What would it be after such a long time between drinks?

GK: Ryan
RB: Karacic
CB: Sainsbury
CB: Degenek
LB: Behich
DM: Mooy
DM: Irvine
AM: Hrustic
RW: Boyle
LW: Mabil
ST: Rukavytsya

Subs: Langerak, Thomas, Souttar, Good, Elder, Watts, Jeggo, Rogic, Leckie, Piscopo, D.Juric, Maclaren

Looking for players who have really banged down the door this season however it is quite hard in some positions.

Have to say the quality of wide players has gone down the past year. Past Mabil and Boyle there are so few players who are staking a serious claim.

Quite possible that I am missing some obvious selections.

May be inclined to have Souttar ahead of Sainsbury tbh and Holland instead of Watts.

Can't see Holland getting a call. Only certain players are given free rein in a NT setup. Holland doesn't follow instructions and neglects his main job too often. Gets away with it at club level but at a higher gets caught out

Hes one of few playing at a decent league in Austria and doing well, I think he deserves another chance to show what he's got again.

I’d have grant ahead of karacic, jeggo in for mooy and Maclaren ahead of ruka. 

Surely Amini is ahead of Jeggo. Maybe Bozanic also?

You'd have to find room for Nabbout also.

Did I hear that Arnie intends to take 34 players to the WC hub?

That will surely mean important omissions for A-League clubs in the finals.

Good squad 👍 Arnold said possible 34 man squad. Would add Duke, Kuol, Grant. would even cap Alex Robertson to lure him to Socceroos future 

Jeggo is doing very well in Greece. I doubt Bozanic would start for a team like Aris, and Amini isn't playing at the moment.

Right now I would go with

GK: Langerak
RB: Leckie
CB: Souttar
CB: Degenek
LB: Behich
DM: Jeggo
DM: Mooy
AM: Watts
RW: Nabbout
LW: Boyle
ST: Rukavytsa

SUBS: Ryan, Thomas,Grant, Elder,Sainsbury,Good, Bozanic, Irvine, Rogic, Hrustic, Kuol, Maclaren

He doesn't. He has never listened to the NT manager and caused problems every chance he has been given. NT players need to be playing for their teammates and the shirt - not themselves. 

If Arnold picks Sainsbury over Souttar (other than for rotation) I'll start posting about how he should be sacked for nepotism, and even his biggest defenders would have to agree I'd have a point.

The other CB spot is Degenek's, of course. You don't play UEFA Champions League and not play for the Socceroos.

He is playing every week now - but you would think that Trent should start on the bench, Given the congested nature of the hub you would expect him to get plenty of game time.

Yep very glad he's playing and will be needed in Kuwait but still stand by my points above.

Can't believe I've found someone who writes how I feel so eloquently. He reeks of the Holger era and I remember his hogging of the ball for the youth national team wanting to be the star. Of course that was many many years ago and he's done well. I maintain that's at club level and the national team boat has sailed.

Another note is that Jeggo is very underrated and Amini hasn't played in a long time. 

Amini is recovering from surgery and not contracted

Exactly right. Likeable guy but he's in recovery.

Pretty sure this forum is the only place I've read about these supposed attitude problems. Have they ever been documented? Happy to stand corrected. I remember at Jets (way back as a teen) there were stories of him putting in extra training sessions to the point they were saying maybe slow down. I'm aware he burned off the Mariners as a kid too. 

Watts has def earned a cap imo - being a bit part player in the Prem is a great achievement. Karacic should also be picked. Of all our RB's he is actually playing regularly at the highest level playing for Brescia. 

I've watched him since his Budgewoi days. Seen him rwice in WCQ under 2 coaches. Under Pim he played with a dead rubber where we lost 1-0 to China in a 2nd or third rate NT. He didn't have a great game but neither did anyone much.

Then in a 2-2 draw against Oman. Holger picked Thwaite and Cornthwaite as a new CB pairing and had Mile and Holland instead of Bresc as the DMs. The Omanis really pressured our new CBs and the DMs to the extent that Mile turned in an own goal. Meanwhile Holland decided it was too hard and at least twice took balls that looked like they were looking likely to be Cahill goals only to squander the opportunities. Holland was replaced by Bresc and despite ongoing stalling tactics from the Omanis we came back into the game and wrested control back before Holman scored a late equaliser. This result left us struggling to qualify.

Ange had a quick look at him in some friendlies but he never played another meaningful NT game.  

I'm from Erina and always wished a local well. I was at that China game and it was drab. That Oman game was a trainwreck. If I recall correctly he was played out of position against France in that drubbing but the entire squad was just dead at the core then.

What was Holger thinking? We had Neill but who else for CB back then?

He certainly did put in the extra mile. It would have to be on here that I saw such sentiments regarding his attitude but verifying it is near impossible. If so I think his youth WC captaincy and AZ deal may have gone to his head. It's just his trotting along and hogging of the ball plus bad passing in the early years left a mark on me. Glad he has been a late bloomer and this maturity means he'd probably enter the Roos squad an entirely different person.

I've tried to forget that game. Realistically we could have played Spira, Wilko, Sasa. 

Just looked it up - Rhys Williams started with Sasa on the bench

If we're taking 34 then

Ryan, Langerak, Thomas

Grant, Deng, Souttar, Sainsbury, Degenek, Elder, Behich

Irvine, Mooy, Rogic, Hrustic, Jeggo, Luongo, McGree

Maclaren, Taggart, Leckie, Ruka, Mabil, Boyle

Reserves/ development
Glover, Atkinson,  Wright, Good, Metcalfe, Kuol, Watts, Devlin, Duke, Toure

Plenty others like Smith, Risdon, Dougall. It'll be scorching so we'll need legs. Hope to beat Kuwait first then it's pretty much done I believe. Can have some fun for 3 games. I'm pretty sure Pala broke down the equation over a year ago. Victory vs Kuwait pretty much secures it.

OP. Hrustic has played 200 minutes of football this season...

That's not good news. Either is Matt Ryan bench warming. Neither of those players start nor would I select them based on their inability to get on the field. just because you are at a big club, doesn't mean you are better than someone who plays week in week out. It makes a massive difference to fitness and a massive difference to composure and consistency of play.

Agree to an extent however these two are still quite sharp from their training and are two of our best. Hrustic's passing is much more firm but I do wish he'd play more. Langerak deserves a game or two.

                               Ryan

That midfield is seriously lacking in game time.

I'd like to see Lawrence Thomas given a go as starting gk. 

I'd be concerned about players getting in behind Souttar if Arnie plays a high line. Not the quickest from what I understand. If Arnie sits deeper then he'd have to be a nailed on starter. That being said, I prefer Sains at dm in any case.