* Tom Smithies
* From: News Limited newspapers
* June 15, 2010 5:54AM


IN the aftermath of the 4-0 drubbing by Germany, what can the Socceroos do to save their World Cup dream from dying at the first stage?

1. Why did Pim make such bizarre changes?
That's a question for Verbeek and his priest. A coach with conservatism flowing through his veins suddenly gambled, as if in the hope that his impromptu Plan B couldn't be worse than anything else on offer. After two and a half years of rigidity, Verbeek chose this moment to rip it all up.

2. Where was Harry?
Kewell was never going to start aganst Germany, for all he said he was ready. The forward has played just a few minutes in the whole of 2010, and couldn't have imposed himself physically from the outset. But why he didn't get a 20-minute run to accumulate at least some match time is down to Verbeek and his medical staff. Presumably, looking to the Ghana game, they feared a reaction from Kewell's fragile body to any sort of a run-out yesterday. If they have such little faith we're all doomed.


3. And what about Mark Bresciano?
His absence was far easier to swallow. The desperate attempts to get him fit after a chronic back problem couldn't have a similarly transformative effect on his form. Bresciano is a rhythm player and in the warm-up games has been horribly out of time.

4. How come Josh Kennedy didn't feature?
Kennedy has looked sluggish and bereft of touch in all the warm-up games. He has been pained by a back complaint which officially had cleared up, but whispers persist that it is still a problem. In a game where Australia had to defend from the front with energy, Kennedy paid the price for his lack of pressing in recent games - and once Australia were 2-0 down, it appears Pim decided to save everyone for Ghana.

5. Why play Cahill out of position?
Verbeek's answer would be that he did so in the absence of any alternative. But that lack of options was his choice - not so much in the omission of Scott McDonald, but the fact that other alternatives won't groomed. Bruce Djite for instance was in squads throughout 2008, but fell out of favour quickly. Pim tried playing Cahill upfront against Japan last year, and the midfielder endured "a very difficult night". Whose verdict? Verbeek's.

6. Why was the defence such a shambles?
Because they were left horribly exposed by a porous midfield, through whom Germany passed at will. For all that the back four were turned time and again, it was impossible not to feel sympathy for them as wave after wave of German attacks came through uninterrupted. Carl Valeri was manful but Vince Grella utterly bypassed, and with Jason Culina trying to stop attacks down Australia's left wing, no one tracked Germany's runners from midfield.

7. How good were Germany?
Sumptious, irreristable, imperious - they were truly marvellous to watch, for all it was an Australian side put to the sword. Free of nerves, playing with liberation and style, they played football as if for fun. They will defeat most other sides playing that way.

8. What will the players be thinking?
Demoralised as individuals and, which is worse, suspicious of their coach. Where Guus Hiddink's alterations made the players feel he was ahead of the game, the manner of Verbeek's bewildering switches can only undermine their faith in his blueprint.

9. Will Pim go back to his tried and tested formula?
Who knows? The coach threw the entire world with his switch for this game - and now the confidence of Josh Kennedy and Mark Bresciano is through the floor. Even if Verbeek goes back to what he knows, in a game where Australia need goals, he has to convince those players he still believes.

10. Can Australia turn this around?
The heart says maybe. The head is just shaking.


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/world-cup-2010/questions-for-the-socceroos/story-fn4ke53k-1225879700407