Well done Australia... really good performance. Such a shame we can't continue on through the tournament with this form.

Holman has made me eat my words and I am a fan now. Jesse Fink should apologise and write a congratulatory article about Holman.

I hate to be negative but it has to be said again.

One person is responsible for us not progressing and that is Pim Verbeek and his decisions/tactics/formation and mindset that he sent out against Germany. 4-0 will always be the result with that kind of non-sense.

Fair enough Greece can play that way, Italy too and a few other nations, but it simply is not part of the Australian psyche or thought process.

The next Aussie coach should be sat down in front of a DVD player and the biggest TV the FFA can find with Pim's team sheet, tactical sheet and log book and shown that performance 10 times straight.

Just so it is clear what I am getting at.

IF ANY AUSTRALIAN COACH EVER SENDS OUT AN AUSTRALIAN TEAM WITH THAT MINDSET, THOSE TACTICS AND THAT FORMATION (Germany 4-0) AGAINST ANY TEAM IN THE WORLD EVER AGAIN. HE SHOULD BE SACKED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE GAME.


What do you think about the FourFourTwo article Pim: Germany Result Killed Us?
EXITING Australia coach Pim Verbeek has coached the Socceroos for the last time - and admitted his costly experiment against Germany wrecked Australia's World Cup chances.

Have your say.

Gee Pim you don't say. Actually IMO it was Pim and Neil which killed us. Both of you said you had no hope of beating Germany and the team played like they believed you. No it is obvious you could have handed their arses to them on a plate.

I liked you and supported you right up until that moment, Goodbye Pim, I won't miss you.

No shit Pim.

That was your fault, by the way.

No shit Pim!

Actually it wasn't so much the result as the bad tactics employed by the manager...wait who was that???

Get a life and stop bagging them you cynical terds. They performaed well against Ghana and Serbia against all odds, but I shouldn't be surprised. You blokes come into these forums every day and sulk and criticise.

Sound like grumpy old farts.

Who is the 'they' you are referring to?

"There are no lessons"??? Seriously???

Well I guess Pim Verblewit is doomed to repeat the same mistakes with Morroco.

oh well, pim during the post match interview put his hand up after admitting the germany game cost us.. fair enough mate. he got us to the world cup. he rectified the problem in game 2 and 3 and the australian proud did us proud.

pim might be the villain from the disaster of the first up game but there's no doubt he did meet the requirements of australia making the world cup and the asian cup but geez some of you guys are harsh. suck it up.

next campaign. we need to look to qualify for the next world cup and the asian cup and look to getting pass the group stages (with some luck) and looking ahead of the 2nd round.

Way too early for such reasonable comments.

Disagree. Pim's tactics against Germany were (as KA said) unforgiveable.

I say that as someone who supported Pim right through qualifying, despite serious misgivings about his defensive tactics. But then to go play two up front when you have specifically rejected players who fit that model, and end up playing a 6-4-0, or whatever it was, that's just rubbish. To me it showed a lack of faith in his players.

I can't believe that any decent Aussie coach, or any coach who understands the heart and soul of this team, would have done the same. Deep down, I don't think Pim ever really believed the Socceroos could beat Germany. When we played our own game, we showed we were good enough.

Pim got us to the World Cup but that Germany loss is a blight on his resume that will take some blotting out.If the chips had fallen the other way and we had played these teams in the reverse order I think we could have forced Germany to a draw.Pim blew it and 'such is life'.

I agree Pim got it right in the last two games and deserves thanking for getting us to the WC and Asian Cup. But his utter disaster against Germany still burns. The boys showed in the last two games that if they where given the chance to play the same way against Germany it could have been different. Pims tactics, approach to the game is what cost us a round of 16 spot. The last two games showed that and other "lesser teams" taking on more bigger nations and getting draws and wins proves Pim was wrong.

Good riddance, Pim's going to have a lovely cultery collection as his leaving gift with all these knives being thrown.

I am annoyed that playing didn't decide who goes through. However, better teams than ours will go out in equally cruel circumstances. The important thing is we won and showed the world we have the quality to do well.

No Pim, actually you killed us off before we got there. I don't believe for a second that Pim truly believed that we would get any further than the group stage; it was evident by the tactics used throughout all of the qualifiers. As someone said earlier though, it may have been different had we played the teams in reverse order, or maybe not. Think of it this way: perhaps we needed the heavy loss for everyone to come out and a. back the socceroos and b. tell them to play like Australians - attacking, never-say-die football with heart. At least that's the positive that I will take from this campaign.

Yes the game against Germany killed us and yes Pim got it wrong in that game.
It was very difficult to qualify and Pim got it spot on every time, unfortunately for us the only time he has got it wrong in his time with us was that game and on the biggest stage. Should we crucify him for that or thank him as this team still over achieved for the squad that we have.

thats why in the world cup you cannot afford these silly tactics. one mistake can cost you and this was that mistake.

Unforgivable, especially at this level.. It's such a shame he'll be remembered for the one bad result amoungst countless good ones...

P.s. The Ghana result killed us just as much as the German one, maybe more.

remember that Pim only wanted to win the game against a much far superior side. Maybe he concluded that our normal game would be competitive but not good enough for a victory against a strong Kraut side. AT the end of all this whinging, he took a gamble, ultimately it probably cost us a place in the final 16 but no one can be certain our normal 4-2-3-1 formation wouldnt have been worse. Well done on the performance throughout the cup, the game against Germany was humbling but our biatchslap to the Serbians was sweet & satisfying at the very least.

Can't say I necessarily agree with the headline. One could just as easily say that we missed out on qualification due to Chipperfield not burying his first touch in the Ghana game, or Wilkshire choking when one-on-one with the keeper, or the lowlife ref sending off Kewell and awarding a penalty for the same thing the German captain Lahm got away with doing scot-free this morning.

Lets look at the positives, Pim has finally fucked off!

For any manager to "experiment" on such a crucial game will never be forgiven or forgotten. Ironically, his usually cautious 4-2-3-1 formation looked amazing for the majority of both the Ghana and Serbia clashes. In each, we defended stoutly and attacked with purpose. I also want to use this opportunity to eat some humble pie, and I think many 442 subscribers should do likewise: Brett Holman. Yes, as we know and expected, his passing % wasn't hot, but my God, did we look a much more fluid team going forward with his runs. He is a GENUINE find from this World Cup, and I hope he can nail down a starting line-up in future years. Whoever the manager, I hope they can promote a more attacking brand, this goes without saying. Unfortunately, Pim will be remembered for the wrong reasons, whereas I think his tried and tested formula actually worked for us 2 out of 3 times he used it. So proud of the boys. End of an era in many respects. Moore will be gone- he did overstay his welcome, despite being an amazing servant for decades. Beauchamp and Kisnorbo will fight to partner Lucas for the nxt few years. Vinnie may be done, unless he can get fit and playing consistently, I dont think he should feature. Valeri was another breakthrough, he looks a real prospect for the next 6-7 years. Talk is Bresciano may call it a day. Like Vinnie, he needs a good club, play consistent and be fit, gone are the days a player like him is a walk-up start. And ofcourse, Harry. Unlike Vinnie and Bresc, Harry will be given more latitude. I think he'll continue to feature unless he pulls the plug himself. One of my major dissapointments is not seeing the likes of Vidosic, Milligan and Ruka more or even at all. I think we carried 3-4 too many old stagers. Pim needed to be more bold. I think that will be his lasting legacy. Good results, but too cautious and not bold enough when it mattered. Still mighty proud of the boys.

PS- Hope Schwarzer continues to age like a fine wine and not a goon bag

ARE YOU GUYS FUCKING SERIOUS?
DOES NO ONE REALISE THAT HE IS A MAJOR REASON WE WERE THERE?
WHAT ABOUT THE FACT HE COACHED US TO A DRAW WITH GHANA WITH ONLY 10 MEN OR A 2-1 WIN OVER SERBIA? DON'T YOU DARE SCOFF PIM FOR THE GERMANY GAME AND THEN IGNORE THOSE TWO IMPRESSIVE FEATS. FUCKING HATERS. FUCKING IDIOTS.

Shutup Pim.

We missed out due to red cards. Not due to Verbeek. His coaching in game 2 was outstanding. His win against Serbia one of the best wins in our history, our second ever world cup victory.

His record in World Cup games and overall as Australia's coach is equal to hiddink. (1-1-1 in WC group stage..... )

We were very unlucky not to progress. It is hard to do so with 10 men for over 100 minutes of the first two games.

So, he had one bad game. It is still the red cards which killed us. That is the reality.

Well done Pim. Your record will speak for itself in Australian football history.

The difference tho Charlie is that under Guus, we were always given a chance to succeed. The Germany debacle was exactly that: a DEBACLE. I'm happy for ppl to pat Pim on the back for the Ghana and Serbia games, but thats because he was forced into getting results and actually playing the formation he has for the past 2 years. For all he has acheived, results wise, what Australians CANNOT accept was a team that went out not to win or not even giving it a go. He deserves criticism for that

Love the way mothers are always so protective of their children.

Good post, Charlie. And I certainly do appreciate all the positives Pim has brought with him. He is a good coach who deserves to be very successful in years ahead.

BUT...

He stuffed it.

Yes, the red cards and the missed shots and blah blah blah stuffed it too. But those things are basically beyond anyone's control. And the coach is the guy with the remote control in his hand. He's the guy with the plans.

In fact, I seem to remember an interview with Pim maybe three months ago where somebody asked him about facing Germany and he hinted that he knew a LOT about Germany, and he had a plan.

So was this the plan? Did he play the same boring, predictable, defensive football all through the qualifiers just so that he could spring this massive surprise on Die Deutsche???

Only Pim knows. And as he said today, he's not interested in talking about Germany any more.

Shades of Graham Arnold, IMHO.

We need a coach who's going to be accountable. As foster said yesterday, the mark of a good footballing nation is a healthy football media and one that is critical of poor performances. We need a manager who faces up tho these critics and can answer the questions thrown at them, not one that hides and can't admit mistakes.

You're right, Gaz. It is shades of Arnold. In fact, it's the same old excuses but with a dutch accent.

How far have we come? Johnny Warren would be wrapped. Within 10 years of football oblivion Australia now sees itself rightfully on the world stage and we demand of our team, and coach, a belief that we fear no-one, that we celebrate an Australian style and we expect to win. Johnny had a dream we are part of the journey. He saw us winning the trophy. If we learn, adapt, support this cup will serve us well. Advance Australia far....