well at least he is honest in his interviews. unfortunately, he is also admitting that we have no plan b. win, lose or draw, there will only ever be 1 striker up front.


What do you think about the FourFourTwo article Pim: Why I Axed Trio?
PIM Verbeek spoke this afternoon after announcing his 28 man squad he’ll take to South Africa tomorrow – a squad minus Jade North, Nick Carle and Scott McDonald.

Have your say.

What a fucking joke. Carle didnt even get the chance to prove himself. How can pim form a basis to axe him on that. What a fucking twat.

Obviously Holman's 1.5m tap in warranted him a spot despite fucking up all game with his stray passing and horrible touch just like every other game. I mean seriously, he clearly deserves it. Fucking dutch speaking cock sucker. Thats the only reason he is in the team. because he can suck up to him in his own language.

Scotty mac fantastic striker. Axed because of Pim's anti-football tactics.

well all i can say is you get what you pay for. And thats what we have bought. A terrible coach.

Australia bottom of the group with one point. Draw with Ghana. Simple as that. Although we are capable of so much more pims tactics has absolutely ruined the socceroos. And reduced them to scrappy goals and league 2 tactics. Aka long ball.

Good luck ruining morocco's youth system, i defo wont be upset when you leave.









Edited by seriously: 25/5/2010 04:22:31 PM

Edited by seriously: 25/5/2010 04:25:09 PM

Scotty mac should be able to adjust to any system as all top strikers can. totally agree you pim .

agreed with 'seriously'

when Pim moves on things will hopefully change with Nick Carle and Scott McDonald but so much for their WC dreams. Rewarding stupid players like Holman is a joke

can some of you stop whinging about carle we have enough midfield players, yes he has great skills but that is not enough and besides he may get his chance when the new coach comes in. i would rather be axed now than go to world cup and not get to play

So using that logic Josh Kennedy should play like Scott MacDonald and vice versa?

I just hope Verbeek knows what he is doing. Atleast this means Sydney FC is in the box seat to sign Carle =) Thanks Pim hope you booked an early flight home from south africa you wont be there very long.

I’m not a fan of those omissions. North I’m happy about, but I felt we needed McDonald and Carle as they offer different qualities from other players in their positions. We don’t have any other strikers that play the poaching role like McDonald and there’s not really anyone that has the flair/creativity like Carle. We needed them so that we had other options if Plan A wasn’t working.

Those two cuts have made me feel very, very worried about the WC for us. I'm with dontodd in thinking that Verbeek has no Plan B. At first I liked his stubbornness, but now it could be our downfall.


And 'seriously', are you serious about Holman last night?! He hardly turned the ball over at all! I can only recall one turnover from him, and it most certainly wasn't from a stray pass. His first three touches were centimetre-perfect first-time long passes out wide.
On top of that, he was the one that inspired Australia to play better as he was making some great off-the-ball runs that opened up gaps in their defence - which we just weren't doing in the first half.

I'm as big a Holman critic as anyone else, but last night he was one of the players who actually made a difference.

Ignoring the fact that he scored a "tap-in" goal, Holman had a fantastic game. When he first got on the pitch, he was the only player with any energy or enthusiasm. Apart from one stray pass (which happens to all players) he was giving intelligent balls and making positive attacking runs.

I don't care much for the 'adjust to system' argument.


He's a striker who can't score goals at international level. The WC is an international tournament. 'nuff said.

If Vidosic can manage it, why can't 442's favourite item of fappery after Carle?

What a fucking idiot, axeing quality players because he is too shit to be able to change and adapt tactics for differe teams and situations. It's very unprofessional and highlights that pim is not good enough. How can you openly admit to using only one system, you know why pim is leaving after the world cup? Because he will b internationally humiliated and he is smart enough to get out of the job before his shitness catches up with him, pim has scammed us we thought he was a decent coach, we were wrong he has our money and will go down as the worst national team coach Australia will ever have at a world cup. Fuck you pim, the sooner you're gone, the better it will be.

i think you should watch the game again. is it me or is the same guy posting pro-holman propaganda with different accounts. Seems to be strangely similar posting. Anyhow you can enjoy your 'Holman' when the WC comes around you Pim and Holman supporters will be sorry. Just you wait. I guarantee you we will be last or at the very best second last.

Edited by seriously: 25/5/2010 04:30:43 PM

marconi101 kennedy would adapt better than scotty mac no doubt

Fuck You PIM!!
We have only one striker who scores regularly in Europe. His name is Scott McDonald. He is easily in the best 11 players from Australia at the moment. The systen should suit the best 11 players, not some fucking boring Dutch fuckwit's idea of football. It is, as a previous poster said "anti-football" . You suck Pim, and we wont make it past the group stage cos you are so addicted to your horrible 4-2-3-1.

Who has improved as a player more in the last 2 years, HOLMAN or CARLE - it's simple

Honestly, Holman isn't even good enough to start for Sydney FC yet he gets to make the World Cup squad. What a joke Pim is.

mickyroo you said and quote (the system should suit the best 11 players ) and in the system that is being played scotty mac is not in the best 11

It doesn't matter who has improved more. Carle was 5 times better than Holman now he's 3 times better. Holman has improved more but Carle is still much better.

Scott McDonald is too one-dimensional and not mobile enough in my eyes. He has clearly struggled at international level and is too greater risk to take considering we need to escape a tough group. I like the squad thus far Pim.

seriously
What a fucking joke. Carle didnt even get the chance to prove himself. How can pim form a basis to axe him on that. What a fucking twat.

Obviously Holman's 1.5m tap in warranted him a spot despite fucking up all game with his stray passing and horrible touch just like every other game. I mean seriously, he clearly deserves it. Fucking dutch speaking cock sucker. Thats the only reason he is in the team. because he can suck up to him in his own language.

Scotty mac fantastic striker. Axed because of Pim's anti-football tactics.

well all i can say is you get what you pay for. And thats what we have bought. A terrible coach.

Australia bottom of the group with one point. Draw with Ghana. Simple as that. Although we are capable of so much more pims tactics has absolutely ruined the socceroos. And reduced them to scrappy goals and league 2 tactics. Aka long ball.

Good luck ruining morocco's youth system, i defo wont be upset when you leave.

x 100

I love some of these reactions. Doesn't get any better. :lol:

Hey, I'm still pessimistic about Holman being in the WC side because he has been so shit for us in other matches - but to say he was shit last night is just wrong. I'd even go so far as to say that Holman probably had amongst the least stray passes (if any) of any Aussie player last night. I'll admit that I subscribe to the anti-Holman brigade, but I can still appreciate when he plays well. You, it seems, blinker yourself from seeing his good work when it happens and put a disproportionate emphasis on his stuff ups.

He would've been good to take just in case we were a goal or 2 down with 15min to play. You throw him on and revert to a 4-4-2 system which brings out his best. Remember he has scored against AC Milan in Champions League football.

I can just imagine the German team meetings now:

Jogi - "So Hansi, who do we play first?"
Hansi - "Australia"
Jogi - "What? Austria?"
Hansi - "No Australia... you know, kangaroos and stuff"
Jogi - "Oh... I thought they only played rugby and GAYFL... well ok, who do they have? Let's start with the strikers"
Hansi - "Ok, let me see... umm... well, they have Brisbane Strikers"
Jogi - "Ok, Brisbane... and who else?"
Hansi - "Nobody else"
Jogi - "WHAT THE FUCK? HOW CAN THEY ONLY HAVE ONE STRIKER!"
Hansi - "Well they do have Harry Cool, but he's a winger and besides, he needs a groin transplant. Then there's Nikita..."
Jogi - "Nikita? That's a girls name."
Hansi - "Well we've never heard of him, so I'm assuming he's one of the player's girlfriends. There is one other, they call him Jesus"
Jogi - "So let me get this straight, these Austrian zealots have no strikers, so they've put all their faith in Jesus to win them the World Cup?"
Hansi - "It would appear so, unless Brisbane is one fucking good player"
Jogi - "Fantastic... Hansi, tell the players I've just booked another warm-up game. Our World Cup begins against Serbia!"

Seems like Pim is going to the WC to play for 3 draws #-o ](*,)

Lolllllllllllllll and sadly true.

+1

Edited by imnofreak: 25/5/2010 04:44:56 PM

I agree that North shouldn't be surprised not to be on the plane. McDonald and Carle I'm not so sure about. Carle should now sign with Sydney FC which, as a Sky Blues supporter, makes me happy. However, I think he deserved his chance.
McDonald seems to be the victim of a coach who doesn't believe he has many options in match plan. Guus Hiddink had more than one match plan and a variety of formations. This helped the Socceroos to get as far as they did in the last World Cup. Pim hasn't the flair of Guus and goes one way or no way.
Somebody was always going to miss out; fans will be disappointed for the players. It's a tough call when you're not in the top group. Holman? He's playing in a major league in Europe. He's getting match time. Whilst I understand why some people don't rate him I think he deserves his spot. He's a busy player and, in my opinion, he WOULD get a start at Sydney FC!!!

So we're down to 28 and by the sound of it Oar and Holland aren't in meaning 3 must still go. Who do you think will go???

Maybe
Garcia
Lowry
Jedinak

The lack of any sort of alternative system as a back up plan really defies belief... Not to mention laying your cards on the table for all to see for over two and half years.

Looking forward to see what Rukavytsya can do for the squad :)

I'm not a Holman fan, but he played well last night and took his goal superbly.
Bit disapointed for Scotty Mac, but he has had numerous chances on the international stage now and he has never delivered.
Carle has been struggling to get game time at a poor Championship side so no surprises that he is left out, although I think he burnt his bridges with Pim when he refused to play against China a couple of years ago so that he could go to a family BBQ.
No suprise with Jade North either - he is rubbish.

What's the bet that Kennedy starts against Serbia just to prove once and for all that at the World Cup Pim doesn't really care about winning.

You guys still don't understand a 1-4-2-3-1 system do you?

With the appraich there should be players upfront when attacking i.e. the CF is the constant target upfront with attacking options running off the CF right and left.

The problem is not the system but the players, as this is the system used by most European countries, including Holland, England etc. If we hand more class in defense we might be able to play a 1-4-4-2 or 1-3-5-2, but we don't and the reality is we need to focus on defense and work from there.

Our biggest problem ATM is the amount of field we choose to play in and lack of tempo i.e. 2,3 and 4 touches before passing. From the defensive line to front man we need to be tighter and provide better passing angles. Watch the game last night, may times Neil had to sit on the ball wating for a runner. We need these guys off the ball and pressing up the park ASAP.

Sack Verbeek!

First off, there's no need to include the keeper in naming a formation, ie. 1-4-4-2 :d

Second, we certainly do understand the 4-2-3-1 system and our main irks don't lie with the system. It's just that we're shitty that Pim has no alternative systems.

I checked Facebook, its offical everyone thinks that Pim is a skin eating Douche from Dutchyland and needs to be kicked in the balls.









What, Isn't Facebook a reliable source anymore?

3 strikers, 4 goalies. WTFFFFFFFFF?

A few people in here need to take a cold shower. Carle has done jackshit everytime hes pulled on the green and gold. Hes a show pony. Looks all fast and flashy but doesnt deliver, the primary reason hes been pulling splinters out of his arse in the championship. Will be farcsical if he signs for sydney fc. If he stops tooling off and pulls his headin he may have a future in the european lower leagues where scoring goals from the midfield may be a start. Pim has been able to see right through him.

Geez, i feel sorry for Macca. Totally a victim of Pims system that hes been playing for yonks.Unlucky!!

Ive eaten my humble pie. Holman was half decent last night despite sum shit passes he delivered sum decent ones for a change.Still runs around though like a chook with its head cut off.

North, the less said the better.

It's a bitch that Carle's been axed. Thats one decision im not happy with.

it's pretty much guarenteed he'll sign for Sydney FC now. http://www.tribalfootball.com/crystal-palace%E2%80%99s-carle-expected-join-sydney-fc-861161

Good on you Pim. This is a level of straight-forwardness that is very hard to dispute. Respect.

As much as I cannot wait to cheer on Nicky for the Sky-blues, if he is the 4th best option for Pim in his CAM role, then he cannot go to SA. End of. Look down this list (accepting that Oar and Holland are only going so there is someone to kick the balls back from behind the goal in training) you have to say, fair enough: Vince Grella, Carl Valeri, Jason Culina, Mile Jedinak, Tim Cahill, Brett Holman, Dario Vidosic, Mark Bresciano, Brett Emerton, Richard Garcia are all great players. In the midfield role (ignoring the DMs) Emmo, Cahill, Bresc and Culina are on the playing sheet every game they are fit. Nicky's direct competition to be their reserve: Holman, Dario and (to an extent) Mile are all in top form after great european seasons. 2 of them scored last night and all 3 were just screaming their quality.

Also gotta bear in mind that there are 3 more to be cut (in addition to Oar and Holland). Eugene is probably one of them at least 1 of of Vince Grella, Carl Valeri, Jason Culina, Mile Jedinak, Tim Cahill, Brett Holman, Dario Vidosic, Mark Bresciano, Brett Emerton, Richard Garcia won't be in the final 23 in any event. Probably Garcia I reckon.

Carle, Scotty and Jade will be around for the next world cup. We might be playing a 442 diamond by then, in which case Carle and Scotty could be our killer weapons. Who knows.

Carle will go to FC no doubt. Wasnt solid enough for WC cup stage im afraid, so im not sad to see him out. Can produce at times but not when it counts, has had chances. As for Holman, he took his chance last night, end of disscusion.

Why are there so many morons on here criticising Verbeek after his excellent record as Socceroos coach?

Unless you have been hiding under a rock you'd have to realise that there is no point taking Macca in this system. If we need to chase a game late on with a second striker, it makes sense to use the pace of Rukya or Visosic to run at tired defenders. Cahill as a second striker late on would also be more effective than Scotty. Macca is great but cannot offer the same advantage, even if he is more clinical than Vidosic and Rukya.

Also, while I rate Carle and not Holman, again it comes down to the system we play. Carle has moments of brilliance, yet he has overall been fairly ineffective for the 'roos. Holman certainly has potential, however I would rather see Culina push up and Valeri or Jedi come on than Holman.

We can't play attacking football consistently well enough to match the great teams; we'd just get torn to pieces. So it makes sense to play to our strengths.

and seriously what are your qualifications? Coached at elite level?

I don't necessarily agree with all Pim does (ogenenovski/griffiths), but I don't proclaim your 'expertise

I've been a Holman critic, but last night he was superb and to suggest his goal was a 'tap in' well that clearly suggests you didn't see it or like most Holman haters you cut and paste the same old Holman dribble time and time again.
Nick and Scott didn't get their chance? Spare me, its no excuse. Dario Vidosic and Rhys Williams have been given little time and it hasn't stopped them from blossoming into great international players for Australia.
Stop taking what Jesse Fink says as gospel and open your mind somewhat, you'll be amazed what you find.

We better not be chasing any games in the World Cup, because we don't have the quality on the bench to win us a game.

So I'm guessing the next five cuts will probably be Galekovic (obviously), Lowry, Garcia (may be retained over one of the CB's), Holland & Oar.

rokkto - was that directed at me?

What game was I watching last night? Looked to me like we chased the game with our second team...

Yep and look who we were playing.

I can't see Holman coming off the bench and scoring against Germany, Ghana, or Serbia.

Anyways, I just don't know how McDonald cannot be in the squad! his proven he can score in big games against big teams at club level.
We only have two striker in our squad.

no pope, the guy named 'seriously. on the front page...foul mouthed tosser

Australia should be coached by a bunch of teenage keyboard warriors.

This way, Nicky Carle and Scott McDonald can bravely lead the line in a very defensive 2-2-6 formation, which of course will mean that we'll defeat Brazil 19-0 in the final.

I don't know why this hasn't happened already...

Agreed. I try to mentally screen people like that out, they just insult the intelligence of the rest of us.

Although he has NEVER proved he can be influential let alone score in a system with one striker. McDonald can be a great player - but he doesn't suit this system, no matter how much he tried. He'd be ineffectual if he was to go to SA.

Correct, totally agree. Gee there are a lot of tools that get on here. Imagine if we didn't make it to the world cup there would be old school soccer riots!!


Really wanted Scotty to do well but 16 games and no goals isn't good enough, system or not. It will be interesting to see if the next coach can get some goals out of him.


Thanks for your honesty Pim even if some wankers want wishy washy comments most Football supporters know where your coming from.

Pim must be an ice addict to not include Macdonald. Seriously the blokes been the countries top scorer at club level, i feel for the bloke he should have chosen Scotland he would have surely played in the starting 11.

As for lolman the guy has the worst passing and vision in the game. Seriously the two goals Australia scored last night were cheap. No way will they be given that much time and space against teams like Germany and Serbia.

First round exit the realists all know that now its certain.

Hehe. Yep. :cool:


I feel a little sorry for McDonald, but he just doesn't fit into Pim's formation. Should we compromise our entire gameplan for one player?

Pim's record speaks for itself and I trust the formation we have.

People may see our wins as 'flukes' and call him the 'luckiest coach in the world' but I honestly think there's method in Pim's madness.

Anyway, you don't have to put up with him for much longer. The World Cup will be over soon and you'll get a Craig Foster formation in no time at all.

Ok, so you tell me who we are going to bring on to try and get us a goal if we need it? and if Kennedy isn't playing well? theres no other strikers. and don't say Harry, because he should be on the left.

I think most people agree that McDonald does not fit into the lone stricker role, fair enough.

So what happens when we are down a goal in the 80th min, would it not be of benefit to have Macca coming on to partner Josh?

I think Pim is a very decent defensive coach but if we go out of the world cup because we are afraid of taking on the game and changing our tactics when needed it will be really disappointing.

Rukavytsa or Vidosic.

neither of them are anywhere near the quality poacher that McDonald is.

The 4-2-1-2-1 is how Inter won the Champions League. So this system is good. But they had a multi-dimensional striker in Milito, fast and skillful wide men like Pandev and Eto'o, a midfield Maestro in Snjeider, and over lapping full backs to hit on the counter quickly. Who have we got? Kennedy/Kewell at the point for Milito, Kewell/Carney/Bresciano/Vidosic for Pandev, Emerton/Bresciano for Eto'o and Cahill for Sneider. All slow, and Cahill can't pull the strings like Snijder. See the problem? This formation is just not right for the players we have available. Verbeek should have crafted a system to suit the players, not force the players to fit his system.

Why do people think the only option when you're a goal down is to add more strikers? What about bringing on fresh midfielders? Or dropping a DM and bringing on a more attacking minded midfielder? Changing structure can work, but it can also break down any play that is working. I think its a bit much to suggest we play 442 just for Macca, who is basically the only player who cannot adapt to this system.

Ah, the old "No Dams!.... Although I don't have a better solution or justification other than criticism" argument.

Ah yes. Vidosic. The guy who has scored the sum total of 8 goals in 4 years.

Agreed. But how many chances to "poach" goals are created in the system we're playing?

The reality is McDonald has 0 goals from 16 games. He can't play as a lone striker, can't hold up the ball and bring in the midfield, is not a target man for long balls into the box, etc. Basically he doesn't fit the system we're playing so he'd be a wasted spot. We'll (hopefully) have Kewell playing upfront, Jesus on the bench if needed to create a diversion (like he did against Japan in 2006) and plenty of more versatile players (than McDonald) attacking from the midfield. In the games we've played under Pim most of our goals have come from the midfield, nothing is going to change in the next 6 weeks.

And McDonald has scored how many as a lone striker?

Pim is leaving our best fucking striker out of the squad completely.

You play the system these players were raised on: Your bog-standard 442. You stick Kennedy and Mac up front, or even Cahill and Mac, Ruka and Mac, you have Harry out wide on the Left, and Emo/Vidosic on the right, Carle and Wilkshire in the middle pulling the strings. Culina as R wing back, Chippers as Left WB, Oga and Neil at central defense. Happy?

Because he doesn't work in this system! It just hasn't happened for him. I think McDonald is an excellent striker - when playing alongside another striker, but by himself he just can't do it. He's been tested and tested. He has done NOTHING for the NT. We shouldn't be making a team around him.

So.. Pim isn't taking Kewell then?

Pim is leaving our best poacher (not striker), a role that under our system would only be essential when chasing games late on. So why not take players that can be useful at other times and still fill that role fairly well if necessary. As I recall Vidosic converted his poachers opportunity last night not Macca.

All Pim has done with this squad selection is proven that he won't deviate from his 4-2-3-1 no matter what and will be playing for 3 draws.

I can go one better, and with Arnold on the coaching staff, we already have a precedent. At the Olympics when we needed to score TWICE TO STAY IN THE TOURNAMENT, at 80 minutes he took off a striker and put on a defender. You DO remember the outcome?

Yeah and what about playing two strikers upfront if we are down?

What about it? Verbeek's sytem doesn't allow for it. The system rules all, 5-0 up or 0-5 down its the system that has to be maintained.

Carle has no one to blame but himself, sitting on the bench in the Championship was never going to work in his favour, and correct me if I am wrong but Pim told him that quite some time ago.

North is a serious case of meh for me, he hasn't really been in the reckoning for quite a while now, and really he has no one to blame but himself. Poor choice of his in going to Asia to sit on the bench...who knows... as Fury marquee he may still be in the squad?


The decision to not take McDonald is the most petulant, pathetic, mind boggling, baffling, ludicrous, dumb, stupid, naive, lacking in logic and disgraceful decision in the history of sport!

Okay maybe not quite that bad but fair dinkum Pim you've got rocks in your head if think you can defend the axing of Scotty Mac....WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?

The biggest issue with the squad is not whether McDonald should be in it, or even if Carle should have been there ahead of Holman, its that Craig Moore is still there.

This is a JOKE! I was a big Verbeek fan untill now. sure the football wasn't always super pretty but it got results. Now this. ok north fantastic call, if u ad have left him in i'd be more mad. Carle??? ok I see his point but he's betta than alot the midfielders we kept, axe lowry not carle! lowry won't even play in SA, but carle may have. AND SCOTTY MAC no words! thnks for signing over our loss verbeek. what happens if kewel goes down. all we got is kennedy really. mac not scorin is betta than some otha reserves player wastin time on the field. one day mac'll score under a new formation, then we;ll see it was neva him, only verbeek that failed!

Yeah, no shit he doesn't work as lone striker - how many aussie strikers HAVE scored under Verbeek with this system? Sweet Fuck All is the answer.

You can't look at McDonald's performances and go 'well he doesn't work in this system' and use that as the justification for dropping him. NO STRIKERS DO.

The entire system doesn't bloody work and our two top goalscorers in the last three years have been Cahill and Bresciano! We're relying on midfielders to score our goals. #-o

I can understand leaving out Carle, we've got midfielders out our arse and sitting on the bench in the championship is not much use when you're competing with players who are playing in some of the best leagues in the world for your position.

But McDonald being dropped when we only had four strikers in the squad to begin with in a system that's meant to be 4-3-3 is a joke.

And your not allow to change the system? If your losing and chasing a game you need to change your system to try and get a goal.

What was the point of giving Macca an hour last night...whilst he didn't score I thought he was far from our worst...surely Pim's decision wasn't made on the strength of last nights game...in which case why play him?

So if we count out Galekovic, Oar, Holland and perhaps lowry... whose the other one that'll miss out? Garcia and williams i think has injury problems, i wasn't all that excited about jedinak, some people are calling for moores head. At one point people didnt want beauchamp in the team but he performed admirably last night. Holman is still not liked... but one things for sure, ruka will be in the team after Mcdonalds axing.

I would have loved to have seen Mcdonald at the world cup but unfortunately, he hasn't scored but he showed promise last night but I'm sure pim's choice would have been a combination of the training methods and his international record... cause his club level record has certainly helped him be picked so many times. it does feel a bit of a cop-out that he somehow needs two strikers, pim never did it and so why didnt he ever try? Sounds a bit ignorant but its the coaches prerogative. So i can see the hate but one player is never above the team but I can understand why so many of you are so frustrated and angry at pim because you feel he has only one coaching style and formation - the opposition will see right thru him yeh? but one musn't forget his record so far in his qualification to the world cup. It's been superb!

We aren't always going to score that many goals thats for sure and perhaps we are lacking as a nation with true goal scoring options that don't rely on 1 or 2 tricks but our strength is at the back and thats pretty much the basics, start from the back and make yer way forward. hopefully with the likes of cahill, culina and chippers (if he's in midfield) pushing forward we will have the power to kick in a winning goal. It's just a shame that such a talent wasn't able to perform with the current style of the socceroos - a new coach may help but its sucks that we're so divided that some of you have already resigned yourself to mediocrity. We may not end up coming out of this well but putting ourselves down before the beginning is not being realistic, it's quite un-australian if i can put it that way. HTFU guys and lets move forward, we're not whiners are we? :P

According to Verbeek, apparantly not; "We play with one striker, Shcotty plays as a second striker". Therfeore no room for Shcotty.

Absurd, I know.

Nico wrote:
Why do people think the only option when you're a goal down is to add more strikers? What about bringing on fresh midfielders? Or dropping a DM and bringing on a more attacking minded midfielder? Changing structure can work, but it can also break down any play that is working. I think its a bit much to suggest we play 442 just for Macca, who is basically the only player who cannot adapt to this system.

well by leaving out macca he is saying we will never change formation. and hell yeah you fit a formation to suit him. he is potentially the best striker we have, only he been wasted by our stupid formation! granted it has gotten the best out of kennedy, but mac's best is betta than kennedy's best.

Some of you douches on this post are like a long playing vinyl stuck in the groove that repeats over and over again: We hate Holman We hate Holman We hate Holman We hate Holman We hate Holman We hate Holman. Get over it!!

Don't hate the vinyl

Central defense is a problem, a big problem when you face monsters like Zigic, Vidic, Ivanovic, Klose Gomez at set pieces.

McDonald proved himself a top level striker with consistent performances for Celtic in the Champions League (not the SPL). Remember his strikes against Inter Milan and Manchester United? I do. I stayed up late to watch an Aussie in action even though Celtic are my ancestral enemy.

At least Pim acknowledges that it is the system, not McDonald's quality, that is the issue. However, I don't understand why Pim persists with 433 given our lack of striking options.

Only the stongest teams can play a system consistently and expect the opposition to have to make all the tactical adjustments in response. Surely a dark horse team in Australias position need to spring the tactical surprise rather than a predictable system from which no deviation is allowed.

+1. We need variables, we need to be able to change things up and spring surprises. We can't keep sticking to one formula, especially when we can see that it CLEARLY ISN'T WORKING.

Pim Verbeek is a worse coach than Frank Farina. There, I said it. But with the caliber of players at our disposal we should be abel to play competentyl against New Zealand and beat them 3-0, not get outplayed and struggle to win 2-1 because their strikers are mediocre.

As has been said after just about EVERY game we've played in the last year, if we play like THAT at the world cup, it's going to be a bloody short campaign.

The beauty of a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 is that it can be easily re-configured as a 4-6-0.

resign now you joke of a coach....
you didnt even give nicky carle a go and you axed him...
i cant wait till you leave...

Why not just play 10-0-0 then? #-o

Don't worry, we will.

Fuck you Pim...i cant wait till you are not Aussie coach anymore...we play boring, boring football...absolutely boring as shit football....
Scott McDonald is a world class striker..you dont score as many goals as he did for CELTIC not being world class...Man Utd was keen to sign him at one stage....
Australia will not win a game at the World Cup...and i seriously mean that..
Shit man when you cant score good, well set up goals against these asian teams and New Zealand, we will have fuck all chance against Germany,Serbia, and Ghana...
Yeah i love Australia and our players but everyone needs to wake up and smell the beans...its going to take a miracle to get out of this group..and our miracle man was Guus Hiddink, not a fucking bald as fuck ass-clown Pim "i like to suck Bret Holman off every chance i get" Verbeek...

Would have been better to start Ruka and give him a full game rather than waste 60min with Macca...wtf were you thinking Pim you dickhead.

HOORAY for going out of a World Cup without scoring a goal!

If Trinidad and Tobago can do it, why can't we

We already have done it once, would be nice not to do it again...
Has any team ever not scored at two world cups? Is it a record we want to have? Cause the way we played last night I think we are well on the way

And how many goals did Kewell score at club level as a lone striker? I'll give you the answer: 0.

Yet people say he should start up front. It's ridiculous. We are criticising Macca for not being able to play the lone striker role - fair enough, we can't just hoof balls to him like we do with Kennedy - but Kewell is the same!! People always bring up the fact he has played up front in his career, but he has NEVER played as a lone striker (as far as I'm aware - I'm open to being proved wrong)



So, so wrong. He can, and he does. 80% of the balls he got last night he held up, let the midfield run on, and laid it back to somebody. He uses his body and holds it up better than JK does!!

Macca is exactly the kind of player you can bring on when chasing the game when down (as we almost certainly will be in at least one of our games at the WC) and switch to a 442.

Anyhow, it's all a lost cause. Either you can see that Macca would have contributed a lot in SA, or you can't, but either way, he's not going.

In our particular system and with the players around him he hasnt found his feet in the Australian team, but you're a fucking idiot if you would drop a player of the quality mcdonald is, his stats, his goals and merely his time with Celtic speaks for itself enough, the man has impressed in the champions league which i honestly believe is above the standard of some of the World cup. So saying he isnt up the world cup standard is stupid.

Joffa - He obviously played him and gave him one last chance to score. If Macca had a shocking game but scored a goal he wouldn't have been cut. If he got 4 assists last night and had a blinder but didn't score, he wouldn't have gone.

His intelligence, awareness and vision is second to very very few in our National team. We will miss him in SA thats for sure.

I just hope we make the next WC under a different coach who can see the quality he possesses so Macca doesn't miss out playing in a WC

I hear you mate. Frankly I don't understand the logic of Pim's reasoning though...if he didn't fit within the system, then he didn't fit within the system before the game just as much as he didn't fit within the system after it.

And quite frankly if Pim made his decision of Macca after 60 minutes then he is a bigger dickhead and one dimensional coach than we all give him credit. I don't know about you but i actually thought Scotty had a fair crack last night , he certainly worked harder than Kennedy does. And he is the only striker we have playing in a decent league. And apart from all that he provides a decent experienced striking option.

We technically scored in 74 8-[

We'd probably be the first team to go out of 2 WC's without scoring a goal off our own bat though.