Brosque

Over time my stats showed he was a good player in every aspect apart from finishing. Holger made a big mistake playing Brosque as the target striker. He was very unluckily to have been cast adrift by Ange. Brosque was effective as a wide left player.




McDonald

Bullied off the ball by Asian CBs when he was the target striker for the Socceroos. He is a goal sneak who needs to play off a big target striker in a 4-4-2 or 3-5-2. Needs a game plan to revolve around him to be effective and he is nowhere near good enough.

That is unless he can play as an attacking mid. He was too weak physically, he couldn't beat opponents 1v1 by evasion techniques, and was too short to beat opponents in the air as a striker. Macca was a good passer and mover in tight spaces on both sides of the body, but never played as well as the likes of Archie or Brosque for the Socceroos.

If he were to play as a number 10 he has been overtaken by much younger players like Mooy, Rogic ,Troisi and Luongo for the position . Even Milligan plays well as a twin number 10.

Showed there is a big step up from the Scottish League to international football as a striker, even against Asian opposition.

I also think Macca suffered from moving to the more sophisticated continental coaching style of Pim, and even Holger, than his Celtic and Motherwell coaches.

Edited by Decentric: 3/1/2016 10:47:00 PM

McKay has played well for the Socceroos. I've never understood the naysayers.

His worse period was when Holger played him as LB.

His central midfield play has been effective. According to the strength and conditioning coaches, along with Leckie, Kruse and Troisi, he is one of our four best athletes. Matty has a great engine.

McKay has always been an excellent player. Sometimes it takes a decent professional coach, like Pim, Holger, or Ange to identify it.

Have to emphatically disagree on Macca, mate.[-x

Having said that , I usually agree with you and respect your opinions.:)

Edited by Decentric: 3/1/2016 11:10:56 PM

Bang on the money.

My stats and analysis support you without equivocation.

The only thing is that neither Rogic or Mooy are quick to turn and chase to counter opposition accelerated attacks in our Defensive Transitions. Troisi is much better at this. So is Luongo at defending whilst running and facing towards the Socceroo goals.

Spira has really improved in muscle on muscle contests. He is becoming a bully boy, which we need to replace Ogger. Spira is still our best CB.

Wright has been a pleasant surprise and has done well for the Socceroos as CB, but is nowhere near as good as Spira - yet.

my point with brosque and mcdonald is to not play them as a target striker because it's not their game and it worked out terribly before.

as i said, with juric and cahill - who are fairly classi target men in their current incarnations - have someone gifted at paoching around the box and being a bit more mobile would be great. especially as we pressure the backline.

this poaching role is something i see taggart doing in the future - and something a few of our wingers + rogic can do. so it might be good getting the team used to it for the future.

the diamond we have played more recently has been good. more room for more ball movement. unfortunately luongo was playing to far forward.

i never ever want to see that shambles we had v jordan


---------------CB------------------CB
------------------------milligan
-------------------------------------------------------..
----------------------------------------------------------..
FB----RW-----AM=------AM------CF------LW--------CF


it was just a mess. no room to move. jordan just stood in a straight line in front of use and belted us on the counter. the worst game since holger.





Edited by inala brah: 4/1/2016 12:37:48 AM

sainsbury is better than spira. he just needs to get some consistent game time.

and Alex Brosque was at a really good Middle East team in Al Ain that make S/F of ACL ....not like Milligan at Baniyas or Holman at Emirates Club

Alright then, let's stop avoiding the inevitable, what is your XI for the next Socceroos game?

makes the semi final against only middle eastern teams right. no real challenge until the semis.

-----------------------------schwarzer
williams-----------spiro-------------sainsbury-------------smith (PL)
-------------------------------jedi (PL)
mooy------------------------------------------------leckie (B1)
--------------------------rogic
----------kruse (B1) ------------------------cahill/juric

Looks great.

How's Williams going though and has Smith anywhere enough experience?

Against Tajikistan:



Subs: Langerak, Wilkinson, Wright, Davidson, Milligan, Luongo, Mooy, Oar, Cahill etc etc

I want to see us take the game to the Tajik's and put them to the sword, build a bit of confidence heading into the crunch match against Jordan. Ryan picks himself, even if his club status is in limbo. I stuck Franjic at RB purely because there is no-one else, and Ange will go with what he knows. Spira and Sainsbury are the future for Russia 2018, so need to play them together as often as possible, although I wouldn't be unhappy with any other CB combination as they're all pretty solid. Smith is my wild card, but I think it's time Ange gambled a little bit in a position we are crying out for some quality in. Smith is on the verge of breaking through at Liverpool so lets give Klopp a bit more reason to pick him - that, and even with limited minutes he is clearly the best Australian LB going around. Jedinak picks himself. Kruse and Leckie are our two best winger/forwards, so if fit they should be playing. Could be interchanged with Oar/Troisi if needed, but would prefer those two to play if fit. Rogic is our fittest and most in form playmaker at the moment I feel, so he'll be the #10. Luongo probably would be in this role if he was actually playing, but being on the outer at QPR means Rogic just edges him out. Mooy is no #10 so wasn't considered for the position. Juric is in stellar form for the Rodaroos, as is Maclaren for Brisbane - I'd like to see the 'big and little' combination in action up front, and hopefully it'll allow the Socceroos to carve out more chances that aren't just bombing in crosses from the flank. Both forwards are in form and scoring, so both deserve the call up (which is kind of a rarity for the Socceroos lol). Bench will be made up from the rest.

Schwarzer?

If everyone is fit..................



Subs: - Langerak, Federici, Wright, Gersbach, Geria, Milligan, Irvine, Luongo, De Silva, Oar, Burns, Juric.

In summary, team has a strong core of starting players followed up by rich tapestry of up and coming Olyroos. Need to start blooding these guys ahead of crucial WCQ happening later this year.

No more McKay, Wilkinson, Troisi, Meredith, Risdon, Davidson, McGowan etc. These players are either too old and/or not doing enough and should be usurped by a new generation. Troisi can't even get on the pitch in Saudi Arabia. If he wants to get back in the squad he needs to get his arse back to Europe.

Other than it might be a bit too early for Williams, this is a great selection.

If not Williams, who at RB? Risdon, Franjic?

That was my biggest issue when selecting my team - Franjic seemed the best of an average lot, and Ange knows him well so I figured he'd be given the gig if fit.

Also, this is secretly my favourite thread on here.

Good bump.

Chris Herd is another option - and is back playing now.

Mine would be:


---------------------------Ryan------------------------------

Williams/Risdon----Sainsbury------Spiranovic-----Smith/Davidson----

----------------------Jedinak/Milligan---------------------

----------------Luongo---------------Rogic------------------

Kruse-----------------Cahill/Juric------------Leckie/Burns-----

It is one of my favourites too.

We should all thank Select Few.

we are due for some good luck. Here is my dream for the next 12 months

rhys williams and brad smith to become starters in the epl along with curtis good and sainsbury to go injury free and lock down the cb spot for zwolle.
Mat ryan to either return to brugge or start somewhere in the la liga along with langerak starting for stuttgart
kruse and leckie to stay in the bundesliga and get starts and rogic to hold his place in celtics first 11
juric to continue to bang them in in the eredivisie and ibini to break through for brugge.
Jedi to make the first 11 for palace more consistently and learn a more proactive style.

All of a sudden we actually have a decent team....

I find it really difficult to put up a best team. There are so many options with few demanding starting positions over others.

For instance I think Milligan is a far better all round player than Jedi, but as a single screener, nobody plays it better than Jedi in that specific role. Jedi is one of Ange's few favourites.

The paradox is along with Mooy , Millsy has been the best player in 2015. But he may not be able to secure a starting position in my first eleven, unless Ange plays a 1-4-3-3 with a defensive midfield triangle. Millsy's and Mooy's rapid fire passing in confined space is approaching the quality of Culina's, Bresc's and Grella's.

Leckie also warrants selection because of his defensive off the ball work, but struggles against weaker sides who play deep defensive lines defending compactly. Yet he is an Ange favourite.

If Ryan, Langerak and Federici are all currently bench sitters, then maybe it is time to look at Eugene or Vukovic?

Spira for mine has a definite CB starting position. Sains ( if playing regularly ) should be his current partner. if not, then Wilko, Wright, DeVere (when fit) are all in the mix.

If Herd is playing regularly it is close between him and Franjic for RB.

Mooy is first AM selected for mine. There are arguments for and against Rogic, Luongo, Troisi, and Milligan as the other Attacking Mid in a 1-4-3-3 attacking midfield triangle.

Out wide Burns is first selected.

Cahill as central striker.

Probably Kruse as the other winger with Burns in a 1-4-3-3.


Davo possibly the best LB, but he needs to improve a lot to stay in front of Behich, Smith, Meredith.



Rogic is our best technician, but his lack of endurance probably costs him a starting position, even though he is dynamite off the bench and our match changer - a special player.



Edited by Decentric: 4/1/2016 01:37:20 PM

When Ibini played for the Socceroos he was a defensive powerhouse at least the quality of Leckie.=d>

Yep.

Williams and Smith would be my picks too.

Smith's crossing is the best we've seen since Wilkshire. With Cahill and Juric as our striking options, we should need people who can cross.

Ibini was awful when he played for Australia against UAE and Qatar. There was a reason why he fell off the Socceroos radar well before he got injured.