He lived in Croatia for at least a year before the world cup.  He was asked by the local media whether he would stay permanently and he said something like "I think so, my kids are very happy here". 

I've been to Croatia 100s of times. The coastline is indeed gorgeous. There's absolutely nothing wrong with living there, but not if you're an Australian youth coach. 

Most of these boys are playing NPL2. What would be the harm in bringing them together once every couple of months for some team bonding, match practice etc? Not like they'd be missing anything.
We need to setup the national teams training base in Darwin or Cairns. Some bumpy pitch, hot and humid weather. A bit of a pain to get to.Start simulating the actual experiences our national team players will have at all age levels in Asia.
I don't understand why Iredale only played 50 mins all tournament. Maybe he wasn't fit. But he's scored more than double the goals that Stamatelopoulos has. Over 40 goals in the last few seasons in junior football average 2 goals every 3 games, and got a callup to the senior socceroos side only a month or two ago. The guy's a natural scorer. Stamatelopoulos averages a goal every 4 games. Not good enough buddy. Just like how we played with Blackwood up front for so long. We won't win matches when we play with strikers that score once in a blue moon. 

Are you kidding? Delianov was outstanding throughout the tournament, I can't believe how many 1 on 1's he saved.

He's got a big future ahead of him!

Agree with you, Delianov played extremely well. Man of the tournament

Huge opportunity missed to make the hashtag #AntiAnte.

100% agree with this. Young Players make mistakes of course, but Dalianov kept us in the game on more than 4 occasions. the final goal against Saudis was Pasquali, dwelling on the ball too long when he has at least 2 options as soon as he received the ball from delianov. Delianov was a standout: Pasquali a massive let down. 

The curriculum is just a sideshow. Australia doesn't even have proper full-time academies and coaches 

Like it
I'll  #AntiArnie

Pretty clear the problems are lack of playing time together, lack of high enough level football and coaching.
Said it before but the ais coe could have been kept as a central coaching academy and base for elite youth player camps and courses. A 2nd div with youth player quotas on starting line ups would also be higher level than npl2...
Milici didnt seem to gel the team and made some odd choices. Folami on the wing when is an obviously natural central striker. 

Believe it or not another tool to help us progress is a transfer system.

Without a better transfer and/or compensation system there is no value, no financial incentive and no commercial purpose to developing talent.

In Europe you buy a 19yo for 50Million Euros, if the coach doesn't play the kid there will be questions, the investment needs to protected and the players value in the transfer market grown. So the kid plays. Otherwise everyone from the Directors, Coaches, Scouts and commercial staff is questioned, they are all under scrutiny.

In Australia, our football youth is disposable! At all levels of the game.

The preparation for me is the main issue, can you imagine the Socceroos going into the Asian Cup with little preparation as a team and are expected to make the final or even win it? It's just unsustainable to think it could be possible.

Its a shame because even with the Joeys and this team baring a few players out, the talent and the mentality is there they just lack the support systems around them to perform in its full capacity, technically, tactically and physically.

Serious questions have to go to the FFA in there treatment of its youth teams and lack of resources they have had available to them, along with the player development structures around them espeically in key age group between 16-20 that's where the problem all lies, how many games they play? What kind of level is it? Contrast to a country like Japan where if its J-League level or high school its year-round for 11 months of the year.

Did removing the FFA COE all together was the right idea or could that resource be used a little differently? 

Could the FFA find a sponsor for the youth teams as well? 

Why do they (The FFA) overall treat youth development as an expense and not as an investment at all levels let alone at elite level? 

The NPL to me isnt doing its job as its supposed to and the NYL which has been shamed as a concept, the player pathway needs serious revamping if we want to produce the players that the national teams deserve.

People talk about the FFA NC but the real elephant in the room which has been ignored by the FFA and state feds has been the structures which haven't been improved much in the last 15 years when it comes to game volume and international preparation. 

And then we question why the teams cant qualify or do well at international level? Sounds straightforward to me.

This statement from Arnold confounds me, because the NC has been centralised around structured, ball passing play, 1 v 1's  were not the focal point of the training. So why are we disappointed that there are few players emerging which have this skill as the centrepiece of their playing style? 

The improvisational 1 v 1 player was told to pass it.

Arzani went to the U17 WC and did not play one minute under Vidmar, and hearsay reports came out stating that Arzani's inability to play with the team, and follow instructions for play, was the reason. 

Folami has been in England since 2015. I wonder if he has stayed in Australia, would his 1 v 1 confidence and ability have been hampered. 

Now we are desperate for this type of player in the National Teams  of all ages. This is a problem of our own making. The players who will suffer are the one's who did what they were told - playing a restrictive system which resulting in diminished improvisation in attack (read 1 V 1's) and confidence to know that the coach will not bench them for doing so. 

So the only young players who get a look in to the Socceroos moving forward, are the players who are currently doing the opposite of the NC and NTC Mantra. 

Arnold ­ - who doubles as Australia’s under-23 (Olyroos) coach -­ said the talent in the Young Socceroos squad was there despite coming up short of their semi-final target in Indonesia.

Among the standouts was England-based Ben Folami, the Sydney-born 19-year-old attacker on the books of Ipswich Town.

“He’s a kid with potential, and that’s what we’re looking for ­ kids in a one-on-one situation that can do something different than other players,” Arnold said.

“He can bring players into the game but he can also create chances out of nothing. I’ve never been afraid to play youngsters.”

Saudis won the tournament, defeating Japan 2-0 and Korea 2-1.

No doubt they'll be giving us issues over the next 10 years. I don't think they'll leave their Saudi bubble though.

If what your saying is true, then we are f***** until the NC changes to include decision making.
As for Arzani, he was obviously one of those kids you say was a ball hog. I wonder if Arzani wasn't a team player so got the chop from the Smurfs?

I was just thinking about this with Arzani, the FFA NC actually promotes 1v1 players as they mention as the 'game-breakers' and 'x-factors' in deciding games but i wonder if they mention about personality and attitude when identifying these type of players? 

Any attacker that has good 1v1 skills isnt just good at the skill but when they use it in game situations are they brave or are they shy? For me its based on personality in how they play the game, each player has its own style per say and its important the coaches get that mind when identifying these type of players like Arzani, Folami etc.

Coaches and scouts should not paint every kid with the same brush when comes to identifying and developing players, is this the real skill and not judging them on there personality on the pitch or how many mistakes they make, off the pitch a different matter though.

The NC is not against 1v1.
The whole bloody platform is built on small side football at the most junior levels so that players learn to be comfortable on the ball and beat players. 
The shit that is said about the NC is unbelievable.

The bean counters at FFA, like Gallop, perceive it as an expense .

The FFA Tech Dept sees it as an investment.

If you pontificate  on the NC you need to know what it is.

1v1 attacking and defensive skills are an integral part of the NC.

The FFA Tech Dept doesn't pay the bills obviously.  When there is limited funds available there has to be compromises.  What you would like to do and what you can do hardly ever match.

True.

Not having a TD for the whole football program since Han Berger's departure has been a disaster for  FFA in terms of the overall building a national strategy in terms of performance though.

The problem is that they may say we like dribblers and 1v1 but then you here the same coaches / administrators going on about how their is no I in team and that this and this guy holds on to the ball too long!

We have not adequately defined creativity and risk taking. When I ask coaches that are defensive what is their understanding of risk taking and creativity they don't have an answer. 

So here is the answer. Creativity and risk taking often involves the best players holding onto the ball longer than many people want. When a good player holds onto the ball a bit longer they disrupt the flow and create openings that aren't otherwise there. Here is the problem - this is a risky thing to to. Why? Because if it doesn't come off then you have 97 pct of morons on the sidelines yelling that the player is a hog and needs to release the ball earlier.....

So what needs to change is how we view players who lose the ball in the front third. We need to give them licence to make mistakes (tae risks)because these are also the players creating 3-5 chances per game (when it does work). 

This then is also part of the problem. Everyone likes a risk taker with one proviso - when the team is winning. Bothe the player and the coach feels secure. When a team is losing this goes all out the window and risk averse behaviour then prevails. 

So next time you yell out 'the guy is a hog' or 'the player needs to learn to play in a team' - then sit back at dinner time and reflect that its your attitude that is Farking up our development..

End rant...

Point being the FFA have to priortise it if they want to next generation of youth making world cups/olympics etc.

Is this the wake up call the FFA need? Luke Casserly certainly thinks so...

FFA's Casserly pledges to heed Young Socceroos Wake Up Call

FFA’s head of national performance Luke Casserly has admitted “we can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing and expect a different outcome” in the wake of Australia’s failure to qualify for a third successive FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

“In simple terms, we have to review what we’re doing,” he said. “We can’t continue to do what we’ve been doing over the last few years and expect a different outcome.

“For one thing, we need greater preparation, more matches going into these tournaments.

“As Ante Milicic said the other day, the players just didn’t have the miles in the legs.

“Playing a South Korea or a Saudi Arabia at the championships was the first time our players had ever tackled a tier-one Asian nation.

“They hadn’t been exposed to that sort of quality before.”


With the bulk of the squad mainly on the bench for the A-League clubs, at best, and out of season with their NPL teams, Casserly also pointed towards the sizeable investment from other nations in Asia giving them an edge and leaving Milicic with his hands all but tied.

“In the simple terms, we (the game in Australia) don’t generate enough revenue to do everything we want to do,” he added.

“If our priorities are for our teams to succeed and go to the World Cup then we need to make a firm decision and then invest in it.

“There are other things in the football ecosystem which at times take precedence in terms of funding, which is understandable but makes it difficult to expect us to compete with the top teams in Asia.

“Many of the nations we come up against have the elite structures to support the players and are playing 15 to 20 international matches per year.”

Addressing possible fixes to the dilemma facing Australian players in the under-19 age group, Casserly added: “Things like A-League expansion will help to give these players an opportunity.

“I played for the Young Socceroos myself and back then we had a 16-team elite competition - and we were all playing regular first team football.

“Not one of the current crop is doing that. Back then, if we did well we’d potentially get an offer to join an overseas club.

“Two of our best players, Daniel Arzani and Denis Genreau are already overseas and they don’t get released for the tournament.

“The likes of Saudi Arabia were together for six weeks straight going into the championship.

“We’re not going to be able to do those things because we have different circumstances and different resources.

“To be successful internationally again, we need to come up with a plan which everybody buys into.

“If qualifying for World Cups is an absolute priority for the FFA and the clubs, and is considered beneficial in player development, then we need to back it to the hilt.

“The flipside for clubs is taking players away at such a crucial time in preparation for the A-League season might have a negative impact on their progress with their clubs which is something we don’t want to see.

“We need it to be a positive experience for everybody. It’s a balance that’s not easy to get with this age group.

“There are a whole myriad of difficulties we need to work through.

“This is our most difficult age group. The Joeys, for example, successfully qualified for the World Cup and most of those players participated in their NPL competitions, competing against older players.

https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/ffa-s-casserly-pledges-to-heed-young-socceroos-wake-up-call

AFC U23 championship 2020 qualifying draw result. We're in with South Korea, Cambodia and Chinese Taipei. If I understand correctly Cambodia will be hosting. We were in pot 2. I trust only the ground winner goes to the tournament? Still a bit away. 

South Korea? tough.

They beat us in January prominently half of non-k-league players. 

We need to be in the top spot in the pre-qualifiers otherwise we have to wait for results to get one of 4 top 2 spots to go into the tournament stage in January 2020 which will be the Olympic qualification stage to qualify for Tokyo 2020 (must get a semi-final birth for that)

Getting the European boys over will be tough given its in March, unless its in the international window.

Expecting a royal fuck up again :( we must get the best squad together. 

This is surely unheard of for our national teams - we’re now set to play South Korea for the 4th time, at ALL age levels, within a 6-month period.

The Joeys and Young Socceroos both opened their recent AFC tournaments against them, the Socceroos play them in a friendly in a couple of weeks, and now this.

So far Korea are winning 2-0.

There's 11 groups and the top 4 best second placed teams qualify. We'll have to put Cambodia and Taiwan to the sword.

Iran and UAE are also second seeds behind Iraq and Saudi respectively.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_AFC_U-23_Championship_qualification

We've still never played Vietnam at senior level, crazily enough.

We also haven’t faced Iran at senior level since ‘97 which is really odd considering we’re the top 2 ranked nations in Asia.