AZ manager Gertjan Verbeek has been sacked. Wonder how it'll impact Babalj...

Tout à fait! Bonne traduction. Je suis d'accord. Pour ce que ça vaut...

It could be really bad. Last thing Babalj needs is to be on the outer at at AZ and then to wind up in the A-League again. It's too stop-start-ish.

He's got to get his groin right first, all else is academic.

There are way too many "unused substitutes". I was hoping Robbie Kruse would get back-to-back starts. So long as he becomes a starter within the next few months, his move to Leverkusen is justified. Mark Schwarzer, on the other hand, has made a huge blunder. I don't imagine it'll affect his chances of playing at the World Cup. But it will likely affect his chances of playing well at the World Cup. And God knows we're going to need him to play well. I get that Schwarzer wanted to play for Chelsea because he wanted to stay with his family and he didn't want his family to have to move. But frankly he should have just kept his family where they were (kept his kids in the same school) and he, himself, should have gone to another EPL club or somewhere in the Bundesliga. Just for a year. And spent weekends with his family. Lots of us have spent far greater periods away from our parents/kids and have gotten on just fine. As a keeper he just needs to be in the top league (even if it's a poor team) so that he keeps his form up. Warming the Chelsea bench won't do the trick. All he needed was to do this for the season leading up to the World Cup, then he's fine to play for Chelsea or whomever.

Is Rogic injured? Holger suggested he's not fully match-fit. Even if he is, he's not getting enough game time or being used properly at Celtic. I always said it was an appallingly bad move. Playing in the Champion's League should be an added bonus, not the main attraction of a club. A lot of our players seem to have the wrong priorities. Rogic would be far better off in Germany or Holland. I hope he moves there soon. But then again, maybe he's one of those players who can produce the goods for his NT, even if he's doing (or getting) nothing for (or from) his club.

Still, well done Matt Ryan, Matt Leckie and Dario Vidosic. They've all made good moves, it seems to me. And they seem to be doing well.

The thing, Rusty, is that one of our strengths, I would argue, is that "technical passing style of play". Our aerial advantage and physicality are other strengths, but they have to be regarded as secondary strengths, not a primary strengths. If we try to play a purely physical game (i.e. a non-technical, passing game), we can expect to be systematically hanged, drawn and quartered by a number of good nations, like we were against Brazil.

We mightn't have the "technical passing style" of Neymar, Coutinho, etc. Nor have we the 1-vs-1 ability of those players (and 1-vs-1 ability is something the FFA really need to improve, it was one of our major weaknesses at the U20 World Cup).

But, imo, playing technical, fluent football is our greatest strength. We still have guys who are outstanding at that in Rogic, Oar, Kruse and Bresciano. If we have a fit Sarota (and if we pick Sarota), we can always have 4 players in our midfield of five who are pure class when it comes to technical, quick football. And clearly, against seeded nations and certainly midranking sides, playing that kind of football is our best and potentially only path to keeping possession and creating goal-scoring opportunities.

If we just go with big guys, we might as well not bother turning up.

So, as I see it, playing that brand of football is our best chance. But as others have said, it doesn't mean we don't exploit other strengths. Milligan, while a steady passer, hasn't the technical ability on the ball or the vision of the others. But he positions himself well to support the others and to close down the opposition very quickly. He, perhaps, is more a representative of that idea of physical football. So it's vital that, in Brazil, our CDM pairing always has two of Bresciano, Milligan and Sarota.

Guus Hiddink did a brilliant job at marrying fast, fluent, technical football with Australia's natural athleticism and physicality. You had the on-the ball technical ability and positioning of Kewell, Viduka, Bresciano and Culina. That was combined with the athleticism, physical strength and maximised levels of aerobic fitness of those guys, plus especially Grella, Cahill, Emerton, Chipperfield, Neill, Moore, etc. I think Guus' tactics and strategies are the best example of how Australia should seek to find the nuance of combining technical and physical football. As some are saying, it's not black and white. Guus found the appropriate shade of grey.


By the way, why isn't Brazil 2014 the place for experimentation? I'd have preferred it if we'd experimented a couple of years ago. But we've barely experimented at all. We're not in good stead going into this World Cup. If we play conservatively, we can expect to get smashed (as evidenced by the game against Brazil).

I don't see why we don't just use Brazil 2014 as preparation for the future. Why not focus on the younger, more talented players. Give them freedom to play the way they want. That is playing to our strengths, as I've argued. And see what happens. It can scarcely be worse than playing conservative, physical football and still getting caned.

Edited by quickflick: 30/9/2013 01:42:00 AM

If you think technical, fluent, passing football is our greatest strength you have rocks in your head.

And if you think stamina, physicality etc will get us anywhere, ditto.

Think people are being harsh on Robbie, when he went to Leverkusen they hadn't purchased Son yet. I think if Robbie knew about Son, he might have looked at other options. He will get more time and hopefully be a stater soon.

If u try and win an argument by saying some one has rocks in their head you have rocks in your head :P

It would be suicide if we try to copy teams like Italy and Brazil at the world cup, we will look like total fools. We just don't have the players to pull it off, most have a poor first touch and mediocre passing, even our better players like Cahill, Holman struggle at the basics. I can understand wanting to see the national team play fluent, technical football but rather you will see a desecration of the beautiful game, we will be a total laughing stock.

This obsession with technique is disturbing. Sure it's important but not at the expense of every other quality that defines a footballer and a team. Perhaps it's something we can strive towards in the next 5 to 10 years (2018-22 perhaps) rather than forcing on players who are nowhere near talented enough. Just do what every other team does and play to our strengths rather than our weaknesses and we might fluke second round of something.

If u try and win an argument by saying some one has rocks in their head you have rocks in your head :P

Oh no we are caught in an infinite loop!

Both points are valid. Hence why we are in the position we are in today. We dominate Asia in the air and get to the World Cup but come up short in technique when in the WC.

While it's true we did play an uptempo, high-energy style at the WC 06, I wouldn't call it a "passing game", per se.

I do think that with the attributes Aussie players typically possess that this is the more appropriate way for the Socceroos to play. I do think as well that this gives us a platform to transition to a passing game over time.

Timmy Cahill just scored a delicious goal for New York:

http://www.newyorkredbulls.com/news/2013/09/game-update-goal-cahill-buries-equalizer

Sunday's action http://osaussies.com/sunday-wrap-52/

Edited by Voice ofReason: 30/9/2013 01:36:34 PM

You're completely missing the point. If we select Holman, Jedinak and Holland in midfield, you'd have a valid point. But the fact is we have better players than that.

Do you really think Rogic, Kruse and Oar are not capable of fast, fluent, technical football? That's Rogic's bread and butter. Kruse and Oar also have very good movement on and off the ball.

Bresciano has been the Socceroos go-to-man for ages now and he can still link play together very well, in a manner befitting fast, technical football. And before his injury, Adam Sarota was one of the better holding midfielders in the Eredivisie. His speed and distribution are of a really high quality.

So I'd say that if you think we don't have the players to play technical football, it's you who has rocks in your head. But then again, since we rarely saw all those players playing together in the qualification campaign, you can almost be forgiven for thinking that.

Nevertheless, if you genuinely believe we should just go and try to bulldoze team with long balls, you are utterly clueless. Not when we have Kruse, Oar, Rogic, Sarota and Bresciano.


-----------------------Leckie-----------------------------------



Oar---------------------Rogic-----------------------------Kruse




------------Sarota/Bresciano---------------Milligan--------------



Davidson---------Neill---------------Jedinak/Lowry-----------Franjic



----------------------------Schwarzer-------------------------------


That's more or less a good a team as we can field. The defenders and strikers still haven't sorted themselves out properly. We can bring Cahill on later in the game. But the point is that that midfield is our best possible midfield and guess what it's most adept at playing technical football. The thought of Sarota and Rogic playing together, one in front of the other, is tantalising. So I'm not sure what planet you're living on...

I enjoy your input and positivity, but we all know Holger will NEVER select a pro-active team. Seriously, hes had over 3 years to prepare for the likelyhood of qualification, and whats been the outcome? The team is slower and more disjointed than when Pim left.

All the slow oldies will be at Brazil 2014, and a blood bath will follow.

So, anyone hear anything about how far off Sarota is from hitting the pitch?

How about Oar brought into #10, Rogic #8 and Millsy #6?

Last news was he's back in first team training. Probably a few more weeks away.

That's great news! Hope that Sarota can get back into the starting XI quickly, seemed to be going great before his injury.

Certainly was, as was the whole team. Right now they're the Melbourne Heart of the Eredivisie. Injuries include Sarota, Mulenga, Duplan and more. Add in the fact that they lost some good players it explains why they're not going to well at the moment.

lol @ the noob who compared rogic kruse and oar to neymar oscar and lucas

rogic kruse and oar might be the best of our bunch but in world terms they're very ordinary and if you think some sort of technical revolution is possible and will occur over the next 12 months on the shoulders of these 3 then you're an idiot

It was probably Lester. ;)

Yep, gonna take more than 3 attacking midfielders with good dribbling ability to implement an effective possession dominant fluid passing game.

Gonna need a Xavi type or two and some more suitable fullbacks.
I think we have the centerbacks for it though with Williams and Spira amongst others.

Edited by neanderthal: 30/9/2013 07:57:19 PM

Vidosic and Ryan made team of the week in their respective leagues. Not sure how 'big' the voetbalkrant site is, but Vidosic in sport.ch is impressive.

Are you referring to me? I haven't compared, or at least I haven't likened (as you imply), Rogic, Kruse and Oar with the likes of Neymar. What, in actual fact, I said was that we haven't got players of the calibre of Neymar, Coutinho, etc.

However, as I said, we still have some very decent midfielders. That doesn't amount to likening our players with Brazil's players. And saying we haven't got midfielders as good as theirs but that we still have decent midfielders is hadly dubious proposition. I believe that if Rogic had been brought up in Spain, Italy, Germany or Brazil, he'd potentially be regarded as being as good as those kind of players. By that I mean, I think his natural ability is up there with those players, and if he'd had there advantages, he'd have every possibility of playing as well as them at the best European clubs.

Oar is one of the best wingers (potentially one of the best players) in the Eredivisie. Kruse, while hit-and-miss, on his day is an absolute handful and for that reason is at one of the best clubs in Europe.

The point is that they have the technical and athletic ability to be outstanding, on their day.

I maintain that those guys aren't too far off our 2006 midfield ability. The problem is that our defenders and strikers are a long way off 2006 standards. Also our holding midfielders haven't proved themselves in quite the same way that Grella, Culina, etc. did.

With that team, we were better than the midrankers at the 2006 World Cup and we were problematic for the world's best.

Our midfield now is better than it was in 2010, and we nearly got out of the group stage in 2010.

I never suggested a technical revolution is possible on the backs of the three players mentioned above. The word "revolution" implies wholesale change (which means extending across all of Australian football, not just the NT). Any technical revolution needs to be done organically at grassroots level. The National Curriculum is attempting to effect that technical revolution (with varying degrees of success).

But with Kruse, Oar and Rogic all playing in aggressive midfield roles and with the correct CDM pairing, Australia's midfield will play technical football, it will be the most effective type of football we can play (not just the most eye-catching) and it will give our team some kind of potency.

The trouble is that unless Holger either has an epiphany or gets sacked, this will probably be academic.

He'll probably just select trundlers. But I guess at least you'll be happy with that, rather than seeing our actual best players.

Watched the Red Bulls game, both Carney and Cahill looked good.

Glad to see Carney back.