Too many strange decisions by Pim. Can't help but think there will be some interesting stories coming out in the wash once this campaign is over and Verbeek has departed for Morocco.


What do you think about the FourFourTwo article It's Now Or Never, Harry?
ANALYSIS: It's now or never for Harry Kewell at the 2010 World Cup.

Have your say.

It's not about Pim, it's about the fact Kewell is trading on past glories.
As Mike Cockerill so brilliantly wrote in the SMH today, Kewell today is about marketing rather than playing.
He hasn't played a really, really good game in years (and no, scoring goals in a weak Turkish league doesn't count).
The general media needs to get over the whol Kewell Thing.
It's in the past.
Fact is, Verbeek's a fraud. Carried on about how players had to be playing regularly and mostly in Europe. He then backflips on a large number of players who are either injured or haven't played in ages.
He does this because, in his mind, they were safe bets.
Fact is, there were fringe players who should have been brought on during his reign (Kilkenny being just one) but the stubborn Europhile has coached for himself, with no eye to our future.
The disaster isn't losing 0-4 to Germany, it's the fact we haven't rebuilt as we went along to reinvigorate and improve.
And for that, you can thank Verbeek.
The bloke isn't Hiddink's bootlaces: no vision, no inspiration and, now the pressure's really on, no clue.
Please, FFA: open the chequebook and get a special coach for the next campaign.
He has a big job in front of him.

Edited by Come eat your lunch, Tina!: 16/6/2010 07:51:28 AM

SC03, i agree fully. Im so interested to hear how the players have felt over the last few years. When they speak of Verbeek its only ever about his man management, nothing is every mentioned by them of his actually ability when it comes to football tactics. I feel some very interesting news will be released for FFA to hear.

That's ridiculous, it would have been stupid to bring HK on in the Germany game and risk injury. We were losing 2-0, down to 10 men and getting played all over. Now Ghana is a different matter, must win, no Cahill, surely he will start behind the striker in the Cahill role?

Lets hope the Germans haven't rattled us too much and we can play with a bit more haert and head and get the result we need.

Why was cahill played as a striker when he is an attacking midfielder. Also culina was out of position. These descisions just made no sense. How is this article written by an 'anlyst'. Any Aussie fan who knew barely anything about football couldve pointed out pims stupid decisions.

CEYL Tina - Spot on with a number of your comments there. I've never rated Verbeek and neither did any of the football talking heads when he was first talked about as a replacement I seem to recall.
The FFA need a huge kick in the arse also and maybe this is it. The thing is, it's not the Timmy Cahill show, nor is it the Harry Kewell show. We've got some bloody decent talent; enough to put a decent enough, competitive team on the pitch to win the next two games. I wouldn't mind betting the players will be telling him and Arnold who to put on the park and how to play them. I still wish them well.

My Post-WC Socceroos Starting 11

Federici
Carney
Williams
Spiranovic
Lowry
Wilkshere
Kilkenny
Valeri
Vidosic
Kennedy
Burns

Most of those blokes should have 2 future world cups in them before they fade like the current crop.. (Kennedy, Carney & Wilkshire aside

As foster said on sbs today, talk to the boys if there is a problem & they have lost faith then sack Pim now & lets get on with the next two games without this toss bag.

Imagine the look on Scott McDonalds face when he saw us playing a 442. Then imagine the look on his face when he saw we were plying Garcia up front, and the Ruka. I mean come on, whos more likley to score goals.

Scott Mcdonald was not selected because Pim played a lone striker formation. Why the hell does he change his mind all of a sudden and for two strikers. Scott Mcdonald would have played better if Pim did this all along.

Friggin loser

This quote made me laugh


But seriously, we took two strikers to SA and left the strong ball players and holders behind as they don't fit the lone striker game. Now Pim is changing things up you have to Question where his head's at?

I trhink if Harry doesn't play at least 45 Minutes Starting against Gahna Pim clearly brought him for the choice Gobbies he gives.
Even New Zealand are looking the goods comparitive to us. They may get dominated but they never give up.

Can the Same be said for Australia???

Seems obvious that HK wasnt subbed on due to the situation we were in, not much point putting him in to 10 man lineup when your 2 down already.

Thats probably the one thing Pim got right on the night....

Well NZ are playing Oceania-style football whereas Aus is trying to play a systematic controlled game. Easier to show flare and commitment when you're not bound by a rigid system

Absolute rubbish article, knee-jerk stuff. If there was 1 thing that could be said to have been done correctly that night, it was the handling of HK. I expect him to come on late in the first or early in the second half against ghana, after a bit of the pace has gone out of the game.

Edited by sugoibaka: 16/6/2010 09:30:49 AM

Tina,
You ruin your own argument when you suggest about Kewell playing in a 'weak' Turkish league, only to then suggest that Kilkenny should be there. Are you seriously saying that League 1 is superior to the Turkish League?

Verbeek is now faced with the prospect of playing attacking football for the first time since he took over the national team. The record of teams that have to change their style from a defensive approach to an attacking style is not good. It just doesnt happen overnight. Biggest mistake FFA made is not sacking this guy after we qualified. Verbeek may be good for Asia but when it comes to the world cup level he is out of his league.

What on earth is 'Oceania-style' football'? :-s

On the topic of Kewell: I'm not of the opinion that he is anything like he used to be. He is not a player who will single handedly destroy our opposition. However, he DOES still have value, and he is far from being useless.

I would like to see him start against Ghana. Havn't got much to lose really

Edited by imnofreak: 16/6/2010 10:49:01 AM

I would describe it as a fairly free-flowing movement without trying to hold possession or keep any particular strict pattern. Its more about launching attacks than playing to control games.
Sorry, it was a term i coined to describe the NZ play (and stole a bit from the commentator last night)

Actually we don't HAVE to win both games. A win against Ghana and a draw against Serbia, provided Germany wins all its remaining games would be sufficient. 4 points like last WC. We HAVE to beat Ghana, though, and as the last two matches are played simultaneously you couldn't just sit back and hope for a Germany win.

I'm not sure about the mentality of the Germans. They might want to send a clear message by blowing away everyone in the group or they might choose to rest players for the next round. Also, whether the fact that an African nation stands the chance of getting through to the next round with a draw against them plays into the minds of the Germans, I don't know.

So bottomline: Must play to win both but in the end a win and a draw might be sufficient.

You have to assume HK is being held back because there is a real possibility that might pull up lame again after 15mins on the pitch.....like usual.

Verbeek got it worng!
Thing is you cant take soo many injured players to a world cup. Kewell, Kennedy, Bresciano, Emerton to name a few are carrying knocks and will be all tournament, then R Williams was picked in the squad but the extent of the injury was too much so he shouldnt have been considered. Look at other teams, they picked fit players not based on reputation.

Next coach that comes in has to do a hard job and remove dead wood, ie Moore, Chipperfield, schwarzer (another keeper needs a chance to prove himself), grella, culina, and maybe even kewell. We need to develop over the next few years a team capable of challenging in the future, so it may take a couple of years of frustrating results, but we will be better for it in the long run. Blood the youth and honour players who are playing, cut the favourtisim out of the squad, that involves no G Arnold and his years of dealings and politics and a foreign coach not yet affiated to the FFA.

Totally agree. To me, it looks like Pim has lost some faith in JK. Why would he use Ruka instead of Josh? Especially when chasing a result. You'd think that he'd put his number 1 (of 2) striker in there to get a goal...

maroccs, your 1st paragraph i can agree with.

But

your second is an incoherent rant that has no valid points

basically what i was trying to say is, bring in a new coach, who hasnt worked with FFA before. Bring new ideas, game plans, tactics and rebuild a squad capable of achieving successful results at competitions like asain cup, world cup etc. Remove older players from the current squad like chipperfield, grella, schwarzer, culina, kewell and so on and give young players a go. If we keep playing old players the younger generation wont improve and wont be ready when given there opportunities.

It's Now Or Never, Harry! ...If it was up to Pim it would be more like... Never!, oh wait a sec, it is up to Pim!!! SHIT!

@tina - 1) the turkish league is not weak, it is a solid but physical league with many good players and is rapidly improving with help from class players like kewell.
2) kewell scored a magnificent goal last year against french champions bordeaux in the europa league. he also put in great displays against very good european teams both last year and this year. he is still a hugely talented, influential, and valuable player, and should not be left on the bench.
3) kewell is a leader and can motivate the team. he is the most experienced player in the side in terms of big game experience (plays in europe regularly, 3 champions league semi finals, 2 finals, uefa cup semi final etc)

yeah. he definitely shouldnt be there... what a joke

31 and is a veteran?

he is pure class... robbed by injuries

he has to play or be in the squad

well his formation did not make sense at the start of the game, up until the red card, but i do understand that being down 2-0, you really dont want to risk injury prone players, especially against Germany. but being that we were already 2-0 down, and the red card was given, everyone crumbled away, and Germany took advantage of it.

I just sincerely hope they go out there hard against Ghana and earn some dignity and respect back. But they must be warned that they shouldn't use the offside trap, as Ghana is a much quicker team than Germany, and we will be outpaced.

I mean we knew that possibility of losing against germany was there, but at the most should have stopped at 2-0, just like we did against brazil, not 4-0.

and regarding ghana...they are not going down. they are placed second right now, and are not going to let the opportunity of going into the R.O.16...especially being that they are in Africa afterall.

We are certainly in a better position now than Serbia. I can't really see Serbia winning against Germany.

If we win against Ghana by more than 2 goals then Serbia loses to Germany, Ghana then loses to Germany by more than 2 goals and we draw against Serbia would be enough to get us through to the next round.

This is very similar to 2007 Asian cup group stage where we were 2nd because of a goal difference

As Pim got his ass handed to him using the 442 system, he will replace Timmy with his favourite superstar son Holman, & will use Jesus as lone striker, with Harry off the bench... surprise surprise!! That Pim's f@*ked idea of going for it! Wake me up when the players tell Pim to Piss off, rumours are hot that 3 boys... vinnie harry & brsec already think his lost the plot.