FULL SQUADNathaniel AtkinsonKeanu BaccusAziz BehichJordy BosMartin BoyleCameron BurgessThomas DengMitchell DukeBruno FornaroliJoe Gauci (Gk)Craig GoodwinJohn IredaleJackson IrvineGethin JonesRiley McGreeConnor MetcalfeLewis MillerAiden O’NeillKye RowlesMathew Ryan (Gk) (Cpt)Sam SilveraHarry SouttarLawrence Thomas (Gk)Marco TilioPatrick YazbekKusini Yengi

Keep looking and the midfield is just thin. Imagine an injury to Irvine, a red go Baccus and O'Neill on a yellow and we're in trouble.

No versatility from our forwards or defenders to fill in either. We really should have added Nisbet or someone. 

Portsmouth fans baffled Robertson didn't make it and upon learning of the Olympic qualifiers they don't want him to go there.

Let's just hope Portsmouth keep the solid gap at the top.

We simply can't afford to leave out the absolute best for the U23 tournament. Farrell is good but I'd want to take Bos also. 

Bos has to be there. I rate Farrell as the better defender but Bos has a better all round game. In years to come I can see Farrell starting for the Socceroos with Bos in front of him as LM/LW. Farrell may also eventually be the backup to Kye Rowles as left CB. That's the position Monty saw him ending up in.      

Just gobsmacked by the Tilio decision.

I get that others like G Kuol and Robertson are being saved for the Olyroos, but Tilio over Arzani?

Makes zero sense and will be quite demotivating for Arzani who is back in form for Victory and would have been a sensation at the Asian Cup. Tilio can't even make the bench of a pretty average Celtic squad.

The Aussie to Europe curse strikes again.

I wish we'd named one more midfielder. Nisbet, Teague, Nieuwenhof or Hollman

Do we have enough rightbacks though? Only four :Whistling:

I just hope this time we rotate a little more unlike at the world cup. We were really starting to feel the burn. We will be fine against India and it's tricky on who to pick in order to conserve but also hit the ground running. 

Amazingly this will be Boyle's first tournament after two injuries beforehand. 

Looking at the omissions of youth players - it seems very very obvious that this squad was picked in order to give a better chance for players to go to the Olympics.

Clubs don’t have to release players for the Olympics right?

Exactly. I think Deng would've been enough. Nothing against Jones who's a professional and will help in camp yet it hinders our midfield depth that little bit. Miller could've been cut too. I hope I'm wrong but he MMA look has cards and penalties written all over it. 

Why on Earth would you cut Miller? He had an excellent match on his starting debut so it's between him and Atki.

I'm just astounded that Tilio was picked. I have nothing against him but he's not played for months and you look at Arzani who's been brilliant in recent times. We know what he can do, and he's started doing it again. Too many left field decisions in this squad.

Arnie out!

He does give that impression but only has 2 reds in 96 games. One from all reports the other day off two soft yellows. The only straight red was for CCM vs WSW. He got a yellow upgraded to a red by VAR after the commentators thought that it didn't warrant a yellow - straight in front of AR who doesn't even signal for a foul. Miller tried to regain control of the ball - his foot came down on the ball - Traore arrived later and hit Miller's studs from the side while Miller's foot was still on the ball.  

Think Arnold wanting Tilio ‘tournament ready’ for Olyroos is main reason. Tilio is a good player but not in form and out of match fitness right now

at least they got the 3 goal keepers correct Lol

I'm not going to criticise Arnie for selecting Tilio. Maybe it'll work out, maybe not. I'm assuming Arnie and Rene have done their homework on Tilio and visited him or at least got a report from Harry on how he's going. I have an open mind about the wisdom of his selection.

I'd have probably gambled on Hrustic and Genreau. Devlin a bit stiff. 

Think Devlin is injured 

Goalkeepers - Tick
Defenders - Jones, Why?, Circati, Why not?
Midfielders - Tick, maybe Robertson unlucky. The others injured… or youth saved for Olympics.
Forwards - Tilio lucky to be there with next to no gametime. Rest are inform…

Did you even watch Miller vs Palestines? Maybe you should rewatch it and see if you still think Miller is a good RB.  He got no dibbling skills in the 1 on 1 situation and mostly can't cross.   Even the last game for his club st Miller he was hopeless.

Both Devlin and Genreau are injured. 

Tilio does make sense in that the confidence he'll get being around our group soll be better for him than more horrid Celtic time. He's a good player. Just got to whip him into fitness at training.

It's not on merit though. I wish we'd picked Irankunda Arzani or Kuol who've really tried to put their name in the hat. 

Devlin wasn't going to make it. I love the guy but here's the injury list 

Strain, Devlin, Genreau, Borrello, Leckie, Mail, Hrustic (not fit) 

That's how I feel. I know it's early but he gives the feeling like he's wearing cement boots. 

We're getting there with technically able players and I don't enjoy the reverting back to these types. Stensness was another example. Like in said I hope I'm wrong in the long term but I'd love to move on from battering rams. 

Just read that Arnie said if squad wasn't extended to 26 then Tilio might not be there. If that's the case then I could understand an argument for selecting Tilio over someone like Arzani. If they're on the fringe and likely to get very little game time, then Tilio loses nothing by going there since he's not playing at Celtic and time around the other NT players may be of benefit. For Arzani, taking him away from MV where he is getting good game time to Qatar to warm the pine doesn't look that attractive.

As for Miller, didn't he start off as a CB? If so, I'd be curious to know why he was moved to rb since he looks more of a cb type to me.

At the time Miller couldn't get in front of Michael Glassock and Kye Rowles in the CCM Academy side

OK. Thanks.

Huge blow for Brighton and Japan 😥

Kaoru Mitoma will be sidelined for up to six weeks and miss the Asian Cup due to an ankle injury 🤕

Yeah no Mitoma. Big blow for Japan even though they are still insanely good. Mitoma would've ripped us apart but now Kubo will just do it instead

So we've got a UAE camp. Practice game against Bahrain at 1am AEST Jan 7.

I imagine players will start arriving around Jan 3? Germany based are already off. Iredale on a USA holiday still. Yazbek training with Sydney FC.