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World Cup Qualification Thread for 2026 - Socceroos/Asia

Quicky said:
Need a poll. Will Okon have the Teague effect or the Brattan effect.
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I liked brattan on watching the replay and was critical of him live. Not sure about his work off the ball mind you but his first pass was very positive, very quick and often caused issues. Would need a couple of more views to be confident about his off the ball work (he got hooked at half time and hasn't played again so poppa was unhappy)
 
grazorblade said:
I liked brattan on watching the replay and was critical of him live. Not sure about his work off the ball mind you but his first pass was very positive, very quick and often caused issues. Would need a couple of more views to be confident about his off the ball work (he got hooked at half time and hasn't played again so poppa was unhappy)
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I thought Brattan was really poor when pressed.
 
huddo said:
Okon could be the next messi, the issue isn't if he can play, it's how did Popa and Okon's dad reach the conclusion a Portugal reserve peripheral player should be in the national squad.
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I agree - it would be fantastic if there was some honest transparency in the process - but we are never going to see that level of engagement anywhere in real life.

If you give reasons you invoke analysis and exposure for poor decisions. If you just give decisions 'based on judgement' you cannot actually argue against it because decisions made on judgement are always correct. Like you can't say "no, that is not your opinion".

Cunning bastards really.
 
RIMB said:
I agree - it would be fantastic if there was some honest transparency in the process - but we are never going to see that level of engagement anywhere in real life.

If you give reasons you invoke analysis and exposure for poor decisions. If you just give decisions 'based on judgement' you cannot actually argue against it because decisions made on judgement are always correct. Like you can't say "no, that is not your opinion".

Cunning bastards really.
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They are, and that's where a technical director needs to step in, with the backing of FA, and say (behind closed doors) "What the fuck is going on?".
 
Cunningstunt said:
This is my best guess about why players get hate (also known as why I have irrationally hated on players) in no particular order.
  1. Talent; particularly someone who has made it due to talents which are less obvious (ie glamour talents), off the ball runs, work rate, combination with teammates etc. Generally players who have made it through hard work getting the most out of every scrap of ability. Duke and Miller are the obvious current examples, I used to yell all sorts of abuse about Brett Holman for his first touch. The inverse is also true, so guys like Hrustic and Irankunda (Nick Carle was an earlier version) get a pass for gaping holes in their development because the glamour talents are their strengths.
  2. Age; 'what's the point if he is never going to the next world cup'. Leckie is there now, Lucas Neill got to this point. Anyone over 30 is a candidate.
  3. Lack of playing time; this generally applies to more talented guys who are selected because they are just better than the alternatives who are playing. Matt Ryan has had this at a few points, Robbie Kruse when he first moved to Germany was a favourite.
  4. Strikers; I think they are at particular risk of this. Goal scoring is the most important thing but also hard. We haven't had a standout since Viduka then Cahill. Guys with less ability will always have barren patches and people will want them out even if they bring a lot of other things to the table. 'They're in the team to score goals'. Maclaren, Taggart and Duke each bring different qualities but at international level are not good enough to regularly goal score, hence we have bounced between them. Scott Mcdonald was an earlier version of this.
  5. Incumbent burden; over the duration the guys who play a lot will have bad games, bad runs or the team will be losing. These will stick in the mind because everyone watches. The guy trying to get into the team doesn't have this, people might only see his Aleague form where he plays for a winning side, or read that he is playing every week in Europe with no idea about his form. If you have multiple guys of similar ability they can rotate through, have a bad game get dropped, do their time playing well for their club, get brought back in when they have done their time but are still essentially the same player. We have this with strikers and right back. Strain is the current push, he will probably come in, have a bad game and maybe Atkinson will be back up after he has 'played well for City'.
  6. 'Blocking' the inclusion of a young player with 'potential'. Fans love potential, what a player could become has almost no limits (read Moneyball for the best description of this). Behich with Bos, now maybe Gersbach (for some reason), Boyle (or anyone really) with Irankunda, Duke with anyone else, Lucas Neill with every defender in Aus at the time.
  7. No value on experience. FM/FIFA effect. You just pick the best guy, give the team the most stats and they win the match. The 75 caps don't increase his pace so aren't worth anything. If you pick a 'dream' socceroos side and it has less then 100 caps total. If you're playing against Saudi for a WC place in front of 100,000 screaming men, you want someone who has done this before.
  8. Punchable face - The Robbie Kruse rule. People hated him for no reason. Watching his early Aleague games, blokes cut him in half every match. There were a couple of season in Germany where he was the most fouled player in Europe.
There might be other reasons I haven't thought of. I think Behich ticks 1,2,5,6,7 (maybe 8?). Justified for a lot of hate. If he were also a striker who wasn't getting game time we could get him arrested.
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This list and the number 9 added on the other page need to be stickied somewhere. So many good points.

Kudos to you sir.
 
Cunningstunt said:
Maybe there should be a panel of ex socceroos, socceroo captains even, who could oversee him and pull him aside...

The selection criteria is Popa picks the guys he thinks well get him the result. That's it. That's the whole criteria. It's the same criteria for every manager ever.
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Having a technical director consulted in the selection process isn't a crazy idea. Most professional football organisation's have them. It ensure the direction of the coach is aligned to the organisation.

For Christ sake we are talking about nepotism, and cronyism, in what other workplace is this crap condoned?

Saying "the bloke is winning, so leave him alone" is such a ridiculous position in a professional organisation.

He has more to do than just the one criteria of wining games,for example, he has to also ensure he is blooding the correct players, to ensure the stability of the team over the long term. Kind of the point I'm getting at. Case and point, look how Tony left the Matildas.
 
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Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is set to award hosting rights for the two AFC play-off groups for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
 
grazorblade said:
Volpato liked socceroos latest instagram post...
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This guy will be playing state 2 and people will still be acting like he’s the next big thing

Not having a go, but he’s done nothing ever.

Not a chance in hell we should welcome him with open arms unless he goes out and does something and earns his right, or shows 100% for his country.
 
huddo said:
Having a technical director consulted in the selection process isn't a crazy idea. Most professional football organisation's have them. It ensure the direction of the coach is aligned to the organisation.

For Christ sake we are talking about nepotism, and cronyism, in what other workplace is this crap condoned?

Saying "the bloke is winning, so leave him alone" is such a ridiculous position in a professional organisation.

He has more to do than just the one criteria of wining games,for example, he has to also ensure he is blooding the correct players, to ensure the stability of the team over the long term. Kind of the point I'm getting at. Case and point, look how Tony left the Matildas.
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Sure, but I think he is objectively doing the things you say you want, probably more than any other recent Socceroos manager save Ange. You just don't like the guys he picks. This isn't the same.

I don't know if you are old enough to remember what it was like under Verbeek and Osieck but there was almost no regeneration of the squad over those eight years. The 2014 world cup ended up being tournament for blooding almost an entire squad as the GG had been clung onto up until the two 6-0 friendly defeats. Popa has brought in Teague, Velupillay, Matthews, Gauci as young guys who have started WCQ with Trewin, Stamatelopolous, Bos, Toure, Balard, Triantis, Okon being in the squads. Plus the older guys who had previously been overlooked getting an opportunity, Geria, Grant, Izzo etc and all the guys who had exposure at the training camp Milanovic, Esposito.

This is against the backdrop of every match requiring a result. This is not a Gustavson, Verbeek or Osieck situation. You would not have seen a single debutante under any of these managers.
 
tsf said:
This guy will be playing state 2 and people will still be acting like he’s the next big thing

Not having a go, but he’s done nothing ever.

Not a chance in hell we should welcome him with open arms unless he goes out and does something and earns his right, or shows 100% for his country.
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all that matters to anyone in bold......
One thing for sure had SerieA experience, Serie B (Ranked 19) 40 appearances and regained promotion sure is above SPL standards and where other of our Roos are and forget APL comparos obviously.
Don't think he's the next big thing but looks as if he's more consistant at a good level, next best tagged by most here is with Irakunda/Kuol/Nisbet etcetc and here we are. Shadows, fellas waiting to call the next big thing.
 
Cunningstunt said:
The selection criteria is Popa picks the guys he thinks well get him the result. That's it. That's the whole criteria. It's the same criteria for every manager ever.
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The problem in that is if the results are fine then there is no problem, but if results don’t go he’s way then it can back fire on the coach.

Also coaches come and go, that’s why you have a TD as Huddo says you need someone looking at the broader picture.
I also don’t think a coach should doing everything especially trying to convince duel nationals you need someone to talking to these players in the best interests of the FA and national team.

The main job for the coach is to get results and that’s it mostly judged on, I’m curious are you a fan of Popa as a coach? It’s fine if you showing some bias lol.
 
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Cunningstunt said:
Sure, but I think he is objectively doing the things you say you want, probably more than any other recent Socceroos manager save Ange. You just don't like the guys he picks. This isn't the same.

I don't know if you are old enough to remember what it was like under Verbeek and Osieck but there was almost no regeneration of the squad over those eight years. The 2014 world cup ended up being tournament for blooding almost an entire squad as the GG had been clung onto up until the two 6-0 friendly defeats. Popa has brought in Teague, Velupillay, Matthews, Gauci as young guys who have started WCQ with Trewin, Stamatelopolous, Bos, Toure, Balard, Triantis, Okon being in the squads. Plus the older guys who had previously been overlooked getting an opportunity, Geria, Grant, Izzo etc and all the guys who had exposure at the training camp Milanovic, Esposito.

This is against the backdrop of every match requiring a result. This is not a Gustavson, Verbeek or Osieck situation. You would not have seen a single debutante under any of these managers.
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we and the football world from our perspective have moved on since Pim Holger etc for yes they were given the directive qualify and the job is done and relied on proven trusted players for so long (OS based most) as do many other coachs might I add.
They didn't like using "locals" or introducing them because it was a huge unknown back then and from their outlook hardly rated any.
Comparing picking players now compared to 20odd yrs ago is a whole different outlook now and what Poppa has to work with/intel and disposal.
 
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