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World Cup Qualification Thread for 2026 - Socceroos/Asia

Just realized a lot of the players who seem out of favour are spfl players. Poppa might not rate the league.
Fair enough if true but we have some interesting players there in nisbet,hof rowles, triantis and stamma
Miller the obvious exception...
 
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...

It reminds me of Scotland at the Euros trying to fit Tierney and Robertson in the same team. If we go that way I hope it works out better for us. On face value it looks okay. For that formation.

Honestly I hope the 5-2-3 was just a short term piece of pragmatism. A tactic to right the ship aimed at getting that point at Japan (A). I want to see a different formation in the next window. Something with a back four and an opportunity for more midfielders.
 
I know the Australia v Japan qualifier was played last Tuesday, but I must I say the draw was a good result, because to be honest, I thought Japan was going to thrash Australia.

Poppa was a good appointment, he was a good A-League coach.
 
SR1968 said:
I know the Australia v Japan qualifier was played last Tuesday, but I must I say the draw was a good result, because to be honest, I thought Japan was going to thrash Australia.

Poppa was a good appointment, he was a good A-League coach.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum 🫡
 
I was just casually browsing the Saudi Bahrain first half and it didn't occur to me Saudi had a penalty saved in the first half. That happened against Indonesia too. They've let big chances go begging.

Really dodgy call for a pen. 13th min with penalty taken 6min later. Player sprints to ball and Bahrain dives from behind. Can hardly make out there's a clip with the angles and the Saudi player's pave and momentum sees his falling forward anyway.
 
JS96 said:
I was just casually browsing the Saudi Bahrain first half and it didn't occur to me Saudi had a penalty saved in the first half. That happened against Indonesia too. They've let big chances go begging.

Really dodgy call for a pen. 13th min with penalty taken 6min later. Player sprints to ball and Bahrain dives from behind. Can hardly make out there's a clip with the angles and the Saudi player's pave and momentum sees his falling forward anyway.
Click to expand...
They have amazing "luck" with penalties dont they?
 
grazorblade said:
Just realized a lot of the players who seem out of favour are spfl players. Poppa might not rate the league.
Fair enough if true but we have some interesting players there in nisbet,hof rowles, triantis and stamma
Miller the obvious exception...
Click to expand...
back on 442 I posted a article questioning about the SPL standard after Hoops got flogged in their CL 1-7 by Dortmund.
It was bringing up the SPL standard that I agree with.

As for your Poppa mention, I don't think any of our gaffas, GA now Poppa have much choice of high level richs my friend, its pick who you think can fit in and do the job or at least show they can and work with them.
I'd sooner more players you mention above could have got gigs in other euro leagues but thats up to the those scouts who they think are worthy of making an offer.
Hopefully Nisbet for eg gets noticed and moves up another level.
Triantis like to see get a better offer another.
 
grazorblade said:
Just realized a lot of the players who seem out of favour are spfl players. Poppa might not rate the league.
Fair enough if true but we have some interesting players there in nisbet,hof rowles, triantis and stamma
Miller the obvious exception...
Click to expand...
Odd if true... SPL may not be EPL but he's giving out of season Aleague players a go so I don't think actual league plays a role in his selection criteria ... well have to wait a few more matches to judge.. Next window is going to be telling.???
 
Monoethnic Social Club said:
Odd if true... SPL may not be EPL but he's giving out of season Aleague players a go so I don't think actual league plays a role in his selection criteria ... well have to wait a few more matches to judge.. Next window is going to be telling.???
Click to expand...
I recommend people watch the spl. The bottom 10 teams are roughly as good as league 1 and the a league. The difference is the spl is often more agricultural. Spfl is a bit better at cutting out space but technically it is a bit weaker than those other 2 leagues in my opinion. Of course individuals can do well for the nt coming from all three leagues....as u say will be interesting the next window
 
grazorblade said:
I recommend people watch the spl. The bottom 10 teams are roughly as good as league 1 and the a league. The difference is the spl is often more agricultural. Spfl is a bit better at cutting out space but technically it is a bit weaker than those other 2 leagues in my opinion. Of course individuals can do well for the nt coming from all three leagues....as u say will be interesting the next window
Click to expand...
Here's something I prepared earlier after talking with Lawrie McKinna about the AL and the SPL...

www.ftbl.com.au

Australia v Scotland: Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width!

Given the interest of Australians in how their favourite ex-players fare overseas and the number of ex-A Leaguers now playing in Scotland, there are quite a lot of Aussies now featuring on Scottish fan forums. This inevitably leads to arguments about the respective quality of the SPL and the A...
www.ftbl.com.au www.ftbl.com.au
 
We need to make a real statement against Saudi in Melbourne.

Burn a flag or some head-dress to let them know they are in enemy territory
 
I wonder if the Saudi squad will get club leave to get to Australia many days before like Bahrain did? You'd think their FA would do that. It worked for Bahrain. Add their antics and it won't be easy. We need an early goal to chip away at their confidence. They're more vulnerable this cycle and the frustrations of 3 winless home games are showing.
 
JS96 said:
I wonder if the Saudi squad will get club leave to get to Australia many days before like Bahrain did? You'd think their FA would do that. It worked for Bahrain. Add their antics and it won't be easy. We need an early goal to chip away at their confidence. They're more vulnerable this cycle and the frustrations of 3 winless home games are showing.
Click to expand...

I think we need to stop being so naive against ME teams. Don't show frustration to them or officials at time wasting. Do not invite yellows/penalties. We need to get on with it. When those tactics creep in we need to manage our tempo and maintain possession a bit. Hopefully we get east Asian refs who seem less biased.
 
Quicky said:
I think we need to stop being so naive against ME teams. Don't show frustration to them or officials at time wasting. Do not invite yellows/penalties. We need to get on with it. When those tactics creep in we need to manage our tempo and maintain possession a bit. Hopefully we get east Asian refs who seem less biased.
Click to expand...
Yeah just turn around and wait for their free kick. Captain and manager need to keep informing the ref. UAE ref against Bahrain so he buys the crap and they lose control very quickly. If we had that world class Uzbek ref or Korea/ Japan they'd be pulled into line.
 
Mr Cleansheets said:
Here's something I prepared earlier after talking with Lawrie McKinna about the AL and the SPL...

www.ftbl.com.au

Australia v Scotland: Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width!

Given the interest of Australians in how their favourite ex-players fare overseas and the number of ex-A Leaguers now playing in Scotland, there are quite a lot of Aussies now featuring on Scottish fan forums. This inevitably leads to arguments about the respective quality of the SPL and the A...
www.ftbl.com.au www.ftbl.com.au
Click to expand...
Nice read mate, as mentioned incl McKinna, very hard to compare apples with oranges.
Even the mention of touring sides here EPL SPL, the EPL sides sure are not going at full gas nor many start up players but a few.
They coast against our AL sides and probably have better finish's than say SPL touring sides.
I watch those games in frustration knowing its a mickey mouse $$ spin game so I don't think good comparisons as well.
Our guys go full on for its at home, they are playing against big name clubs many will never have the chance again.
I think off the top of my head only 2 mickey mouse games we could call as exciting/epic.
Galaxy with Beckham vs SFC at Homebush and All Stars vs Barca again at Homebush when Koul made a huge impact.

I'd sooner our players go elsewhere but as mentioned it sure is a baptism of fire for any up comer coming from cosy Oz and minimal games.

I tagged this article sometime back on the other forum.
www.theguardian.com

Celtic’s humiliation exposes the miserable state of Scottish football | Ewan Murray

Being streets ahead of all domestic competition but making up the numbers in the Champions League should be impetus for change
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

and re the scottish attitude towards our players, even brilliant ones ala Dukes/Moore/Rogic etc copped flak yep.
The way I see it they have produced many iconic players obviously departed their grounds to grace the disliked english.
Dalglish/Law/Souness/Bremner/Strachan/Robbo : to name a few that when they consider imports they have to be damn hot.
Only so few become legends to them but mock many many others, its a hard battle field to win them over though isn't that everywhere.
We have only so few who really became known globally in the game so lack of respect is not surprising..
 
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