I cannot agree with that. Amini was dreadful and showed that he is a fair way behind Milligan, Mooy, Irvine and Jeggo. The cover for those players who should also be picked ahead of Amini are Luongo, Holland and Brandon O'neill also Dougall if he can return to fitness. After Aminis recent displays I can't rate him in even the best 10 midfielders eligible.

Completely agree

Sorry - must have been watching a different game.

2 most disappointed socceroo players

1. Amini- supposed to make an impact as a link up player  against tired Tawanese players instead slow our game down with shit n sude way passing, no impact no creativity no penetration ,no vision. Luongo, O’neil, Holland, Milligan , Jeggo , Mooy can do much better in that position.

2. Brandon Borrello- first touch is poor, no ability to take on 1 on 1, chinese taipei players were too quick for him. Dreadful. Leckie, Arzani , Iko can do much better in that spot.

Fully on board the Hrustic train. 

Considering the law is basically:
* Any part of the body that can play the ball

I don't think it would work.
Our reference point is, as above, any part of the body that can play the ball.
RL's reference must be the position in which the player is standing

-Amini looked slow and contributed little.
-Borrelo looked rusty af. We need him to be able to pull snap strikes from distance like he did pre injury. Actually anyone, i think mabil tried once and goodwin skied one against nepal.
-mooy playing so deep just slows everything and means he cant link with the attack or strike like he should. Also he gets bustled off the ball too easily.
-Soutar needs to cheer the f up. Also his passing, running and positioning. He might be a liability against more skilled teams
-long diagonals into the box will work against nepal and taiwan but doubt they'll work against any half skilled team, let alone japan or korea
-Hrustic. Like what others have said
-Bit disappointed in jeggo, seemed quiet
-Our defense looked fragile af. Lots of ball watching

Yeah was concerned with the long diagonal balls felt like that was the only thing we were trying at times last night and although in the end we might have got a few goals from them I don't think the success rate would've been that high. Hopefully that isn't our go to move and just a one off against a weaker nation. 

Chinese Taipei looked ok on the ball and had some players that troubled us not to mention some of the one touch passing they pulled off at times looked like we really struggled defending that. A few times their midfielder was able to dribble past at least 3 defenders and although we were comfortably in front it would've been good to see a little desire to win the ball.

Hrustic, me too! Fantastic talent, should lock down a starting XI spot on current performances. Would be fantastic to have a fully fit Arzani, Rogic and Hrustic in a starting XI. That would unlock a few defences. 

Some really interesting things have occurred from viewing  these last two games.

There many difficult issues to  for Arnie to ponder. 

* There are now a plethora of wingers available, after basically having none few years ago.

Hrustic, Mabil, Arzani, Ikon, Boyle ( in no particular order) and possibly  even Borrello, are better going forwards and with the ball at their feet than Matt Leckie.

Leckie is terrific when the other team has the ball,    with a great engine to get up and down the pitch to keep the defensive shape compact, but in terms of first touch, close ball control running with the ball, passing and moving in tight spaces, penalty box goal craft, 1v1 attacking skills, vision and reading attacking interplay, he cannott match all the aforementioned.

I don't think Goodwin played as well, missing some good  to work the keeper, and some mediocre final balls .

Leckie is one of the most experienced players, but most of thoseother wingers are better at creating scoring opportunities,  and in most cases, scoring goals.

* Souttar - has scored great offensive goals in the air, but in the very few times he had to defend against nimble footed players with good close ball control, he really struggled to delay, jockey and show. His heading was incredible against these opponents.

* Brad Smith has improved out of sight playing  regular  football. His ball control, general technique, and ability in attacking interplay, has improved immeasurably since he has been playing regular football in the US league. ATM he is playing better than Behich.

* Degenek, Milligan and Jurman are all better CBs than Sains ATM. He has steadily deteriorated as a ball winner,  and has lost his composure and calmness. Sains  might have to reinvent himself as a DM as his distribution  has been good, but not the key  qualities for a CB. Dgenek did well in these two games. Jurman wasn't elected and Milligan played well against Nepal as a DM and captain.

Souttar is an excellent CB of we dominate possession, and against teams that have a huge striker who is very good in the air.

I'm gobsmacked at Spiranovic's decision  to leave Glory. With his fragile body, he was in the perfect situation to play Socceroo football again with an ACL campaign.

* Grant goes from strength to strength.  He has a great engine and  now delivers better  crosses with both feet.

* Mooy had a roving role  as a DM  defensive triangle in defence and as an AM in  an attacking midfield triangle in attack.

* I barely noticed Jeggo, but against the quality of opponents he didn't do much wrong, but his defensive skills weren't tested much.

* Maclaren and Taggart scored some excellent goals, despite moderate opposition.

Taggart's first was beauty, with a courageous header. Maclaren's goal against Tapei,  with a superb,  well timed angled run to run onto Diamnti style  tremendous defence splitting  pass into space  from Hrustic, and clinical  finish was great. Plus his third goal against Nepal was very good.

Souttar could also be used as an aerial target man in attack  for a different  game plan late in a game.

*Irvine's late runs into the box were good, with his two goals, but  many Irvine shots from good positions  failed to work the keeper. He doesn't ball carry and dribble as well as Rogic, Ikon and Danial da Silva, breaking lines and moving the ball int the pen box. Over the two games he missed a lot of chances, a bit like Kruse and Leckie.

* Amini's tackling and ball winning has improved decidedly from playing in Denmark. He is neat on the ball, but his ball winning needed t o improve and it has.

* Ryan was outstanding.



There was some poor collective defensive organisation  against  Taipei. Irvine tracked badly, nearly conceding a goal, plus Mabil defended awfully against the wide player who put a great cross in for a bullet header after Grant failed to meet the ball.

Souttar looks awful against nimble ball players on the deck.


Arnie could  do with  pat on the back for pushing the full backs up so high much  teams  defending deep, partially pressing  with 4-5-1s and 5-4-1s.  


With captaincy, when Milligan goes, Ryan looks the best bet. I don't think Leckie and Sains  can justify their places ATM, unless they  improve very soon .


Many players mooted as big stars circa 4 years ago, have either stagnated are gone backwards when  they should be peaking-  Sains, Oar, Holland, Luongo, Jason Davidson.  A younger generation is overtaking them.





 

The long diagonal ball is standard practice.

The diagonal angle means a ball progresses forwards, whilst the advanced player receiving it can have an open body shape to scan the field of play whilst receiving.  

I thought Mooy's handling speed was good.

His short and long passing was also effective. 

I also like the way he tackles with the correct foot, on both right and left sides of the body.

Mooy might be slow off the mark, but he has quick feet, bringing the ball under control quickly.

Agree with most of your other  opinions, except this one. 

For mine Amini is one af the big improvers, particularly in work rate in Ball Possession Opposition, tackling and ball winning.

There are now a lot of Aussie wingers available of international standard that will keep Kruse  out of the team. 

My two cents worth is aside from Ryan, no one dominates there position where they are an automatic  choice or we are in trouble if they are out.... I think this is good news... the squad has genuine depth 

The side is by recent years quite young.... Arnold seems to be trying to play to there skill set as well ... the Jordan match will tell us a lot... at least its at the start of winter rather the mid summer...

If Sains can recover his form in his club side then we are starting to look stronger than we have in quite a while

Hrustic .... hhhhmmmmmm aaaarrrrrrr ..... beyond impressive debut for his first time with minutes on the field... touch, turn, speed, he seems to have it all...  he reminds me of a bigger Bresh .... way way way way to early to reach a conclusion but for me the most impressive Socceroo debut [ OK OK he has started before but this time with some minutes] in a long long time

Played balls into the box all game. GAs plan of attack against pathetic opposition.

These games are night and day against quality European teams. It worries me.

What is more clear, is GA is not a good offensive coach. He's great at organisation but clearly no idea at the most important end. 

U and me might have seen a different game. Amini was dreadful. 

O'Neil & Luongo shit all over Amini in terms of what is required for the kind of midfielder that Arnie wants.  

I hope people realise Musti's best football was at the No.10 role, i never saw him in a deeper role especially under Arnie's system.

Kruse's best football has gone past him, now we have a better type of attackers that can help break down deep block defences.

The biggest problem Arnie faces is that he has very good squad depth but the quality of that squad depth probably isnt as good as the golden generation. What he now has to do is find a way to include his form players into a system and shape to get results. Results are going to have to come from more of a team performance rather than individuals making the difference. I think we'll more likely ground results out rather than blast teams off the park.

As someone else said other than Ryan no one is a guarenteed first choice player for us.

As it stands im not even sure what our best starting formation is. I'm inclined to think against minnow teams like we have just played we would actually be better off in a genuine 442 with a flat midfield utilising our more energetic central midfielders such as Jeggo, Luongo or Irvine rather than the likes of Mooy or Rogic.

I think there is also a real opportunity to get Giannou more involved if we were to do that. Personally I don't think we are using him often enough particularly against stronger teams where we need to be holding the ball up to allow us to push on as a unit.

I still don't like Grant in the national team as i really dont believe he is at that level. Credit where it is due though he did swing in an excellent ball in the last match. I have a theory that playing Irvine in that role may provide us with a lot more than what we're currently getting while still providing the aerial threat he can from set pieces. 

Aaron Mooy is a clear automatic choice for us too. Leckie would be too just purely for how he performs in big games. Other than that though I would agree that it is remarkably competitive for positions.

It amazes me that Leckie is in the Bundesliga as he has a poor first touch. I suspect this is due to starting as an AFL boy until 11 and then switching to football. As you suggest, big game temperament is a significant asset, and this seems to be his strong point. It'll be interesting to see how he's used in the future.

He has actually improved in that regard a lot and he has also been a lot more effective for the national team in the last year or so 

Amini has been playing in Denmark for over 6 years now n he always plays in deeper role as DM. Same position as Jedinak.

Degenek and Sainsbury are clear clear starters Mooy too. Behich was but now with Smith's recent form its open. Every single other position is up for grabs maybe Grant and Irvine the other starters atm. Rogic and Arzani when fit   

Agree re your comparison between Hrustic and Bresh, was thinkin this before you even mentioned. Reminds me of 00-06 bresh . Not quite a winger, not quite a wide midfielder, not quite a CM and not quite a AM. Sits somewhere between those positions. Not fast but quick first few steps and sharp turn with great final ball and thunderous dipping shot just like bresh. The Australian Coutinho/ Recoba

quite liked jeggo in the role. was disciplined and held it down for the most part. quick and tidy on the ball. worked really well with mooy which has been an issue outside of milligan - including jedinak who is unconvincing in a defensive pair.

not my first pick but i like the jeggo mooy irvine midfield trio in the end. i would like to see that against a team that wasn't full of part timers.

i thought arnie would roll in o'neill and brillante

sainsbury??  he has drifted off since the WC.  not my first pick as CB, which is a shame because he was a gun when he was good.

I elucidated specific aspects of his game where he has improved.  

Amini has always been a decent technical player in terms of first touch, handling speed, vision and passing and moving in tight spaces.

Now he has added the off the ball attributes the total package is an amelioration  of what he was.

Why Sains?