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World Cup Qualification Thread for 2026 - Socceroos/Asia

Must try and recruit as many as possible from Inside Sport who regularly post in this thread.
 
got to rewatch the 2nd half
Japan really struggled to generate many chances at all. It was a really good defensive performance. As I said before, little fouls that weren't called hurt our few avenues - either transition or winning aerial duels
 
grazorblade said:
got to rewatch the 2nd half
Japan really struggled to generate many chances at all. It was a really good defensive performance. As I said before, little fouls that weren't called hurt our few avenues - either transition or winning aerial duels
Click to expand...
Haven't got past 32 minutes yet, but recording all the stats, I'll bring here when I finish.

Some interesting observations though. Just can't get over how well Geria is playing!

I can't remember a CB at age 31 playing in the AL, playing so well in his second /third Socceroo cap. Geria has composure on the ball, good distancing between him and Souttar.

Good communication between him and Souttar, and other players. He times his tackles well, and knows when not to make them. He reads the game well, making good intercepts. Moreover, his defensive positioning is sound.

Maybe Ogger under Holger ( playing in the Korean league) did well in his first games, but Geria has had really tough match scenarios - and in Japan, the best ever team in Asia - away.
 
Brattan has copped fan wrath. He has been made a scapegoat. I thought he was uninvolved - watching live.

Yet in the replay I've seen really good Brattan qualities on the ball. He has been involved in some rapidfire passing and moving with Hrustic and McGree in confined space and time. It was very, very impressive - but - didn't occur anywhere near often enough.

LB has very fast feet and adjusts his body position very quickly before receiving the ball. Brattan has rapid handling speed - possibly the best Aus had on the pitch?

Of course Japan dominated the game up to this 32 min mark, and completely outclassed Aus. They had a lot more possession and played many more offensive balls into the pen box, than we played into their pen box.

The problem was Brattan wasn't on the ball enough. He didn't disturb enough Japanese build ups and break up enough attacks, or win enough 1v1s, usually because he was too slow to anticipate them, but for Melb City he was a good ball winner - if - he got to the contest.
 
I was a huge Arnie supporter.

However, he really got this selection wrong.

He selected Gethyn Jones as RB, who also has Welsh heritage, who I thought was mediocre, above a few other Aussie RBs. Arnie wanted his experience.

Popa selects Geria, who has played superbly as a Socceroo right wing back. ATM Geria is close to the best Socceroo! How did Arnie miss Geria's ability?

Right under his nose, Arnie missed Geria playing week in and week out in the A League.

Arnie played Circati out of position at RB, because he said he had no RBs who were fit. He could have played Geria - who is also infinitely more experienced than Jones. Geria is also a far better player at Socceroo level!
 
Decentric said:
I was a huge Arnie supporter.

However, he really got this selection wrong.

He selected Gethyn Jones as RB, who also has Welsh heritage, who I thought was mediocre, above a few other Aussie RBs. Arnie wanted his experience.

Popa selects Geria, who has played superbly as a Socceroo right wing back. ATM Geria is close to the best Socceroo! How did Arnie miss Geria's ability?

Right under his nose, Arnie missed Geria playing week in and week out in the A League.

Arnie played Circati out of position at RB, because he said he had no RBs who were fit. He could have played Geria - who is also infinitely more experienced than Jones. Geria is also a far better player at Socceroo level!
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it seems arnie valued leagues that are similar quality to the a league as good as the a league

for instance league 1 and the bottom 10 in the spl.
However, these leagues are roughly as good as the ereste divisie and probably the equal of the a league

To be fair he gave his rationale (the length of the season)
 
It'll be interesting to track who ever gets called up or not. I fear for Iredale and Mo Toure. Velupillay coming in and scoring nudged him ahead and good on him. I'm just concerned we're not using decent attacking options.

The game didn't permit but the Apo question continues.

Duke still tries but we've got to start getting ready with others.

It was good to see Behich at least holding the ball and playing forward. Arnold's instructions near the end were a killer.
 
It's quite comforting that Burgess can come in with just 1 cup game this season and play like that Japan away. If players can come in and do that Japan away then they'll be right in many other situations.

Watching previous Japan matches. Our attack on Tuesday was so broken. They pressed well but we lacked what Mooy could do and previous times Leckie, Juric, Mabil, Rogic and Taggart were just better with space and ball play.

We would've been better Tuesday with Robertson or others in midfield and Yazbek showed it right away. Brattan did one good over the top ball but he and Irvine are both dodgy with the ball.
 
Big game for souttar, despite the points deduction they are up for automatic promotion
 
JS96 said:
It'll be interesting to track who ever gets called up or not. I fear for Iredale and Mo Toure. Velupillay coming in and scoring nudged him ahead and good on him. I'm just concerned we're not using decent attacking options.

The game didn't permit but the Apo question continues.

Duke still tries but we've got to start getting ready with others.

It was good to see Behich at least holding the ball and playing forward. Arnold's instructions near the end were a killer.
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I feel like arnie was great at coaching transitions but popa sp far isnt quite as strong

In the last two games they are mid june, in theory he could have a really long camp right?
 
We havent had a striker with toures early career since aloisi

I just realised he is born 2004, i thought hw was born 2003! Even our better players dont get regular game time at this level at u21 usually, circati and volpato are the two exceptions. So he is in very elite territory by our standards
 
grazorblade said:
I feel like arnie was great at coaching transitions but popa sp far isnt quite as strong

In the last two games they are mid june, in theory he could have a really long camp right?
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Japan home is June 5. UCL final is 5 days before so most leagues finish 1-3 weeks before then.

That'll be a dead rubber for Japan but very likely count for us. I hope we can secure qualification in that game without the Saudi game mattering or Saudi would need a 4:0 home win to turn it around.
 
assuming toure continues to plays regularly here is the list for u21s who got 25+ games in a season in europe

Richard Johnson
Harry Kewell
Vida
Aloisi
Kilkenny
bresciano
Irvine
Gersbach
Yazbek
Volpato
Circati

It is pretty elite company....
 
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JS96 said:
It's quite comforting that Burgess can come in with just 1 cup game this season and play like that Japan away. If players can come in and do that Japan away then they'll be right in many other situations.

Watching previous Japan matches. Our attack on Tuesday was so broken. They pressed well but we lacked what Mooy could do and previous times Leckie, Juric, Mabil, Rogic and Taggart were just better with space and ball play.

We would've been better Tuesday with Robertson or others in midfield and Yazbek showed it right away. Brattan did one good over the top ball but he and Irvine are both dodgy with the ball.
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How far do we think Farrell is off coming in to replace Behich?
 
Herringbone said:
How far do we think Farrell is off coming in to replace Behich?
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum.

Good question?

Behich's experience is invaluable ATM.

On FTBL Forum one poster put up an interesting best eleven in Popa's current 3-4-3 with the ball - Ball Possession.

It went something like this?

.................................Gauci

..............Geria.........Souttar.......Farrell

Strain..........O'Neill..........Hof...........Bos

Irankunda.............Duke...........Goodwin

It is a way of playing both Farrell and Bos. I like the idea of having both in the current squad.

Behich could be a squad player too. He can't play left CB though.
 
grazorblade said:
We havent had a striker with toures early career since aloisi

I just realised he is born 2004, i thought hw was born 2003! Even our better players dont get regular game time at this level at u21 usually, circati and volpato are the two exceptions. So he is in very elite territory by our standards
Click to expand...
Good to know this!

Ta.
 
Decentric said:
Welcome to the forum.

Good question?

Behich's experience is invaluable ATM.

On FTBL Forum one poster put up an interesting best eleven in Popa's current 3-4-3 with the ball - Ball Possession.

It went something like this?

.................................Gauci

..............Geria.........Souttar.......Farrell

Strain..........O'Neill..........Hof...........Bos

Irankunda.............Duke...........Goodwin

It is a way of playing both Farrell and Bos. I like the idea of having both in the current squad.

Behich could be a squad player too. He can't play left CB though.
Click to expand...
Yeah I like that too. Definitely worth a look as LCB
 
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