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Socceroos vs Mexico/Switzerland - Pre-World Cup Friendlies 2026 🇦🇺🇲🇽🇨🇭

Pub League Champion said:
I must have misunderstood, I thought you were talking about Australia. I get it could happen in Scotland.
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It wasn't me talking (initially) about death threats so I've no idea whether the original context meant Oz.

Happens all the time in Scotland. If you're not getting death threats then you're not doing your job.
 
Australia vs Switzerland: Judging Popa Ball on Its Own Terms

Article 'Australia vs Switzerland: Judging Popa Ball on Its Own Terms'

Another game follows a familiar pattern. We concede an enormous amount of possession and territory in the first half, have a bright second half, and play in an ultra-conservative style that has fans questioning why they follow this sport. I get it, and we have vented our frustrations on the pod...
  • grazorblade
  • 10 min read
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  • Reaction score: 8
  • Comments: 10
  • Reviews: 1
  • Category: Socceroos

Wrote an analysis for those interested
 
I think the long Burgess pass was originally targeting Behich who started a run. Very well done to get the Swiss moving deep. Should be done more often. Metcalfe spotted it and ran along too.
 
Decentric said:
List when Daniel Garb, David Weiner, Jake Rosengarten, Marco M, Joey Lynch, etc, use these terms in formulating questions to Socceroo, Matilda or AL coaches, if they hold press conferences?

I’ve never heard them.

If one hears Simon Kuper, Ralph Honigsten, Michael Cox, they do.
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JS96 said:
The group think by our former players in broadcasting is insufferable. Everything was good with a few areas to improve on. It's all about the studio vibes. Check out Rudi Völler going nuts after an Iceland game 25 years ago.
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Mr Cleansheets said:
That's exactly my point.

It's a bit like what Trump is trying to do to the media in the US... intimidate it into compliance.

Once you're no longer asking the right questions you've surrendered to false consciousness. That's the Oz football media right now.
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The size of football media is insufficient to do any of these things because there is barely interest from the public in football, let alone the nuance. It is a zero sum game for these guys. You ask questions about specific tactics, this means you get the coverage about the tactics (which no one cares about outside of football nerds), not coverage of the match. You want a fight about why obscure potential dual international A wasn't selected behind some other guy no one has heard of, no match coverage. These things are of interest to the few of us here, not the major audience. There isn't time, space and bandwidth the do more than the basics.

Garb splits his time across two orgs and is still sent to cover AFL. Marco is the only football journo at News and writes about rugby and aerial ping pong. Rugari, only football journo at fairfax, was sent to cover an AFL match over the Aleague grand final. Lynch is crowd funded / contracted as required. Rosengarten and Weiner had to found their own org to get a job. The rest who show up are just sport reporters getting a holiday for the WC.

The focus is maximising engagement. This is not coverage of any of the things being listed here. If there was more interest in the game, there would be more people to provide coverage and it could cover more angles. As it is, there isn't, so you get this type of coverage.
 
Cunningstunt said:
The size of football media is insufficient to do any of these things because there is barely interest from the public in football, let alone the nuance.
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I absolutely disagree with this.

The problem with the media is that they are all-in on the sports they endorse and massively fund. They give little or no oxygen to the sports they don't fund. Only #10 has any skin in the football game and for some idiotic reason they have no interest in trying to foment interest. They aren't affiliated with a newspaper, are they?

There would be significantly more interest in the A League if it was covered properly and made visible.
 
Mr Cleansheets said:
I absolutely disagree with this.

The problem with the media is that they are all-in on the sports they endorse and massively fund. They give little or no oxygen to the sports they don't fund. Only #10 has any skin in the football game and for some idiotic reason they have no interest in trying to foment interest. They aren't affiliated with a newspaper, are they?

There would be significantly more interest in the A League if it was covered properly and made visible.
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You are correct. This is another very important layer to it. But it doesn't negate what I said.
Ten does cross promote, but does not have the reach of the other networks.
Rugari has talked about this on twitter a while back. He says there is obvious promotion of the codes they have rights to. But they do not cut off football. If the interest is there it gets coverage. They have all the metrics, so you can tell what the interest is in by the articles on smh. Matildas, socceroos, EPL. ALeague on occasions.
Setting that aside, if we want nuance, people under pressure, held to account etc, it needs football to get much closer to the level the NRL/AFL occupy. That is what facilitates this type of work. Otherwise, we're lucky if there is a match report.
 
Mr Cleansheets said:
It wasn't me talking (initially) about death threats so I've no idea whether the original context meant Oz.

Happens all the time in Scotland. If you're not getting death threats then you're not doing your job.
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Decentric said:
I’m much more optimistic about the current Roos under Popa’s tutelage than many who post on here - but - they have a point about our consistent slow starts and poor first halves though.

Starting slowly is a constant pattern - except against Colombia.
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At the last WC Japan had a specific strategy of taking the air out of the ball through their defence, then changing completely in the last 25 minutes. It got them wins against Spain and Germany.

I thought this is what Poppa was trying to copy but we don’t seem to have the defensive discipline, nor quite the attacking strength off the bench that Japan did.
 
tsf said:
Very concerning that if you asked 100 people who Australia’s starting line up was you’d probably get a 100 different answers
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If you asked 100 people on this forum the same would happen. You look at all the squad selections people had. some people tried to pick what Popa would do. I don't think I heard anyone get it 100% right.

Same with the starting XI. We know who we expect to see - but that very rarely coincides with what Popa does. Now that can be for a number of reasons. In the lead up it can be the need to rest players or load them up. It can be form in camp. It can be to give people time against quality opposition in case they are needed later in the tournament because of injury.
 
Watching the Swiss replay again, am convinced Yengi would be most useful tucked in behind in one of the W/AM spots attempting to better our chances of relieving counter press pressure. Also I believe Popa has instructed him to play for free kicks upon feeling contact, he is usually mauled by J-league centrebacks without going down.
 
JS96 said:
The generals are often jaded and the soldiers know what's really going on. Popovic's plan with O'Neill just doesn't get as much out of him as it should.
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- Intercepts - O’N is making the most in the team. Average 3-4 per game. One has to read the play well to do this.

- Turnovers - McGree is causing most 5-6 per game, but O’N is still making 3-4 at DM.

- 1v1s - O’N is the best ball winner in front of the back 3. Usually having a plus 4-5 ledger per game, with 67-73 percent win/loss ratio - which is high.

- Whereas in Popa’s 3 CBs at the back, they are playing only 19 percent - 35 percent of passes under pressure, the DMs are playing 50-80 percent under pressure.
O’N is playing a lot of ball under pressure, with the important 90 percent plus completion rate in the defensive half. He gets through a lot of work in possession and enables the team to keep the ball.

- O’N is possibly the most 2 sides of the body proficient on the ball. Teammates don’t have to play to a preferred foot or side to him. Hence, teammates have more margin for error.

- There is a perception on G and G that O’N doesn’t pass forwards. Whether he, or anyone else, receives the ball in the defensive half or attacking half, they pass backwards, diagonally backwards and forwards, square, or straight forwards, depending on movement opening passing lanes by teammates - and - the level of intensity of Squeezing of the opposition.

The Popa 3 at the back makes it a bit easier for CBs, and harder for the 2 DMs, than 4 at the back and a midfield triangle.
 
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Decentric said:
- Intercepts - O’N is making the most im the team. Average 3-4 per game. One has to read the play well to do this.

- Turnovers - McGree is causing most 5-6 per game, but O’N is still making 3-4 at DM.

- 1v1s - O’N is the best ball winner in front of the back 3. Usually having a plus 4-5 ledger per game, with 67-73 percent win/loss ratio - which is high.

- Whereas in Popa’s 3 CBs at the back, they are playing only 19 percent - 35 percent of passes under pressure, the DMs are playing 50-80 percent under pressure. O’N is playing a lot of ball under pressure, with the important 90 percent plus completion rate in the defensive half. He gets through a lot of work in possession and enables the team to keep the ball.

- O’N is possibly the most 2 sides of the body proficient on the ball. Teammates don’t have to play to a preferred foot or side to him. Hence, teammates have more margin for error.

- There is a perception on G and G that O’N doesn’t pass forwards. Whether he, or anyone else, receives the ball in the defensive half or attacking half, they pass backwards, diagonally backwards and forwards, square, or straight forwards, depending on movement opening passing lanes by teammates - and - the level of intensity of Squeezing of the opposition.

The Popa 3 at the back makes it a bit easier for CBs, and harder for the 2 DMs, than 4 at the back and a midfield triangle.
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Sure O'Neill has high numbers but he's in the thick of the action. This is like lauding a centre back for having 100% passing stats when it's side to side.

A couple of things, O'Neill's ball wins are more by errors from the attacker. He has to scoop them up but he's not tackling. His position in build up play is off and slow. Watch better midfielders find breathing space to receive and play the ball forward. Nisbet, Balard and others do this much better. He's just become a sideways and backwards passing sleeping pill.

This idea that O'Neill and Behich don't pass forward because they don't have viable options is null and void. There are very often options there but they have this stupid lazy ingrained backward play from the training pitch. Nisbet or Robertson get the ball and look ahead and go. I want a new coach who can unleash these technically better and attack minded players.
 
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patjennings said:
I wouldn't put it like that. How many are not picking O'Neill because he still doesn't look right after injury. I'd love us to be playing 8 games (lol) - so why stuff him for the rest of the tournament.
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The Swiss and Mexicans played high intensity Squeezing in the first halves, which made it tough for any DM, PJ.

You may have a point though. O’N may not be as match fit as he was?
 
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