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World Cup Qualification Thread for 2026 - Socceroos/Asia

Monoethnic Social Club said:
No mate, I dont agree with this... (I mean yes sure about Salah, is a phenomenal player) but about the spread of talent... You mentioned Greece's golden generation who pretty much ALL played in Europe for the big 5 leagues mind you, in and before 2004, now its special to have two Greek players in EPL and a handful in Portugal....

Ever since the 3 foreigners rule was stopped in (late 80s or early 90s) by UEFA comps and domestically there have been players from all over the world in the big 5 leagues... If anything more so 20 years ago than now.... Look at Real and Barce 30 years ago for example.... spot the Spaniard.
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I think we have to agree to disagree yet again. You only look at the top teams, look at Brighton, Notts Forest, Wolves, spot the British.
I have to laugh at a handful of Portuguese
GK José Sá England Wolverhampton Wanderers
DF Rúben Dias 14 May 1997 (age 27) 64 3 England Manchester City
DF Nélson Semedo England Wolverhampton Wanderers
DF Nuno Mendes France Paris Saint-Germain the guy who spent hours trying to get Salah out of his back pocket.
DF Diogo Dalot England Manchester United
DF Renato Veiga Italy Juventus
DF Nuno Tavares Italy Lazio
MF Bernardo Silva England Manchester City
MF Bruno Fernandes England Manchester United
M MF João Palhinha Germany Bayern Munich
MF Vitinha France Paris Saint-Germain
MF João Neves France Paris Saint-Germain
FW Diogo Jota England Liverpool
FW João Félix Italy Milan
FW Rafael Leão Italy Milan
FW Gonçalo Ramos France Paris Saint-Germain
FW Pedro Neto England Chelsea
FW Francisco Conceição Italy Juventus
 
Robbos said:
I think we have to agree to disagree yet again. You only look at the top teams, look at Brighton, Notts Forest, Wolves, spot the British.
I have to laugh at a handful of Portuguese
GK José Sá England Wolverhampton Wanderers
DF Rúben Dias 14 May 1997 (age 27) 64 3 England Manchester City
DF Nélson Semedo England Wolverhampton Wanderers
DF Nuno Mendes France Paris Saint-Germain the guy who spent hours trying to get Salah out of his back pocket.
DF Diogo Dalot England Manchester United
DF Renato Veiga Italy Juventus
DF Nuno Tavares Italy Lazio
MF Bernardo Silva England Manchester City
MF Bruno Fernandes England Manchester United
M MF João Palhinha Germany Bayern Munich
MF Vitinha France Paris Saint-Germain
MF João Neves France Paris Saint-Germain
FW Diogo Jota England Liverpool
FW João Félix Italy Milan
FW Rafael Leão Italy Milan
FW Gonçalo Ramos France Paris Saint-Germain
FW Pedro Neto England Chelsea
FW Francisco Conceição Italy Juventus
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Hahahaha no buddy, you are always to quick to jump down my throat .. There are heaps of Portuguese players in England and big 5 Euro clubs ....... and there were 20 years ago too.
What I meant was that NOW in 2025 Greece considers itself lucky to have a couple of Greek players in Portugal - Vlahodimos and Pavlidis (how good is Pavlidis.. I know your not a Benfica fan but he is a goal machine) .

20 years ago Greece had Fysas, Karagounis, Katsouranis, Seitaridis and later Mitroglou just in Portugal...

What Im saying is that there where more Greek players playing abroad in higher leagues two decades ago. than there are today... Therefore you could make the claim that Greek players were more "global" in the past ... does that make sense?

Just using Greek players as 1 example here btw ,, same apies to Ukraine, Czech, many Africans etc etc.
 
Hillbilly55 said:
I find it amusing that no-one has compared Irvine to Yedinak. Both had/has similar poor touch, yet managed to captain teams in a top 5 league and ostensibly both are/were one of the first picks for the coach each week in their club teams. And the funniest thing of all is that none bag Yedinak though acknowledging his shortcomings.
I suspect our performances would be less if not for the qualities that Irvine brings to the team.
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I had Jedi in my mind whilst posting earlier for yes they both have played similar roles incl having the armband.
Both the touch of B grade players
Both giving ball away with woeful pass’s.
Though I find you could rely on Jedi more than Irvine.
Also was pretty good putting away pens in key moments.
Jedi had more physicality as well than Irvine what isn’t amusing that we’re lacking now more than ever till these wonder kids appear Im led to believe :)
 
Hillbilly55 said:
I find it amusing that no-one has compared Irvine to Yedinak. Both had/has similar poor touch, yet managed to captain teams in a top 5 league and ostensibly both are/were one of the first picks for the coach each week in their club teams. And the funniest thing of all is that none bag Yedinak though acknowledging his shortcomings.
I suspect our performances would be less if not for the qualities that Irvine brings to the team.
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I hadn't considered this before and I agree with your point.

I think the thing that separates the two is that Jedinak was world class at breaking up play. He read the play and intercepted so well. The other is that Jedinak had multiple EPL seasons while Irvine has one Bundesliga season.

If Irvine keeps St Pauli up and keeps on playing in the Bundesliga I reckon the comparison gets pretty compelling.
 
Quicky said:
I hadn't considered this before and I agree with your point.

I think the thing that separates the two is that Jedinak was world class at breaking up play. He read the play and intercepted so well. The other is that Jedinak had multiple EPL seasons while Irvine has one Bundesliga season.

If Irvine keeps St Pauli up and keeps on playing in the Bundesliga I reckon the comparison gets pretty compelling.
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Jedinak is a commanding leader, a huge presence & world class at breaking up play plus also a world class penalty taker.
Irvine is also a very strong leader, but a box to box player, he does a lot of work up & down that field.
 
Irvine has never really been a DM, he has been put back there due to his physicality and ability to win duels. In my opinion his best role was always a box to box 8 or 10 making late runs into the box and getting on crosses - he went on a great scoring run with Burton doing this. Is he going to be able to do that in this system? its alot of running.

Jedi was at his best next to a baller like Mooy/Bresc where he could break up play, and play an easily ball.
 
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Quicky said:
I hadn't considered this before and I agree with your point.

I think the thing that separates the two is that Jedinak was world class at breaking up play. He read the play and intercepted so well. The other is that Jedinak had multiple EPL seasons while Irvine has one Bundesliga season.

If Irvine keeps St Pauli up and keeps on playing in the Bundesliga I reckon the comparison gets pretty compelling.
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Comparison playing in epl to bundas is already steps above period.
St Pauli staying up he just one cog of the squad no more no less.
Jedi would eat Irvine for breakfast despite both having their faults.
His positives mobility - Irvine can hardly gallop, jedis reading, intercepts outweigh Irvine and would show game to game comparo.
Robbos summed it up well I also mentioned his pen takes.
Irvine is there for there hasn’t been anyone younger that can fill requirements well enough to risk more than not - that’s our issue why so many of the past to present still get a Roo caps long in their careers, thems the facts.
 
tsf said:
Well, nisbet hasn’t done much for a year. But we should pick him because apparently he wiped the floor with a sub standard team a year ago?

MV would’ve conceded a lot more etc if it wasn’t for Teague.

Also, why your looking up stats - you can also check to see if in those games Teague was wearing the gloves because the way you are ranting it sounds like you think he’s the one conceding goals.

I like nisbet, but he’s gone backward and Teague has gone forwards.
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Nisbet out grew the league, he's now in Scotland to advance himself. This is a question of if Teague is better then Nisbet, the stats don't lie.

As a DM your key role is Defence, if you can't achieve it even with 11 other players behind the ball, how can you say he'd be a decent Defensive mid.

Teagues team has gone forward from 3rd to 5th on the table, whilst Nisbet has assisted in keeping a religation team out of a relegation battle in a better league.
 
Quicky said:
Teague is a good player and the selection is not without merit. I would have gone with other players myself but that doesn't make Teague a poor player. I think what sets him a part from some of our other midfielders in the deep lying role is his technique and passing. I'd put him in the group with Luongo, Nieuwenhof and Triantis as DM's who can also progress the ball forward.
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I know you're a Victory supporter but to put Teague alongside Triantis ... and even Nieuwenhof?

They are two of the very best players in the SPL right now (some say Triantis is THE best player in the SPL) and while none of us think much of the SPL as a technical league it is far beyond the AL in terms of pace (we play in summer) but especially the pressure of media scrutiny and fan expectation. Not every good AL player survives in Scotland but those who do tend to be the very best. Viduka, Moore, Vidmar, Rogic, Mooy... I'd also add MacDonald to that list as I reckon he was under-rated and mistreated by Verbeek.

Triantis will be playing for Sunderland next season, either in the EPL or as a top contender in the Championship. He was very good in his one season at CCM but he has grown far beyond where he was. Prepare to be blown away by his commanding debut for Oz.

Or if he doesn't play, prepare to hear Popa booed until my throat is totally raw.
 
Someone pointed out that Indonesia have a higher transfermarkt value than our squad

Of course we are missing some expensive players, but it's a good reminder of the task before us with them naturalizing half the netherlands
 
Hillbilly55 said:
I find it amusing that no-one has compared Irvine to Yedinak. Both had/has similar poor touch, yet managed to captain teams in a top 5 league and ostensibly both are/were one of the first picks for the coach each week in their club teams. And the funniest thing of all is that none bag Yedinak though acknowledging his shortcomings.
I suspect our performances would be less if not for the qualities that Irvine brings to the team.
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I suspect your point is (kinda) fair enough.

It's just that for all his poor touch, Jedinak won every ball in the air and defended like a demon. Must've been truly inspirational to play with and never missed a penalty (I believe) in his entire professional career.

Irvine has scored some important goals but his touch is dreadful - constantly puts the Socceroos back under pressure from broken play - and the reality is he seems to play far better for St P than he does for Oz.

Jedinak dragged Crystal Palace into the EPL from a second tier far tougher than Germany's and led their survival. Here's a para from Wikipedia:

On 28 October 2014, Jedinak was named the fifth-best player in Europe, the best midfielder in Europe and the best player in the Premier League after the first three months of the 2014–15 season by the website Oulala Fantasy Football based on Opta performance statistics, an accolade he brushed off as reported by Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_Jedinak#cite_note-SBS_Mile_Jedinak_Oulala-12"><span>[</span>12<span>]</span></a> On 30 November, he was named as Asian International Footballer of the Year. Jedinak's superb freekick in a 3–1 win over Liverpool in November 2014 was voted Goal of the Season at the 2015 Crystal Palace FC Awards night.

Prior to the 2016–17 Premier League season, the club announced that Jedinak had resigned the captaincy and that Scott Dann would succeed him.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_Jedinak#cite_note-13"><span>[</span>13<span>]</span></a>

So I guess he's just a tad more celebrated than Irvine.
 
Mr Cleansheets said:
I know you're a Victory supporter but to put Teague alongside Triantis ... and even Nieuwenhof?

They are two of the very best players in the SPL right now (some say Triantis is THE best player in the SPL) and while none of us think much of the SPL as a technical league it is far beyond the AL in terms of pace (we play in summer) but especially the pressure of media scrutiny and fan expectation. Not every good AL player survives in Scotland but those who do tend to be the very best. Viduka, Moore, Vidmar, Rogic, Mooy... I'd also add MacDonald to that list as I reckon he was under-rated and mistreated by Verbeek.

Triantis will be playing for Sunderland next season, either in the EPL or as a top contender in the Championship. He was very good in his one season at CCM but he has grown far beyond where he was. Prepare to be blown away by his commanding debut for Oz.

Or if he doesn't play, prepare to hear Popa booed until my throat is totally raw.
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I really think traintis will steal the headlines this window if he gets on the pitch he'll be star player for this decade
 
Mr Cleansheets said:
I know you're a Victory supporter but to put Teague alongside Triantis ... and even Nieuwenhof?

They are two of the very best players in the SPL right now (some say Triantis is THE best player in the SPL) and while none of us think much of the SPL as a technical league it is far beyond the AL in terms of pace (we play in summer) but especially the pressure of media scrutiny and fan expectation. Not every good AL player survives in Scotland but those who do tend to be the very best. Viduka, Moore, Vidmar, Rogic, Mooy... I'd also add MacDonald to that list as I reckon he was under-rated and mistreated by Verbeek.

Triantis will be playing for Sunderland next season, either in the EPL or as a top contender in the Championship. He was very good in his one season at CCM but he has grown far beyond where he was. Prepare to be blown away by his commanding debut for Oz.

Or if he doesn't play, prepare to hear Popa booed until my throat is totally raw.
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If what you read in my post was that Teague was the same quality you read me wrong.

All I was doing was comparing playing styles - ball progressing defensive midfielders - and why I think Popovic selected him.

I've said I wouldn't have selected Teague and that the squad more broadly is frustrating.
 
Quicky said:
If what you read in my post was that Teague was the same quality you read me wrong.

All I was doing was comparing playing styles - ball progressing defensive midfielders - and why I think Popovic selected him.

I've said I wouldn't have selected Teague and that the squad more broadly is frustrating.
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Sorry, misinterpreted you.
 
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