neither of them are anywhere near the quality poacher that McDonald is.

The 4-2-1-2-1 is how Inter won the Champions League. So this system is good. But they had a multi-dimensional striker in Milito, fast and skillful wide men like Pandev and Eto'o, a midfield Maestro in Snjeider, and over lapping full backs to hit on the counter quickly. Who have we got? Kennedy/Kewell at the point for Milito, Kewell/Carney/Bresciano/Vidosic for Pandev, Emerton/Bresciano for Eto'o and Cahill for Sneider. All slow, and Cahill can't pull the strings like Snijder. See the problem? This formation is just not right for the players we have available. Verbeek should have crafted a system to suit the players, not force the players to fit his system.

Why do people think the only option when you're a goal down is to add more strikers? What about bringing on fresh midfielders? Or dropping a DM and bringing on a more attacking minded midfielder? Changing structure can work, but it can also break down any play that is working. I think its a bit much to suggest we play 442 just for Macca, who is basically the only player who cannot adapt to this system.

Ah, the old "No Dams!.... Although I don't have a better solution or justification other than criticism" argument.

Ah yes. Vidosic. The guy who has scored the sum total of 8 goals in 4 years.

Agreed. But how many chances to "poach" goals are created in the system we're playing?

The reality is McDonald has 0 goals from 16 games. He can't play as a lone striker, can't hold up the ball and bring in the midfield, is not a target man for long balls into the box, etc. Basically he doesn't fit the system we're playing so he'd be a wasted spot. We'll (hopefully) have Kewell playing upfront, Jesus on the bench if needed to create a diversion (like he did against Japan in 2006) and plenty of more versatile players (than McDonald) attacking from the midfield. In the games we've played under Pim most of our goals have come from the midfield, nothing is going to change in the next 6 weeks.

And McDonald has scored how many as a lone striker?

Pim is leaving our best fucking striker out of the squad completely.

You play the system these players were raised on: Your bog-standard 442. You stick Kennedy and Mac up front, or even Cahill and Mac, Ruka and Mac, you have Harry out wide on the Left, and Emo/Vidosic on the right, Carle and Wilkshire in the middle pulling the strings. Culina as R wing back, Chippers as Left WB, Oga and Neil at central defense. Happy?

Because he doesn't work in this system! It just hasn't happened for him. I think McDonald is an excellent striker - when playing alongside another striker, but by himself he just can't do it. He's been tested and tested. He has done NOTHING for the NT. We shouldn't be making a team around him.

So.. Pim isn't taking Kewell then?

Pim is leaving our best poacher (not striker), a role that under our system would only be essential when chasing games late on. So why not take players that can be useful at other times and still fill that role fairly well if necessary. As I recall Vidosic converted his poachers opportunity last night not Macca.

All Pim has done with this squad selection is proven that he won't deviate from his 4-2-3-1 no matter what and will be playing for 3 draws.

I can go one better, and with Arnold on the coaching staff, we already have a precedent. At the Olympics when we needed to score TWICE TO STAY IN THE TOURNAMENT, at 80 minutes he took off a striker and put on a defender. You DO remember the outcome?

Yeah and what about playing two strikers upfront if we are down?

What about it? Verbeek's sytem doesn't allow for it. The system rules all, 5-0 up or 0-5 down its the system that has to be maintained.

Carle has no one to blame but himself, sitting on the bench in the Championship was never going to work in his favour, and correct me if I am wrong but Pim told him that quite some time ago.

North is a serious case of meh for me, he hasn't really been in the reckoning for quite a while now, and really he has no one to blame but himself. Poor choice of his in going to Asia to sit on the bench...who knows... as Fury marquee he may still be in the squad?


The decision to not take McDonald is the most petulant, pathetic, mind boggling, baffling, ludicrous, dumb, stupid, naive, lacking in logic and disgraceful decision in the history of sport!

Okay maybe not quite that bad but fair dinkum Pim you've got rocks in your head if think you can defend the axing of Scotty Mac....WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?

The biggest issue with the squad is not whether McDonald should be in it, or even if Carle should have been there ahead of Holman, its that Craig Moore is still there.

This is a JOKE! I was a big Verbeek fan untill now. sure the football wasn't always super pretty but it got results. Now this. ok north fantastic call, if u ad have left him in i'd be more mad. Carle??? ok I see his point but he's betta than alot the midfielders we kept, axe lowry not carle! lowry won't even play in SA, but carle may have. AND SCOTTY MAC no words! thnks for signing over our loss verbeek. what happens if kewel goes down. all we got is kennedy really. mac not scorin is betta than some otha reserves player wastin time on the field. one day mac'll score under a new formation, then we;ll see it was neva him, only verbeek that failed!

Yeah, no shit he doesn't work as lone striker - how many aussie strikers HAVE scored under Verbeek with this system? Sweet Fuck All is the answer.

You can't look at McDonald's performances and go 'well he doesn't work in this system' and use that as the justification for dropping him. NO STRIKERS DO.

The entire system doesn't bloody work and our two top goalscorers in the last three years have been Cahill and Bresciano! We're relying on midfielders to score our goals. #-o

I can understand leaving out Carle, we've got midfielders out our arse and sitting on the bench in the championship is not much use when you're competing with players who are playing in some of the best leagues in the world for your position.

But McDonald being dropped when we only had four strikers in the squad to begin with in a system that's meant to be 4-3-3 is a joke.

And your not allow to change the system? If your losing and chasing a game you need to change your system to try and get a goal.

What was the point of giving Macca an hour last night...whilst he didn't score I thought he was far from our worst...surely Pim's decision wasn't made on the strength of last nights game...in which case why play him?

So if we count out Galekovic, Oar, Holland and perhaps lowry... whose the other one that'll miss out? Garcia and williams i think has injury problems, i wasn't all that excited about jedinak, some people are calling for moores head. At one point people didnt want beauchamp in the team but he performed admirably last night. Holman is still not liked... but one things for sure, ruka will be in the team after Mcdonalds axing.

I would have loved to have seen Mcdonald at the world cup but unfortunately, he hasn't scored but he showed promise last night but I'm sure pim's choice would have been a combination of the training methods and his international record... cause his club level record has certainly helped him be picked so many times. it does feel a bit of a cop-out that he somehow needs two strikers, pim never did it and so why didnt he ever try? Sounds a bit ignorant but its the coaches prerogative. So i can see the hate but one player is never above the team but I can understand why so many of you are so frustrated and angry at pim because you feel he has only one coaching style and formation - the opposition will see right thru him yeh? but one musn't forget his record so far in his qualification to the world cup. It's been superb!

We aren't always going to score that many goals thats for sure and perhaps we are lacking as a nation with true goal scoring options that don't rely on 1 or 2 tricks but our strength is at the back and thats pretty much the basics, start from the back and make yer way forward. hopefully with the likes of cahill, culina and chippers (if he's in midfield) pushing forward we will have the power to kick in a winning goal. It's just a shame that such a talent wasn't able to perform with the current style of the socceroos - a new coach may help but its sucks that we're so divided that some of you have already resigned yourself to mediocrity. We may not end up coming out of this well but putting ourselves down before the beginning is not being realistic, it's quite un-australian if i can put it that way. HTFU guys and lets move forward, we're not whiners are we? :P

According to Verbeek, apparantly not; "We play with one striker, Shcotty plays as a second striker". Therfeore no room for Shcotty.

Absurd, I know.

Nico wrote:
Why do people think the only option when you're a goal down is to add more strikers? What about bringing on fresh midfielders? Or dropping a DM and bringing on a more attacking minded midfielder? Changing structure can work, but it can also break down any play that is working. I think its a bit much to suggest we play 442 just for Macca, who is basically the only player who cannot adapt to this system.

well by leaving out macca he is saying we will never change formation. and hell yeah you fit a formation to suit him. he is potentially the best striker we have, only he been wasted by our stupid formation! granted it has gotten the best out of kennedy, but mac's best is betta than kennedy's best.

Some of you douches on this post are like a long playing vinyl stuck in the groove that repeats over and over again: We hate Holman We hate Holman We hate Holman We hate Holman We hate Holman We hate Holman. Get over it!!

Don't hate the vinyl

Central defense is a problem, a big problem when you face monsters like Zigic, Vidic, Ivanovic, Klose Gomez at set pieces.

McDonald proved himself a top level striker with consistent performances for Celtic in the Champions League (not the SPL). Remember his strikes against Inter Milan and Manchester United? I do. I stayed up late to watch an Aussie in action even though Celtic are my ancestral enemy.

At least Pim acknowledges that it is the system, not McDonald's quality, that is the issue. However, I don't understand why Pim persists with 433 given our lack of striking options.

Only the stongest teams can play a system consistently and expect the opposition to have to make all the tactical adjustments in response. Surely a dark horse team in Australias position need to spring the tactical surprise rather than a predictable system from which no deviation is allowed.

+1. We need variables, we need to be able to change things up and spring surprises. We can't keep sticking to one formula, especially when we can see that it CLEARLY ISN'T WORKING.

Pim Verbeek is a worse coach than Frank Farina. There, I said it. But with the caliber of players at our disposal we should be abel to play competentyl against New Zealand and beat them 3-0, not get outplayed and struggle to win 2-1 because their strikers are mediocre.

As has been said after just about EVERY game we've played in the last year, if we play like THAT at the world cup, it's going to be a bloody short campaign.