Socceroos / Matildas / World Cup / Asian Cup

[mightytiges]

The Socceroos have now dropped to third in the group after Thursday night's shocker against Iraq. Lucky to get away with a draw in the end. If we don't beat the UAE on Tuesday night at home then we open the door to missing out on even qualifying  .

Saudi Arabia  13 ... directly qualify for WC
Japan            13 ... directly qualify for WC
Australia        10 ... have to beat 3rd placed in other Asian group and then 4th placed Concacaf (North American) to qualify for WC.
UAE                9
Iraq                4
Thailand          1

[Francois Jackson]

Mt can you please put up the remaining games in round for Aussies, Japan and Saudi

If we win Tuesday that puts us equal second but do the others have a game in hand?

Could it be that ange's mind ain't on the job. A few of our players just haven't developed under him.

[Diocletian]

Postecoglou's way out of his depth at this level - a local coach was never going to be up to it.


Watch the A-League completely die in the arse if we don't qualify........

[tony_montana]

Two ignorant comments above

He's way out of his depth at this level but somehow managed to win an Asian Cup  20 years ago local coaches didn't have what it took, now they do.

Unfortunately it's a lack of talent, it's not up to Ange or any national manager  to 'develop' players, when we won the Asian cup that side was just theoretically entering its prime, but when players are moving to china and the Middle East for money over quality, the development and improvement will stall. Ange needs to grow a pair and stop picking players that stuff their careers up by leaving good leagues chasing the dollar. Example is Trent Sainsbury, that bloke has all the tools to be an elite defender in world football,  pace, reads the game well, good on the ball and strong in the air, he was dominating in holland in his early 20's then moved to China has stalled and if anything gone backwards the last few years, now loaned to Inter in serie A but hasn't seen any game time. Has made some stupid choices. Spiranovic same thing I think he's playing his trade in div 2 China? This is a guy that was starting in the bundesliga at 18! They are our 2 best defenders and both aren't being picked by Ange bc they're horribly out of form. Add to that a lack of quality at left and right back as well as a severe lack of talent in the central striker role and it really is no surprise that we're not firing.

We'll qualify I'm still confident of that but problems that were small a few years back bc you felt that in time we'd introduce new talent have suddenly escalated bc we're still lacking in those 3 positions without a real prospect in sight as well as the fact we now have a massive hole in the centre of defence.

Or you can just say the coach is way out of his league

[mightytiges]

Mt can you please put up the remaining games in round for Aussies, Japan and Saudi

If we win Tuesday that puts us equal second but do the others have a game in hand?

All three games are tomorrow night. You'd expect the Saudis and Japanese to win, so a win to us would keep us in 3rd spot in our group.

March 28     Aus vs UAE                   Japan vs Thailand        Saudi Arabia vs Iraq.
June 8-13    Aus vs Saudi Arabia      Thailand vs UAE           Iraq vs Japan
Aug 31        Japan vs Aus                Thailand vs Iraq           UAE vs Saudi Arabia     
Sep 5          Aus vs Thailand             Iraq vs UAE                Saudi Arabia vs Japan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%E2%80%93_AFC_Third_Round#Group_B

[tony_montana]

2-0 comfortable win but still need to improve.

The good:
We did look a lot better with Milligan in midfield, Sainsbury in defence and smith out wide over Kruse. Leckie still needs to learn how to play his position defensively but offensively, cant fault him. Irvine is a gun, has that innate ability to make late runs and score like Timmy used to do when he was a midfielder back in the day. Troisi added much needed spark in attack also.

From what i can see, Im thinking Jedinak is no longer in our best midfield. Milligan and Mooy are a better combination deep, Irvine and Rogic/Troisi in the more attacking roles. Jedinak and Luongo depth on the bench.

The bad:
Bailey Wright and Degenek are not NT quality players - Wright looks like he belongs in scotland, Sainsbury hasnt played a game in months and still made the other 2 look like provisional league players. For long periods it was just a boring game, the pitch or paddock for a more accurate description is an embarrassment to the game. Still dont like Leckie as our only wide player on the left, with a 3 man defence the wide players need to have good defensive nous, Leckie is a fwd and was caught out several times. 

Big game against the Saudis at home next, really should win that and all but sew up qualification.

[Francois Jackson]

I'd be more comfortable of our qualification if Iraq can pull off a win tonight.

If not even a win in June may not  get us into the top 2.

Lots to play out yet, esp if the samarui throw that last game against the Saudis given they have all but secured too spot

[Dougeytherichmondfan]

I'd be more comfortable of our qualification if Iraq can pull off a win tonight.

If not even a win in June may not  get us into the top 2.

Lots to play out yet, esp if the samarui throw that last game against the Saudis given they have all but secured too spot

Sauds won 1-0 

Frankly, if we can't qualify through this region we don't deserve a spot at the WC.

[tony_montana]

Agree dougey,

Let's not forget the Saudis and Japan would be looking at their own remaining games and thinking poo... FH the Saudis game is the big one, we win that we're through given we have Thailand at home in the final game.

[mightytiges]

We've also got to hope Japan beats the Saudis away otherwise we'll need to take points off the Japanese in Saitama.

[dwaino]

How the hell does Kruse keep getting selected. He is so far from best and Ange always makes a point of selecting on form yet this bloke isn't even contracted anywhere at the moment. Meanwhile Goodwin, Amini and Gersbach have been playing well while this bloke walks straight in.

[tony_montana]

How the hell does Kruse keep getting selected. He is so far from best and Ange always makes a point of selecting on form yet this bloke isn't even contracted anywhere at the moment. Meanwhile Goodwin, Amini and Gersbach have been playing well while this bloke walks straight in.

Yep not happy about that one and the first big misstep Ange has made, has gone back on his word on this one and really should know better. The only thing I can think of is that we're doing a long term servant a favour to try and give him some exposure so he can land a club. Still, doing that on the eve of one our most crucial world cup qualifiers in years doesn't seem right. Im purely speculating here and likely wrong, but geez having a player in the squad that cant find a club side sends the wrong message.

Goodwin deserved a run here

[dwaino]

I thought the same thing re: helping Kruse find a club. But the national team shouldn't be a charity.

Muscat and Ross Aloisi are on board with Ange I read. I love Muscy as a decorated Victory servant but I'm not sure how I feel about him having any sort of chance with the national team if that's what Ange's angle is. Not until he has had some better managing gigs anyway.

Kruse needs a team, Victory need a winger, I wonder what the chances of that would be for next season. Would be a total waste for him but his career overseas has been nothing but a flop due to injuries and struggling to regain his old form.

[tony_montana]

works for Troisi, he should come back and find some form if he cant land a decent gig in a decent league

[dwaino]

Mooy and Rogic firing at the same time would be as potent as almost anyone. Just need to find our next 10 year striker. Juric won't be it and Maclaren needs to be exposed to some better teams.