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World Cup Qualification Thread for 2026 - Socceroos/Asia

grazorblade said:
4 games out of 5 having no goal scorers is a real worry

Toure and iredale might help a little in the next window.
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Still seeing social media discussions that we have no options. I don't expect everyone to know Toure and Iredale let alone their form but there are a lot of people who just don't know.

They won't be silver bullets but they'll help the situation not to mention their future prospects.
 
JS96 said:
Still seeing social media discussions that we have no options. I don't expect everyone to know Toure and Iredale let alone their form but there are a lot of people who just don't know.

They won't be silver bullets but they'll help the situation not to mention their future prospects.
Click to expand...
Outside of this forum few follow osaussies.
A League reddit seems to have little knowledge of aussies abroad
 
I was there last night. My 28th time watching the Socceroos and the first for my son, which was cool.

Here's my very quick observations:
* We're dreadful in the front third, just bereft of any creativity to unlock defences and get shots on goal.
* In general terms, this is a very weak squad. It actually amazes me that we won 2 games at a WC just 2 years ago.
* Duke and Irvine offer us so very little and hold back the ability of this team.
* I used to be a Hrustic fan, but I think he's been incredibly poor of late. There's a reason he's a bench player for a Serie B club on the brink of the relegation zone.
* I was very sceptical of Vellupilay as a Socceroo, but he was our best player last night despite being on for such a short period (after being very impressive last window too). The only one offering us real quality in attack, taking the game on and breaking the lines.
* Gauci's stuffing around with the ball repeatedly is insufferable. Only a matter of time before he costs us a crucial goal due to losing possession if it continues. Would prefer to see Izzo in goals. Why replace Ryan with Gauci when neither are playing. Gauci is down to 3rd choice now at Villa.
* Why wait til the 90th minute to bring on Yengi? Way too late! And bringing on Behich as an impact sub is just as dubious. This is where we could have done with Irankunda or Arzani, for that exact situation.
* Borrello should be torn to shreds by Popa for not shooting when clean through on goals. Really inexcusable for a striker in that situation.
* Goodwin must start against Bahrain, and I'll be hoping very much that Balard does too (though not expecting it). A shame Vellupilay will miss.
 
I'm not saying just shoot it way over the bar but we keep holding it or taking touches. We shoot when we probably shouldn't.

A long shot but Irvine could've nudged it left to a free McGree who either shoots or passes to back post with Hrustic bearing down. You never know but Duke hitting the ball first time may get around the keeper and the same that Hrustic could've hit his shot first time.

Duke onto the O'Neill cross was the right idea but was blocked at point blank. A touch back to McGree or Irvine would've seen lots of space. That's the problem, you've got Irvine there. Not Luongo, Robertson or someone who can hit the target.
 
grazorblade said:
Outside of this forum few follow osaussies.
A League reddit seems to have little knowledge of aussies abroad
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I'm all for their massive love of their A League club but it's very insular not to mention the analysis is so biased based on club lines. I was duped into watching how good Caceres was only to realise it was Sydney fand talking him up. You'd think Borrello had a terrible game by the comments. Borrello did his job and the missed chance was frustrating. In hindsight he should have started over Hrustic.

They have high interest in the national team but don't know who's really out there. Other pages have regular thorough reports so the word is spreading.
 
verrelli said:
I was there last night. My 28th time watching the Socceroos and the first for my son, which was cool.

Here's my very quick observations:
* We're dreadful in the front third, just bereft of any creativity to unlock defences and get shots on goal.
* In general terms, this is a very weak squad. It actually amazes me that we won 2 games at a WC just 2 years ago.
* Duke and Irvine offer us so very little and hold back the ability of this team.
* I used to be a Hrustic fan, but I think he's been incredibly poor of late. There's a reason he's a bench player for a Serie B club on the brink of the relegation zone.
* I was very sceptical of Vellupilay as a Socceroo, but he was our best player last night despite being on for such a short period (after being very impressive last window too). The only one offering us real quality in attack, taking the game on and breaking the lines.
* Gauci's stuffing around with the ball repeatedly is insufferable. Only a matter of time before he costs us a crucial goal due to losing possession if it continues. Would prefer to see Izzo in goals. Why replace Ryan with Gauci when neither are playing. Gauci is down to 3rd choice now at Villa.
* Why wait til the 90th minute to bring on Yengi? Way too late! And bringing on Behich as an impact sub is just as dubious. This is where we could have done with Irankunda or Arzani, for that exact situation.
* Borrello should be torn to shreds by Popa for not shooting when clean through on goals. Really inexcusable for a striker in that situation.
* Goodwin must start against Bahrain, and I'll be hoping very much that Balard does too (though not expecting it). A shame Vellupilay will miss.
Click to expand...
I'll agree that Borrello needed to shoot. Had to be greedy there. Credit to Saud for getting back to block. He's not getting in at Roma so he needs to play elsewhere. How I wish we had him at right back.

The squad selections are horrible this window as we've left out man beaters and gone back to the old ways.

Popovic is hiding his time but if he can drop Ryan then surely Duke and Irvine aren't safe. Come Tuesday we'll have 4 months to go over and monitor things. It's not that Irvine shouldn't be in the squad but he shouldn't be starting.
 
Indonesia keeper miskicks to Japan and they make it 3:0.

Can see that our effective high press should be used to unsettle Indonesia in next game.

I fear Saudi will beat them but Indonesia will feel the game is more winnable.
 
4:0 Japan which is good to damage the goal difference of other teams. Our point there is good in the grand scheme of things but I'd have taken a win against Saudi over that.
 
verrelli said:
I was there last night. My 28th time watching the Socceroos and the first for my son, which was cool.

Here's my very quick observations:
* We're dreadful in the front third, just bereft of any creativity to unlock defences and get shots on goal.
* In general terms, this is a very weak squad. It actually amazes me that we won 2 games at a WC just 2 years ago.
* Duke and Irvine offer us so very little and hold back the ability of this team.
* I used to be a Hrustic fan, but I think he's been incredibly poor of late. There's a reason he's a bench player for a Serie B club on the brink of the relegation zone.
* I was very sceptical of Vellupilay as a Socceroo, but he was our best player last night despite being on for such a short period (after being very impressive last window too). The only one offering us real quality in attack, taking the game on and breaking the lines.
* Gauci's stuffing around with the ball repeatedly is insufferable. Only a matter of time before he costs us a crucial goal due to losing possession if it continues. Would prefer to see Izzo in goals. Why replace Ryan with Gauci when neither are playing. Gauci is down to 3rd choice now at Villa.
* Why wait til the 90th minute to bring on Yengi? Way too late! And bringing on Behich as an impact sub is just as dubious. This is where we could have done with Irankunda or Arzani, for that exact situation.
* Borrello should be torn to shreds by Popa for not shooting when clean through on goals. Really inexcusable for a striker in that situation.
* Goodwin must start against Bahrain, and I'll be hoping very much that Balard does too (though not expecting it). A shame Vellupilay will miss.
Click to expand...
Blame Popovic for changing the formation so that no-one knows what they're supposed to do
 
SocceroosFan said:
Gotta say, I'm really enjoying the constant bagging of Irvine & Duke - never gets old
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There's no doubting the effort but they're just not delivering. If we didn't have viable alternatives then it'd be accepted but we've got 3-4 in each position raring to go.
 
This Indonesian team might not be as good as we thought. I know it’s Japan but 4-0 at home doesn’t look that good considering all their new European players
 
Pasquali said:
This Indonesian team might not be as good as we thought. I know it’s Japan but 4-0 at home doesn’t look that good considering all their new European players
Click to expand...
Yeah their defence and general cohesion looked dodgy. Given how many new players have come in it's understandable they're not gelling as well as they'd like. We'll need Irankunda and others in March to get past their deep block.
 
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