moomba
TheBrownDog
From the Herald Sun http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,4645142%5E11088,00.html
I know there are cost issues but Les makes a fair point I reckon.
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Farina has wrong squad, says Murray
By JOHN MACK
05jul02
SOCCER guru Les Murray has urged Frank Farina to start planning his 2006 World Cup campaign as soon as possible.
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The SBS commentator said yesterday he did not think the Socceroo coach had taken the right squad to the Oceania Nations Cup, which starts in New Zealand today.
Farina selected only one overseas-based player to the tournament, Basle's Scott Chipperfield, and only a handful of his 18-man squad looks likely to figure in the 2006 World Cup campaign starting in September 2004.
"The squad has nothing to do with the future," Murray said yesterday.
"A national coach has to plan in four-year cycles and know what he wants down the track. I don't believe Farina has done this."
Of the 18 players in New Zealand, only Chipperfield and defenders Patrick Kisnorbo and Jade North are serious candidates for the next World Cup.
Marconi defender Angelo Costanzo is an outside chance.
Murray said having so many of Australia's players based in Europe made the Australian coaching job one of the hardest in world soccer. And he threw his support behind a feasibility study by Soccer Australia to base the national coach in Europe.
"It's a great idea and it has to be done," Murray said. "That's where the players are; that's where the coach should be.
"Instead of the players flying back to camp in the west of Sydney, it makes more sense for them to go to a camp near, say, London or Brussels."
Farina takes his team into the opening Oceania Nations Cup match against Vanuatu tomorrow knowing it is doubly important he succeed.
First, and more urgently, he knows winning the trophy gives Australia entry to the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup and at least a couple of million dollars in prizemoney which will help Soccer Australia through its desperate financial situation.
But it is also the first step in building a squad capable of qualifying for the next World Cup, to be held in Germany.
Murray feels Farina's 2006 squad should have an average age of 27 or 28.
"That was the average age of the four semi-finalists in the World Cup," he said.
Farina is likely to stick with about half the squad beaten by Uruguay in the play-off for the 2002 World Cup.
Older players likely to be jettisoned include defenders Tony Vidmar, Tony Popovic, Shaun Murphy and Steve Horvat.
Blackburn's Lucas Neill, Lindsay Wilson, recently transferred to Dutch giant PSV, and Kisnorbo look likely call-ups. Paul Okon is another set to miss as youngsters such as Marco Bresciano take bigger roles alongside Harry Kewell, Brett Emerton and Josip Skoko. Up front, Lille's Mile Sterjovski will step up alongside Mark Viduka.
I know there are cost issues but Les makes a fair point I reckon.
----------------------------------
Farina has wrong squad, says Murray
By JOHN MACK
05jul02
SOCCER guru Les Murray has urged Frank Farina to start planning his 2006 World Cup campaign as soon as possible.
ADVERTISEMENT
The SBS commentator said yesterday he did not think the Socceroo coach had taken the right squad to the Oceania Nations Cup, which starts in New Zealand today.
Farina selected only one overseas-based player to the tournament, Basle's Scott Chipperfield, and only a handful of his 18-man squad looks likely to figure in the 2006 World Cup campaign starting in September 2004.
"The squad has nothing to do with the future," Murray said yesterday.
"A national coach has to plan in four-year cycles and know what he wants down the track. I don't believe Farina has done this."
Of the 18 players in New Zealand, only Chipperfield and defenders Patrick Kisnorbo and Jade North are serious candidates for the next World Cup.
Marconi defender Angelo Costanzo is an outside chance.
Murray said having so many of Australia's players based in Europe made the Australian coaching job one of the hardest in world soccer. And he threw his support behind a feasibility study by Soccer Australia to base the national coach in Europe.
"It's a great idea and it has to be done," Murray said. "That's where the players are; that's where the coach should be.
"Instead of the players flying back to camp in the west of Sydney, it makes more sense for them to go to a camp near, say, London or Brussels."
Farina takes his team into the opening Oceania Nations Cup match against Vanuatu tomorrow knowing it is doubly important he succeed.
First, and more urgently, he knows winning the trophy gives Australia entry to the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup and at least a couple of million dollars in prizemoney which will help Soccer Australia through its desperate financial situation.
But it is also the first step in building a squad capable of qualifying for the next World Cup, to be held in Germany.
Murray feels Farina's 2006 squad should have an average age of 27 or 28.
"That was the average age of the four semi-finalists in the World Cup," he said.
Farina is likely to stick with about half the squad beaten by Uruguay in the play-off for the 2002 World Cup.
Older players likely to be jettisoned include defenders Tony Vidmar, Tony Popovic, Shaun Murphy and Steve Horvat.
Blackburn's Lucas Neill, Lindsay Wilson, recently transferred to Dutch giant PSV, and Kisnorbo look likely call-ups. Paul Okon is another set to miss as youngsters such as Marco Bresciano take bigger roles alongside Harry Kewell, Brett Emerton and Josip Skoko. Up front, Lille's Mile Sterjovski will step up alongside Mark Viduka.
