Scored against Iraq and set up the second goal in Saudi. He's better off the bench in some games. Let's just slow down. Frustrating live and extremely disappointing but we know sometimes it just does work out. Very careless play and he needs to realise that. No one would be more disappointed than him.

Yeah I'm calling that this is his mum. 

Hey, I REALLY like luongo. But his performance speaks for itself of late. He was particularly horrific today

Germany weren't interested, as shown by their team selection. Chile will play to win in every game they are given. So yes it does depend on the attitude the opposition brings to the game.

Germany knew what cattle would get it done and gave us enough rope to hang ourselves. Chile will go all out.

I learned little from that game.
I already knew a back 4 is better than a back 3
Ryan is great with his feet that's about it
Degenak and Wright can't pass straight i already knew that.
Sains is class he just needs to get his ass back to Europe.
Leckie seems to do ok at RB and there's some real potential there and he knows how to hold an off side trap something Davidson could learn.
Bahich gave good width but not much else against good opposition.
Millsy was sold up a creek by Mass in the first half but came into the game with the more composed Mooy in the second
Mooy is much suited to the deep lying Pirlo role and sets the tempo.But fuck he's slow
Luongo's move to QPR has destroyed him.He looks over weight,slow and makes a living playing hoof ball.
Rogic i like angry Rogic.He got the shits against Saudi and scored a screamer and he fired up today scored and gave the Germans grief.
Juric is impressing all the time and he put in a good shift again and deserved the goal.Service to him is non existent though and both Behich and Leckie
turned back instead of swinging in a cross when Juric was making space in the in front of goal.We also don't play into his feet and look to link and he has shown he can hold possession and it's an asset we should be using when under pressure.
I thought Kruse pulled their defence around a bit with his runs opening holes and passing lanes that weren't there in the first half.Still looks rusty
Troisi was ok i guess 
Ange fucked up again with selections and formation. I want old Ange back this new Ange is shitting me up the wall

  

Well he is shit, at least compared to what he showed us he can do at the AC

He really should be at a club like Everton by now and playing each and every game but he is struggling in the champ with an average team in QPR.

We expect much better from him then what he is showing hence the backlash he rightfully is copping now. I hope Ange is giving him a mouthful

When he was at swindon town he had a team that looked to play on the deck and quickly and utilised him well as the nimble attacking box to box mid that we first saw him as.
QPR has him as the ball winning deep mid fighting for 50/50's in a team that spends 90% of the game bypassing the midfield.Seriously New Zealand is more enjoyable to watch.

Mooy was soooooo much better at DM.

Please keep him there, Ange.

First goal needed Wright to come out as Sainsbury already had his man. Luongo needed to track as well. Second goal was just a terrible challenge. 3rd saw Sainsbury push up leaving a gap where Mooy slept and Wright was far too wide. 

Moving to a back 4 and 3 in attack saw much better play. Our 3 in midfield with Mooy , Milligan and Troisi worked well.

It appears now that we were playing with a back 5 with Leckie and Behich pushing up on their wing when the ball was present and the other falling back. It was quite effective especially in transitional play.

Well in son :)

Geez what has happened to Luongo since the Asian Cup?

Guy looks like a liability now.

-PB

the thing is he never played as an AM anyway at heart he was a CM. He played occasionally as a AM when deputising for ono at wsw but very rarely. Mooys best position is still as a CM albeit in any dual CDM syatem such as the current australian one and tge hudders one there are no CM's only DMs and AMs. This is also luongos best position. Ideally i think the formation that suits us best is 433 so that luungo and mooy can play as the 2 CMs. Irvine at CDM which solves the issue of him not being technical enough further up field and move milligan to CB which solves the issue of all our CBs being shit bar sainsbury. The only problem created then is rogic but i think he could play as the RW / RS in the same position as thomas broich (albeit on the right). This frees him up defensively and allows him to cut in on his favoured left to shoot. Either kruse or troisi on the left

               Langerak
leckie, sains, millsy, behich;
                   irvine
           luongo    mooy
   rogic                    troisi/kruse
                    juric 

there you have it... our strongest possible lineup from this squad 

It's not just Luongo way out of his depth, Milligan is also a liability in this team. Against Arab and Asian teams he is fine (as is Luongo) but against decent sides he is exposed.

Everyone bar Rojic was out of their depth, .....................which made his substitution when we actually had a sniff a bit bizarre.

Correct.

Two extremely lucky goals made the scoreline look like it was a close game, but the Germans were miles and miles ahead of us in pretty much every facet of the game.

Ha, with Germany doing all the attacking in that first half hour, it certainly did look like a back 5 at times!

The interesting aspect of this is that we would have expected our left side to be more defensively stable, given Behich is an experienced full back and Leckie isn't, but we were our most vulnerable on that side during that first half hour or so.

Having said that, Leckie wasn't exactly a rock on his side.

The middle wasn't too solid either.

It's obvious from a few comments in here that some people didn't actually watch the match, at best they probably watched the goal highlights on Facebook lol. For those that didn't watch it here's an indepth match report for you:

AUSTRALIA opened their Confederations Cup campaign with a defeat to Germany in Sochi, but showed enough fighting quality to at least make a contest of it, after the world champions had threatened to overrun them.

First half goals from Lars Stindl and Julian Draxler, from the penalty spot, sandwiched a fine strike from Tom Rogic, with Leon Goretzka extending the German’s lead immediately after the break.

Tomi Juric gave Australia hope when he finished from close range around the hour mark, setting up a breathless finish, in which the Socceroos threatened but could not find and equaliser.

The half-time introduction of Robbie Kruse changed the Socceroos’ fortunes. The side was more balanced with Aaron Mooy, as a result, deployed further back, after he had started in one of the two No. 10 roles in the now customary 3-2-4-1 formation, Massimo Luongo, who made way for Kruse, having started in the defensive spot.

With more pace and direct running at the top end of the pitch, Australia were able to force the issue and saw more of the ball. Though they were possibly aided by the Germans dropping their own intensity and switching to a back three themselves in the second half, after starting out with two banks of four and two forwards - Joachim Low making good on his promise to experiment.

Before the changes it was one way traffic, with the Germans irresistible in the opening exchanges.

In what was to become a theme of the first half, on five minutes Bayern Leverkusen midfielder Julian Brandt strode purposefully in to the space behind Aziz Behich, eating up ground with the ball at his feet. He found the perfect cut back to pick out Stindl, who made no mistake from 12 yards out.

Brandt was electric down the right flank, using the space between Mark Milligan - captain in the absent of Mile Jedinak – Behich and Bailey Wright to launch probing run after probing run.

A second nearly came 10 minutes later, predictably down the same route. A ball down the flank turned a square Socceroos defence on their heels, the cross on a plate for target man Sandro Wanger, who dived to head wide when he should have done better.

Brandt’s mastery of the contest was underlined in one particular telling moment. After slipping in the box when on his latest sortie in on goal, the youngster had still enough time to get up and get a smart shot away. Ryan made a fine near post save.

The chances kept coming for Germany. Wanger guilty of wasting several.

Only Tom Rogic showed promise for Australia in the first half, but wasn’t on the ball often enough as Germany dominated.

For all that they were on the back foot, Australia should have levelled 10 minutes before the break. Mooy swung in a free kick from the left, finding Sainsbury free in the box. He could only nod wide.

That ushered in an eventful close to the half. First there was a stunning clearance from under the posts from Matthew Leckie when another German goal looked certain.

Then, from nothing, Australia did get on even terms – on the scoreboard at least. Rogic was always the man most likely, and he delivered five minutes before the break. Given space in the middle, he strode forward and saw his first shot come back off a defender, the second attempt was truer and found the net.

Three minutes later, however, Germany had returned some sense to the scoreline. Goretzka got in on goal and a desperate sliding tackle from Luongo was rightly punished with a spot kick. Draxler converted coolly, sending Ryan the wrong way.

The second period began much as the first had finished, the sides trading goals in quick succession. Mooy’s lack of pace was exposed by a run behind him from Goretzka, who finished smartly at the near post.

“We had good moments in the game, but we made it difficult for ourselves with the time that we conceded goals,” said Rogic.

“Obviously it wasn’t the best start, we got back in to it and to then to concede again straight after was a bit of a difficult one. I thought in the second half we controlled the game a bit more, had a bit more of the ball, were more comfortable. [Bit}] in the end we weren’t good enough.”

From a free kick 20 yards out on the right Mooy struck the wall before Rogic fizzed the rebound back towards goal, Bernd Leno, the Bayer Leverkusen keeper, able only to parry after a deflection off Juric. The Socceroos striker pounced on the rebound to prod home just before the hour mark.

Australia enjoyed much more of the ball in the final half hour, the two wide men able to play in their opponents half, assisted by the removal of the game’s stand out player in Brandt.

Chances came and went for both teams. James Troisi, on for Rogic, and Kruse both stung the palms of the Germany goalkeeper. Between those chances, Goretzka wriggled free in the Australian box but could only find the post.

It was a frantic end to what had for 55 minutes looked like a stroll towards victory for Germany. Tim Cahill, was thrown on. The kitchen sink was thrown at the Germans. But to no avail.

GERMANY 3 (Lars Stindl 5m, Julian Draxler 44m pen, Leon Goretzka 48m) bt AUSTRALIA 2 (Tomas Rogic 41m, Tomi Juric 56m) at Fisht Stadium

Waz, that write up is far too kind to the Socceroos.

tsk tsk you said you would be happy with a single clear cut chance and would celebrate if we scored

One thing I have to point out. Germany scored in the first 10 minutes. Right before and after half time 

Screams poor focus in defence. When we cough more than a goal a game against Asian opponent. How are we ment to win games with defending like that. Ange is basically committing suicide with his all attack and no defence focus.

I only caught the highlights package this morning (too old and cantankerous to watch games at 1am anymore haha) and by all means it looked like one way traffic, with Rogic perhaps being the only shining light for the Roos. Would this be a correct summation to make?

that is correct. 2nd half was a bit better with a bit more control in by australia. Damage was done in the first half. 

I recorded it and watched it back over breakfast; the first half was enough to spoil the cornflakes but the second half was a reminder we’re only a tactical shift and a couple of players short of being competitive.

Ange doesnt have the players for his new system and I don't know why he's insisting on the change a year before he leaves the job, why not just stick with what worked and leave structural changes to his successor? (He's sticking with the same players after all lol)

@Pippinu,

You tak about two lucky goals flattering us, yet don't talk about the 2 lucky goals Germany got from Luongo and Ryan's mistakes.

Sure the score line might be flattering if you only take the first 30 minutes into account, but Germany didn't take their chances -that's on them.

The last hour was an impressive performance and shows that their might be some hope in this system, if Ange can get the players right.

Mooy was much better when moved deeper, and suddenly we were about to keep the ball a lot better.

People love to ridicule Kruse, but it was no surprise that after he came on Juric could actually find some space to receive a pass as Kruse gave the defenders something to worry about in behind with his movement, whereas Rogic and Mooy were happy to stay deeper to receive the ball in the first half.

Our left side of defence is a worry, Wright and Behich's positioning were suspect and it was something that Germany looked to capitalise on.

Considering he's not a defender Leckie did well not to be exposed (although Draxler on the left wing played a lot more centrally which helped), however Behich was caught in no mans land a few times when he pressed and had the ball played behind him into space, but I think he just needs more time with the system and I don't think Gersbach is a better option.

Cheers - that said, on paper 3-2 looks a lot better than 3-0, so it's not all doom and gloom. Juric took his goal very well (amazing what a consistent season can do for a players touch and positioning) and I am absolutely loving the 'shoot farken' mentality that Rogic has developed - directly responsible for both of our goals because he took a gamble with a shot from outside the box.

with juric mooy and rogic we now have players with decent goal to game ratios for their positions

Juric: 7 from 24
Rogic 7 from 26
mooy 5 from 25

if our wingers could score more often we are in business at that end of the ground....

Last night it was like we were two different teams from the first half to the second. A lot of that i put down to Luongo being substituted and Mooy dropping deeper. We were thoroughly dominated in the first half and certainly had Germany been more clinical it could have been anything. At no stage were we able to maintain any semblance of possession with once of the main culprits most certainly being Luongo. I'm not sure what was wrong with him but he was beyond terrible. As bad as i've ever seen him, worse even. His night was summed up by the ridiculous challenge that lead to the German second.

I shouldn't just single him out for poor defensive work either as Mooy was more than culpable for not tracking his man for the German third goal and at international level that simply isn't acceptable. It would be unfair though to focus in on this one mistake as in the second half on the ball he was so much more like the Mooy we have come to expect. He maintained possession and was clever on the ball.

On a player by player basis:
Ryan - Not in the form that lead to him being our number 1. He definitely doesn't seem as comfortable with the ball being passed back to him and really that's probably the main thing he had over Langerak. These two are really going to push each other for the number 1 position if we make the world cup and that cant be a bad thing.

Sainsbury - Appeared to be the only one of our defenders remotely capable of matching it with the German attack. He done all he could but his defensive partners and midfielders really let him down. He had one fantastic carry of the ball in the second half that i enjoyed seeing. He even appeared to check and ensure he was covered

Degenek - I like Degenek but i honestly just dont think he is international standard at either right back or centre half. Fortunately fo him we don't have too many other options.


Wright - Missed challenges, losing headers...... these should be his strengths. I think wright is marginally better than Degenek but both really need to be looking over their shoulders. Wilkinson and DeVere would have to be wondering what the hell they've done wrong. I would also like to see Ange try and fast track Tongyik prior to the word cup and see if we can get Good back involved. What we have now isn't good enough to really challenge

Luongo - Is it his club situation or did we just all fall for the hype at the asian cup where he was in career best form?? I hope he can recover his form as i see him being vital for us moving forward with this formation

Milligan - Had a decent game but was also guilty of diving in and missing challenges. I saw him chase a few times and it is clear his speed is diminishing rapidly

Rogic - Worked hard in the first half defensively which we know isn't his strong point. In the second half he was also a player transformed. Mostly untouchable until he ran out of gas which was fully expected

Mooy - At fault for not tracking his man on the German third goal. I've said it before and i'll say it again, playing him next to Rogic does neither of them any favours. Allow Mooy to sit and control the tempo of the game and he is vastly improved. That was evidenced in the second half

Behich - Anyone who claims this bloke doesn't deserve to be ahead of smith in the picking order is delusional. 90 minutes of blood and guts. Relentless defensive work. He wont be the last player left in Brandt's dust over his career and im sure he was glad to see him go off. I was impressed with Behich.

Leckie - Credit where it is due, he worked his arse off defensively but christ he is frustrating in possession. You just know when there is a chance to break he is going to fall over the ball or mishit his pass by 3 miles.

Juric - A quiet first half not helped by the fact his team mates couldn't keep the ball for more than 4 seconds at a time. While his goal may have been down to a keeping error he is scoring the goals we need. Regardless of how they come he is proving himself to be our main guy.

Troisi - Vastly improved performance from the one we saw against Brazil. We need a player like him on the bench because Tommy doesn't seem to have 90 minutes in him with Ange's pressing style. He managed to link up play and hurry their defenders. As i said, all round better performance

Kruse - Sometimes he runs, most of the time he falls over. If this bloke doesn't secure regular game time in the 12 months proceeding the world cup, he shouldn't be considered. There is no consistency to his game so he cant be relied on

Cahill - Little impact in his 8 minutes

It's no surprise that the three players you have listed are also playing and scoring regularly at club level, no matter what the standard is - coincidence? I think not.

he's not looking good as a 6.  wasnt he playing in a more advanced role in the cup?  pretty sure he was mostly played as a 10 or 8 until he got to QPR in the NT and at his club. once mooy was deeper we started to control midfield.  maybe mooy needs to start behind luongo.