Pim gets a lot of bad press. Yet we got 4 points despite playing a lot of time with ten men. Close to beating Ghana despite playing with 10 men for most of the match. Then smacked Slovenia with Kewell suspended.
Regardless of how he set us up (and the story of what went on in the dressing room will come out one day), our defence (Moore and Neil in particular) was woeful in that first half against Germany.

Decentric said:

National team coaches have far less time with players than they do at club level.

Then Ange quit, as soon as we qualified - just.

So we got Bert who had too little time with his cattle for the Russian 2018 WC.

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Poor form by Ange to quit when he did but your first sentence in this snip is why I think he wasn't a great national team coach. I think he is better in a tournament situation where he has more time with the players and was disappointed that he left when he did, but understand there was some opportunities that came up that would be better for his career. I was OK with appointing Bert for the short term because he had coached Saudi Arabia against us and would have had some knowledge of the squad Ange prepared because he played against them. He would have had little knowledge of alternatives so was a bit hamstrung. Arnie did fine with what he had. Arnie recognised that he had taken the squad as far as he could and it needed fresh blood so he stood down. Popa has also done fine so far and has taken steps in identifying new players (although many here think hasn't done enough or could have done better with his choices) and there will come a time when we need fresh coaching blood again to keep the squad improving. When the Asian Cup reverts to even years I think contracting coaches for two year stints will be a valid option. Unless someone is seriously not suitable as a national team coach it makes sense to keep the coaching staff and larger squad relatively intact when the Asian Cup is 6 months after the World Cup.

grazorblade said:

I was actually think of ange when i saw nzs world cup campaign

I think we had a weaker team in 2014 than nz today and a far harder group. Both had a -6 gd. Ange and tim did miracles with that group to avoid embarrasment

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NZ manager continuing with Crocombe was a disgrace. This was a manager picking his keeper on where he was playing. If Woud was the keeper that GD would have been much less.

patjennings said:

NZ manager continuing with Crocombe was a disgrace. This was a manager picking his keeper on where he was playing. If Woud was the keeper that GD would have been much less.

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Talking about keepers - look at the Jordanian keeper vs Argentina today on the free kicks. That is the why Izzo should not be in the squad, he does the same thing.

patjennings said:

Talking about keepers - look at the Jordanian keeper vs Argentina today on the free kicks. That is the why Izzo should not be in the squad, he does the same thing.

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Did you mean set the wall then stand behind it like you don't trust what you set up?

Decentric said:

Ange’s zenith was the 2015 Asian Cup. The defensive cohesion between Ryan, Sains and Spira was incredible. I don’t think the 2 CBs ever attained this high level again - and both were young, particularly Sains.

Then Ange’s subsequent WCQ campaign for Russia was awful. He struggled.

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Sainsbury looked a bit weighted down in his 360 interview. I think Griezmann is still in his pocket.

erogenouszone said:

So Leckie who hasn't played much gets a spot in the team. Gets schooled against USA, indirectly costing us s result then gets injured & now is going back to Australia to his club who have to rehabilitate him.

Great selection Popa.

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And they get thousands of dollars in compensation from FIFA

LFC said:

The vision of wanting another local astounds me.

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Muscat would be a candidate for any nation in Asia. It’s hard to find another coach with a better track record and a knowledge of the confederation.

(That being said, I’d like to see him go to England next).

I respect others opinions.
I feel we keep appointing locals we get more the same but slightly different.
A capable outside gaffa learns of the confederation he agreed to walk into.
A new set of eyes and outlook would be refreshing and also lack of bias etc…..
Anyway won’t happen cause we oztralia and pay what the FA only wants provide.

ClockworkOrange said:

Pim gets a lot of bad press. Yet we got 4 points despite playing a lot of time with ten men. Close to beating Ghana despite playing with 10 men for most of the match. Then smacked Slovenia with Kewell suspended.
Regardless of how he set us up (and the story of what went on in the dressing room will come out one day), our defence (Moore and Neil in particular) was woeful in that first half against Germany.

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Pim got the press he deserved because that hard luck story could have been a resounding success if he understood the Australian mentality, didn't shit the bed against Germany and wasn't such an egotistical arsehat.

Alex M said:

You need to get some perspective. I know you don't like Popovic as a coach, but not everything he does is bad and it destroys your credibility as a poster when you continually find fault with everything he does. In reality he is pretty astute and understands the game and what he wants from players quite well. His main limitation is that he tends to be more defensively minded tactically and can miss some attacking opportunities as a result. I say this in a nice way but your criticism of him is starting to come over as a touch obsessive.

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I blocked the bloke ages ago, the bloke is the most bitter, angry person I've ever come across.

Decentric said:

Yet why have Arnie and Popa been so vilified on this forum? Is it group think?

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Cultural cringe, perhaps? Arnie never filled me with confidence and Popa kind of goes against every football instinct I have. That said, with the exception of Hiddink, I don't think any foreign coach since 2006 has been a substantially better performer.

Quicky said:

Pim always struck me as a lovely guy.

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He did say that training for average clubs in europe was better than playing in the A-league lol

Pasquali said:

He did say that training for average clubs in europe was better than playing in the A-league lol

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And he decided to give the squad shirt numbers in the triple digits to show his contempt for them.

good on him, truth hurts at the time.
I had no prob Pim saying it how it is.

LFC said:

good on him, truth hurts at the time.
I had no prob Pim saying it how it is.

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To what end though?

Punchanello said:

To what end though?

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in those times his comment was very viable, locals were not good enough to standard of our euro based players.
Black and white nothing more to elaborate.
Fact is its still got some credence today, where is the bulk/core of our Roos based today ? abroad.