Ok Alex cancelled the pod this week so I'm going to give us some hopium. Here are some reasons to be optimistic this year
1. Equal most big game experience since 2010
We have roughly as many minutes in the big 5 coming into a tournament since 2010, with 6 players that have substantial experience
I suppose this shows 2018 was a bit underrated, the drama of Ange leaving and the angst of us not producing players of the same calibre after the golden generation
| Year | Minutes in big 5 in prior season | Number of Players who have had at least 1 season of experience in the big 5 |
| 2014 | 795 | 2 |
| 2018 | 8656 | 6 |
| 2022 | 1857 | 4 |
| 2026 | 8466 | 6 |
2. Roughly equal most European minutes since 2010
Even if you hate on the MLS and J league and only rate players in Europe (you probably shouldn't they are probably similar in quality to the Danish League!) this year has a lot of players getting regular minutes in europe showing our depth. In fact, this year remains the best despite controversial selections that would boost this. Despite Segecics defection, Balard and Elders omission as well as injuries to key big minute getters in Mcgree, Miller, Luongo and Souttar we rank very highly. I think there is an argument to say our depth is the best it has even been, even better than during the golden generation
| Year | Total European Minutes |
| 2014 | 21061 |
| 2018 | 40757 |
| 2022 | 16599 |
| 2026 | 36049 |
This of course could change, we could have some strange selections cutting some players getting big European minutes, but it will still be similar to 2018
3. Highest ELO since 2006
This one surprised me, we actually have a slightly higher elo than in 2010 where a lot of the golden generation had already started to decline. We haven't played our last friendly before the world cup mind you, and its a close enough call that this could change
| Year | ELO in last game before the world cup |
| 2010 | 1775 |
| 2014 | 1708 |
| 2018 | 1743 |
| 2022 | 1721 |
| 2026 | 1783 |
Our ELO before the 2006 world cup was 2006 for those wondering, a remarkable achievement for a team that wasn't as battle hardened reflecting the superior talent of that generation
4. Lowest ELO of opponents ever
This will surprise no one, but it might be interesting to see the gap between our team and our group each year
| Year | ELO of 3 group opponents | difference compared to Australia |
| 2014 | 2004 | 196 |
| 2018 | 1918 | 175 |
| 2022 | 1881 | 167 |
| 2026 | 1818 | 35 |
