Australia Friendlies Match Threads [R]

Thanks. Let's hope he is fit for the World Cup. I've a feeling our defenders will get a workout and with short rotation times between games we will need some depth.

 

I wasn't putting Harry in my World Cup calculations. Hopefully he will be fully fit for the Asian Cup. A world cup after what he has gone through at that stage of recovery may just be asking too much.

 

Interesting about strikers. We may have a diverse group but we don't have one that puts fear into the opposition. I think we rely more on constant pressure to get goals rather than a piece of brilliant play by a striker. This works well against the tier 2 Asian sides but not so much against top quality opposition which we will be seeing in the world cup. Any goals will be hard earned I think, and much more likely to come from penalties, set plays and defensive errors rather than beautiful football. Young strikers just don't get the opportunities to play regularly at A league level these days compared to the old NSL days.

 

A 1-0 win. Despite the brilliance of Mabil's goal and him doing some other very good things in attack (particularly his switches of play and some good angled long passes) I'm not sold on him. He seems lost in defence and makes a few errors. I'm not sure the current structure suits us entirely as we lack a good number 9 to make it work. maybe a 4-4-2 would suit us better. Our wingers are good but we don't have the player to impose himself in the middle. Mitchell Duke probably comes closest which underlines the issue. I think if Leckie gets match fit he replaces Mabil in this setup. Sainsbury is starting to make a few mistakes at the back and is getting towards the end of his time as a starter I think. The midfield is solid. A midfield diamond may suit us with Mooy in a holding role, Hrustic and Irvine in the centre and Rogic up front of the diamond. These guys can also rotate around to confuse the defence a bit. Not sure about who should play up front. Too late to experiment much anyway. If we had a 4-4-2 I would give Boyle one spot up front and take your pick for the other. If we stick to 4-3-3 then the 3 midfielders from last night start, Boyle and Leckie wide front men and Duke as the main striker. Hopefully Kye Rowles is match fit by the world cup. Maybe parner him with Baily Wright. The 2 fullbacks from last night are probably our No 1 fullbacks. There, I've picked a team for Arnold with 2 different formations. Probably only two of us read this thread still though.

 

Ordinary 1st half performance, better in the second half. Brosque and Djite going on about how Duke got better service than the pair used in that spot on thursday but I think the guys on thursday never presented themselves as a target and aren't suited to this formation. Duke's first touch isn't always great but he presents himself as a target and is more likely to get or create a goal than anyone else if we play 4-3-3 with one central striker and 2 wide men. Surprised Langerak didn't get game time but maybe Arnold already has him pegged as the No 2 and didn't need to see more of him. Deng was solid. Tillio looked off his game. King and Atkinson looked good enough to be solid backups for the pair in Brisbane. Not overly impressed with the 3 starting in midfield. They won't be picked ahead of the 3 who started on thursday or Rogic if he comes back in.

 

Langerak didn't quit international football?

 

He did during covid (as did Leckie) but has come back now that he can travel without quarantining. He sat on the bench for these matches.

 

Back from a week away. We also agree on a lot of things, but I guess former players who were only ever fringe national team players like other guys who are fringe national team players. We have the same goalkeepers, essentially the same defence but I don't think Harry will be fit and Sainsbury will hold his spot. I have a first 4 in midfielders (Mooy, Hrustic, Irvine and Rogic) and will leave recent form to pick the others. I wouldn't give any of the others game time unless players were injured. Duke is a must if Arnolds sticks with the one central striker and two wingers formation. The others look lost in this system, and indeed I think our best wingers (Boyle, Leckie, Mabil) could also play in midfield better than any back up midfielders we take. I think Tommy is mistaken in his selections up front because of this. I think we should move to a 4-4-2 myself, possibly using a diamond formation in attack and a more traditional formation in defence. Our other strikers may play a bit better with a partner, but to be honest none of them will strike fear into the defence of any of our opposition. Don't really care who goes in midfield and attack apart from those I've named. Take a mixture of experienced journeymen and young kids with potential to fill the rest of the places. If they have a scottish accent they will probably be more easily understood.

 

Unfortunately Australia are among the weakest sides at this World Cup.

I ranked them 31st in my grade list. Check outout my entire grade list via the following link:

#Post 1509

https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/2022-fifa-world-cup-friendly-matches.2120177/page-61#post-40847034

 

Arnold names basically the world cup squad (minus injuries and retirements) for the 2 friendlies against Ecuador. The Sydney game will be the first Australian match I've attended since the Honduras playoff, with 2022 world cup ruining my run of attending at least one world cup qualifier each cycle starting with the South Korea game in 1973. Added to the squad is youngster Alex Robertson who despite potentially being the first 3rd generation socceroo seems eligible to play for teams on 3 different continents if he desires. An appearance here this time doesn't cap tie him as its just a friendly and I believe he is still eligible to play for England, Scotland and Peru if newspaper reports are correct. Adelaide's 17yo player Nestory Irankunda has also been added as a train on player who may get game time in the second match but I'm not sure what the difference between a train on player and a bench player is. I suspect that Arnold will play most of the first team in Sydney with others getting game time in Melbourne maybe allowing some senior players with club commitments and a lot of travel to get away slightly earlier.

 

WATCH: Graham Arnold's Socceroos v Ecuador Squad Announcement Press Conference | Socceroos

 

I'm a bit disappointed with this squad.
What's the point of calling up old players like Aziz Behich and Mitchell Duke who are already 32 years old?
I think that it would be more useful to call up players like Jamie Maclaren, Joel King, Lachlan Wales, Trent Buhagiar.

 

The main point is giving the squad who performed above expectations in Qatar the opportunity to play at least one more time in front of their home fans. There are 4 more windows before the Asian Cup to give others a chance. In any case this is the start of preparation for a tournament early next year, not for one over 3 years away. 32 year old players will only be 33 then and if still playing well will be a part of that squad.

 

There are positives to take out for Australia. I thought they played well. Australia have turned the tide since they beat the UAE and Peru in the playoffs.

 

I thought we played reasonably well but Argentina just have a little more class than us. I think if we don't have a bad run with injuries we are amongst the chances of winning the Asian Cup. I'll be disappointed if we don't make the semi finals. Our 3 friendlies this year have all been played with a competitive spirit. More like real football games rather than exhibition games. Our next one should be the same.