There is now a graph showing the records of all Australian coaches with tenures of more than 10 matches on Stattoz. There is a sequel article, part 2, to the Pim Verbeek article written before, using the statistical records as a point of reference.
Thank you again, Jon, for writing a detailed, composed and unbiased view of his tenure. It's not going to be widely praised, I imagine, but when those who are too stubborn to see past their bias are posting these kinds of comments... ... Well, need I say more?
My thoughts: - I was really impressed by the way Pim handled our WC qualifying campaign, it was a really hard slog that we'd never attempted before and he guided us through comfortably despite the obstacles. He deserves a lot of credit for this, and by corollary it is disappointing* how quickly and readily his critics did and will write it all off for being too cautious and boring. - That said, he made enemies far too readily over the A-League, where his inattention and discouragement probably did contribute to a poor start to the ACQs. Once he'd alienated the locals in this way his headlines were never going to recover. - As well his critics on this while possibly a little sensitive were vindicated. NZ showed that with training camps and friendlies A-League players could retain fitness and condition - Pim's stated barriers to WC selection which he himself flagrantly ignored by selecting the likes of Moore, Kewell, Bresciano, Emerton. This willingness to cast aside players like Colosimo, Bosnar, Nathan Burns while keeping faith with the likes Grella and Moore recalls the worst of Graham Arnold's tenure and Pim may well have fallen victim to his assistant's prejudices in this case. - Finally, I believe his success with the Euro-based squad and conservative formation in WCQs got to his head and (possibly compounded by the flack he got over ignoring certain players) blinded him to the need for a plan B and variety in the squad. What had served him well in qualification wasn't going to cut it at the big dance and by the time he realised it it was too late. This is the only explanation I can find for what he did in the Germany game, which was an unmitigated disaster and ultimately cost us the campaign. - Australia owes a lot to Pim Verbeek, but the fact that he was subject to idiotic criticism shouldn't blind people to his own failings as a coach. *I'm being polite here. Other words spring to mind...
This was where Pim succeeded. He may, actually, he probably will be THE most successful qualification coach for Australia, ever. The record we achieved was outstanding over a range of places, temperatures, injuries & preparation. What he achieved in the actual World Cup, especially the first game, was where he blemished his reputation. I'll use blemished as '********ed up' gets censored.
Could you even say the other two games blemished his reputation? Surely it would only be the one game that could be in contention for doing that.
I think the other two games were more about the players wanting to prove a point, more than Verbeek being a great coach!
his comments about the A-League may not have made him likeable, but apart from during the WC about Ruka etc, they don't really have anything to do with his managerial qualities. The lack of Plan B was his downfall in my eyes. He was a good technician, but had no imagination, a good logical thinker about the game perhaps, but had no creativity. Comparing him to what I do, he was like a "good" engineer, that can do everything well, as long as it was by the book he learnt from, but "great" engineers think outside the square, adjust to the situations they are in, and rewrite the book. This is where Hiddink, for example, was great compared to Verbeek merely being good.
The thing is, he sorta did have a plan B, which looked like: ---------------Kennedy/Ruka Chippers---Holman--Cahill---Emmo ---------------Culina/Valeri Carney--Beauchamp--Neill---Wilkshire but he just didn't trust the likes of Carney, Beauchamp, Valeri and Ruka to put it into play. Fundamentally he rated the experience and technique of the Old Guard over the energy of their successors and while that was the right call in qualification it wasn't for the comp itself.
Pim Verbeek was a very successful coach. Without him, Australia wouldn't even have participate in the World Cup in South Africa.