Would it be right to say the door has been closed on Davidson and Franjic? Or could very good seasons in both the championship and the HAL put back into contention for the full back spots.?

The gate is chained and locked.

Shut and locked for Davidson. Shut for Franjic too but not locked yet, still has a slim chance of getting a spot back.

Davidson and Franjic just aren't very good, sadly...

pfffft franjic is a god when he is in form. russia fucked us.

I was away that weekend

I don't think the door is closed on Jason Davidson or Ivan Franjic.

The trouble is that for them to be seriously considered (unless injuries galore strike), it will be down to them playing club football with a kind of brilliance they're yet to demonstrate in either international or club matches.

http://www.socceroos.com.au/article/ange-postecoglous-plan-for-socceroos-challenging-year-ahead/1mj6605d2f8gv1ffh4hw40ypqj
as this is part 1 of a 2 parter if anyone has seen or sees Part 2 can they please post it.

Ange certainly sounds confident and it is interesting to hear that UAE are in camp in Spain, it sounds like they have had 2 matches against 2nd division opponents and have one more to come.

As mentioned previously Iraq's preparations are extremely thorough as well so we can expect well prepared opposition in the upcoming games and getting 4-6 points from the first 2 matches will be important in establishing ourselves towards the top of the group from the beginning.

Very, very interesting interview with Ange.

Ange also said he pushed some players beyond what he should've in the second Greece game, given their heavy club commitments or lack of match fitness.

He said he didn't play England and Greece to gain results, but that he  constantly wants to challenge players in different scenarios with the long term aim of qualifying for Russia. 

you must have been away for a few years

im surprised that davidson seems to have gone backwards in his NT performances.  he is a defender in the championship which is a good place to harden up.  although his slot in the hudders first 11 is not guaranteed atm.

i could see him coming good.  he is in a good spot to do it.  i would be interested in hearing some analysis about his performance.

btw- great to see some readable entries in this thread.  it's been pretty much ruined by the 1000 word overly repetitive opinion pieces that clog it.

He's been ordinary for much longer than he was good, unfortunately...

Del Piero is still ripping it up for Juventus too m80

http://www.socceroos.com.au/article/inside-the-mind-of-socceroos-coach-ange-postecoglou/y928mpqsteov1p2mltuasuud2

part 2 - from a quick glimpse not as interesting as part 1, but both are pretty good for insight into Ange's thinking

I think Iraq are gonna be a massive handful. Even looking at their u23s against Brazil, they could frustrate us here and cause problems in their home game.

Didn't think of that. More than a lot of cause for concern. We are going to have to get our tactics spot on.

apparently the September WCQ squad will be named on Wednesday

I'd love to see Irvine play in Jedinak's position in a friendly. He's much quicker and it could be a real blitz with Mooy and Rogic. Jedinak is crucial but we need to start looking for solutions after 2019 at the latest. 

New Signing, in terms of this football discussion  I agree a lot more with you than Quickflick.

To his credit QF is a very logical person whose general dialectical ability extrapolates to football.

Given that I, and you , have undergone Advanced coach education, at times, QF's general logical, dialectal skill doesn't extrapolate successfully to specific  football performance phenomena. I only know this through axioms derived from coach education.

Nevertheless, in cricket, where QF has had better coaching and has a far better understanding of the game then me, he appears very, very plausible, pretty well all the time.

Given you and I know an other football site where people basically troll and abuse each other rather than constructively disagree, QF meets the criteria we agree is what defines a good 442 poster - one who generates football discussion. QF certainly does this. Importantly, without resorting to abuse.

A friendly is an important theatre for Irvine to play as a sole DM.

One cannot replicate international experience, despite what has been done at club level. Look at the Belgian national team.

For a professional teacher, I've never known any other teacher, apart from your Anarchy mate, Ionio, to find so many negatives about football, or to be so consistently cynical and negative.

An important part of a teacher's mantra is to praise students for things done well. Do you find this difficult? 

Because of the HAL not being in regular season, all players selected, apart from Cahill, are overseas based in the Socceroo squad.

no one in this forum misses the point more. well done. the only reason you posted a reply was because of your infantile obsession with trying to deride my character and misrepresent or completely reauthor statements I have made. bravo. you are an arrogant cockhead. congrats.  

maybe you should stick to your ardtho character. frankly it deserves more respect than your draupnir one.

Initially, I was really excited by Davidson's performances for the national team.

I wasn't sure whether he played against some weak opponents, but in the lead up to the World Cup, and in Brazil, he was doing quite well. This  is also with the  underpinning support  of stats and looking  at a lot of his play through replays.

Yet ever since he has gone to England, he seems to have gone backwards  for the Socceroos. This is puzzling. At the same age other players like Rogic and Mooy, have made big steps forward. This is common.

In terms of analysis, Davidson is a good 1v1 ball winner. However, his reading of the play is often slow, and he struggles to be on the same wave length as his team-mates when the Socceroos have the ball.

The last game he played, probably against Bangladesh, was  probably his best since Brazil. Then Ange dropped him after appearing to be a favourite.

I have seen it mentioned elsewhere that the TV rights for the Socceroos WCQ games haven't yet been sold

I assume it will be sorted by 1st September for the Iraq game

Has anyone heard whether it will likely be Fox, or are Optus/Youtube and others be likely to be in the mix ?

Wow!

I've just assumed it will be on Fox.

i hope sbs picks it up

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.

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.