Wow, another person who thinks my username is something different. What next eh? :roll:

Since you can't seem to comprehend it, Neill is not the player he was in 2006, '07 or even '08. Since 2009 his performances have been steadily getting worse and for almost the past 3 years he has been a shadow of the player he was. That isn't hatred (what a stupid thing to say) it is an observation developed over time from watching the man play.

Since you bring up Pim and Holger, what is your opinion of their time in charge of the national team?

Edited by general ashnak: 20/11/2013 02:43:07 PM

I think a lot of people truned up as it was Ange's first game in charge.

No one could have been motivated to turn up on the back of the Socceroos recent performance.

Might be in the minority here, but really felt like this was a nothing game. Can't read anything into Ange's Roos, especially since Costa Rica came here with a second string side and offered no real resistance.

Oh, one big positive for me was that Jedi seems to have of found his passing boots for the NT. He keeps that up, will be a massive bonus for us.


Come on brah, don't you know that one decent performance under no pressure = all is forgiven?


Looking at the performance last night, I can see why Arsenal have him out on loan (forgetting his name right now).

In a way, CR were true to their WCQ form. Very strong at home, meh away. But, they were missing players.


=d>


Too true. I'm quoting one of them, by the name of "BackFour". CR extremely thin, look at Hernandez getting called up since sitting out from 2011 onwards. Virtually a "call him in cause he is close" situation.

Edited by Ali07: 20/11/2013 04:11:21 PM

Edited by Ali07: 20/11/2013 03:42:16 PM

I thought the game showed a bit more enterprise than usual but there were still too many slow touches. Vidosic was surprisingly poor and I would of liked to have seen his replacement being Bozanic to have a look at someone new, or Mckay playing in a left attacking role that I think is more his game rather than central defensive. I also would have rather seen Wilkinson come on instead of Oar. I like Oar and think he is a no-brainer for the squad. Wilkinson we need to look at. Disappointed that we needed a set-piece goal from Cahill to score. Leckie's missed sitter and Kruse's lack of control from that 1-1 in the first half were simply not good enough.
Overall, it was a decent settling start to the new team against an understrength, but decent opposition (I was expecting a bit more from the Costa Rican fringe players trying to force their way into the starting side/squad tbh). Very disappointed there wasn't 2 games in this window specifically to see more players getting game time. A real missed opportunity.
On the Topic de jour, I thought Neill had a good game with some nice passing into the midfield with pace and accuracy. Whether he was really pushed hard enough is not his fault. Not having another player having some game time means we are one again left without a reference point for judging his performance.

I think Vidosic has got good skills, but I think he should have been coached more to keep his chin up when he's on the ball, he seems like he's looking at the ground too much which slows down his decision making speed

You are too right Ali, I am duly chastised (y)

the difference is he is shirt pulling in a friendly where costa rica never really looked like putting anything together they were missing their key link up guy who is Ruiz. If Neill plays the way he does now at the world cup he will be carded non stop the same with Jedinak/Millsy & even some of Bresc tackles were way too high and just disgusting. Need to get that stuff out of our game.

For those of us who missed the match, what was Australia's formation + line-up + bench?

someone tried to compare Kewell to Rogic. Rogic is a fantastic player but he is not in the same league as Kewell. Kewell was once voted the top ten players in the world. Kewell could glide pass players too , had a fantastic burst of speed and excellent dribbling skills. He attracted the interest of man utd, liverpool , chelsea, madrid and Barcelona. What other play can claim this? It would be very hard for this country to produce another Kewell, but i must admit that Rogic excites me. Rogic would be better going to spain or Italy where his game is best suited.

who said he is the same player he was in 06-09?? Is he as good as he was then? No
Is he still the best option to anchor and organise our defence? Yes

With the retirement of Schwarzer, and Ange trying to introduce fast, inexperienced wing backs, a new keeper and a young CB, Neil in the logical option to fill one of the CB spots. His skills are still better than you give him credit for and he is certainly the best defensive organiser we currently have.



As for your question about Pim and Holger
On an objective basis, they both achieved what they were hired to do - qualify for the World Cup. On a subjective basis, I didn't enjoy the style of play they implemented. Will Ange achieve better results adopting a different approach? I hope so.

Now can you explain why Ange (and his predecessors) picked Neil? According to your reasoning, their observations of Neil are absolutely wrong. You keep telling me I don't understand or comprehend, maybe you should drop Ange an email and enlighten him as well (I don't select the team, he does.) According to your drivel Ange is in some serious need of enlightenment from you.


Edited by one_toouch: 21/11/2013 09:44:25 AM

Edited by one_toouch: 21/11/2013 10:06:58 AM

Good game that highlighted a few things
1. Bresch had a pretty terrible game. Slow, gave away possesion numerous times and provided next to nothing going forward and was too slow to track back to defend. Rogic is his succesor and he really showed it.
2. Kruse looked threatening but needs geater precision in the box rather than just hussle and bustle. Also if he is going to try and milk the ref for fouls all the time Harry Kewell needs to take him aside to show him how it is done at the highest level.
3. Davidson was alright. Before every game and change of half Ange needs to sit him down and make sure he is absolutely sure which goal is ours and which is theirs but otherwise not too bad. Communication with the keeper an issue
5. Franjic and Williams did pretty well.Although never really threatened they looked confident in their roles, especialy Franjic
6.Jedinak and Milligan both impressed, especially Jedinak seemed pretty good.
7.Neil was solid, and workmanlike. Not bad, not amazing either. He isn't as goosd as he used to be but he was trying to make up for his lack of pace with position
4.Vidosic had a workman like game, but not horrible.

TBF to Bresh, I can't blame him for being below his best - with a >$1 million fine and suspension, it would be hard to focus 100%.

Kruse was also one of the most fouled players in Europe last season, so I think he knows a thing or two about drawing fouls!

I was happy with Franjic too - probably the most pleasant surprise for the night. Jedinak's first positive performance for the NT since gawd knows when. Says something about the ineptitude of previous NT coaches. Jedi still had his wtf moments in possession, but at least he played his destroying role well.

I know we can talk about Costa Rica being disappointing, but it was almost startling to see actual movement from our team, both with and without the ball. It was pleasing to see the defenders have a nearby midfield option pretty much at all times, unlike the painfully large gaps between the lines under Holger where defenders had no choice but to play useless long balls.

Again, some might say CR were poor, but we've played terribly against even weaker AFC opponents. At least there was intent and structure to our play, and the players looked quite comfortable with their roles.

All one can ask for.


Any coach wants to look at a player. Ange will only get a couple of chances to have Neill right in front of him.

But, aside from you using a "the coaches picked him" defense...do you not have a personal opinion on his performances? Or, is it really a "he is picked by them so he is good enough, no matter what I may see" kind of opinion?

Most of us just judge on the game, since we don't attend the training sessions. Seeing how Neill performed poorly for the majority of our WCQs, along with 2 out of the last 3 friendlies, it isn't hard to see why people have the opinion that he shouldn't be picked.

Add to that the fact he has been dumped out of his clubs starting XI, things look bleak.

I thought that things were looking up for Neill during the last 3 WCQs that he played in. Unfortunately, when playing high standard opponents in a couple of friendlies, he got torn to shreds. And, I wouldn't say that his performance against Costa Rica was the type to make me think he could turn things around. Had no pressure and handled that lack of pressure as one would expect, easily...

Edited by Ali07: 21/11/2013 02:03:00 PM

I've already expressed my opinion on how Neil played the other night. I thought he had a good game. His distribution was good and his organisation of the young deference was very good. It appears that the game plan that Ange implemented actually suited Neil. Whether he'll be picked to go to the WC, it's obviously Ange's decision, but for what it worth I'd take him to Brazil.

As for my referring to the existing coach and previous coaches picking Neil and giving him the captain's armband, it's a fact that seems to be ignored (or derided as stupid) by a group of keyboard coaches on this forum that are telling me that they know best and that I am somehow unable to comprehend the insightful football wisdom that they possess.

As you correctly point out, our opinions of Neil are derived from watching him on TV (or live at a match). The people that work with him on a closer basis and understand what he brings to a team and what is expected of him have continually chosen him and made him captain.

I was talking about your opinion on his performances post-2010. While I can see why some point to the coaches selecting him, but I just wonder what your actual opinion on him is.

I mean, surely there must come a time when the selection of a player is questioned. He hasn't exactly been covering himself in glory. I can only think of 4 performances post-2010 where I thought that Neill had a good game as an individual.

https://www.espn.com.au/football/match/_/gameId/382285

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