I don't know much about the current side, but they used to be a powerhouse in Asia, been champions. The war on terror/oil seems to have put a hold on things, but I reckon they'll be up there again at some point.

you have to play two number 10s at home if you are playing a possession based game against a team parking the bus. Since mooy and luongo are playing fairly deep for their clubs you could go even more attacking and play a midfield of mooy luongo and rogic but perhaps experiment that if we get a strong lead.
I'd play fast wing backs as well so risdon and smith for me. For centerbacks I'd really focus on those with good ball skills since risdon and smith aren't great (yet) at playing out the back so spira and sains for me. Jedi still has the lone DM nailed down so unless someone blitzes training he will be the 6. As for wingers burns does better in tight spaces than leckie but its hard to drop a player in the bundesliga. So kruse and leckie for me. At home I'd go a forward who is good at link up play so juric or giannou are both attractive options with Cahill a 60minute sub

----------------------------ryan-----------------------------------------
--risdon----spira------------sainsbury----------------smith---
------------------------jedi----------------------------------------------
---------------mooy-----------rogi------------------------------------
---leckie----------juric/giannou-----------------kruse-----------

subs: cahill giannou/juric luongo

For mine, although it would be ideal to play Rogic in the way you suggest, I can't really see how we can fit both him and Mooy in the same starting line-up unless he plays up front or with your second formation. Your second formation/line-up is very decent. It leaves out Kruse (unless he plays instead of Juric or Giannou) and is slightly different (but not wrong) in terms of how we'd operate on the wings.

The rationale behind having Rogic up front is as a compromise to get the best of him and Mooy. But he certainly shouldn't be a sole striker.

Think days of Timmith starting for the Roos has passed us by tbh.

He'd be wasted there. He might be big enough but so far he's looked best for Celtic when he has space that he drive into which makes defenders move out of position.

Iraq will be compact so he won't have any room to do that up front. I'm inclined to play a strong CF like Juric for that game. I'm also willing to say we should rest Jedinak for the away game where we will be far more likely to be tested defensively and he can man mark Abdulrahman.

Formation for both the 4-3-3 and the Diamond

is there any news on the broadcasting??  will it be on SBS???

Josh Risdon has been called into the squad to face Iraq. 

is maclaren in the squad?  he has had a good preseason.

I'd be starting Juric upfront, but I wonder if Rogic could play there? Has all the attributes

Cahill as sub makes a fair bit of sense

Is there any particular reason you think Juric and Giannou would each get 1 start - ie conditioning and/or heat in UAE, neither really standing out as first choice ??

I predict that Cahill will be used as a sub in both of these games as he is out of season.

Juric to start one match, Giannou to start the other.

Looks like a very young squad so a lot of Olympic participants. A few of the old guard have retired so this will be a new Iraq side that we haven't seen before. We need to hit them hard early and take control of the game.

Ali Adnan is a good player, plays in Italy for Udinese.

What do we know specifically about this Iraqi side we're facing? Formation? Player strengths? Are many of them from the side that drew with Brazil in the Olympics? Or from the side which caused us a lot of headaches last campaign (some of whom were part of the side that beat England in the under twenty WC)?

luongo is playing very good defensive football at a much higher level and doing well.  milligan was much better defensively. remains to be seen if that is still the case.

rogic will be starting.  he is killing it at celtic.  

jedi will be 6 mooy will be 8 and rogic will be 10

otherwise ange will probably go with the diamond again - we have been a lot better with it.  especially against a deep sitting team that will counter.

jedi will be 6. mooy and milligan/luongo/irvine will be the 8's and rogic will be 10

Yeah it seems SBS aren't showing the game on delay.

it's only just been confirmed that Fox have the TV rights, not sure if they will be on-selling to SBS for FTA and/or radio.

Does anyone know if  SBS is doing radio coverage? Can't seem to find the info. They had it for the previous round. I'm not to keen on those streaming services in Germany plus I'll be at work and some headphones with commentary would be good.

I rate Luongo very highly but Milligan is much better defensively.

Surely Luongo would be ahead of Milligan if Ange wanted to go with a safer option than the all out attack of Rogic.

Good question. Not sure it's reported anywhere who played. Either way perth are a formidable outfit, and to draw with them is probably a sign that this iraq team will be a big challenge for us. We will need to be 100%, obviously its a vital 3 points.. 

I'm getting very excited/nervous about this match. Not sure how the side will line up. Especially in midfield. I recon ange will pick something like this:

Ryan
Degenek-spiranovic-sainsbury-smith
Jedinak
Mooy-Milligan
Kruse-Cahill-Leckie

Seems a waste to leave Rogic out though, he's probably our second best player. If i was the coach I'd try and find a spot for him. Although he would be a game changing sub. 

looks like bailey wright is out and josh risdon is in - apologies if this has been posted on a previous page

did josh play against iraq for glory ??

I agree. Or at least, I think that a sizable proportion should be able to do this. You'd hope that a few per team could do this.

Worth noting, though, that there's a bit of a different between just floating the ball into the box and sending it in with direction and/or power. The bullet throwers can do that, and that's lethal.

Either way, I think we need to be exploiting this, given our strengths and weaknesses.

i really dont understand how any professional athlete could not easily throw a football into the box.  

Yeah milligans the man for that. He's no Rory delay but a pretty decent arm nonetheless.

Milligan is certainly capable of launching throws into the box - did it a few times over the course of his Vuck career. Not sure about anyone else however.

Have we got anybody who can throw the ball really long? Like Iceland do?

Given that Cahill and Irvine can be lethal in the air, it seems like it would be handy if we could make a throw in a decent area pose the same level of threat that a free kick does. Like Iceland do.

Don't want to rely on it too much, but just now and then. It certainly adds something to our repertoire and gives opponents more to think about.

i dont get it.  its like he just doesnt pay attention.  

he has all the tools to excel.  maybe his heads not in the game. maybe he has adhd.

i hope sbs picks it up