bump for the record

Or 3-6-1 or a 3-4-3 or a 4-3-3 or a 3-2-2-2-1 according to some.

I'm not having a go at you IB but that's 7 sets of formations thrown up.

Clearly some haven't a clue or are guessing.

Yeah bringing back Troisi and Rojas was a deadset recruitment failure. Nothing at all to do with the salary cap/squad size limit.

FMD some people here are deadset retarded.  No other way to explain it.

vs iraq it was effectively 

2 2 3 3

vs UAE it was more of a 

3 2 4 1  or  3 4 2 1

I guess the angst at our performance against Iraq and the UAE should be compared to the Victory's game against Brisbane on the weekend. We (Australia) picked up 4 points against tough opposition in a style which most of the players were not used to. We did it under tremendous pressure from Iraq in the latter parts of that game. Yet there were minimal shots on target from our opponents. Australia did both games without our most inventive player (Rogic) who would have provided a different dimension to our play. The second game also saw us without Mooy who has been on fire this season.

Compare that with the accolades which have been swooned on Muscat and the Victory for losing against a bruised and battered Brisbane team that was missing as many key players as Victory were, and lost 2 key players through injury during the game. I would hazard a guess that the fact that 47 of 48 goals have come directly or indirectly through 3 players who you knew would probably be absent together during the season suggests recruitment has not been one of the successes of Victory's management this season.

We should be giving the Australian team and coach the accolades for getting us to a position where a team of plodders have carried the flag to a place where we haven't lost a game and should qualify for the next world cup.

He was fine.  He got the job done which is what he was paid to do.

He is seen as a failure, and probably rightly so, because he didn't blood any youngsters.

Having said that I'm glad he is gone.

I'm a bit lost here.  

In this thread I've read we were playing a 3-4-3, a 3-2-2-2-1 and a 3-6-1.  On other threads blokes have thrown up other formations.

Does anyone actually have a clue or is everyone just guessing?

PS With regards to the other stuff and for brevity (and to save rehashing arguments) I agree with everything Enzo has said.

Schwarzer saved our bacon time and time again under pim..even at home against Iraq! expectations were higher back then as they should have been.a completely different class of players compared to the current lot who look like they picked up the sport 2 years ago at times.

I'm old enough to remember people complaining that we were being outplayed in the middle east under pim and in particular when we lost to china and iraq

Also we have draw or won all our away games so far except Kyrgyzstan

How many points is ange ahead of thailand and iraq? He hasnt lost to anyone yet lol. 

Ah yes, poor Old Ange. How can he compete with the might of Thailand, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, with their top of the world junior pathways and their host of star players playing and dominating at the top level in Europe. Maybe if, instead of the players picking the squad, Ange was allowed to pick the squad of players that play for the national team he would stand a better chance.

Wait! hang on a minute! Ange picks the players you say! And what's that? The bulk of the Iraqi, UAE and Thai squads play in their home leagues or leagues of lower quality than the leagues played in by many of the Aussie Squad. Sorry, what was that other point you made? The junior pathways in war torn Iraq, or rural Thailand aren't the best in the world and the players produced there aren't rubbing shoulders with Messi at Barca?

Well jeez. I'm shocked.

People need to understand that competitive football is swings and roundabouts.  One year you win the premier league, the next you're battling relegation.  One year you win the Asia cup, the next you're fighting to make it to the World Cup.  We should never just expect to qualify for the world cup based on historical performance, the reality is the competition is tougher and we're not as good as we used to be.

There's no comparison between Verbeek and Ange.  Verbeek had better players, EPL players, Ange squad near resembles New Zealands, just one player playing regularly in a top league.  The Socceroos have undergone a gradual decline since 2006 and if it culminates in failing to make the WC, then we need to look at factors other than just blaming the coach.

I think it is a 3-2-2-2-1 or 3-6 1.

Fair comments.

Pim's teams were much more solid in away games.

He played for draws, and a win was a bonus.

Pim qualified us as one of the first three teams for SA.

Ange is deploying an unfamiliar formation, 3-6-1.  This is not a conventional 3-4-3, with with a flat midfield, or diamond shaped midfield. He has little time to work with players on the training ground.

He has Behich available at LB who should be all rights be first pick, but he's not.  Why?

 RB is a problem, granted, but thats because Postecoglou wants to play with wing backs who run up and down the touchline all day, yet he also plays Kruse and Leckie who can't or won't defend when the full backs go forward.  That's why we got torn a new one the flanks against Iraq, with their unknowns playing on the wings.  Imagine at the world cup, we will get murdered.

What you've written in your second paragraph is arse-about as to what should be happening, and says exactly what Postecoglou is doing wrong.  What he wants to do can work in club football, not international football.  In an international football, your players are limited.  As the coach, its you job to play a system that those players can play.  Not what you want to play. What they can play.  To win.  

Verbeek knew this, and qualified in a canter, got 4 points at the WC, and was a Wilkshire one-on-one from making the second round.  

Postecoglou didn't have Mooy and Rogic and won the Asian Cup.  Don't blame the players, its Postecoglou stubborness and self-promotion, yes this is more about him, than the national team.  Ask Brisbane, Victory and Milligan how that usually pans out.

ange out, no grant or vuka.

No Schwarzer would be still in goal and we'd ship loads! For all the rubbish aimed at our defence, we have not shipped more than 2 goals for a long time. Its time to get a grip!

This is the worst generation of Australian footballers in a long long time. I'd say it's the first generation since the early 80's where we have not had a genuine star in the team.

The FFA through the baby out with the bath water back in '04 and you can lay the blame squarely at them.

Ange has done a phenomenal job with a team consistently of second & third division standard players.

What against chile, netherlands and spain? Lol cmon. Ange is doing the business in asia with our worst talent pool ever. If he manages to extract anything more from this lot it would be a miracle.

Only that we werent playing a 3-4-3 we were playing a 3-2-4-1

Well for starters he has no decent fullbacks to choose from apart from Smith who else he can play as the fullbacks?
Also given how he likes to play a high offside line and protect the weakness in the fast counter attacks which the team often gets exposed for it makes sense to play an extra defender, and throw in that australia has more depth in the midfield area it would make sense to move across a back 3 with a midfield oriented team when in possession and have the width from the wingers.
No doubt there are tactical problems in this system but Ange is looking beyond these qualifying games, big picture thinking coach.

Hes just adjusting the team in order to fit into his style of play. Ideally he would have a decent right back and then he might stick to his 4-3-3 but he sees the team lacking in that department otherwise Ange isnt going to change style to fit his players he goes the opposite and create a system that benefit the players he has available.

Otherwise what other system he can play its not his fault that his wingers lack productivity and a midfield missing his best passer in Mooy and best creator in Rogic. 

Aside from saying that tell me waht strengths have the 3 at the back got that he is harnassing to play them as 3 at the back.  Lkewise for the midfielers who can't hold the ball.  Likewise the wingers who cannot put in a single ball to the striker?  Likewise the striker who hasn't had a shot that was remotely a chance of scoring?

Pleease.  He motivated them to 3 loss at he WC.  This Socceroos is playing some of the worst football we have ever played.    He is hell bent on fitting players o a system they cannot play.  The Italians play 3 at the back we are a Universe away from the way they play it.  Unless he improes they will have their arses handed to them by the Eropeans, Sth Americans and Africans

Ange has done extremely well maximising every single player in the talent pool, he has to work with one of the weakest gens in a very long time the criticism has to be justified by the lack of quality players to choose from, that hasn't changed since the 2014 world cup not the coach.

Apart from Ryan, Sainsbury, Mooy and even Rogic that's it...he working in the bare bones of australia's weak talent pool.
Hes doing the best and putting a system that would harness their strengths into his style of play, so huge kudos to Ange. 

Oh c'mon.  Look at the guys CV.

Slater put i best when he said the current socceroos under Postecoglou are what we get when we are happy with 3 losses at the WC.

He put Maty back as GK so he can stay 😇

If he wasn't at the helm we would already be out of contention, he just motivates them enough to get the job done and not lose, fast track this 4 years and it's highly likely all these away draws we have had would be losses. Worst generation of players aside...the results are about as good as you can possibly get with this lot and he is getting them.