Socceroos World Cup Qualifiers Third Round - Australia V Oman/Japan

[juss]

In our group? We have the most goals. Comfortably too.

We've played the s**t teams though.

 

[katana]

lol at anyone complaining about the result. what a joke soccer football has become in this country.

 

[corbies]

We've played the sh*t teams though.

One of those teams beat Japan in Japan without conceding. We put 3 past them playing in Qatar.

 

[giggler99]

Our attack is more concerning.

Has been since the Viduka days, Only been masked by Kewell and Cahill. We should be producing big strong athletic strikers by now but we don’t and haven’t and its a real concern.

 

[ep2018]

lol at anyone complaining about the result. what a joke soccer football has become in this country.

Not our fault our top athletes rather play AFL or NRL. For example imagine Nat Fyfe playing soccer? He'd be one of the world's best players.

 

[ep2018]

Saudi Arabia will take one of the WC spots you'd think, especially as we'll be playing them in the middle east as a 'home' game. That second spot will obviously come down to us and Japan. Gut feeling is Japan will get their s**t together and we'll finish the qualification rounds poorly, especially if we are forced to continually play home games overseas. We qualified last time around finishing third in our group and thankfully the US s**t the bed in their qualification otherwise we'd have been knocked out, not sure we'll find ourselves so lucky this time around.

 

[FreoRicci]

Saudi Arabia will take one of the WC spots you'd think, especially as we'll be playing them in the middle east as a 'home' game. That second spot will obviously come down to us and Japan. Gut feeling is Japan will get their sh*t together and we'll finish the qualification rounds poorly, especially if we are forced to continually play home games overseas. We qualified last time around finishing third in our group and thankfully the US sh*t the bed in their qualification otherwise we'd have been knocked out, not sure we'll find ourselves so lucky this time around.

We continue to get those ‘home’ legs in Doha, it’ll be mentally draining for the players. Plus the weather in November will be awful. Definitely need that boost at home. Especially against Saudis and Japan. Could tell the intensity and freedom Japan had tonight playing in front of their home crowd. Aussies looked lethargic and overwhelmed at times.
Saudi Arabia in Doha would be a mental win for Saudis, that’s for sure

 

[lewdogs]

Are you watching the same team I am? We are one of the least creative/dangerous sides going forward in the group. Our strikers are nobodies for club or country.

We scored a goal and could have easily had one or two more. The problem was our calamitous defending.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

We scored a goal and could have easily had one or two more. The problem was our calamitous defending.

Plus the midfield and attack

 

[Minka Beaver]

I watched both the Oman and Japan games. I thought Australia looked ok considering the talent we have - that is to say a combination of past their prime, in mothballs, or only there because the FFA got desperate and naturalised every random that they could (although Martin Boyle can actually play). We're one of the nations most affected by closed borders as it means we're limited in who can make it into the Socceroos bubble and all our 'home' games are currently held on neutral sites.

I don't think Graham Arnold is doing too badly considering those limitations. He'd want to have a proper striker (McLaren) and it's clear from his midfield adjustments that he's not happy with the talent available. Boyle and Taggart link up well, but their effectiveness is limited by us constantly losing possession just inside the attacking half.

Japan's pace and technique was clearly superior last night. Their coach is a bit like Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

47

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

though: picks talented pensioners, doesn't have a gameplan and can't get the job done away from home. He even leaves the young guns like Kyogo Furuhashi out to ensure the veterans can play. They should be ahead of Australia but are at very real risk of finishing third.

Ultimately the 2014, 2018 and 2022 World Cup campaigns are revealing major limitations: that we're a decent side by AFC levels (where no one is challenging the main four or five nations), but (Melbourne City's program aside) we're hampered by privatised/poorly structured junior pathways, changes to European labour laws and foreigner caps in major East Asian leagues, and little interest/investment in maintaining strong U17/20/23 sides.

 

[giggler99]

Match highlights against Japan from the Socceroos website.

WATCH: Socceroos' win streak ends after late Japan strike

Australia’s win streak dating back to June 2019 has ended in Japan with a 2-1 defeat to the Samurai Blue at the Saitama Stadium on Tuesday night (AEDT). Despite a spirited fightback from the Socceroos, an early goal from Ao Tanaka and an own goal with five minutes remaining was enough to sink...

www.socceroos.com.au

 

[Zidane98]

If we could unearth a defence we'd be bloody good.

It's 4 players ffs how hard can it be?

Soutar is fine, absolutely solid as a rock.


Sainsbury has wasted his career chasing money in China which set him backwards massively only for that money to disappear. By the time he returned to Europe he had gone backwards and is now playing in Israel which isn't good enough for our first XI players. If he isn't good enough for Europe I expect him to be playing A League shortly.

 

[Zidane98]

Degenek missed due covid also. I think Degenek / Soutar is a pretty strong CB combo.

Its the fullbacks that are the concern.

At LB I would like to see Gersbach given a go. Behich has had enougj opportunities now. He isn't up to it.

At RB IMO we should stick with Grant until Qatar 2022.

 

[corbies]

Soutar is fine, absolutely solid as a rock.


Sainsbury has wasted his career chasing money in China which set him backwards massively only for that money to disappear. By the time he returned to Europe he had gone backwards and is now playing in Israel which isn't good enough for our first XI players. If he isn't good enough for Europe I expect him to be playing A League shortly.

Sainsbury plays in Belgium.

 

[SarahSmiles]

 

[Minka Beaver]

Soutar is fine, absolutely solid as a rock.


Sainsbury has wasted his career chasing money in China which set him backwards massively only for that money to disappear. By the time he returned to Europe he had gone backwards and is now playing in Israel which isn't good enough for our first XI players. If he isn't good enough for Europe I expect him to be playing A League shortly.

Sainsbury is playing every week for Kortrijk. His best career move though is being Graham Arnold's son-in-law.

 

[Zidane98]

Sainsbury is playing every week for Kortrijk. His best career move though is being Graham Arnold's son-in-law.

The move to Israel did hurt his career. Just like the China move.


Playing for a small club every week in Belgium really isn't cutting it IMO.


Degenek is miles better.

 

[Minka Beaver]

The move to Israel did hurt his career. Just like the China move.


Playing for a small club every week in Belgium really isn't cutting it IMO.


Degenek is miles better.

China was definitely the watershed move but he was making poor decisions/given poor advice before then.

He has a UK passport (through his parents) and really should have been using that to greater effect early in his career. When he was 21 he was undertaking trials at Bolton and Southampton, but he admitted that his laid-back attitude didn't translate well to those environments.

 

[Zidane98]

China was definitely the watershed move but he was making poor decisions/given poor advice before then.

He has a UK passport (through his parents) and really should have been using that to greater effect early in his career. When he was 21 he was undertaking trials at Bolton and Southampton, but he admitted that his laid-back attitude didn't translate well to those environments.

He was absolutely killing it at Zwolle and had European clubs chasing him. I believe PSV wanted him (he eventually went there after being loaned from his Chinese club) too and would have been first choice there. He was in demand after 2015 Asian Cup.

I guess it's not too late to turn it around at 29 but really his potential was so much higher then a small club in Belgium. The defending for that 2nd goal was that bad I actually thought the Japanese player had to be a couple of yards offside he had that much space.

 

[Minka Beaver]

He was absolutely killing it at Zwolle and had European clubs chasing him. I believe PSV wanted him (he eventually went there after being loaned from his Chinese club) too and would have been first choice there. He was in demand after 2015 Asian Cup.

I guess it's not too late to turn it around at 29 but really his potential was so much higher then a small club in Belgium. The defending for that 2nd goal was that bad I actually thought the Japanese player had to be a couple of yards offside he had that much space.

It's too late sadly. Not even second-tier clubs in 'Big 5' nations will risk signing a man about to turn 30 who has never played a minute in a top-5 UEFA league. His misplaced passes were really noticeable in both games over the past week.

Degenek however may still be able to make the switch - although he's culturally acclimatised and playing regular Champions League football.

 

[Zidane98]

It's too late sadly. Not even second-tier clubs in 'Big 5' nations will risk signing a man about to turn 30 who has never played a minute in a top-5 UEFA league. His misplaced passes were really noticeable in both games over the past week.

Degenek however may still be able to make the switch - although he's culturally acclimatised and playing regular Champions League football.

Degenek is just fine where he is playing regular European football at a big club. He also chased the money in Saudi Arabia and thankfully got out of there pretty quickly (a theme amongst this generation of players).

Moves to the likes of the championship, big clubs in Holland and maybe Bundesliga would be the only career improvements he could look at realistically.

 

[Minka Beaver]

Degenek is just fine where he is playing regular European football at a big club. He also chased the money in Saudi Arabia and thankfully got out of there pretty quickly (a theme amongst this generation of players).

Moves to the likes of the championship, big clubs in Holland and maybe Bundesliga would be the only career improvements he could look at realistically.

Yeah, he's happy as long as Red Star keep making Champions League group stages.

I don't think the money is the only reason the current generation have been heading to the Gulf - the labour pool in Europe with a 27-nation EU and a post-Brexit UK makes the switch far harder if you don't have access through family to a second passport, while China (amongst others) has instituted strict foreigner quotas. We're realistically also now seeing the consequence of those missing years of FFA pathway development.

 

[corbies]

It's too late sadly. Not even second-tier clubs in 'Big 5' nations will risk signing a man about to turn 30 who has never played a minute in a top-5 UEFA league. His misplaced passes were really noticeable in both games over the past week.

Degenek however may still be able to make the switch - although he's culturally acclimatised and playing regular Champions League football.

Technically he did play 20 minutes for Inter Milan in Serie A.