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Aussies abroad šŸŒšŸ¦˜

Riley McGree, on his day, is definitely one of our best.
Jesus has already delivered for Australia. McGree, love him, will be after the second coming in a gold shirt. My annoyance is he doesn't receive the ball enough nor gets involved.
 
I see it as a family thing. It is a large family. Many brothers and sisters with lots of connections in Greece. Will the family follow him to Europe. If they do I suspect he will choose Greece. If they stay - Australia.
 
If his undecided you can kind of get poppa not playing him over someone who is committed
Triantis was committed to us when he accepted the call into the squad against Indo & China - I seem to recall that he was interviewed quite a few times in the build up to the games & he was always glowing about being selected for the squad. Then in the last press conference he did, he said that my time will come, so at that time Popa had already told him that he wouldn't make his debut. This is totally on Popa
 
Just read the article - sick in the guts now. Thanks Popa
1. Poppa has said he only wants players that want to play for us.
2. We produce a lot decent holding midfielders & while he's been good in Scotland, he's not a world beater or a player in the front 1/3 that we lack.
So not that gutted.
 
1. Poppa has said he only wants players that want to play for us.
2. We produce a lot decent holding midfielders & while he's been good in Scotland, he's not a world beater or a player in the front 1/3 that we lack.
So not that gutted.
Triantis has the best potential of them all. Irvine will slow down and O'Neill has peaked. Teague is developing but was lacklustre the last window.
 
No promises should be made but Triantis looked dejected after the China game. It was good for Teague to play but the whole merit and form thing is contradictory. Triantis could be mature and professional enough to deal with it but Popovic toying with him and Balard isn't good either.
 
1. Poppa has said he only wants players that want to play for us.
2. We produce a lot decent holding midfielders & while he's been good in Scotland, he's not a world beater or a player in the front 1/3 that we lack.
So not that gutted.
As a Mariners fan who was blown away by his form as an 18 yo, then as someone who has seen a lot of his matches in Scotland... he is (along with Balard) the best #6 we have.

It will be a tragedy if we lose him.
 
1. Poppa has said he only wants players that want to play for us.
2. We produce a lot decent holding midfielders & while he's been good in Scotland, he's not a world beater or a player in the front 1/3 that we lack.
So not that gutted.
I haven’t seen a lot of Triantis, but I’m surprised so many question that national coach, Popa, with all his experience rates Triantis ATM lower than a number of experienced players - and - a plethora of 23 and under players who play the same position.

Popa would use the following as criteria:

technique - broken down into 4 -5 specific areas;

Ball winning capacity - divided into 3 facets of play;

game sense - individually and ability to follow a team game plan;

football conditioning;

communication;

mental strength;

leadership.

Over 7 criteria players have strengths and weaknesses.

Popa has also seen Triantis play on the training track with and against current Socceroos. He can evaluate like for like.

I strongly believe that national coaches select national teams. Not coaches in foreign leagues - or - that some player agents make better decisions re club football for some players than others.

There are many club coaches, even in UEFA, who are totally removed from the requirements of international football.

With 18 points from 8 games and direct WCQ, Popa has the results .
 
As a Mariners fan who was blown away by his form as an 18 yo, then as someone who has seen a lot of his matches in Scotland... he is (along with Balard) the best #6 we have.

It will be a tragedy if we lose him.

Have you had a good look at Bozinovski, Okon Jr, Youlley, Valadon, Deli, even the older Jake Hollman and Angus Thurgate play as DMs?

Nieuw was also on a good career trajectory too.

Teague’s performance against China was very good as well.

We have more depth than ever in this position.

I’m with Robbos on Triantis. Good luck to him if he chooses Greece.

In the past Craig Johnston, Tony Dorigo both chose England. Simunic, Didulica and a LB chose Croatia.

Ned Zelic quit the Socceroos.

It didn’t make much difference. The Socceroos moved on without them.
 
I haven’t seen a lot of Triantis, but I’m surprised so many question that national coach, Popa, with all his experience rates Triantis ATM lower than a number of experienced players - and - a plethora of 23 and under players who play the same position.

Popa would use the following as criteria:

technique - broken down into 4 -5 specific areas;

Ball winning capacity - divided into 3 facets of play;

game sense - individually and ability to follow a team game plan;

football conditioning;

communication;

mental strength;

leadership.

Over 7 criteria players have strengths and weaknesses.

Popa has also seen Triantis play on the training track with and against current Socceroos. He can evaluate like for like.

I strongly believe that national coaches select national teams. Not coaches in foreign leagues - or - that some player agents make better decisions re club football for some players than others.

There are many club coaches, even in UEFA, who are totally removed from the requirements of international football.

With 18 points from 8 games and direct WCQ, Popa has the results .
And we're glad to have those results. However, this is like using some software and not deploying the tools to make things easier.

I think we're pretty vulnerable if things don't work out when O'Neill isn't delivering. Triantis has the better long term prospects as well. We'd kill to see how a Triantis Balard midfield would go. We're just asking to see it. Playing these guys should keep the others motivated.

Different games but if Triantis does start to reach club heights then we'll want to see how best we can get that in a gold shirt too.

You list a good criteria. I ask myself how Popovic has applied that to Miller, Brattan, O'Neill, Boyle, Duke, Taggart while ignoring many other decent, hungry options. I suppose this cohort are mostly more experienced or were already in the set up. Lord knows they're not our best with a ball.
 
Have you had a good look at Bozinovski, Okon Jr, Youlley, Valadon, Deli, even the older Jake Hollman and Angus Thurgate play as DMs?

Nieuw was also on a good career trajectory too.

Teague’s performance against China was very good as well.

We have more depth than ever in this position.

I’m with Robbos on Triantis. Good luck to him if he chooses Greece.

In the past Craig Johnston, Tony Dorigo both chose England. Simunic, Didulica and a LB chose Croatia.

Ned Zelic quit the Socceroos.

It didn’t make much difference. The Socceroos moved on without them.
A bit convenient we had a GG around some of those players.

I want to see a lot of those mids you mentioned. This is where Irvine needs to be on the bench for some of those friendlies coming up. Start some different ones with Teague to see how it works. Tbh we know enough about Teague now. China great while the others less so. I think he's shown all he can that we know he'll be a handy squad member.
 
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