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The Australian National Football Team General Discussion*OFFICIAL*

NoMates said:
The Socceroo's will be lucky to get out of the group if at all possible. Can we really afford to keep bring in players and no trying to get our best 11 out there to prep them for the world cup?.
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While we all know that NoMates is generally just trying to stir the pot with his comments, I actually tend to think this may be what Popovic should be doing. If a player looks like being good enough to be part of the squad, then sure, bring him into the squad. But I never have liked the idea of “auditioning” multiple fringe players in the 9-10 months prior to the World Cup. The main target in these games, from last September onwards, should be to build team combinations, structures and tactics, and it’s hard to do that if you are also auditioning multiple players as well.
 
Keeper66 said:
While we all know that NoMates is generally just trying to stir the pot with his comments, I actually tend to think this may be what Popovic should be doing. If a player looks like being good enough to be part of the squad, then sure, bring him into the squad. But I never have liked the idea of “auditioning” multiple fringe players in the 9-10 months prior to the World Cup. The main target in these games, from last September onwards, should be to build team combinations, structures and tactics, and it’s hard to do that if you are also auditioning multiple players as well.
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Look at Japan, they played there reserve squad against Mexico and USA in one window, Last window they played there best 11 and beat Brazil 3-2. We are yet to even play what would be considered our best 11 yet. Thats why i reckon cum the Colombia game we will get smash as they are starting there top 11 players yet Poppa will be playing a half ass Socceroo squad that may compete but in no way will they win the game. Miracles do happen sure and some teams have a bad day I get that, i just cant see any new Socceroo standing out against one of the best CONMEBOL sides to be at the world cup.
 
NoMates said:
The Socceroo's will be lucky to get out of the group if at all possible. Can we really afford to keep bring in players and no trying to get our best 11 out there to prep them for the world cup?.
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Let's wait until the draw before we see who laughs at that statement.
 
grazorblade said:
Epic 50 minutes of press conference

I have to fill out forms at work for a few hours today so this will help keep me sane
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I'm at the 14 min mark of this interview. I'm finding it very interesting and I think Popa answers the questions very well.

I like the way he explains the difference between the AL and overseas.

AL - with no promo and relg, players can have have a few bad games, the team loses and they are still in the team, and still in the AL.

Overseas - teams lose and players have bad games and they are out for some time before they get a go again. Popa says in these periods players often improve.

Thanks a bunch for posting it, Grazor.
 
grazorblade said:
Epic 50 minutes of press conference

I have to fill out forms at work for a few hours today so this will help keep me sane
Click to expand...

I've hit the 22 min mark of this interview.

Popa is just alluding to the last two games against Japan and Saudi. He felt they both bullied Aus physically, and th games were different against Canada and the USA.

He also felt that the Kiwis bullied Aus physically.

I have some stats for those games, assiduously recording stats - slowly in a replay.

Japan - Aus won 67% of the 1v1 duels.
Saudi - Aus won 60% of the 1v1 duels.

Aus NZ game 1 - Aus won approx 75% of 1v1s.
Aus NZ 2 - Aus won circa 58% of 1v1s.

By my criteria 1v1s are:
Tackles
Heading duels
Body on Body contact duels
Dribbling encounters - winning against an opponent with the ball is a Steal.
Speed over the turf duels

Not all 1v1s are physical duels, but Aus has been dominant in all 4 games.Yet Popa can't see it! I'd have to admit I have no idea until I tally them up slowly, sometimes having to replay an action 3 times to determine a winner.

I haven't finished the Canada (78% completed) and USA (91% completed) games yet to determine a 1v1 winner.
 
NoMates said:
Look at Japan, they played there reserve squad against Mexico and USA in one window, Last window they played there best 11 and beat Brazil 3-2. We are yet to even play what would be considered our best 11 yet. Thats why i reckon cum the Colombia game we will get smash as they are starting there top 11 players yet Poppa will be playing a half ass Socceroo squad that may compete but in no way will they win the game. Miracles do happen sure and some teams have a bad day I get that, i just cant see any new Socceroo standing out against one of the best CONMEBOL sides to be at the world cup.
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For the foreseeable future we can't play our best 11. JBos is injured, Souttar is injured. Australia lacks the depth that many other countries do. Also for some positions we have a stand out player, and then a big drop in quality for his replacement.
 
grazorblade said:
interesting still got a decent rating on fotmob despite being thumped

expecting hatricks every game the way he started
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The clamour to bring guys in after one or two performances is strange. Let the kid do it for a season at least.
Last season Piscopo scored that one goal with some nice play just before a squad was announced and all of a sudden he needed to be picked.
 
Cunningstunt said:
The clamour to bring guys in after one or two performances is strange. Let the kid do it for a season at least.
Last season Piscopo scored that one goal with some nice play just before a squad was announced and all of a sudden he needed to be picked.
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Yeah badalato needs to bulk up a few kilos to play at a higher level. So i suspect he takes a few years in europe to hit his peak. Today i was really impressed at his ability to find space in traffic and get dangerous shots away
 
grazorblade said:
Yeah badalato needs to bulk up a few kilos to play at a higher level. So i suspect he takes a few years in europe to hit his peak. Today i was really impressed at his ability to find space in traffic and get dangerous shots away
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It's usually more than this though. A lot of it is consistency, week to week and also consistency involving themselves in the match for the 90. Plenty of guys can do something every now and then.
 
Cunningstunt said:
It's usually more than this though. A lot of it is consistency, week to week and also consistency involving themselves in the match for the 90. Plenty of guys can do something every now and then.
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true, but in badalato's case he is actually doing a lot of unfashionable work on top of the flashy stuff which has caught my eye
 
grazorblade said:
Yeah badalato needs to bulk up a few kilos to play at a higher level. So i suspect he takes a few years in europe to hit his peak. Today i was really impressed at his ability to find space in traffic and get dangerous shots away
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It was interesting in Popovic's press conference that Robertson was calling up the Australian high performance team for more programs to help his rehab and fitness.

I wonder if we should be offering similar access to players likely to head overseas in the near future. Build resilience before they leave. It would need more resourcing but may allow more players to make a go of it overseas. That could benefit the National Team.

There are some fantastic high performance coaches in Australian Sport. It would be good to poach someone for this purpose.
 
Quicky said:
It was interesting in Popovic's press conference that Robertson was calling up the Australian high performance team for more programs to help his rehab and fitness.

I wonder if we should be offering similar access to players likely to head overseas in the near future. Build resilience before they leave. It would need more resourcing but may allow more players to make a go of it overseas. That could benefit the National Team.

There are some fantastic high performance coaches in Australian Sport. It would be good to poach someone for this purpose.
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I've seen research that you apparently permanently are athletically impaired if you don't get state of the art advice on your athletic development from 16-18. So it might even be too late by the time players go overseas.

I note that the only 2 world class players we produced (viduka and kewell) both had access to elite technical and athletic development in that crucial age

In any case a lot of players are forced to bulk up at the same time they have bigger work loads, which is a recipe for injury I believe. Maybe there is an expert on this on the forum?
 
grazorblade said:
I've seen research that you apparently permanently are athletically impaired if you don't get state of the art advice on your athletic development from 16-18. So it might even be too late by the time players go overseas.

I note that the only 2 world class players we produced (viduka and kewell) both had access to elite technical and athletic development in that crucial age

In any case a lot of players are forced to bulk up at the same time they have bigger work loads, which is a recipe for injury I believe. Maybe there is an expert on this on the forum?
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Make it available to all levels of the Australian NT setup. I wonder how well its currently resourced.
 
Quicky said:
Make it available to all levels of the Australian NT setup. I wonder how well its currently resourced.
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Before Stefan pivoted to p&r I was going to ask him about the AIS because the AIS government funded program reminded me a lot of the Clairfontaine government funded program and he mentioned them as an example of a country that went from middle quality to elite

I imagine we had access to elite sports scientists given how good our olympians are
 
grazorblade said:
Before Stefan pivoted to p&r I was going to ask him about the AIS because the AIS government funded program reminded me a lot of the Clairfontaine government funded program and he mentioned them as an example of a country that went from middle quality to elite

I imagine we had access to elite sports scientists given how good our olympians are
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I wonder what resources there are now.
 
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