Verbeek plays it safe but there are flaws in his plan


Verbeek plays it safe but there are flaws in his plan

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Verbeek plays it safe but there are flaws in his plan

MICHAEL COCKERILL
May 12, 2010

ANALYSIS

First things first. Has Pim Verbeek picked the players to get Australia past the group stage in South Africa? I think he has. And picking the right players is, of course, what really counts.

Verbeek's unveiling of his World Cup ''squad'' yesterday had all the appropriate bells and whistles, but not the element of suspense. Picking 30 players, plus Eugene Galekovic as an emergency goalkeeper, means the tough decisions have again been deferred. And it's those line-ball calls that generate the headlines. That just three players from this bloated preliminary squad - the maximum allowable under the rules - won't be on the plane to South Africa confirms that the unkindest cuts will be made in the more private surrounds of the team's base camp in Johannesburg. The team sheet for Australia's warm-up match against Denmark on June 1 - which doubles up as deadline day for the final 23 names to be forwarded to FIFA - will tell us much more.

For now, what we know is what we've always known. Provided the medical staff can work some magic, Australia's starting XI for the World Cup opener against Germany on June 13 will have just one change to the team that opened the last World Cup against Japan. Tim Cahill in for Mark Viduka. Verbeek's starting side is effectively the same as Guus Hiddink's four years ago. And now it's set in granite.
Mark Schwarzer, 79 caps. Club: Fulham (England). Click for more photos
Socceroos World Cup squad

Mark Schwarzer, 79 caps. Club: Fulham (England). Photo: Getty Images

* Mark Schwarzer, 79 caps. Club: Fulham (England).
* Adam Federici, 0 caps. Club: Reading (England).
* Brad Jones, 1 cap. Club: Middlesbrough (England).
* Eugene Galekovic, 4 caps. Club: Adelaide United.
* Lucas Neill, 53 caps. Club: Galatasaray (Turkey).
* Craig Moore, 47 caps. Club: Unattached.
* Luke Wilkshire, 40 caps. Club: Dinamo Moscow (Russia).
* Scott Chipperfield, 63 caps. Club: FC Basel (Switzerland).
* David Carney, 23 caps. Club: FC Twente (Holland).
* Michael Beauchamp, 19 caps. Club: Al-Jazira (UAE).
* Mark Milligan, 9 caps. Club: JEF United (Japan).
* Jade North, 28 caps. Club: Tromso (Norway).
* Rhys Williams, 3 caps. Club: Middlesbrough (England).
* Shane Lowry, 0 caps. Club: Aston Villa (England).
* Tim Cahill, 37 caps. Club: Everton (England).
* Brett Emerton, 72 caps. Club: Blackburn Rovers (England).
* Jason Culina, 45 caps. Club: Gold Coast United.
* Mark Bresciano, 52 caps. Club: Palermo (Italy).
* Vince Grella, 42 caps. Club: Blackburn Rovers (England).
* Brett Holman, 29 caps. Club: AZ Alkmaar (Holland).
* Carl Valeri, 19 caps. Club: Sassuolo (Italy).
* Dario Vidosic, 4 caps. Club: MSV Duisburg (Germany), on loan from FC Nurnberg (Germany).
* James Holland, 4 caps. Club: AZ Alkmaar (Holland).
* Mile Jedinak, 9 caps. Club: Antalyaspor (Turkey), on loan from Genclerbirligi (Turkey).
* Nicky Carle, 12 caps. Club: Crystal Palace (England).
* Richard Garcia, 5 caps. Club: Hull City (England).
* Tommy Oar, 1 cap. Club: FC Utrecht (Holland).
* Harry Kewell, 45 caps. Club: Galatasaray (Turkey).
* Josh Kennedy, 17 caps. Club: Nagoya Grampus (Japan).
* Nikita Rukavytsya, 2 caps. Club: KSV Roeselare (Belgium), on loan from FC Twente (Holland).
* Scott McDonald, 15 caps. Club: Middlesbrough (England).

Those 11 players are good enough to grind their way out of group D. They're experienced, motivated, and cohesive. There's plenty of doubters around, but none, significantly, among the opposition. Germany, Serbia and Ghana all know they will have to be at their very best. Be sure, the Socceroos won't be going out the back-door without a fight.

Yet if Australia's best can match the best, what happens if things don't go to plan? It's here the squad shows some flaws. Verbeek was never going to pick Sasa Ognenovski or Joel Griffiths because, for whatever reason, they've got under his skin. That's two fewer battle-hardened, match-fit, in-form players at Verbeek's disposal, and, on closer perusal, he doesn't have an abundance of those. By my reckoning, exactly half the squad have not been regulars for their various clubs this season. Verbeek doesn't like being quizzed on his selections, and was typically terse when Ognenovski's name came up. Was he considered? ''No, never.'' Why? ''Because I have better players.'' Verbeek does himself no favours by being so caustic. And considering central defence is Australia's biggest worry, there's plenty who would disagree.

Truth is, Ognenovski, Griffiths, Eddy Bosnar and Simon Colosimo can all consider themselves unlucky. So, too, can Jacob Burns, Mile Sterjovski and Chris Coyne, who were Verbeek mainstays until they committed the cardinal sin of coming back to play in the A-League. Pointedly, these players barely got a mention when the coach broached the subject of those who didn't make the cut. Shane Stefanutto, Matthew Kemp, Archie Thompson and Patrick Kisnorbo - all ruled out with injury - got his sympathy vote instead.

At this stage of the process, it's the players who miss out who are likely to be the focus of attention. FFA types were yesterday trying to get a read on where the hard-luck stories - or perhaps the bullets - might be coming from. One came within hours from Perth, where Sterjovski promptly announced he would be retiring from international football, having failed in his bid for selection.

But if one door has closed on the fringe players who couldn't quite emerge from the shadows, another is about to open. Verbeek will be gone after the World Cup. In his place will be a new man with new ideas, and the 2011 Asian Cup is just around the corner. Right now, that's not much consolation for those who are dealing with the crushing disappointment of missing out. Given time, though, it will be. And in the meantime, whatever opinion you take, nothing is going to change the fact that from the list of names projected on to Qantas's 747 yesterday will come the players who will carry the hopes of the nation in South Africa. Even if you don't fancy the squad, you have to support it.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/football/verbeek-plays-it-safe-but-there-are-flaws-in-his-plan-20100511-uuxi.html

GO

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