It’s no coincidence that Youlley has been our best so far, he’s also playing in Europe so that might explain why he looks a class above out there.

I do feel that being in pre season these games have have come too early for these players, their is some talented players in this group but when your not in prime fitness level whilst playing every two days it will always be a challenge for these players.

Im curious how we will go today against Saudi Arabia, but I feel what could have been for the youth teams if they are in-season, another reason why the seasons should be more aligned and the a-league should also start earlier.

after todays early results the situation is now clear

a draw gaurantees progression as does a win of course

a loss and we miss the asian cup

Thanks. 

reminds me of the game v peru

to my surprise we have more ball and look slightly more dangerous

so far we are quite safe playing through a high press compared to previous years

bodalato absolutely tearing them apart!

Still that last shot or pass not sticking at the moment...

i normally complain about our central players being forced wide during development (volpato, segecic, bernando etc) but bodalato is a real gun on the wing

Probably our most impressive match so far

need to finsh one of bodalatos chances!

Easily could have had 2 with better finishing!

really frustrating our lack of street smarts

the number of times we have fouled a player going no where that literally had no option but try and draw a foul....

oof they nearly land a sucker punch after taking two players out wide and cutting back from the by line

stats at senior level show they are as bad as us at finishing. I wonder if they suffer from the same fate in having their league have a lot of foreigners taking up attacking positions

that last 2 minutes reminds me of that simpsons episode on soccer haha

2 minutes of the cbs passing to each other to ensure a draw (since both sides qualify with a draw)

It’s good we qualified but clearly they got some improvement in them, hopefully they bring in some wingers and proper fullbacks in the squad.

I'm very happy with the 0 - 0 draw with Saudi, as I accrued stats as I watched  the replay. The notable exception is scoring goals from chances presented. It is really poor across  all age groups in Socceroo men's  seniors, U23s and U20s!

I have recorded   how many balls were played into the penalty box.

Australia played 32 balls into the penalty box. Saudi played 21. 

I was surprised at this. It seemed a greater advantage to Aus. I think Saudi had a few balls quickly in succession, a couple of times in the match in a few minutes. Aus seemed to play balls into the pen box more  consistently.

Of balls repelled by the opposition having a player touching the ball, rather than a teammate of the team playing into the box touching it first, Aus  had 9 balls repelled, Saudi 11. The ball played into the box was first touched by a defender and usually cleared.

Of balls played into the the box, Australia played 22 on the ground. A couple were mid-level and the rest were aerial. Saudi  only had about 5 balls played on  the ground, but I might have been slacker recording this, hence more inaccurate. From discussion with others off forum, we've been interested knowing whether balls were played on the ground, mid-level or aerial, by the Socceroos.

Shots at goal: Aus 9, Saudi 4.

Shots on target: Aus 4, Saudi 1.

 Shots close to bar or post: Aus 1, Saudi 1.

Goalkeeper Save: Ryan 1, Saudi 4.

Goalkeeper Intercepts: Ryan 5, Saudi 3.

It helped the Aus game that Saudi played a higher line, and tried to play football, instead of a deep defensive block, with the onus on slowing the game down and frustrating Australia from playing.

I didn't record it, but Aus's build ups were usually patient and systematic, with a few opportunities for accelerated attacks, because there was more space between the Saudi lines (defensive, midfield and attacking) than most of the previous games.

Saudi played a lot of  long balls, hoping to win the second ball duels, as they had a big target striker, or, initially they interspersed  playing a few fast breaks on the counter. It wasn't until about the 40 mn mark, Saudi tried more systematic passing football sequences. Aus  completely dominated possession and territory. 

The worst thing about Aus is that  so few goals were scored against the other teams that Saudi beat easily.





  

Deck balls that were first touched by a team mate in the pen area were as rare as hens teeth in the GG era. Its a stat I really focused on watching the old replays. 2 per match was pretty typical with most of them coming from viduka. While we have declined in terms of scoring and club success, this has been something that has consistently improved. We need a striker to come from no where

One of our golden boys, Danilo Treffiletti, has been picked for the u17 Italian team. Football Australia will want to keep close tabs on him, because he was the Joey's best player in the last camp. 

http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Socceroo/1999B.html

As part of the Socceroos buildup for the FIFA All Star game coach Raul Blanco took the opportunity to get some match practice both for the overseas stars and the Olympic team who were in camp at the same time.
Played : June				Venue : Marconi Stadium, Sydney
Australia Mark Bosnich (Zeljko Kalac), Kevin Muscat, Alex Tobin, Tony Popovic, Josip Skoko (Hayden Foxe), Tony Vidmar, Aurelio Vidmar, Ned Zelic (Vincent Grella), Mark Viduka (Brett Emerton), Steve Corica, Harry Kewell (Simon Colosimo)	0	-	1	Australian U23's Danny Milosevic (Joe Didiluca), Jacob Burns, Michael Garcia, Buddy Farah, Ivan Zelic, Stephen Laybutt, Michael Curcija, Kasey Wehrman, Clayton Zane, Zeljko Susa, Mile Sterjovski subs Dragi Nastevski, George Goutzoulis, Nick Carle, Nick Sabljak Goal : Wehrman

Interesting looking at the U23's there.

The only names I recognise (as Socceroos/national team players) are Didulica (for Croatia though? Am I correct in remembering that?) Zane, Sterjovski, Carle and Laybutt.

Haha how did they lose

Wouldn't mind seeing our A team face an Olyroo best line up but the time and perceived risk of injuring each other means it'll never happen.

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