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pim has to try something different. i understand him using our "senior" players against the usa because they are the bulk of our 2006 wc squad. pim has to understand that this is 2010 and his using players who have not improved (and in some cases deteriorated) at both club and international level since germany 06.
schwarzer
wilkshire - beauchamp - neil - carney
valeri - culina
emerton - cahill - chipperfield
kewell
last nights game and the demark game as well, kennedy showed throughout the match that he lacks footwork, dribbling skills, a solid first touch, and the ability to hold the ball in possession in our attacking third. all of these attributes are key for a player in the lone striker role (a role viduka played like no other) kennedy is a better sub then a starter.
emerton is our best on the right. if i recall correctly he combines well with wilkshire and at 1 stage in our qualifiers before he got injured, he was one of our best scores and crosses. he adds pace to our game which as been lacking and frankly theres no one who comes close to him on the right.
as for the left chipperfield showed last night he is our attacking gem on that flank, so it might be wise to push him up from left back to left mid. he plays there for fc basel and is their best player this season, so theres no reason why he cant play there for us. carney isnt bad at left back. his crosses are decent, and he has a machine left foot to drive the ball from distance.
kewell is our most technically gifted player. he is by far our best dribbler, our most creative player, and one of our best finishers. with chipperfield played so superbly on the left i see no better place to utilise kewell then upfront with cahill beind him. not only that, kewells the only one who has the ability to play in the lone striker role well. (we have said it before, with 2 upfront mcdonald is our best. i still think its a mistake leaving him behind but whats done is done)
now say what u want about kewell and emertons game time, they are the best we have in their respective roles. if there was someone else fine but there isnt. we dont have the luxury of the likes of england and spain where depth isnt a problem so we have to make do with who have, and they are our best. think we can play a much better passing game with these players those roles.
OUR PLAN B
with that formation pim has the can bring on either rukavytsya and kenedy (or both) depending on how the game unfolds (whether we are lacking the speed or height in our game) if kennedy comes on we have carney and wilkshire as our fullbacks to wipe in those crosses (the problem is this is currently our PLAN A so if this fails there is no PLAN B). wilkshire and carney in the back also have chipperfield and emerton in front of them running at our opponents defence, to give them space and time to cross. visodic and holman are great attacking mid options from the bench. they add speed and variation to our midfield. breciano is also another option in mid as a plan b for a wider midfield role.
in the event we want to hold onto the lead (IIIFFF that ever happens at the world cup), we can bring on the likes of grella and jedinak. they are not bad defensively (with the exception of grellas mistake in the usa game) but i dont think they add enough flair to be starters.
we have seen australia at their best before in the past, and playing like that im convinced we have the ability to overcome any opposition on our day. it was our unpredictable nature that created our chances and won games during the hiddink days. whether or not we can employ those tactics and variations in our game we'll find out in a week.
just my 2 cents.
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