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

[2006_Eagles]

leckie; the most frustrating player to watch. ever.

Let me introduce you to Jack Darling

 

[Skeppersap]

Bos to take the reigns

Would be better. I would not be upset with him as coach. Would not put up with shit from the usual free pass players!

 

[Dockerjonz]

Bos to take the reigns

rack 'em up

 

[Shifty1]

You literally said Thailand's goal "didn't matter in the context of things".
In hindsight it doesn't because we scored, but if you seriously believe a draw is the same as a 1-0 win, you have no idea what you're talking about.

Yeah I don't think that so don't assume I do.

 

[GOALden Hawk]

That game reminded me a lot of Iran 1997. Complete dominance without completing the job. Juric even played the role of Aurelio Vidmar for the night.

The body language of Ange from the last two games suggests to me he is almost broken. We won't have time to parachute a Guus in this time. He had plenty of credits in the bank after Asian Cup but they expired tonight. The insistence on playing short out of the back is simply insane. Not even the top teams do it on every single occasion, let alone a nation as technically mediocre as us.

On the positives, Mooy was great, I thought Leckie was actually Ok, and Gerbasch a huge upgrade on Brad Smith (how did Smith start against Japan again?)

Big night ahead with the other group even tighter than ours.

 

[Speck]

This for truth, did they not consider that scenario before the game? It was madness, was half-expecting to see Matt Ryan come up for the final corner.

It just made no sense. I was pulling my hair out, we had to just cut our losses and accept it was now out of our hands.

 

[Total_Juddshanks]

That was utterly cringeworthy.

Yes we brutalised a minnow at home in general play, and yes we could have won by a few more with luck, but we also could have very easily been down 2-0 on the back of the blatant missed penalty.

More than the result, given the amount of opportunity, this was a day which established once and for all there is simply no replacement for Cahill in the current crop. Juric, Rogic and Troisi are all 'strikers' whose natural instinct is to hesitate until shut down and/or kick it into low orbit under any hint of pressure. If you had kept the rest of the teams the same and swapped our strikers for theirs, Australia would have won by about 15 goals.

Lol at channel 9 pumping this up as a good effort, this was a day when the socceroos established conclusively they don't deserve to go to the World Cup and it's more or less an exercise in futility if they get through, because against any halfway decent team which restricts opportunity, we are screwed. With Father Time finally catching up with Cahill we are a top 50 team with a set of strikers who wouldn't be in the top 150 in the world.

Like most people who've followed the Socceroos long term I'm exhausted with watching a team try to win with decade after decade of well drilled but by international standards slow, leadfooted strikers clunk balls into the stands, whilst most other international teams, including minnow sides like Thailand have at least one or two legit quicksilver players who are natural finishers.

In part its a result of other codes hoovering up the most physically gifted kid- in the long term Soccer Australia need to send scouts to every aboriginal community in the country, identify the quickest, most skilled prototype Hills, Jettas Riolis when they are still in their early teens and offer them scholarships and major incentives to switch to the round ball early on.

 

[FreoRicci]

It's on Ange.. what are we doing playing 3 at the back, when we don't have the players during qualification.. every county we run into are playing for their lives- because the ultimate reward is up for grabs- get into the WORLD CUP.
Instead we have a manager then thinks we're Spain. Guess what? That sort of football is over. Titta Tatta has died out. Spain playing with attacking, quick passes and skill. Look at them tear Italy a new one- the best team at defence.
Australia play better with the 4-3-3 or 4-4-2. So plain and simple.
Look at the back 3-
Bailey Wright: plays for Bristol City in the English League championship. He's not a quality defender. He can defend yes, but this system doesn't make him shine. He can't pass, he's slow.

Degenek: not his natural position. He is out of place, can't run up to do his wing back best. He's just apart of the system.

Sainsbury: not even playing regularly for the Chinese League! He's one of our natural best CB for a long long time. But he's forced to do more as a result of Bailey Wright's weaknesses.

Ange is deluded. Sure maybe in 10, 20, 30 years we MAY play the 3-4-3. But currently the players we have don't play enough, or play this style. Some are playing in the second tier of Germany, England. Some in Asia. They don't play that sort of game style in that leagues. It's farsighted to expect players to come into camp and play the football expected. It's not time for experimentation. Just qualify ffs, THEN tink around.

 

[Bumpswithagrin]

I don't have Foxtel, what did Bos say?

 

[scon]

Rack up a fatty Domingo, I don't want to be able to feel my face.

 

[Skeppersap]

What has amazed me is the pure delusion of coach and players alike in the aftermatch interviews.

Saying they played great, and blamed luck for them not netting 5 or 6! Unbelievable.

Have they forgotten that playing well involves crossing and shooting and hitting the target?

Very disappointing!

 

[kaiserchief13]

What has amazed me is the pure delusion of coach and players alike in the aftermatch interviews.

Saying they played great, and blamed luck for them not netting 5 or 6! Unbelievable.

Have they forgotten that playing well involves crossing and shooting and hitting the target?

Very disappointing!

We had possession though

 

[kozi]

Japan are Adelaide
Saudi's are West Coast
We are Melbourne

 

[i_hate_scams]

Holger Osieck wasnt so bad after all. not sure why we went full attack after the 1st goal. we needed to win by 3-4 goals to make it hard for the towelheads and it was never going to happen tonight.

 

[Tigersfan35]

Japan are Adelaide
Saudi's are West Coast
We are Melbourne

That's what I was thinking lol

 

[Korn]

NIPPON~ NIPPON~ NIPPONNNNNN

 

[Tigersfan35]

Got my alarm set to watch Japan Vs Saudi

 

[FreoRicci]

Holger Osieck wasnt so bad after all. not sure why we went full attack after the 1st goal. we needed to win by 3-4 goals to make it hard for the towelheads and it was never going to happen tonight.

Exactly. Fix the defence first then attack. We loss 6-0 against Germany, France.. when we played Brazil before Confeds cup? 4 nil loss. So no we haven't improved in that area

 

[Whiskers]

Terrible defensive efforts late 2-1 up and had to defend.
Amateur hour.
Also Japan isn't Australia or an AFL side, they don't tank. Saudi could buy most sides but not Japan. Japan may not win but they'll be trying.

 

[frank_frankson]

Terrible defensive efforts late 2-1 up and had to defend.
Amateur hour.
Also Japan isn't Australia or an AFL side, they don't tank. Saudi could buy most sides but not Japan. Japan may not win but they'll be trying.

Perhaps, but I dare say there will be a lot of pressure from their respective clubs to rest their better players.

 

[charcoalchicken]

Terrible defensive efforts late 2-1 up and had to defend.
Amateur hour.
Also Japan isn't Australia or an AFL side, they don't tank. Saudi could buy most sides but not Japan. Japan may not win but they'll be trying.

they'll put out the reserves and see what happens, it's a nothing game, saudi arabia have everything to play for.

 

[James_]

On the flip side we all get to understand the same hopeless feeling Dees supporters felt the other fortnight.

Not again. Please not again.

 

[darko]

Mooy ripped it up. What a star.

Was that a penalty at the start of the 2nd half? I was getting beers.

**** Melbourne traffic and **** Security. Took us 1.5 hours from Port Melbourne and took us half hour to get in.

 

[Kangapirate]

Holger Osieck wasnt so bad after all. not sure why we went full attack after the 1st goal. we needed to win by 3-4 goals to make it hard for the towelheads and it was never going to happen tonight.

Let's not over do it, we created more chances tonight in the 1st half than holgers last 3-4 games combined. We genuinely were unlucky tonight, some of the scramble defending and goal line clearances were ridiculous.

 

[gaskin]

Was that a penalty at the start of the 2nd half? I was getting beers.

100%. Lucky the ref was so far behind the play.