craig good win with a beauty and a great performance
yazbek and nisbet get a debut with the former getting an assist
iredale and yengi get a goal each

some real fan pleasing moments there

just hope hrustic is alright. The hug from arnie has me worried its serious

we have really cut out the counter attack as a route to goal while being efficient with our opportunities

Either we have inverted fullbacks or a back 3 to prevent counters. I prefer the latter

I remember in an interview he said Sparta Rotterdam had him training on astroturf which led to shin splints. He's lifted so much since then but was always skilled. A shame because he is totally of the grade.

Goodwin showed Metcalfe how to score a damn goal.  I'm not a fan of Hrustic/Metcalfe and Duke.

That's a great question. 

3 half's of poor football cant be hidden but its good the second half opened up against a tired Lebanon team and they took advantage of it.

Goodwin makes a big difference for us in terms of he's quality and he is getting better with age, and the subs did well especially Yazbek and Iredale but I expect tougher challenges ahead against teams with better quality than Lebanon but obviously we will not know until later in the qualification stages.

I guess I have to expect this team under Arnie will be a team that will play on the transition and set pieces as their strengths, unless the Olyroos generation could up skill the style of play than I dont expect much till the World Cup when it all gets tested and then we will know if having Arnie for another 4 more years was worth it.

Another thing I picked up was Irvine and Metcalfe poor inability to play through the middle as midfielders. 

Alot of recycling the ball out wide too easily and only it was when Hrustic who was showing for the ball then the ability to progress through the middle become more effective but I really feel we really lack a ball playing No.6 out there who can progress the ball from deeper areas.

Someone like Nieuwenhof should be brought in and I would not rule out In someone like Genreau or Robertson too, but im not convinced with Baccus and O'Neill I still dont feel he has developed he's passing game enough.

Yeah exactly right. Irvine is basically a cleaner and can nudge the ball somewhere. Metcalfe is much better on the sides but he needs to be benched now to snap out of it. In his defence Arnold keeps switching his role but that means it's not exactly working so it's time to bring in others who can do it well.

With that in mind I'd expect Yengi and Iredale to rise against tougher opponents. They face very good opposition at club level. It's hard to find footage of O'Neill. He's good at winning it and can play a decent pass. Nisbet is like a rugby scrum half who can distribute very quickly into space.

Bangladesh Palestine goalless with 10 to go. A late winner for Bangladesh would be awesome. Philippines Iraq underway. 

Different cycle but Lebanon were in the other final group for 2022 qualifying. 

Crazy idea but I would not mind moving Metcalfe as a wing back if the team moves to a back 3, put more ball playing midfielders instead that way the team could still use Irvine for he's leadership skills.

Otherwise he might need to drop to the bench if the teams poor midfield progression continues.

As stated a few pages back clubs are sacrificing wing backs for men higher up who back track but have a defensively sound back 3 and midfielders who cover. Not entirely sure we should be building a team around Metcalfe but we're desperate to see his club form transfer to the national team. 

What type of midfielders he has around at St Pauli? Because he plays as a winger on the right and seems to be doing quite well.

Palestine leading 1-0, Lebanon have to win both matches to progress.

Crucial late winner for Palestine giving them near assurance of advancement.

A real engine room and he's since been put of wide right. He was part of the diamond but that was a while back. Metcalfe also comes deep and links up and has good support from his right back. They typically have nimble forwards so lots of tight space quick passing and movement. 

In the first half, Metcalfe was often on the left with Goodwin. Hrustic and Jones were stacking the right, which gave the left a lot of room. Lebanon seemed to have Hrustic double teamed. 
It seemed a better performance in the first half than we've watched, even though we only scored one goal. Still very pedestrian, though. More movement in the second half, and Hrustic had more room until he was injured.
Good to see Iredale and Yazbek enjoy their goal, and Nisbet get a few minutes.

That explains it, its clear player profile matters for others to perform at their best like Metcalfe.

Imagine if Korea don't beat Thailand will be interesting 

Agree. It’s feeling very Pim Verbeek era.

You're expecting a lot too much from Mr. Barr there.
The record they beat was a double header from the opening round of games from the 2000 Olympics (Matildas v Germany, then USA v ... someone in the mens).
I believe the renovation for that Olympics was the last time seats were added/expansion.to the stadium occurred.

Just got back from the game now. Enjoyed the game, impressed with Iredale and Yengi. Yengi for being able to tuck away his follow up (would not expect that from most Australian strikers to be honest), and....  I can't remember if the announcer at the ground was wrong with this, said it was Iredale's debut. IF that is correct... was his goal his first touch?? And again, IF that's the case.. how many Socceroos have ever scored on their first touch??

Will add more notes when I get a chance to sit down more

Iredale came on late in the first game against Lebanon, sorry to spoil the story.

yeah he plays right mid for his club so he would be good there

yeah I think that's a good comparison

pim had rotten luck with cahill and kewell getting back to back reds in 2010 and us missing a tap in early against germany. Grella and chipperfield also hit a big form slump just before the world cup. With all those obstacles we still produced one of our best performances drawing 1-1 with 10 men against ghana and winning against serbia after being hurt by germany

also analogous to pim, metcalf is getting heat despite being on the verge of buli 2 because his skill set isn't easy for fans to pick up on which reminds me of holman who was doing well for alkmaar and australia but drew a lot of heat. When holman started scoring people took notice, I wouldn't be surprised if metcalf follows a similar trajectory

on the other hand we have some very good olyroos who will soon be putting pressure on those in their mid 20s 

iredale's emotions when he scored that goal - you want players with that passion playing for your country don't you

Good assist for Goodwins first. Also some half hearted efforts. That's Hrustic. Has the skill to unlock a defence but often doesn't pull it all together. I'm glad he's back in the squad adding some depth and an offensive option.   

I've thought about this a lot. We seem to favour a combination of Irvine, Baccus and Metcalfe in midfield. Not that they don't have their qualities but that balance really favourshard work over technique. 

We could have McGree, Robertson and O'Neill. Or Hrustic, Volpato (with luck), Nieuwenhof. Or different combinations of those guys. So much potential for more progressive football if we want to. A lot of untapped potential. 

I'm so happy for Iredale and Yengi both. A couple of centre forwards out of the blue is big news for the national team. The biggest story from the game imo. I hope they carry on and can deliver against better quality defences. 

Yeah that’s what I thought, but was a bit taken aback when the announcer said “and coming on the field on his Socceroos debut:” when he came on. Unless it was for whoever came on with him at the time? Yazbek was it?

So yeah couple of my points:
cheap turnovers from Irvine in the first half, wasn’t too impressed with that to be honest.

Lebanon playing very defensively until they were 3-0 down. I’m assuming, as we are now through, that they are expecting be the only team that Australia plays full strength twice, so wanted to limit the goal difference in what could be a tight race for second.

Goodwin is amazing. Nothing the narrow defensive 5 Lebanon played with, he was afforded a lot of space out wide to work his magic.

Nisbet is tiny. Souttar is massive. Very hilarious to see them next to each other at one point.

Was also hilarious seeing the Lebanon GK go up to the centre circle and go down with a cramp late in the second half while his team were setting up for a corner. 

This. We currently don't have any top 5 players but I've thought for a long time he's Bundi level. No wonder Adelaide have struggled since he left. Huge loss.

@Nicarbel, yes it was Yazbek. Agree that Irvine was given a lot of space in the game. the Lebanonese (?) seemed to target Hrustic and double team him - and of course he wants to take an extra couple of touches which doesn't help him.
We need Hrustic to play centrally. His distribution is far better then.
I wonder, as someone above said Metcalf plays for his club on the right, why Arnie had him on the left with Goodwin for a lot of the first half.