Socceroos 2018 WCQ THREAD-v HONDURAS FOR SPOT IN RUSSIA (Dates TBC)

[ioppolo]

A lot of people obviously have never seen Thailand play.

They are a decent team and always tough at home.

They made it this far for a reason

 

[hey shorty]

A lot of people obviously have never seen Thailand play.

They are a decent team and always tough at home.

They made it this far for a reason

They were also bottom of the group and should've been beaten. Nevermind the fact we didn't score from open play and had to rely on spot kicks, the 2nd of which was soft as.

 

[dman800]

The clock is ticking, Ange.

 

[Tulip]

The clock is ticking, Ange.

Ange is the best coach in the country by a margin. He's presided over the best two sides in the 10 years of A-League history, and is getting fairly good results out of a collection of third and fourth rate regulars.

10 years ago we had Popovic, Neill, Vidmar and Moore at centre back. Now we have Sainsbury and Wright. The only regular we have that might have gotten a run in 2006 is Mooy.

Scapegoating Ange for bad results rather than identifying the talent vacuum at junior level would be a return to the bad old days before Guus taught us how to win.

This is coming from a junior football coach. In my first season, coaching under nines, I was teaching them things they ought to have learned four years earlier.

 

[ioppolo]

Is it just me or was Asia as a whole a lot stronger 10-15 years ago?

Japan, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and us were all well and truly stronger teams back then.

 

[hey shorty]

Is it just me or was Asia as a whole a lot stronger 10-15 years ago?

Japan, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and us were all well and truly stronger teams back then.

I reckon its a case of the gulf nations getting better and those countries you mention are lesser sides or at very most have held station.

The 06 Socceroo side would smack the current one off the park.

 

[XXRL]

Ange is the best coach in the country by a margin. He's presided over the best two sides in the 10 years of A-League history, and is getting fairly good results out of a collection of third and fourth rate regulars.

10 years ago we had Popovic, Neill, Vidmar and Moore at centre back. Now we have Sainsbury and Wright. The only regular we have that might have gotten a run in 2006 is Mooy.

Scapegoating Ange for bad results rather than identifying the talent vacuum at junior level would be a return to the bad old days before Guus taught us how to win.

This is coming from a junior football coach. In my first season, coaching under nines, I was teaching them things they ought to have learned four years earlier.

Absolutely agree.

Thoroughly recommend Ange's new book, State of the Game or something, co-written with Andy Harper. Hardly a challenging read, but still full of insight and passion - made me quite optimistic about Australian football actually.

He talks about youth development at the top level - instead of using excellent development coaches to produce players, we tend to use the position to teach rookie coaches. Ange himself was involved in the young socceroos setup for 7 years. He says it took him that long to be any good at it, and then he was fired.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Just had a quick look in here and some of the melts are extraordinary. Was at the game and it was impossible to walk let alone run in that humidity which was stifling. Some of you keyboard warriors and your sedentary lifestyles would have definitely had some issues. Disappointing yes but it seems the 2005 and onwards supporters are getting a little shirty.

 

[hey shorty]

Just had a quick look in here and some of the melts are extraordinary. Was at the game and it was impossible to walk let alone run in that humidity which was stifling. Some of you keyboard warriors and your sedentary lifestyles would have definitely had some issues. Disappointing yes but it seems the 2005 and onwards supporters are getting a little shirty.

They were bottom of the group for a reason, and we are supposedly one of the 'giants'. The draw came about due to 2 penalties and for large parts of the game we weren't good enough.

Sorry if that's your standard but it sure as hell shouldn't be.

 

[ioppolo]

Imagine if we pulled a China in the last round. BF soccer board might've collapsed.

 

[hey shorty]

Imagine if we pulled a China in the last round. BF soccer board might've collapsed.

Rightly so. I can accept not qualifying directly, although we should be doing so more often than not, but it wasn't so much the result last week as it was the performance.

 

[happy_eagle]

I think we should be more than able to criticise the Asian Champions for losing to a team ranked 146th in the world and whose last 3 games have been a 4-0 Loss to Iraq, a 3-1 Loss to the UAE and a 2-0 Loss to Japan.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

It's fair to criticise but there were mitigating circumstances that's all. There's also the dead king factor. It's hard to play away in this conference and especially at this stage and that seems lost on some.

 

[Zidane98]

I think we should be more than able to criticise the Asian Champions for losing to a team ranked 146th in the world and whose last 3 games have been a 4-0 Loss to Iraq, a 3-1 Loss to the UAE and a 2-0 Loss to Japan.

Iraq / UAE were away games. We'll absolutely thrash them at home.

Japan were lucky to get away with a 2-0 victory btw in their only other home game. Thailand are definitely a threat on home turf.

 

[hey shorty]

I think its not just the result, but the manner in which it was achieved. Granted we aren't the side we used to be, and conditions may have been tough, but we weren't 'at the races' at all.

 

[Greasyrhys]

Adelaide is officially hosting the Socceroos v Saudi Arabia match on June 8, got my ticket already

 

[Zidane98]

I think its not just the result, but the manner in which it was achieved. Granted we aren't the side we used to be, and conditions may have been tough, but we weren't 'at the races' at all.

Seen this before with some fans melting because of losing away to Jordan.

We ended up belting them at home.

 

[hey shorty]

Seen this before with some fans melting because of losing away to Jordan.

We ended up belting them at home.

In defence Jordan are a much better side.

I have no doubt we beat them at home however it doesn't change how disappointing the result was.

Also, good to see Adelaide getting THE crucial game. IMO that game decides whether we get automatic qualification.

 

[hey shorty]

Adelaide is officially hosting the Socceroos v Saudi Arabia match on June 8, got my ticket already

Got mine this arvo.

 

[Punchy Bassett]

Adelaide is officially hosting the Socceroos v Saudi Arabia match on June 8, got my ticket already

Yep my tickets are all sorted as well!

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Confirmed the game against Iraq will infact be played in Tehran.

 

[Satan]

Confirmed the game against Iraq will infact be played in Tehran.

Locals if they show up might support us lol

 

[nobbyiscool]

I'm half-expecting a monument of that campaigner Peter Hoare to be overshadowing the stadium in Tehran, "Christ the Redeemer" in Rio style.

 

[hey shorty]

Don't even.

As a 10yo kid who not long before watched his beloved Crows win their first flag, it was a reminder of how very cruel sport can be at times.

 

[Punchy Bassett]

Don't even.

As a 10yo kid who not long before watched his beloved Crows win their first flag, it was a reminder of how very cruel sport can be at times.

God I was 19 when that happened, I'm old