+xI agree with all it was beyond all belief the way we went about trying to score goals...because that is ultimately what it is about.
All I ask for is a coach that will encourage our national team to actually 'play' the game. It is a game after all. Please create an environment where our best get to express themselves by playing football for our nation.
Seriously Graham.
yep I hear you, I recall a coach during one of my son's NPL playing days, he would always shout out "lets play" - meaning open up and express yourselves.
I luved hearing it for at the time he saw they we're being out played/foxed and going in a shell.
It got them to mentally reset.
Is it Arnie's thinking he doesn't see on paper and the training ground not capable to win a game on attacking merit that he always plays defensively and picks his start up squad as such ?
Seriously what is he seeing and thinking compared to the generic garb he quotes when intereviewed.
Players out of position, no creativity but on the bench as we saw.
I recall my times keeping tabs when at SFC, look what he built, from wiki :
"Arnold started his revamp of the squad by releasing 13 players in the pre-season. To solve the teams goalscoring issues, he bought in Brazilian striker Bobô as their new marquee to play alongside former teammate Filip Hološko under the new 2 marquee rule. In addition to this, he also brought in 5 Australian players, including Bernie Ibini on loan, Socceroo Alex Wilkinson (two whom have worked with Arnold at the Central Coast) and Danny Vukovic from rival club Melbourne Victory. The season started off with a bang, with Sydney FC defeating their rivals Western Sydney Wanderers 4–0 in round 1. He led the team to a runners-up finish after being defeated 1–0 in the FFA Cup Final by Melbourne City.
Into the January transfer window, fan favourite Matthew Jurman joined K-League club Suwon Samsung Bluewings, while keeper Vedran Janjetović swapped with Andrew Redmayne to cross city rivals, Western Sydney Wanderers after a dispute about not playing after being displaced by Vukovic. To replace Jurman, Dutch defender Jordy Buijs signed. The team was able to go on undefeated for 19 games in the league before eventually being defeated 1–0 in a controversial game against the Wanderers. This defeat only made the team stronger, as they went the remainder of the season undefeated, gaining 19 points out of a possible 21 for the remaining 7 games. His team was eventually crowned premiers after Melbourne Victory was unable to defeat Brisbane Roar, while Sydney had 4 games remaining. Arnold's 3rd season with Sydney proved fruitful, in addition to winning the premiership, the squad had broken multiple records, including the most points in a single season, breaking Brisbane Roar's 2010–11 season of 65 points in 3 fewer games with 66 points, as well as being the only top-flight football team in Australia to stay outright 1st throughout the whole season. Arnold was also named Coach of the Year at the Dolan Warren Gala Night. He ended the season with a 1–1 in the Grand Final, winning 4–2 on penalties against Melbourne Victory, becoming the first manager to win the championship with more than one club.
Arnold went on to win the 2017-2018 Premiership, becoming the first coach in A League history to win back to back Premierships.
One of the highlights of Arnold's tenure at Sydney FC was his ability to recruit impactful foreign players to the club. Arnold signed the likes of Milos Ninkovic, Bobo, Filip Holosko, Adrian Mierzejewski, and Marc Janko to the Sky Blues, each of whom made telling contributions to Sydney's success between 2014 and 2018 alongside a raft of key Australian players including Brandon O'Neill, Rhyan Grant, Andrew Redmayne, and Joshua Brillante."
He had at his disposal and aquired a solid backline, damn great attacking and defensive midfielders/flankers and capable 9's.
Gawd to have a midfielder or 2 of Adrians/Ninko games now, Holosko's aggressive running and kind of conversion rate.
So I suppose its the usual loonnnnnnng - est road to qualify - don't forget we've been there done that a few times now and hey lets test the new expanded WC format lol.......
Yes I have to have a lol because we usually do it the hard way.