Excellent I'm going to try to watch parma next season 

Speaking of Arnie:

https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexicousa2026/articles/graham-arnold-socceroos-coach-australia

Arnie's aim is to get us into the Top 20 of Rankings. I was thinking earlier today that is what we should aim for over the next two years for the 2026 World Cup. With the new breed of Socceroo upon us, I'm tipping a ranking of 18 by then.

Would be good. Based off now, we are back to where we were in that 2009-2012 run. Our highest ever run was the middle of 2009 (16th, 16th and 14th across July, August and September)

Pop a cap in dat ass!! 

Arnold will have to contend with injuries to Craig Goodwin, Marco Tilio, Brandon Borrello, Riley McGree and Aiden O'Neill in June's window.

First-choice left-back Aziz Behich has not returned to first-team action in Saudi Arabia since straining a calf in March, which may force Arnold to turn to rising Central Coast Mariners star Jacob Farrell.

I don't get the point that this window will put out buyers for Souttar. It'd be worth just leaving him in Europe. It's been confirmed Ryan is having a family visit home and won't participate. I expect Leckie to be recalled. Irankunda is starting his Bayern life.

Unfortunately Jones and Miller will come in. Will we bring Yazbek? I don't see the point mid Norway season. Burgess and Irvine are buggered but there is a lot of promotion for Perth with their faces so they'll be coming. 

I'd pick
Gauci, Thomas, Izzo (confirmed apparently) 

Strain, Atkinson, Circati, Souttar, Deng, Rowles, Bos, Farrell 

Nieuwenhof, Metcalfe, Nisbet, Hrustic, Devlin, Baccus 

Yengi, Iredale, Boyle, Silvera, Leckie, Mabil, Milanovic

Do we get up to 26? My list a few pages back has been decimated with injury, form or fatigue. 

Irankunda, Robertson, Volapto won't be picked for different reasons. 

Wrote a bit rushed and I use the wiki to see player lists. Of course Arzani plus Balard and Teague should probably be introduced. 

I believe Nieuwenhof is still injured? Not 100% sure but he hasn't featured since his injury. Would love Robertson to be involved, he's just too good to leave out and it's the offseason for everyone. 

Yeah I'm not sure. I think he'd be less fit anyway. Considering all factors some local players like Teague and Balard can get introduced to the set up. 

Irankunda, Arzani, Izzo all but confirmed in the upcoming Socceroos team per reports. Will be a very exciting team by the looks of it.

we have 5 really exciting young players in circati, bos, irankunda, robertson and volpato and a really nice professional core of metcalf, mcgree, souttar, burgess, ryan and irvine

could build a really nice team out of that if all goes to plan

We don’t need Volpato. He clearly does not want to play for us. This isn’t about his club as Circati has chosen to play for us. Valverde recently said he would give up 2 UCL titles to win a Copa America with Uruguay. This is the sort of allegiance to our nation we should require instead of the BS we are accepting right now. Volpato played for Roma during an injury crises, and was a bench player for a relegation team. Sure he would add to depth but he doesn’t start for us either. He can be ex-communicated now I don’t care,

Teague for a senior team??? No way!!

It's still a longer shot but he's an interesting player. Dispossessed once all game last night I read. You've got to watch him like a hawk. A bit like Culina or Grella, you'll hardly notice him if you don't watch careful. Unless you have an absolute appreciation for the position of course. 

He's a prime example of returning from the European shackles and doing well. More need to do it. 

He has played a fait bit this season. He is unlikely to be good enough for the italian nt. Even tho he played on the wing this season he is a rare zone 14 specialist. So his competition is jelacic and bernardo (who is also being played on the wing). We have very few in our history that can cover that position. Without a player comfortable in zone 14 u are forced to over rely on the wings and on set pieces like we are now. So he is a very important part of the jigsaw puzzle going forward because he would let us vary the options in attack

We have Mcgree, Hrustic and Genrau. It’s just ridiculous how much we have to simp for him when they should be begging for the chance to play. He rejected a World Cup spot, just think about that. Who in their right mind would do that when they were born and grew up here. Both my parents were born overseas and there is no way I would give up a World Cup spot!

Genreau spends more time at 8 or 6 and is a mr fixit, hrustic is similar. Mcree is similar to volpato in that he is a specialist 10 often playing wide with his club. However, mcgree is more of the ideal 10 to have in transition (even though middlesborough like to play possession football) whereas volpato is effective in tight spaces even when recieving the ball in ball body position. This is despite being tall. This is a rare skill (for us) and similar to jelacic, rogic and bernando but volpato has reached a higher height than jelacic and bernando. So he would be very useful. I can live with trying a bit longer

It is good news!

I' d play him in at last one of the next two WCQs to secure his allegiance.

ATM I'm going to suggest a starting squad like this.

WE desperately need more of the technically adept young players to break down these deep defensive  blocks.

I'm assuming O'Neill, Robertson and Ryan are injured? Volpato isn't keen?

I'll add who to sub them with in brackets.

................................................Gauci

Atkinson...................Circati...................Rowles...............Bos

.............................................Nieuwenhof

................Hrustic (Jake Hollman)............Irvine

Brook (Irankunda)..........Taggart(Iredale)(Stam)...........Goodwin (Arzani)


It might be risky playing an inexperienced Circati initially as the CB in a WCQ, but Souttar just isn't playing  enough club football ATM, despite IMO being our most effective CB in Asia.

I rate all of Souttar, Rowles and Circati above Burgess, despite the latter  ostensibly playing at the higher club level. This is based on what I've  seen them do  for  the Socceroos.

The younger players I've selected just have better skills on the ball than most of their more senior counterparts competing  for the same positions.

Both Brook and Jake Hollman  run with the ball and dribble with their heads up, enabling them to scan the field of play at high pace and make better decisions with what to do with the ball. Very few senior Socceroos can do this as well as this duo.

Niwewenhof playing for the Olyroos in a friendly has displayed better distribution skills than any other senior Socceroo DMs, apart  from O'Neill, and Nieuw's far younger midfield Olyroo teammates, Teague, Jake H, Valadon and Youlley.  Niew is also a good ball winner and will have improved from playing in the rugged Scottish league.

Brook has a cannon shot in both feet outside the pen box too.  Despite the Olyroos  not scoring in Qatar  he forced some fingertip saves from opposition keepers. Also, defenders have  had a bit of a problem showing and jockeying Brook, because he is dangerous shooting with both feet and comfortable on both sides of the body.

Often  defenders can jockey and show to one side, knowing the attacker  is less potent on one side than the other. Brook is selected for his recent goal output as a winger. He is also much stronger than Boyle and far less prone to be knocked off his feet. Brook  also tracks back and defnds well.

Irankunda needs some minutes in a WCQ to  lock him in to playing for Aus. He has that X factor, like Arzani.  Apart from Hrustic, and maybe Goodwin,  there hasn't been  much creativity in the senior Aus attacking 6 in recent times. The senior Socceroos are struggling to play  sufficient quantity and quality of balls into  the box against some weaker Asian teams. This needs to change.

Unless Duke is banging goals in the J League, I've gone for players scoring regular club goals as central striker.

I personally dont get why we are desperate to break down deep blocks. We only face deep blocks against weak asian teams we tend to get past one way or another. The matches that matter - games against the 4 other big asian nations and world cup games - are where id like to improve

Having said that here is my fun xi with the funnest players selected regardless of team balance

---‐-------------ryan--------------
-natty--souttar-circati-bos--
------------nisbet-robertson-----
----------------mcgree------------
---irankunda-yengi-volpato-

Of i just stuck my best xi players on the pitch it would have to include our promotionroos

-----------------ryan--------------
----circati--souttar--burgess--
-----------nisbet-irvine------------
-mcgree----------------bos------
----------mcgree/hrustic/luongo---
--------------volpato-yengi-----

To bury them and not look so inept playing them!

It shows a few of our senior players up!

Sure but sounds like it is only fan ego haha
3 points is 3 points. Who cares if we beat randomnesia by 1 or 30 goals. i want to beat top 30 teams more often

Randomnesia - ha ha!

On cricket one of the Tas members coined the phrase, 'who gives a  Fuckistan?'    There are some T20 teams playing from less known countries in Asia. 

Good international football teams will also have a look at our struggle to beat deep defensive blocks and possibly deploy them against us for phases in games, like if they go 1 or 2 up.

Borello hasn't been scoring much this season has he, like Maclaren?

Would he have been considered? 

Maybe he would? Arnie inexplicably selected him in recent games. I  thought before he was injured this season, he showed good signs as a Socceroo striker.

Tilio has played some good cameos for the Socceroos  and in the AL in recent times, but when he played in one of the recent Olyroo friendlies, he was one of the worst players on the pitch. Easily the  worst Olyroo. Couldn't believe it was the same player? Yet based on reputation about 6 months ago, Tilio should have almost been the star of the Olyroos.

 Interesting reading, Grazor?

 Have you seen Volpato play? I haven't - yet.

Haven't seen McGree play for Middlesbrough, only  for the Socceroos. I was pretty keen on him a while back, until you and other posters thankfully sparked my interest with the Aussie U 23s and younger. 

Now I believe there are far more talented and better players coming through with superior skill sets to McGree  for attacking midfield positions - Youlley, Jake Hollman, Segecic, Valadon, Jelacic - and maybe even more I have had a decent look at yet?

Also, from the Socceroos I think Silvera is a bit hit or miss, and again these whizz younger Aussies are potentially  better players.

Who is Bernando?

I just can't keep up with them all!

Will need to play him in 3 games (non-friendlies) to secure him.

mostly cause he's done absolutely nothing ever. 

And I'm going to eat one.