The tactics in the Championship I'd surmise are often less sophisticated than the continent and when the better EPL teams play each other.

Some Asian teams sit back, defend deep, remain very compact,  then have a go on the counter attack against us.

Comparatively, Championship teams play a higher line, with a fair bit of a gap between the lines. Generally, they are not as patient. They play the ball ever forwards, at lighting speed on the flanks, up into the mixer and balls over the top.

The proof is in the pudding. I'm not sure who has played a lot of Championship football and has clearly improved as a Socceroo by playing there in recent years. If Rhys Williams hadn't been injured, he might be one.

For Aussie players to develop overseas, Australia needs players whose club teams spend far  more time in possession of the ball for sustained periods than the Championship. There are about 8 leagues where I've seen  this in Europe.

the point about playing against various styles is an interesting one.

I was thinking who had improved the most rapidly in recent years in europe

the two that come to mind are strange - luongo when he was in league one (he has stagnated thus far in the ecl. Hope that changes) and rogic

Both have played in rough leagues playing with coaches that like a possession based game where they tend to dominate against defensive physical and organized teams

in this environment they have improved arguably faster than players developing in the holy trinity :k

Mooy has been  arguably the biggest improver in the same period playing in the HAL.

I think Luongo had an enlightened coach in  League One.

Rogic has  had two enlightened coaches in Deila and Rodgers playing in SPL and Europe.

One  other pertinent  comparison is Milligan and Jedinak. On  the ball Milligan has made more progress having a lot more of the ball ay his feet in club football, despite at a lower level.

I think Leckie has plateaued.

This Aussie Abroad thread is always interesting because  unknown Oz players constantly arise.

  From observing  the UCL, there are a number of leagues in Europe where  they seem to have 1- 3 powerhouse clubs who are a lot better than the rest of their domestic league. They  do reasonably well in Europe. Some of the Ukrainian, Dutch, Belgian, Greek, Swiss, Russian, Croatian, Serbian and Turkish clubs come to mind.

Against teams like Barca and Bayern they often set up like a top Italian team.

Yes Leckie developed quickest at frankfurt but has gone backwards in his finishing at ingolsladt (even in buli 2)
What I'm wondering is if, all other things equal, it is better to have an enlightened coach in a physical direct league (aka you are playing a proactive style against teams that are more reactive). This was rogic and luongos experience. Rogic and luongo are the only two that appear to have advanced at a quicker rate than a league players*


*thats not to say the a league is better quality -I think its lower than the ecl, eredivisie, buli 2 and even the spl - but it does appear to be better for development

All this makes an interesting question. Is it better to have as many of our footballers in the same league (providing it's high enough quality and they're getting enough game time) with the same general sort of style?

Or is it better to have them in various leagues with differing styles?

Personally, I prefer the varied leagues. It expands our repertoire. And I think the strength of Australian football has tended to be that it has been a bit of hotpotch which different influences and footballers plying their trade in leagues as varied as the Premier League and the Serie A.

I like the idea of some of them having the kind of tactical shrewdness gained in the Serie A, the really nice combination of technical and tactical football seen at the better Dutch sides and the physicality, intensity and grit of the English leagues.

The best Australian side ever was coached by Guus and had very different types of footballers playing in various places.

Ideally, we continue this. But we have as many Australian footballers as possible who've been developed by the NC (so there's that much uniformity), then the best ones are in Europe from 15 years plus and across Europe.

O'Neil and Smith starting. Awesome stuff to see two young players on the field. 

Celtic has a history of playing beautiful football, and is known as the 'Celtic way'.

Jordan Holmes on bench for AFC Bournemouth, Federici starting GK

Nizic on bench for League two team  Morecambe

Burnley went down to League 2's Accrington Stanley 1-0 in the 120th min in what I think was the League Cup. Don't know how O'neill went

One game, three Aussie goalkeepers!

Federici and Smith with full games in a 90 minute win.

At least he played all 120 minutes.

looolllll

great news. i got the sense from an interview with the boss that they would be looking to loan him to a lower division fairly soon so he could play regular football.  

I too chuckled.

In short for Socceroo development it appears to be better having an enlightened coach playing against teams who are direct.

I think that appears to be the case

meanwhile go aiden o neill and smith getting 90

shame burnley got knocked out

Celtic seems to have done wonders for Rogic's Socceroo performances.

I'm happy to eat humble pie as I excoriated Celtic under Neil Lennon.

 Deila and Rodgers look to have been the real deal. Although there have been some Celtic fans that complained about the  last game played away that qualified Celtic for the UCL.

Burnley apparently have a decent development system, according to the Tassie NTC coach who coached there. Although he said it is nowhere near as good as the FFA NC.

A few years ago, I saw Burnley try to play good football, albeit on a shocking pitch.

how many aussies at 18 have debuted in the EPL?

Kewell? prob more?

null
Luke wilkshire at 19 for Boro believe it or not. Mass Luongo at 19 for Tottenham in a Cup game.

do you consider claudio renieri "enlightened"?

Who is he coaching ATM?

I consider most Italian coaches to be the best defensive coaches of all.

And,enlightened in a tactical sense, that is different from most of the other powerhouse countries.

None other than the Premier League winners of the season just gone; Leicester City.

And he has them playing a highly, highly counter-attacking style.

Obviously, this isn't totally at odds with Italian styles which we've previously discussed. But, for mine, it is (understandably) more reactive than one would expect to see from a top-notch Italian side which (despite being reactive rather than proactive) will have high quality midfielders directing traffic a bit.

Leicester City run until they die and just hold out in defence. Then they counter-attack very quickly with Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.

Dylan Tombides aged 18 for West Ham, also a League Cup game. :(

Decentric, did you seriously just ask "who is Claudio Ranieri coaching atm"??? Have you been living under a rock????

Wow

Brad Smith played a game for Liverpool in the EPL aged 19.

kilkenny played when possibly 19 or 20. 18 games in a season too. Looked very promising at the time!

Don't know how he went but according to soccerway app he was 3rd in created chances with 2, 1st in successful passes with 93 of 114 and 2nd in aerial duals with 3 of 4

thats ok by the sounds of it