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World Cup Qualification Thread for 2026 - Socceroos/Asia

Nec got interviewed in a press conference so I'm guessing that could mean he'll start tomorrow?
 
RIMB said:
There are two aspects to this in my eyes.

First, is the assumption that someone who is not professionally trained has no value. An elitist principle that is as one-sided as the views of 'ignorant' supporters who do not understand the range and depth of issues impacting on a manager's tactics, strategies, formations and selections.

On this forum there are a lot of former players who have a true understanding of the game; who can see faults, flaws and weaknesses in a manager's thinking and application through the school of Bin Daren Dunnit. We have others who have observed football at all levels through supporting, playing and officiating who also have unprofessional views that have a foundation in experience and understanding of the game.

The absence of a piece of paper and professional training does not render opinions invalid or less worthy - and opinions that suggest a level of inequality could almost see someone being targeted by harassment and unfair negative attention for the expression of that opinion.

The greatest failing I find in myself these days is the focus on the minutia during games. I tirelessly run the ball with every play, personally compete in every challenge we make and have the vision of an eagle in every moment watching the screen - seeing danger and screaming in my head for someone to shut it down. It is hard to simply watch a game and let it flow over me which is a little bit of an entertainment loss - but worse it creates an unfair system in my head for rating individual players in games and an unrealistic expectation of perfection in every moment. Combine that with a system that limits the attacking chances and the players who limit those chances (Behich for example) or fail to capitalise on them in front of goals (Duke for example) are thrust into the spotlight of my perspective.

The greatest positive about a forum like this is it allows me to have the benefit of many brains and eyes which do not see things the same way as I do. I have learned plenty participating in this forum - and perhaps the most important side product is observing that the merits of an argument have everything to do with the 'facts' and views presented and nothing to do with the occupation and qualifications of the person giving them.

That is not aimed at you specifically - it is a genuine confirmation for me that every genuine (not trolled) opinion is worth considering.

The second aspect is about Popa.

When you play a system of 7 defensive players and 3 attacking players you have to get the right players in the 3 to make your system produce. You are also relying on the 7 not to make mistakes because it only takes one poor defender to allow one great attacker to beat you. Popa wins games by having a resilient defence and trusting in the 3 to score - he did a similar thing to win the Asian Champions League.

It is very easy, and I would argue relevant, for an untrained and paperless supporter to be hypercritical of a manager whose selections only seem to support the back end of the field and the defensive side of his methods at the expense of the vital 3 attacking players. Duke is exactly that case - selected for his hounding abilities and limiting our creative attacking play to 2 players only. It is a weakness in Popa that deserves discussion and fair criticism to me.

TLDR:
A London taxi driver without training professional football qualifications who has followed football for years has the right to be correct and to be hypercritical of a manager when they can see weaknesses in the manager's methods.

Popa requires 3 good attacking players to be truly successful and often sacrifices one or more of them to be more effective without possession. This is a flaw deserving heavy criticism in our national team setup.
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Stellar post mi amigo .... well said.

from a London taxi driver :)
 
It's my first post here but I have been lurking on this forum from 442 for many years and as a supporter of the game who doesn't have too much experience or technical knowledge I find it a great source of information and appreciate all the posts from those more knowledgeable than myself.
I just wanted to weigh in on this whole coach discussion. While I can't analyse a game or understand the intricate details like someone like Decentric can I don't think that is what is important at the moment. At the end of the day I think we need to take a step back and realise that football doesn't really matter and the only reason it does have relevance is that people like us enjoy it and find it entertaining. That being said, throughout the Arnie era (and certain other previous coaches) during our time in the AFC I have struggled to be excited about games. Many of the last games under Arnold I was struggling to stay awake as the football being played was so dreary and when Popovic was announced as the replacement I knew it would be more of the same. To his credit Popovic has been getting results and the team is slightly more watchable but he is still very conservative.
My critique of Popovic and Arnie has nothing to do with a technical analysis of his coaching, selection or gameplan but that they don't give us anything to get excited about.
Most Australian, non football fan's critique of the sport is that it is too boring and FA seems intent to validate their criticism with their selections. The sport will never grow in this country if things stay this way.
 
CG90 said:
It's my first post here but I have been lurking on this forum from 442 for many years and as a supporter of the game who doesn't have too much experience or technical knowledge I find it a great source of information and appreciate all the posts from those more knowledgeable than myself.
I just wanted to weigh in on this whole coach discussion. While I can't analyse a game or understand the intricate details like someone like Decentric can I don't think that is what is important at the moment. At the end of the day I think we need to take a step back and realise that football doesn't really matter and the only reason it does have relevance is that people like us enjoy it and find it entertaining. That being said, throughout the Arnie era (and certain other previous coaches) during our time in the AFC I have struggled to be excited about games. Many of the last games under Arnold I was struggling to stay awake as the football being played was so dreary and when Popovic was announced as the replacement I knew it would be more of the same. To his credit Popovic has been getting results and the team is slightly more watchable but he is still very conservative.
My critique of Popovic and Arnie has nothing to do with a technical analysis of his coaching, selection or gameplan but that they don't give us anything to get excited about.
Most Australian, non football fan's critique of the sport is that it is too boring and FA seems intent to validate their criticism with their selections. The sport will never grow in this country if things stay this way.
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Great first post CG.... Don't let the KNVB fascists make you feel excluded... everyone who has an interest in this game of ours has the right to an opinion .. we ARE the intended audience after all...
 
JS96 said:
Duke said he's feeling more motivated after the drop.
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So he should. Perhaps he suit Popa's style of play more than Arnie's. I've never been able to understand his selection and now with Popa's tenure firmly in place I think other options up front would suit us better.
 
CG90 said:
It's my first post here but I have been lurking on this forum from 442 for many years and as a supporter of the game who doesn't have too much experience or technical knowledge I find it a great source of information and appreciate all the posts from those more knowledgeable than myself.
I just wanted to weigh in on this whole coach discussion. While I can't analyse a game or understand the intricate details like someone like Decentric can I don't think that is what is important at the moment. At the end of the day I think we need to take a step back and realise that football doesn't really matter and the only reason it does have relevance is that people like us enjoy it and find it entertaining. That being said, throughout the Arnie era (and certain other previous coaches) during our time in the AFC I have struggled to be excited about games. Many of the last games under Arnold I was struggling to stay awake as the football being played was so dreary and when Popovic was announced as the replacement I knew it would be more of the same. To his credit Popovic has been getting results and the team is slightly more watchable but he is still very conservative.
My critique of Popovic and Arnie has nothing to do with a technical analysis of his coaching, selection or gameplan but that they don't give us anything to get excited about.
Most Australian, non football fan's critique of the sport is that it is too boring and FA seems intent to validate their criticism with their selections. The sport will never grow in this country if things stay this way.
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Welcome to the forum please use paragraphs it's easier to read
 
CG90 said:
It's my first post here but I have been lurking on this forum from 442 for many years and as a supporter of the game who doesn't have too much experience or technical knowledge I find it a great source of information and appreciate all the posts from those more knowledgeable than myself.
I just wanted to weigh in on this whole coach discussion. While I can't analyse a game or understand the intricate details like someone like Decentric can I don't think that is what is important at the moment. At the end of the day I think we need to take a step back and realise that football doesn't really matter and the only reason it does have relevance is that people like us enjoy it and find it entertaining. That being said, throughout the Arnie era (and certain other previous coaches) during our time in the AFC I have struggled to be excited about games. Many of the last games under Arnold I was struggling to stay awake as the football being played was so dreary and when Popovic was announced as the replacement I knew it would be more of the same. To his credit Popovic has been getting results and the team is slightly more watchable but he is still very conservative.
My critique of Popovic and Arnie has nothing to do with a technical analysis of his coaching, selection or gameplan but that they don't give us anything to get excited about.
Most Australian, non football fan's critique of the sport is that it is too boring and FA seems intent to validate their criticism with their selections. The sport will never grow in this country if things stay this way.
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Welcome. Keep posting.
RIMB said:
Bin Daren Dunnit
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I love this. Very clever.
 
Decentric said:
I don't.

I think he is one of the most gifted natural footballers Aus have ever had.
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I will acknowledge that he's been unlucky with injuries and that he's very decent at club level but he's never been able to find his groove with the national team ( except for 2018 ) under both Arnie and Popa. Gotta produce, Goodwin was panned for going to Saudi Arabia to top up his super however he dropped some on a dime the other night. Development isn't an existential concept but something that has to be noticed and Arzani just hasn't been so far. Popa need to work him into counter attacks personally as he can pick a pass when he wants to.
 
CG90 said:
Many of the last games under Arnold I was struggling to stay awake as the football being played was so dreary and when Popovic was announced as the replacement I knew it would be more of the same. To his credit Popovic has been getting results and the team is slightly more watchable but he is still very conservative.
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Food for thought your post. This sort of thing has come up previously when Pim Verbeek was coach and the style of qualifying process. I'm sort of getting flashbacks to that era in that if Popa and the boys win on Tuesday night then it will be a case of well it might not have been pretty ( we did get 5 goals the other night ;) ) but we qualified without the sudden death aspect. I've always maintained that in a difficult confed such as Asia in terms of teams, weather, travel and recovery over the course of two years or so and not much time together than qualifying is the objective here and results are paramount. Arnie didn't set the world on fire either during qualifying but we had our best World Cup ever last time. Proof is in the pudding. Whilst I get that sometimes it frustrating to watch look at the bigger picture, qualifying is huge. Popa brings a certain conservatism and patience and stability at the back which is what he likes. Even he admitted the other night that things could have been better and that was after a 5 goal to one win. I'm tired of these sudden death knockout matches to qualify. For once I just want quiet boring qualification.
 
erogenouszone said:
Food for thought your post. This sort of thing has come up previously when Pim Verbeek was coach and the style of qualifying process. I'm sort of getting flashbacks to that era in that if Popa and the boys win on Tuesday night then it will be a case of well it might not have been pretty ( we did get 5 goals the other night ;) ) but we qualified without the sudden death aspect. I've always maintained that in a difficult confed such as Asia in terms of teams, weather, travel and recovery over the course of two years or so and not much time together than qualifying is the objective here and results are paramount. Arnie didn't set the world on fire either during qualifying but we had our best World Cup ever last time. Proof is in the pudding. Whilst I get that sometimes it frustrating to watch look at the bigger picture, qualifying is huge. Popa brings a certain conservatism and patience and stability at the back which is what he likes. Even he admitted the other night that things could have been better and that was after a 5 goal to one win. I'm tired of these sudden death knockout matches to qualify. For once I just want quiet boring qualification.
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yep I'm you about the sudden death quali games but tbh I feel its been years most games we are up against it.......
Lets not forget the last 2 Cup runs have been on record as longest routes.
Poopa is very similar to Arnie despite the formation style chnage part due to our playing stocks and normally struggle to score goals.
Arnie relyed on counters as does Poppa. (excl Indo game)
I get defense is best form of attack as long as you score more than not when the chance's created.
Will be curious viewing coming game.

RIMB, rippa post mate and spot on !
I'm with you and wouldn't be alone re Behich, I'm sure his back pass stats must be superb in numbers - at least 1 game doesn't change his DNA :)
Duke, gawd lets see how the train wreck goes this game.
I was happily proved wrong the Indo game by the end result - scored some goals, went our way re attack and hitting the net but overall we lacked control considering the result.

Welcome aboard CG90.
 
RIMB said:
There are two aspects to this in my eyes.

First, is the assumption that someone who is not professionally trained has no value. An elitist principle that is as one-sided as the views of 'ignorant' supporters who do not understand the range and depth of issues impacting on a manager's tactics, strategies, formations and selections.

On this forum there are a lot of former players who have a true understanding of the game; who can see faults, flaws and weaknesses in a manager's thinking and application through the school of Bin Daren Dunnit. We have others who have observed football at all levels through supporting, playing and officiating who also have unprofessional views that have a foundation in experience and understanding of the game.

The absence of a piece of paper and professional training does not render opinions invalid or less worthy - and opinions that suggest a level of inequality could almost see someone being targeted by harassment and unfair negative attention for the expression of that opinion.
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In a lot of cases the manager can see all the faults and weaknesses on the field, and is sometimes caused by the players not doing what they are being told to do.
 
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