year FIFA circus (even if they only spend 2 weeks there) ... who cares what us pathetic supporters think.

A few of my thoughts:
* Souttar and Rowles very poor to concede three goals from headers right in the centre of defence, especially with their height, and one of the headers being Mbappe who is tiny in comparison. Not sure Arnie was right to pick them both given their lack of game time.
* Atkinson mistake was very poor at this level and whilst I used to love him, I think he's just not up to it. I agree that this playing out from the back is a recipe for disaster.
* Ryan partially to blame for the 2nd goal and I would even argue that a better shot stopper could have reacted to save the 1st goal, which went right through Ryan. It begs the question again of Langerak's non-inclusion.
* I've been thinking it for a while and this game confirmed it - McGree is MASSIVELY overrated at this level. Wasn't surprised at all by his poor performance. Obviously Hrustic not even fit enough to appear off bench. We need him desperately against Tunisia.
* Cummings, Kuol and Mabil really disappointing off the bench. That said, Arnie should have made subs at the hour mark when down 1-2 and under the pump. Yet another failing in a long list.
* This game was crying out for Devlin to use his energy and mongrel to reinforce the defence and break up play. So disappointed he didn't start, or even appear off the bench. Might be like the Olympics all over again! 
* Assuming France win all 3 games which I think they will, goal difference doesn't matter for us. The equation is pretty simple - if we get 4 points from Tunisia and Denmark we go through. If we can't, we don't deserve to. 0-0 in other game was a great result for us, though it was a reminder that Tunisia are actually a very good side. We need to take both teams on and not take a backward step. We were way too timid in our approach against France.

In hindsight, Devlin for McGree would've been the best move and play Mooy or Irvine more advanced position.

So the 8 who go through will probably (usually) be

- Us
- Japan
- Saudi Arabia
- Iran
- UAE
- South Korea
- Syria
- Qatar

Terrible isn't it?

I can hear the excuses already:

> Yeah we might not be on the level of (insert plucky underdog teams) but at least we're not as bad as (insert bottom 4 teams at WC)!

> Remember when we never used to qualify?

The score was not the most disappointing thing for me. The thing that disappointed me, although I shouldn't be surprised given it is typical of how I would have expected Arnold to approach the game, is the tactics that we used. It was embarrassing to watch how we played after the first 25 minutes.

Why the fuck would you defend so deep against France, not put any pressure on their players, and give their quality players so much time and space to bring the ball forward. That is just asking for trouble, and that's what happened.

Where is the physicality? Not fouling, but strong challenges, and not allowing opponents time to settle when they receive the ball? We were doing some of that at the start of the game, pressing higher and putting opponents under pressure, and it seemed to be going ok. We did win the ball a few times higher up the park. But after 20-25 minutes we stopped doing that. I can't believe we were cooked, we weren't chasing and running that much.

Why do we always want to play out from the back? Why do we often pass backwards, not just one pass but multiple passes, from attacking positions? Why is there apparently so little movement from players further up the park when we have possession and looking to attack? Why are we never looking to turn their defence around, with the tactic always apparently to try to play through their defence with short passes, which we are not good at?

I would sum it up by saying that was an embarrasising, gutless performance. And it is not the players that come up with those tactics, the person who is responsible for that is the coach. Arnold is a complete failure as national team coach, and should be sacked ASAP after the World Cup.

Come on did anyone 'actually' expect anything different these guys are world champions there manager is world class 

we have guys who are struggling to get minutes on the pitch let alone playing UCL and we have a manager who has systematically failed in every tournament he has been in at national and club level...

How was our support?

Sounded like France had the majority in the stands, although I heard our lot a few times.

Spot on cos Arnold said in press conference Duke got a knock to his hip- so yeah why the fuck was he kept on when he was clearly struggling after that?! 

i think neutrals and Qataris would been supporting France wanting to see the big name players show their staff - doesnt help we pissed them off with that video pre-world cup, i question the decision making around that it is quite clear no other country will do anything i dont understand why we did. 

Overall if i wasnt Australia and i was i the stands watching Kylian Mbappé id want to see him pants some 3rd rate footballing nation as well so you cant blame the crowd....