Teague

I don't think Teague is quite ready for senior Socceroo selection yet, but his broad skill set as a specialist 6, or single DM screener, has him fast catching, or even overtaking, more senior Socceroo DMs - Baccus, Genreau, Irvine, Metcalfe, Devlin, et al - in some cases .

 I think Nieuw is more effective, as a  ball winner than Teague, whilst O'Neill is more polished and more rugged than the Melb Vic player.  Teague repeatedly tackles off the wrong foot when opponents try and go around the right side of his body,  using  his preferred left foot.  Hence,   his   body  position is less effective. 

What is really impressive is Teague has  similar positioning as the sole screening Defensive  Midfielder as Mile Jedinak.  Like the former  Socceroo captain, Teague is very disciplined in how he keeps the screen  in front of the Aus back four   - often by  himself.

At times, Youlley or Jelacic on the right, and Jake Hollman on the left, when the U23 Socceroos assume the attacking midfield triangle in a 4-3-3  in Ball Possession, and Aus rotates the the midfield triangle,  play  closer to Teague as Aus plays out.

Teague's ability to play in tight pass and move sequences is good, like most of  the U 23s and younger Aussies. His passing over range is decent too, but unlike Youlley who can  passover range with both feet, which is rare, Teague plays the longer diagonal balls with his preferred left foot.  Teague is usually a solid tackler and reads when to make them  effectively too. He just heeds to work on tackling with his non-preferred right foot, so he can tackle with both feet with optimum body shape - like Aaron Mooy or Tom Rogic did.

Whereas Teague's  disciplined positional screening  play reminds me of Jedi's, he is nowhere near as good as the former  Socceroo skipper in aerial duels or as an enforcer - yet. However, his technique on the ball is vastly superior to Jedi's.

ATM Arnold probably prefers  Yazbek, who also tackles off the wrong foot too, but I think Teague has a superior array of skills for a specialist 6. Not having seen as much of Yazbek, he may be quicker over the turf and be more capable of adapting to the number 8 role, as well as 6, than Teague.  I noted a few months back Vidmar preferred Teague as the starting screener over both Niew and Yazbek.

If he keeps on his recent upward trajectory, Teague will be pushing for a Socceroos squad berth sooner than later.