Needs more Leckie

personally i agree.  he's possibly my favourite roo.  but he deserves to come on as a sub and run at tired legs and score some goals.  he gets used as a work horse and hasnt got a lot to show for it except people giving him lots of shit.  

You could reverse that arguement and say he tires out the opposition and allows players like Timmy to come on late and score. 

I haven't seen any of Irvings games in the UK, but does he play as a holding defensive midfielder? How is he being used at Burton Albion that makes him such an aerial threat and could he be used like that for the Socceroos?

that what i am saying. but hardly anyone - on here anyway - gives him credit.  

leckie should never play centrally.  he's never going to be banging the goals in.  he needs a decent striker to work with.  same with tommy oar.  they are both devastating in open play and hanging very wide and feeding the centre.   tommy oar is probably more useful against teams that sit back in defence, he can pick out a pass and offers a bit more creativity.

i think he is more of a number 8.  his defensive stats havent been very exciting.  but they are not a great measure of a player.  you need to be able to watch the game to see how he goes.  something that is nearly impossible in the championship with the lack of televised matches.

Would not be surprised, would like to see Giannou get a run off the bench.

I'd be happy enough with that.

With Wright not playing, could Degenek go central and Milligan or Risdon play RB?

Even just drop Milligan back and leave either Irvine or Luongo in the RM role.

Forgot about that injury. Yeah that's what'll happen, methinks.

Degenek is very versatile. He'll probably be deployed in central defence with Risdon at right-back.

Hopefully, he starts hitting some form. In the long-run, Ange is going to have think outside the box about the right-back issue, imo. Unless Risdon starts playing fantastically or if he just settles on having Degenek there, always.

Here i was thinking Wright pulled out injured ? 

if wright is out it will definitely be spiro and sains

------------------------mateeeeey
degenek------spiro---------sainsbury-------smith
--------------------------jedinak
----------mooy-------------------------irvine/luongo/milligan
--------------------------rogic
-----------kruse-----------------------juric

or ange could line up like celtic.  i know for a fact he has been watching them,  similar style of play under rodgers and it gets the most out of what we have while offering good defensive cover.  maybe against japan. i think this would suit our wings better as well. ange loves to play 2 wings.

---------------------------------------matey
degenerate------------spiro-----------insainsbury----------smythe
--------------------jediknnight-------------mooyle
krusen---------------------------rogitch---------------------lackie
-----------------------------juriisout/geeidunno

1st sub:
caoverthehill

Yep can see the above, would like to see Irving given a run, possibly as a 75th minute sub to run at them. Possibly Milligan for Jedi to save him for the next game

The game in the UAE will be played in scorching temperatures.

It is very important that the Socceroos win against Iraq in Perth. 

Very interesting how Germany are playing. 3 CB, one 6 in front, Hector LWB and Bellarabi as very wide RWB, two CM then two wingers and a  target man. Bellarabi playing behind Brandt who are Leverkusen teammates. 

I think we could test the same in training and friendlies. I'd say put Jedinak back in between Sainsbury and Spira. He stood that deep for Palace a lot. 

          Sainsbury Jedinak Spiranovic 
Leckie               Mooy                   Smith
                           Rogic
                                         Irvine
          Kruse        Cahill        

Is there anynews regarding Free -To -Air coverage of this game tonight? Cant see it anywhere on SBS!!!! not even a delayed coverage....

Hallelujah!!!! This is the way to go. My favourite formation is 4-2-3-1. But we're about 3 goals waiting to be conceded against top opponents with either that or 4-3-3 if we want our fullbacks to act aggressively.

Your idea is a hundred times more defensively stable and gets the best out of our wing(back)s. It's absolutely ideal for Leckie. And we've got a truckload of depth for the wing-back position (without them needing to be that polished defensively because so much cover). We look so much stronger with that formation. Our slow central defenders aren't nearly as exposed when they're three, rather than two.

The only thing is I'd, personally have Degenek as a central defender, rather than Jedinak. And Irvine sitting deeper than Mooy. Horses for courses with the midfield/attacking personnel. The main thing is the 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 formation which is crucial to Australia not haemorrhaging goals.

I'd be relieved to see your formation/line-up adopted.

i would love to see leckie played back down the field a bit.  i really think he would be a world class fullback.  he defends better than most.

im not a fan of 3 at the back - but if it meant jedinak at central defence and leckie as a fullback i would happily wear it.

Even though I missed most of the England game, Ange spoke highly of Milligan as a CB.

I don't like him being the last line of defence if a player runs at him and tries to go past him on Milligan's left flank.

Sains/Spira are our best CB partnership for mine. The combo of Ryan, Sains/Spira won us the Asian Cup.

Agree.

The We Global Football Predictions ahead of Match Day 3 of World Cup Qualifying.

http://www.weglobalfootball.com/

I've supported City and I think Kilkenny has gone backwards.

 Let us not overrate English Leagues One, the Championship and the lower ranked EPL teams for developing footballers to play international football. With a few notable exceptions most of these clubs stifle players' development for international football.

Kilkenny is nowhere near a recall for mine. There must be at least 10 ahead of him in the pecking order.

Valeri, Holland, McKay, Irvine, Brillante, Brandon O'Neill, Rostyn Griffiths, Rhys Williams, Antonis (when playing regularly) possibly his City teammates Brattan and Caceres, plus Socceroo regulars Milligan and  Jedinak, all have a better skill set. 

Great result especially with the tough conditions.

If this solidifies anything its the 4-3-3 is the way to go, it just means Ange has to sacrifice one of our talented midfielders.

We play more fluidly with this system, whilst the diamond midfield should only be used as a plan B or C depending the match scenario.

In response to this comment , in the last two games against the UAE and Iraq, Leckie has improved his technique - at last.

Both teams played compact defences at times. In the past Leckie has been innocuous against these sorts of defences, preferring teams who play a high defensive line and who are more proactive.

In these last two game  his close ball control has been better. Moreover, he has developed some nice Brazilian style tricks for faking whilst receiving and running forwards, plus he makes some beautiful lay offs as he receives and turns even under tight marking pressure.

I posted that more than a year ago mate.

Anyway I wouldn't choose any of the players I listed then haha..

last world cup qualification - we got through on 3 wins and 4 draw -13 points from 8 games. lucky.

i think we will need a much better win ratio to get through this time.

I've been thinking about Ange's words on how players who weren't in the current squad have also helped in building this consistent culture. Under Holger it was a hacks and boys club and everyone seemed pissed off. While Ange has favourites he's still pretty intent on making everyone be at the top of their game. This is what I think of our entire playing group. 

Guaranteed to be in the squad 
Ryan, Langerak, Sainsbury, Spiranovic, Smith, Milligan, Jedinak, Rogic, Luongo, Irvine, Mooy, Leckie, Kruse, Cahill, Juric 

Pretty secure but need to be careful:
Federici, McGowan, Wright, Degenek, Gersbach, Giannou, Burns, Ikonomidis. 

Definitely being looked at:
Risdon, Goodwin, Geria, Maclaren 

On the outer but could come into contention:
Troisi, Oar, Mabil, Amini, Davidson, Cisak, Birighitti, Elder

Probably only in an emergency: 
Meredith, Behich, Bozanic, Halloran, Mauk

There are even more out there and Ange has done brilliantly with letting players know what's expected. Did I miss anyone?  :D

Agree with most of that but would have Wright as a squad shoe-in. He's legit our ONLY CB we have playing in Europe, and our CB stocks are quite bare overall.

It doesn't matter where Wright plays club football. Players need to be appraised on what they do for the Socceroos in international football.

ATM  whilst Jedi plays as a DM, with his very good aerial ability, we have three CBs who stand out above all others - Milligan, Sains and Spira.

I also think that Milligan is now better than Jedi as a DM in overall skill set. Jedi, Milligan and Spira also provide considerable international experience, leadership and organisational qualities at the back. 

To be able to leave Spira on the bench against Iraq is testament to Australia's depth. We've never had a CB of his quality on the bench before.