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+xTeague I don't think Teague is quite ready for senior Socceroo selection yet, but his broad skill set as a specialist 6, or single DM screener, has him fast catching, or even overtaking, more senior Socceroo DMs - Baccus, Genreau, Irvine, Metcalfe, Devlin, et al - in some cases . I think Nieuw is more effective, as a ball winner than Teague, whilst O'Neill is more polished and more rugged than the Melb Vic player. Teague repeatedly tackles off the wrong foot when opponents try and go around the right side of his body, using his preferred left foot. Hence, his body position is less effective. What is really impressive is Teague has similar positioning as the sole screening Defensive Midfielder as Mile Jedinak. Like the former Socceroo captain, Teague is very disciplined in how he keeps the screen in front of the Aus back four - often by himself. At times, Youlley or Jelacic on the right, and Jake Hollman on the left, when the U23 Socceroos assume the attacking midfield triangle in a 4-3-3 in Ball Possession, and Aus rotates the the midfield triangle, play closer to Teague as Aus plays out. Teague's ability to play in tight pass and move sequences is good, like most of the U 23s and younger Aussies. His passing over range is decent too, but unlike Youlley who can passover range with both feet, which is rare, Teague plays the longer diagonal balls with his preferred left foot. Teague is usually a solid tackler and reads when to make them effectively too. He just heeds to work on tackling with his non-preferred right foot, so he can tackle with both feet with optimum body shape - like Aaron Mooy or Tom Rogic did. Whereas Teague's disciplined positional screening play reminds me of Jedi's, he is nowhere near as good as the former Socceroo skipper in aerial duels or as an enforcer - yet. However, his technique on the ball is vastly superior to Jedi's. ATM Arnold probably prefers Yazbek, who also tackles off the wrong foot too, but I think Teague has a superior array of skills for a specialist 6. Not having seen as much of Yazbek, he may be quicker over the turf and be more capable of adapting to the number 8 role, as well as 6, than Teague. I noted a few months back Vidmar preferred Teague as the starting screener over both Niew and Yazbek. If he keeps on his recent upward trajectory, Teague will be pushing for a Socceroos squad berth sooner than later. Just in the last few months, since Qatar, Teague has improved his heading in 1v1 duels, and, is winning more tackles and 1v1 muscle duels. The next thing he needs, and he will as he becomes more experienced, is anticipating and making intercepts from good reading of play. He has more technical class on the ball than many of his midfield rivals - Tapp, Balard, Yazbek, Devlin, Irvine, Metcalfe, Genreau.
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