Agree with this, lots of relevance and a good barometer of where we are (Australia) and the a league sit in the scheme of things as a comparative measure. Also, its new zealand, they're our little brother - admit it when an Olympic final is on with no australian but a kiwi we'll go for the kiwi 9/10 times.

I honestly think we can threaten some decent teams with a 4-3-3 defensive triangle. I thought langeraks distribution was ok last time I saw him play so I think he can play ange ball

-----------------------------------ryan/Langerak----------------------------------------
----------degenek-------sains-----------wright----------behich---------------------
-----------------------------mooy----------luongo/milligan----------------------------
------------------------------------rogic-----------------------------------------------------
-----kruse--------------------juric------------------leckie--------------------------------

or swap the wingers they are both good on both sides

I'd swap Burns for Kruse. He has been far more  of a handful for oppositions in recent matches.

Degenek absolutely must not go forward (even though that is not Angeball). He has to play as a traditional right fullback and stay back or else any half decent attack will have Australia's guts for garters. Behich can go forward, perhaps, but has to get back fast.

I'm uneasy about both Mooy and Rogic in central midfield. Neither of them cover enough ground fast enough off the ball. I'd have Irvine next to Milligan as dual CDMs. And Mooy at CAM. Leckie tends to be too wasteful in the final third so I'd actually put Rogic in what is nominally that position but give him licence to drift. That's not ideal as Rogic is best at CAM and Mooy best at CDM but it's a compromise. And Burns has been sharper recently than Kruse, so I'd swap them for now. Burns has been a handful for opposition defence.

From what I saw from the 48th minute of the game against Brazil, not playing Kruse would be a horrible decision. He was providing an attacking outlet, controlling the ball under pressure, breaking forward and he got some balls into the box under a lot of pressure where there was no targets. Clearly the only player on the field capable of doing anything vaguely dangerous going forward. All the rest were hopelessly out classed by a team that rarely put in more than the minimum required to win. 

Our right back situation is depressing, at least the left side has improved this past year.

Burns didn't play though. Rogic and Mooy barely featured. And Kruse has been shabby for ages now. Unless he's doing something spectacular in training, he needs league form (with a good side) before he starts for the NT again, imo.

Kruse wasn't good either, he killed a few of our minimal attacks in the first half with some awful decision making.

I don't like Mooy at CDM. In that formation he either plays at CAM with Rogic at LW with a fairly loose brief or he doesn't play. His lack of speed in defence has cost us in the last few games and his turnover rate and the way he puts his defence under pressure instead of releasing pressure makes him a liability at CDM. Further forward, playing between the lines he comes into his own. Leckie  can swap to RW.

is burns in the squad

mooys tackling ability is well above average in the league (2.7 a game and rarely missing) and huddersfield fans rate him very highly defensively. He was also an excellent defender in the a league. He is also a defensive mid(ish) for huddersfield

I think players aren't always the same in one offs for australia where they are jetlagged which affects different players differently

in tournaments where there is more time to prepare I would expect players to play like they do for their clubs

Okay, then that is not good.

If I could select any team and the players were getting plenty of game time at club level in these positions, then I'd go:

.............................Jones

Leckie......Sainsbury.....Spiranovich......Behich

..............................Milligan

Kruse.....................Luongo......................Burns
.............................................Rogic
.........................Ibini

If I'm stuck with choosing from the Cofeds Cup squad, then:

.................................Ryan

Leckie.......Sainsbury.......Degenek...........Behich

................................Milligan

Kruse......................Luongo........................Troisi
.............................................Rogic
......................Juric

I prefer Luongo at CAM and Rogic at CF. Do we have a genuine RB in the squad (someone playing there week in, week out)? Is there a genuine LW in the squad apart from Hrustic?

You've forgotten Mooy

No, I didn't.

Doesn't matter - if he can't do the job for the national team at CDM (and I am yet to be convinced he can) he shouldn't be picked there. At CAM, either by himself or teamed with another then he is a very good option.

Nathan Burns?, what could Burns possibly add against Germany

We already have a guy covered for headers, his name is Timmy. 

He did very well in the second half against Saudi Arabia, he and Rogic showed their class the second half.

If I had a say on the formation the lineup would be:
-------------------------------Ryan
Milligan--------Degenek---Sainsbury-------Behich
-------------Luongo---------------------Mooy
Kruse----------------------Rogic------------------Leckie
------------------------------Juric

What i think we will see:
---------Degenek----Sainsbury---Wright
Leckie------Mooy-------Milligan--------Behich
---------Kruse-------------------Rogic
----------------------Juric
Would prefer Irvine or luongo to start over kruse and swap with mooy though

my point is that whether he does the job in a one off game recovering from jet lag is a different question to whether he can do it in a tournament where there is more prep time. Some socceroos are going to look better in one off games because they are better at recovering from jetlag. In a tournament though the best club performers are more likely to shine

You shake off jet lag and get to your athletic peak after about a week and a half to two weeks so maybe having a friendly against brazil here rather than in russia might have undermined this though

He did well playing forward - not as CDM.

-----Degenek----Sainsbury---Wright
Leckie------Mooy-------Milligan--------Behich
---------Kruse-------------------Rogic
----------------------Juric

confident of a result with that lineup

He doesn't even play as a CDM for us, he is our playmaker from deep, he is the one which is expected to get forward more out of our two holding mids.

That's kind of similar to regista but with more defensive responsibility as it's Angeball, I reckon.

Yer Burns was quality against Germany last year and we lead late into that game from memory. I suspect Ange is putting some pressure on him to move and play. If that's not the case Ange has lost his way. Tbh I was critical of Ange not putting in for the last Japan game as he had a lot to show there in front of his Japanese peers etc.

Agree there, it's quite incorrect to view Mooy as a DM, similar to Pirlo, he is a play maker who starts deep (and there are myriad of names you can use to describe this role).

In the 2006 WC, we played a pretty standard 4-2-3-1 in which Grella and Culina nominally occupied the CDM slots, but only Grella played a true holding mid role, Culina would advance ahead of Grella when in possession, and fall back when we didn't have the ball.

Similarly, in whatever formation we use, I would expect Mooy to start deep alongside a genuine holding mid, and advance when we're in possession and drop back when we lose the ball.

Listening to the latest football podcasts, it's pretty clear that Ange is going to stick to a 3-4-3 or something similar.  Many appear reluctant to refer to the two wide roles as wing-backs, but clearly playing against teams like Germany and Chile, if those two wide roles aren't functioning as a wing-back, then that represents two serious holes to plug, and it's far-fetched to expect that the back 3 are going to be able to plug those wide roles for the whole 90 min.

LOL @ all these optimistic people posting formations with 4 at the back - we've seen over the last month just how supremely arrogant Ange is, and from the sense I get of him as a person I would say the recent criticism would only serve to reinforce his delusion that only he knows best - therefore, he will persist with 3 at the back against Germany.

If he did it against Brazil, you can be damn sure he'll do it against Germany. I actually think he's lost the plot and is having delusions - where we see abysmal Socceroos performances, he sees Zizou bossing around Les Bleu circa 1998, or Beckenbauer and the 74 West German machine.

I am scared.

We'll be fine.

2-2 draw.

That's all well and good - but when he drops back he needs to be effective defensively. At the NT level he has not been. Millsy does the job properly - can defend and get forward - Mooy can set up play from deep - but when under pressure is a liability in defence when playing deep.  

No doubt that Millsy is better defensively, but equally, Mooy is an authentic play-maker.

You can't always have everything.