Even though I give you stick, you occasionally make an excellent point Rusty. =d>
Alot of people on this board fail to accept the bolded point and only judge players based on how comfortable they appear in possession of the ball while oblivious to the contributions they make off of it.

Friends?

Are we trying to build for the future with the ability to hold possession and match it with top european teams or are we just trying to string by with the players we have unable to play in the system we want? Why don't we settle for Lowrys weaknesses then? or any other players not picked in the socceroos team? lol ludicrous

I am struggling to understand why Irvine was selected at all but it is doubly puzzling as Luongo seems to be a far superior player. I would have much rather seen Luongo picked and what you say here strengthens that view even more.

I have a limited history of watching games and work hours make it hard for me to watch too many game regularly so I know little. I do tend to take what is written on forums with a grain of salt but when every single poster is so strongly in one direction it is hard to ignore.

You said you'd pick him ahead in the current first 11 now on merit rather than for building towards the future.

To match it with top European teams we need some players with exceptional physical and off ball abilities too.
It wasn't just technical superiority that meant Brazil thrashed us. That thrashing relied on their physical and tactical superiority too.

We want to build for the future but it takes times to build a technical passing style of play and the world cup isn't the time nor place for experimentation. We don't currently have the players to match it with the top European sides so it would be foolish to try to emulate their style of play when our players don't have the skills. We need to strive to play better modern football but this evolution needs to happen organically rather than force feeding it in a world cup tournament. Basically we need to do what every other top sides does and put our best players on the park and play to our strengths rather than current weaknesses.

You joking or? Brazil pressed well and closed down the space, because there was no space our passing ability which was already piss poor was almost useless... there was no physicality about it most of the brazil team were young kids less than 60kgs.. were you watching the same game or?

A lot of you people seem to think skills are the only thing in the modern game and that big physical strength based players have no place in the future.

My god that is simplistic.

Skills and technique are really only a minor part of a professional players necessary list of abilities. There are some people out there with AMAZING skills, trick jugglers for instance. Yet in the heat of a match these people can make the wrong decisions, run to the wrong spot, move too slowly, lack the necessary drive needed to win the ball. They might take their first touch in the wrong direction, make their passes too weak, fail to communicate. They might have poor balance, poor agility.

Basically there are a ton of things needed to make a decent footballer. Adding great skills to that list can make the footballer even better but there is a reason some people with great skills never make it out of the lower leagues, they simply don't have the other attributes necessary to make it.

Frankfurt were terrible overnight. Whole team including Leckie looked tired and couldn't break down a parked bus. Ruka came on and added a spark, created some chances but nothing came of it.

this is a clear example of the australian football mentality and demonstrates why we can't produce top players, because at the youth level the players who are getting picked for rep sides or looked at for development are the tall, fast and strong players.... and technical ability, reading the play and speed are thrown aside. Please read some expert analysis on australian football development specifically Han Berger's recent address to Australian coaches to focus more on developing first touch, reading the play and technical ability for gods sake have we still learnt nothing over the last 20 years?

Jas I think you stopped reading Langan's post after the first line. He actually acknowledges the importance of skill but merely states that there is more to being a professional than skill. Top level professional is quite separate from youth football with which you are talking about.

To suggest that pros are merely top technically gifted players is as Langan suggested too simplistic. Even the most recent NC by Ham Burger acknowledges that the modern game is heavily influenced by pacy attackers. This is an athletic trait although one in which can be improved upon with better technique.

Check out the Wednesday OS Aussie action here http://osaussies.com/wednesday-wrap-48/

Edited by Voice ofReason: 26/9/2013 06:12:00 PM

Praise for Ryan from his new coach. Interesting he specifically states he was scouted in the ACL.

http://www.voetbalnieuws.be/news/77921/Wat_ik_tot_nu_toe_van_Ryan_gezien_heb,_maakt_me_blij#ixzz2fzD1MuVn

I don't know if many people here use transfermarkt much but I like it for out German based players because it is a German based site. Anyway on the 2.Bundesliga Aussies (Ruka and Leckie are the only ones counted because Halloran hasn't appeared for the 1st team) have the best goals to minute ratio (having only strikers playing helps). Also they are 5th in assists + goals.

http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/2-bundesliga/torschuetzen-land/wettbewerb_L2.html

Nice.

Perhaps apostolos has broken into the starting line up

How did tommy oar go?

Thanks VoR, spot on. People seem to want to substitute one bias for another.

I can understand where your coming from, but I can't honestly think of a player with the ability to have the ball stick to the end of his feet and them not being a top world-class player. What makes messi, neymar and ronaldo so good? They almost never lose the ball their ball control is phenomenal.

Edited by jas88: 27/9/2013 12:43:08 PM

They can also run bloody fast, they know where to run, how to read the flight of the ball, hell Ronaldo can even do that in the dark after seeing the first second of the kick! They make intelligent runs and intelligent passes and they have lightning quick reflexes and anticipation.

Don't lump all those important attributes into just 'skill'. They are just as important and none of those three men would be the players they are without them. And you can most certainly have great skill but lack other necessary attributes.

Also when you see these players use their 'skills' to keep the ball you're also seeing them make the right decision on where to move, they read the movement of the defenders and anticipate it, they asses the best place to go in order to keep the ball and they have the speed and agility to get there.

Hell take a look at the great control and technique Billy Celeski has. But unfortunately he is a little slow, he doesn't have that incredible anticipation and reaction time. There are many players in the world like him. Hell there are even many more Aussies like Nicky Carle, Caravella, Murdocca maybe, all players with pretty impressive close control and 'skill' but without those other attributes...

Edited by Langan: 27/9/2013 12:59:39 PM

If you think celeski has good technique you need to neck yourself.

Hey Celeski keeps the ball close. The man does have a great touch. He just doesn't have much of anything else. And that can make him look a lot worse that he is.

Thursday's action http://osaussies.com/thursday-wrap-49/

Why didn't Wilkshire play? Rested? injured? dropped? Their captain played RB and he is more of CB from what I can tell.

seems bouzanis has broken into the squad so we have 8 new aussies earning starts this year! =d>

oar's stats are an interesting read
http://www.whoscored.com/Players/65117/

equal highest rated player at the club (highest before the weekend), passes are his biggest weakness at 77.9% and he has greatly improved his defense. His defensive contribution is now one of his greatest assets. If he can get that passing to 85%, get a few more goals and show a bit more cunning in looking for the ball when his team is struggling he could be ready for a new league

The Friday wrap sees a few Aussies in Asia in action http://osaussies.com/friday-wrap-51/

Edited by Voice ofReason: 28/9/2013 08:26:54 AM

When does that kick off?