It's no secret this is a particularly dour time for finding socceroos who can get game time in the big 5 (France, Italy, Germany, England and Spain). In fact, from the top 50 ranked nations as measured either by world rankings or elo we are the only that didn't have a player starting for a big 5 club last round of club football.

I was curious just how unusual our performances were. So I looked at the number of players each country had start in the last round for a big 5 club and how well that correlated with the country's elo

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13uLQ9oKjmQiag9YLaKkEaIvtYGBSnKMQWRDvvyLQU8E/edit?usp=sharing

We are indeed massively overperforming at the national team level. In fact our performances predict we should have an average of 10 players starting in big 5 leagues each week. This has been a consistent overperformance over the last decade where we have had an elo that would predict between around 4 and 10 players starting each week yet probably averaged around 1

Thoughts on why this is?

The NC being started by Berger’s  tenure. 

You have often been an evangelist for how the nc makes for players at all levels have a unified vision for how to play together. If that is the reason why we have punched above our weight, then we could really make an impact if we also start producing better individuals who are ntc coached and tactically flexible as a cohesive unit

One factor, is that in South America, the Brazilian and Argentinian domestic leagues are similar quality to the UEFA Big Five.

Brazil and Argentina would have heaps of their domestic players starting in  their domestic leagues.

In the table England and Italy have far less players starting in the UEFA big five, than Spain, France and Germany. The latter three nations all being in the UEFA Big Five too.

France may have the weakest domestic league in the UEFA Big Five, but they have the most players playing big five, and are the most successful international team over the last 25 years.

Indeed, Brazil and Argentina look like they are overachieving since I don't count their domestic league which is just as good!
Spain France and Germany over the last period have all won world cups and have not only have more players crack their local domestic league, they have exported more often to other big 5 leagues

No they are absolutely not. 

I watch a lot of south american football. A lot of it is dire.

Interesting.
I did imagine the Argentina and Brazilian leagues to be the 6th and 7th best leagues in the world based on what others have said but never seen a game myself. I'm guessing there are few aussies who have watched a match! 

In the a league imports from the 2nd division in Brazil have compared favourably with imports with the English championship. When the expanded club world Cup happens it will be more meaningful to compare leagues in different confederations 

The top few teams are of course great - after that, it's grim. Lots of mistakes, horrible pitches, stop start matches. 

Yeah and it’s a bit of a lottery if a player who excels there will do well in the EPL

With due respect, when I've watched Brazilian club football, in terms of technique it is easily  the highest level of technical football I've watched in any league. 

Technique is categorised into - handling speed, first touch, running with the ball, striking the ball - and - 1v1 attacking and defensive skills.

In terms of handling speed, first touch, striking the ball (passing over range with the instep and outside of  the foot) and 1v1 attacking skills, I've never seen anything as good at club level as the Brazilian league.

Of course if  organisation, game sense, communication, football conditioning, mental strength, etc, are added,  the UEFA Big Five clubs more than compensate. The fact that 52 Brazilian footballers, play Big Five football in UEFA,  another continent, indicates Brazilians are more in demand than any other football nation in Europe, outside the domestic players who play in the Big Five themselves.

 In fact, 52 Brazilians playing in UEFA Big Five isn't that much lower than 75 English domestic players playing  Big Five, mostly in the EPL.

It is the technical qualities of Brazilians the Big Five talent scouts perceive as superior to UEFA footballers.

When I used to watch the Argentinian league, that was technically very high quality too. They have 23 players playing Big Five. Easily the second highest outside Europe.

Uruguay has 8 players playing Big Five. For a country of 3 million, that is incredible! Uruguay  doesn't often finish 3rd after Brazil an Argentina in  WCQ campaigns in South America, but it usually performs the best in WCs outside Brazil and Argentina.

I'd surmise the best players from the other South American leagues tend to play in Brazil or Argentina for their club football.

Do we punch above our weight or just around it? 

We do ok, but I can't think of a real punching-above-weight game we have won? 

Would agree that Arnie is getting a lot out of his players though

over the last 9 years where we have averaged around 1 player in the big 5 we have qualified for the wc through asia 3 times, beating concacaf and conmenbol playofs, won the asian cup at home, drawn 1 game and won 2 world cup games. This set of results is what you would expect from a nation averaging around 6-10 players (last year around 10) players in the big 5 according to my analysis comparing ELO vs number of players

But these teams are all around our standard? 

respect your analysis and time, and you make good points, but to me the phrase suggests beating teams that are better - which rarely happens and never have we knocked off anyone really, really good (only one I can remember is Brazil in confeds cup - not talking about friendlies)

We are still beating teams around our level more often than we should given where our team is at on paper, denmark are also a team above out level that we've beaten and drawn against. 

If we are beating germany or brazil at a tournament then we are playing like a team that is another level above again. With so few big 5 players our weight is very low and we are punching well above it

Beating Denmark felt so great but it's funny how underdone they seemed that night. I think a lot of honest football fans can see the joy in any victory but also have that objective reflection.

At the same time I think 'that's Denmark's problem' for how they played that night. Still, I'd love to have something like Saudi vs Argentina or Morocco against a few teams last time around- on a more regular basis too so it's not seen as a fluke.

I've got a recording of Denmark 2018 and I'm shocked how much we really took it to them in the second half. Ahhh Peru. That bloody Leckie slide in. Tough day that. 

Effective teams negate the opposition to having 'bad games'.

Over some time we've played a lot of world class teams, and given them hard matches. France were too good for us, the  Qatar WC finalists. However, to play as effectively as we have against Peru,  Tunisia, Denmark, Argentina ( WC champs), Ecuador ( 3rd or 4th in South America), Mexico and  England, shows Aus under Arnie is a respectable team at playing international football over a sustained period. This is despite having few 'stars' playing in the UEFA Big Five.

Even though Aus was awful against Palestine in the last WCQer.

That's true. Albeit friendlies at least we put in a good shift. The Ecuador games were great. We had a go and they bit back but we were much better for it Bloody covid snatching our Copa America away! 

yeah fair enough. 

I would also argue that there is still a fair bit of inadvertent snobbery about Australia as a football nation in Europe. It even existed in Peru ,where some of  their  football media  thought we were a joke before the sudden death play off in Qatar. 

One of Aus's football journos, Adrian Dean, spends a lot of time looking at overseas fan forums where Aus footballers ply their trade. He stated Scotland's fans think Aus's A L is rubbish, and our national team is rubbish. That is despite Aussies playing in the Scottish league.

I can smugly respond ( and this is for internal consumption on this forum, not overseas fans) football fans often (with some considerable exceptions) know virtually nothing about game based football performance criteria. I'd also contend that if all the Aussies who played in Scotland, were thought to be from Argentina, Scottish fans would rate them more highly.  

Some overseas football stakeholders with considerable  insights, have rated Aus  a lot higher than their media and fans.

* Argentinians Messi, their keeper, and coach, all said Aus was extremely tough opposition at the WC. That to play high quality teams like Aus, one has to expect in the last 16 of a WC.

* The Peruvian coach, highly rated, basically admitted Arnie completely out-coached him tactically, particularly in the first half in Qatar. He found it very difficult to counter the constant rotating midfield triangle - and - they ceded far too much time and space to Mooy - who controlled the game.

* ? Cristiansen, Tech Dir of Copenhagen FC, dreaded playing Aus in the WC, because they were a far better team than most in Denmark realised. He also paid homage to Aussies who had played in Denmark. He thought Denmark only had a 50/50 chance of winning.

* Ecuadorean coach( although Ec rated a bit below Aus in FIFA rankings ATM), stated Aus overpowered them physically in  body on body duels in the first game. He said they didn't know what hit them!

It is also apparent that Aus football fans perceive Aus's football image in terms of how Euro football milieu perceives us. There is an inherent inferiority complex, because Aus male players aren't playing in the UEFA Big Five.  I prefer overachieving as a national team unit.

The greatest ignominy, would be having lots of supposedly high quality players playing high level Big Five football and the national team underachieving.

England have had to face this phenomenon for decades until Southgate, and to a lesser extent, Fabio Capello, improved their performances. English fans constantly stated international football was unimportant, until the golden age of Southgate. Spain also suffered this phenomenon prior to the  Tiki Taka Barca era, and consequent national team success.

*For talent identification - technique ( handling speed, first touch, running with the ball, striking the ball, and 1v1 defensive and attacking skills), plus athleticism and speed over the turf, are easier to identify. Talent scouts  don't have  have to be as proficient to identify them. A few of our current female players have these qualities in spades.

* Game sense, positioning on the pitch, communication, vision, mental strength, ability to work effectively  within a team game plans and be able to work effectively as part of a team unit, are far harder to identify. One needs to be inculcated into high quality football programs to be able to identify these more subtle  traits in a footballer. The likes of Irvine, Goodwin, Duke, Rowles, Mooy, Jedi, Milligan have/had  these qualities in spades.

Hrustic  has a lot of  high level technical qualities with the ball at his feet. When one looks at the second list of criteria, this is where he struggles, and is the main reason he isn't part of the current Socceroos. Arnie uses very sophisticated tactics. He has about 3-4 fornations in the same game plan - different formation, which evolves in the three  different thirds of  the pitch.

Arnie's team shapes - often in the same game:

Ball Possession Opposition - flat midfield 4-4-2. All three thirds of the pitch.

Ball Possession -
4-2-3-1 - back third of the pitch.
Defensive Midfield Triangle 4-3-3 - central third of pitch.
Attacking midfield triangle 4-3-3 - attacking third of pitch. 
2-4-4 - Penalty Box  - full backs push up high and attacking mid joins the central striker in a central position.

Jackson Irvine is integral in these evolving formations  - playing different roles in all five formation manifestations - a very high level of game sense!

These variations may be reasonably common, apart  from the rotating midfield triangle in the 4-3-3.  

 

  



 

 

It is definitely better to have a team full of players not cracking the big 5 and causing upsets than having a team full of stars underachieving!


Having said that, if we do manage to get players who succeed at a higher level in club football and still work just as well as a team we could really go to the next level

Very true

It is quite fascinating how the Scots sneer at the AL and at Oz players while endlessly raging at the way English fans sneer at the SPL. It's a form of bullying when you think about it - abusing those you think weaker after being abused yourself.

At the same time the Scots are constantly ripping the shit out of their own league. On any forum - even Celtic or Rangers - you'll find them bemoaning how shit their league is... until someone compares it with the AL. Suddenly they're united - adamant that the AL is crap and less than English L1 quality.

As for Australian players, Celtic have had Viduka, MacDonald, Rogic, Mooy (and Ange). All of whom are regarded as legends at the club. Rangers have had Moore, Vidmar. Hearts are currently stuffed with Australians. Hibs fans love Lewis Miller (and are probably about to score one or two more Aussies). St Mirren have Strain and Baccus who (when available) are first picked. Yet most of these clubs think Oz players are rubbish and the AL absolutely dire. (That's not to say all Oz players have been successful in Scotland.)

In fact it is very difficult to compare the leagues because they're played under such different conditions. Oz players take a while to adjust to the cold weather and soft pitches - which can cause soft tissue and other injuries. Just ask Daniel Arzani.

Then finally, we are ranked 11 places higher than Scotland by FIFA at the moment. Sometimes we're more than 20 places higher. That has to tell you something about the quality of our players but the Scots won't have it. When confronted with that reality any Scottish fan will tell you not one Oz player would make their national team - thus the FIFA rankings are wrong.

Clutching at straws much?

Interesting?

I've been reading a fair bit of data from Opta about comparisons between EPL, Championship, Leagues1 and 2. 

I've just started to watch the English lower leagues again, after a few years break. There has been  a pleasing improvement in style.

You make good points about tempo of leagues being different, with salient weather conditions ( played in heat or cold). When Han Berger was identifying flaws of Aus players, it was they played at the same tempo too much, without rhythm changes, like Continental teams.

EPL used to be flat out in intensity, but the Opta data shows, the EPL has increased the length of  time teams possess the ball, with slower periods of play interspersed with faster phases of tempo. England did this against the Socceroos in September.

It appears that Man City's success  has influenced the others in the Big Six in particular, to try and emulate City. 

Stats would show that most AL teams tend to have long phases of play before teams lose the ball. I watched CCM in particular, and Glory, play an open ended game at fast tempo game last week - the AL exception, not the norm.  The distance between the lines was stretched ( Pim's major criticism) - not like most other current A L games.

Generally, though, the Scottish fans colluding to disparage the A L is perplexing, because most of the teams in the Big Five UEFA leagues, play like A League teams, but at a higher standard. That is, long, sustained periods of possession before a turnover occurs.

Ditto the big clubs adopting similar style in the lesser  UEFA leagues outside the BIG Five - Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark.

Good post.

ARNIE = LEGEND

Strongly agree.

L'Equipe, the most prestigious football magazine in the world, awarded him coach of the Qatar WC. He must have been pressed by the Moroccan coach, where his  relatively modest  team came 3rd or 4th..

Australia has one of its greatest coaches in any sport, Arnie, who would be adulated anywhere else - except his home country.

Arnie has also taken on part of a Tech Dir's role with Football Aus, by coaching the Olympic team. Because of  a dearth of talented players he has fast tracked younger players through the underage program to senior level.

love the spreadsheet well done mate thats takes some time and analysis... respect...

thanks!

I think many of our players when they go overseas also on the whole gets less chances simply because they are Australian.

I think that's part of it. Certainly a lot of managers around the world just shrug their shoulders at Australian football. Additionally, our players' direct competition in the squad is either local or from much more coveted football nations who have that better technical ability than our players. Our players aren't bad, it's just the others in the squad tend to beat the man or hit the net more often in training and maybe in games too.

Our good players have done well when they're the bigger fish in a smaller pond and turn a lot of heads and really get on side with the fans and the league as a whole. 

One other thing, Germany 4:0 aside I've never really heard any negative sentiment from non-Australian sources after a game. Respect is always gained and often a lot of surprise about the ability and implementation of a game plan. Some opponents feel left with a bloody nose of sorts and it won't be forgotten.

I aspire to be a team where opponents think 'oh no they're going to convert their chances' a bit like how Japan seen compared to 'oh we'll probably get a few bruises but we'll score more than they will.'

I've got an English friend who maintains England have hardly beaten any formidable opponent in a tournament for a very long time. He includes Germany at the last Euros as an underdone team.

Sure England have beaten plenty of good sides but he's adamant any team considered bigger is where their tournaments stop. 

We won the Asian Cup by dodging some bullets. That's tournament football in a way but also there's a mini asterisk thanks to the UAE upset over Japan. 

Interesting perception?

When they reached the final of the Euro Champs in 2020,  England must have defeated some decent teams on the way?

This tournament was one of the stronger England cases. Germany albeit underdone. Smashed Ukraine and then beat a very challenging Denmark. 

2022 lost to France. 2018 lost to Croatia, Belgium and made life difficult for themselves against Colombia.

2014, 2010 were disasters. 2012 and 2016 also just blunders. It's gotten much more promising since then though. Euro summer is another good chance. 

I find Grazor's table fascinating!

Thanks a bunch for taking the time to do it.

Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium and  Portugal, all have the next highest number of players playing  UEFA Big Five football with 22 - 25 players each.

The latter trio have the next highest ranked leagues in UEFA after the Big Five.  In international football Netherlands and Portugal, probably perform the best, particularly outside Europe.

I'm not sure  about Portugal, but Netherlands and Belgium have holistic systems, where pro clubs closely follow a National Curriculum and pathway with a strong connection to the national football federation. Their systems are what Football Aus aspires to emulating, but  doesn't have the money.

I’m on my holiday but It’s an interesting topic to discuss about.

For me I always feel we punch above our weight largely to our inferior playing quality, only the 2006 team I could recall we could compete but even then there was this ignorance that we can’t play football! 

16 weeks for grassroots? That's insane

Does that number vary much from state to state?

Merry  Christmas and a happy new year

Im not in the loop like I used to be but did recall grassroots seasons in the NSW to be around 16 weeks a year but elite football at SAP and NPL youth level its around 40 weeks not sure if that's changed but clearly there is a gap there needs to be improved on.

I think in Japan they play and train for 52 weeks a year, but no matter the level of the pyramid they seem treat every player the same regardless of what level which is the key factor, that's make a big difference in terms of talent pool you develop as well and maybe why they have such an impressive conveyer belt of talent at all levels.
We seem to treat each layer of the talent pool differently and divert too early? Anyway its a good discussion.

Thanks same to you mate, always good chatting football on here.

that is super interesting

would love someone who knows how it is done in europe to jump in. Looking at the u13 southampton league they seem to go for only around 16 weeks a year actually

Why are the Socceroos punching above they're weight? They won it a while back, they also got to round of 16 on the recent WC, & they are 25 in the world. This loser mentality must end some time.

It’s good old Euro snobbery saying the individual players in our squad aren’t playing in top 5 leagues - like several Japan NT players do - therefore aren’t ‘worthy’ of fifa ranking of 25 and 11th place at Wcup. Socceroos results are proof that the team does better than the individual parts look on paper

I've mentioned this unusual phenomenon to mates who don't follow football.

One of them thinks it is analogous to some Aussie wine buffs, who constantly prefer French wine, to Aus wine.

BT 
I don’t agree eurosnobbery has anything to do with it from my pov.
Putting aside what league our players are in or not.
How many games before koff do you sit there in confidence we’re gonna get the result ?
Have more possession ?
Shots on goal ? 

I’m on holiday ATM and can’t access my desk top computer. I can only access my phone, which isn’t ideal for posting. 

Not all true. The problem is we have both we don't have stars and we def can't play together.  You watch The Palestine game do you think Irvine and Baccus can play together ? Players were struggling out there. Many players in the current team still got poor basic first touch, vision & dribbling skills. 

Palestine was the exception not the norm.  However, agree with you, Mark_000au, the Socceroos' performance against Palestine was abysmal compared to pretty well all games they've played since against UAE and Peru in the Qatar WCQ sudden death play offs.

Disagree they have basic technique issues ( handling speed, first touch, running with the ball, striking the ball and 1v1 attacking and defensive skills), but most of our South American, Asian and European opposition, are better technically than us. However, technique, athleticism and speed over the  turf are relatively easy to identify.

Where Aus excels to make  up for deficits in the three aforementioned specific game football based performance criteria - game sense, communication, football conditioning, mental strength, unity of purpose, team cohesion, organisation and tactical nous,  and having one of the best international coaches in world football, Arnie) -   Australia compensates for technical inferiority,   lower athleticism of some players and even less speed over the turf, particularly in wide areas, by being proficient in other specific game based football criteria.  

As for Baccus and Irvine not playing well as a unit in the Palestine game, IMO Irvine (out of the Palestine game a lot), Goodwin in particular, Boyle and Metcalfe, all had very poor games by their own standards. Goodwin was furious with himself at times!

To go back and have a look at the two games against Ecuador and England, Goodwin and Irvine were immense. I've just had a second look at them. Palestine was the exception, not the norm. I've just had a second look at that one too.

I've had time to round off some Continental Confederations's number of Big Five players from specific nations. There are many atrocious international football teams across the world, who have heaps of  Big UEFA Big Five players. Yet their international teams underperform, or even worse, rarely play any big tournaments, for decade after decade.

Whereas it appears to me, given the fascination with Aussie Abroad, and which Aussie is doing well where,  it would be prudent if a number of Aussie UEFA adulators, should consider the following countries in Europe with plenty of Big Five Players, but they have chronic underperforming international teams. 

Last week when Grazor complied the  list of Big Five players, Aus had 0 playing!

However, consider the following:

*Austria - 12 Big Five players playing last weekend. 

When did Austria last qualify for a World Cup?   Have  they qualified for any recent UEFA Euro Champs? 12  Big Five players is one complete team of a national team  Austrian team comprising all Big Five players, but whatever the Austrian national coaching set up is, it isn't working at international level. They aren't  that good at playing asa team unit with each other, despite  what appears to be a decent youth development system to develop individual qualities of Austrian footballers.

* Scotland - 9 Big Five players playing last weekend.

It has been well documented on this forum, but  Scotland haven't qualified for a WC since 1998. I think they've just qualified for the imminent UEFA Euro Champs.  I think I've read when they've qualified for any World Cups, they've never progressed past the group stage! The Socceroos have  qualified for the last 16 in two of the last five successive WC tournaments Aus has qualified for.

* Norway -  7 Big Five players playing last weekend.

When Bert VM first coached the Socceroos, when he was experimenting I recount that Norway might have beaten us in a practice match for Russia 2018.

 However, Norway have barely qualified for any WCs or Euro Champs, for decades, with their current impressive crop of 7 Big Five players for a country of only 4 million or so.

*Czechoslovakia - 5 players and Slovakia 7 players. They used to be one country until recently.

As one country playing under Czechoslovakia, they had quite a degree of success as a  football nation. However, since they've split, they haven't qualified for many recent WCs, and I'm not sure how many Euro Champs?

* Greece - 6 Big Five players played last weekend.

Greece also has 4 big clubs, with decent ELO rankings according to Grazor ( not my specialist field). So with   Greek players playing in these Greek domestic big four clubs in Greece - AEK Athens, PAOK, Olympiakos and and Panathinaikos, plus their 6 Greek nationals who are  Big Five players, they aren't doing very well either in international football.

I know that defensive old school German coach ?, coached Greece to a Euro Champs title in 2004 ( very impressive for a country of 11 million), but what  have Greece done in the decade prior, or two decades since?

-Compare the aforementioned UEFA countries to Aus, with  0 Big Five players playing at this point in time, performing as an international team unit, playing all over the globe.
Would you prefer to have a country like Aus, punching well above its weight and outperforming all the aforementioned teams  in international football, who have a healthy number of UEFA Big Five players, and sometimes have some rich, big domestic clubs too?
Or would you prefer to be a national of the international UEFA underperformers, who have a decent number of footballers deemed to be good enough for recruitment by coaches in Big Five clubs?


There are many more countries, from other continents who have arguably underperformed in international football, and within UEFA, who have had better international success, to be analysed in some  following posts.

You are wrong again. Scotland qualified for the 2020 Euro's. That is 2 times in a row now rather than 24 years.

I've acknowledged that and congratulated Scotland for qualifying  for the 2024 Euro Champs. Fair play to Scotland!

Did Scotland get out of the group stage in 2020 Euro Champs? If you don't respond, I'll assume they didn't.

As you can see from the data presented, there are even less successful international football paradigms within UEFA, than Scotland. Some countries, like Austria, with a population of 9 million, have 12 Big Five players, but are less successful at playing international football, within UEFA, than Scotland.

I'm also amused that when Aus journo, Adrian Dean, who writes  for Inside Sport, this site, visits Scottish football forums, Scottish fans think Aussie footballers are rubbish, and the Socceroos are rubbish. A bit embarrassing when the Socceroos reached the last 16 in the Qatar WC, beating Denmark 1-0, knocking them out of the comp.

Denmark  won the UEFA group Scotland was competing in for the  WCQs for Qatar, finishing with 27 points to Scotland's 23 points.. 

No they didn't get out of their group. They lost to  Czechoslovakia and Croatia but drew with England.

Scotland finished second in its group in attempting to qualify for Qatar but lost out to Ukraine in the semi finals of qualification. They lost 2 -0 to Denmark in the first round then beat Denmark 2 -0  at home, rather than easily being accounted for by Denmark home and away which you incorrectly stated.

Sorry misread the table.

Scotland 23 home and away points, drew with Austria 2-2 at home, and drew 1-1 with Israel away, to cede 4 points to Denmark's 27 points, in the group WCQs.

By Scotland, 9 Big Five players, beating Austria away, with  12 Big Five players, in WCQs, they arguably defeated a team of higher quality on paper, as Austria have a higher quantity of quality Big Five cattle. However, Scotland cracked under pressure at home to draw 2-2 with Austria.

Drawing with Israel in an away game in the WCQs, a team they should have beaten on paper, based on domestic league quality in some rankings, but not others, was another Scottish failure to perform. Israeli conditions, are a bit similar to what Scotland would encounter in Asia.

However, in terms of having 9 Big Five players, Scotland, should have defeated Israel, who have few, if any, Big Five players. 

Scotland also defeated lowly ranked Moldova in Moldova, which would probably also be similar to Asia in aspects of culture, socio-economically, harder playing surfaces and some hotter playing conditions.

In the 2020 Euro Champs, Scotland should have defeated Czech Republic,  who boast 5 Big Five players, who they lost to, compared to Scotland with 9 Big Five players.

Scotland's high point in the Euro Champs, as has often been the case historically, was a draw against England, the tournament finalists.   England has 75 Big Five players to select from, compared to Scotland's 9.

Scotland losing to Croatia in the Euro Champs, should have been expected, according to Croatia having 17 Big Five players. Notwithstanding,  Scotland is a richer country and has a bigger population - 6 million to Croatia's 4 million. 

I wonder if the Scottish Football Assoc have visited Croatia to see what they are doing so well for a country with a population of only 4 million?

In the WCQs splitting the ledger 2-2 home and away with Denmark, was impressive. However, Denmark with 4 million has 17 Big Five players compared to Scotland's 9.

 Denmark, qualified. Scotland didn't. I wonder again if the Scottish FA have visited  Denmark, to see what the Danish Football Assoc is doing as well as they are? That is, apart  from drawing with Tunisia and losing to the Socceroos in the Qatar World Cup. 

Ultimately, the Scottish FA should visit  the Football Aus Technical Dept. The  Football Aus Tech Dept has visited Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Japan, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, to import high quality, powerhouse training ground methodology to Aus football.

LOL

As if the Scottish FA are going to take notice of the opinion of someone who repeatedly displays his  ignorance of the Scottish game. They would most likely learn nothing from the Football Aus Technical Dept. The UEFA Pro Licence   is far superior to any Australian qualification.

The "Scottish FA exists to promote, foster and develop the game at all levels in this country" not just the national team.

UEFA qualifications tend to be generic, with many countries.

The Dutch, French, Spanish digressed and kept their own systems in coach education, because they thought they were superior.

Serbia also has a tertiary education degree for professional coaches. 

 One phenomenon that doesn't occur in the original three aforementioned countries's coach education, is training ground practice that involves running without the ball. The Dutch, Spanish and French training ground practices are all game related. The Dutch KNVB at Zeist and the French at Clarefontaine, offer their own courses - not generic UEFA coach education. Football Aus coach education follows suit.

If Australian coaching qualifications are of such a high standard why have all Australian coaches (Postecoglou aside) failed in Europe?

And how many Scottish coaches have been successful in Australia in recent times? 

How many have there been in recent times?

Ernie Merrick and Lawrie McKinna made a pretty good fist of it

They both learned their coaching in Oz didn't they?

Certainly LM did.

Trained in the old system. 

McKinna was a very good player manager, but played trad football.

Merrick evolved to counter the post 2010 Aus trained coaches. 

Monty is definite  product of the contemporary coach education system in Aus. 

Aus is a new kid on the block. 

Australia played its first international in 1922.

Yeah that and football having been played in Australia since 1880 makes it the new kid on the block.

LOL.