Poppa Out

[patjennings]

He also won us a major tournament. Yeah, we came close and I'm not saying that defensive football doesn't have its place. Essentially, that talent pool dropping in 2010 is not Guus fault because he laid the foundations, it was whoever took over that was meant to continue

The killing of the the NYL in 2004 and the later 7 team small NYL really meant we missed a lot of talent.

 

[SocceroosFan84]

The killing of the the NYL in 2004 and the later 7 team small NYL really meant we missed a lot of talent.

Wasn't the NYL binned during Covid?

 

[DandyCasey]

I know McGree would likey start if fit but how scary good would this speed be on the counter... Could actually deal if Popa was held accountable for playing attacking players in attacking and "natural" positions.

 

[Robbos]

The only issue I had with Ange was why he changed to a back 3 after the Thailand result?
There was no need for that we were looking fine with the 4-3-3 and the 4-2-3-1 as well there was no need to move to a back 3 outside of tactical reasons of course.

I think as much we loved Ange he was uncompromising with hes approach especially when he’s tactics he wasn’t willing to be flexible as he always said plan b was to make plan a better but we had issues at the latter stages of World Cup qualifying.

Great coach stubborn man.

 

[patjennings]

Wasn't the NYL binned during Covid?

Initially suspended but technically cut well after state borders were re-opened. Seemed to be a cost-cutting exercise. It initially restarted in 2008 after being cut in 2004. it matched the A league in length (minus NZ) teams. 2011 it was cut to 18 rounds. Then in 2015 it went to two conferences and a grand final - 8 matches. Suspended during covid and binned in Aug 2022.

 

[patjennings]

The only issue I had with Ange was why he changed to a back 3 after the Thailand result?
There was no need for that we were looking fine with the 4-3-3 and the 4-2-3-1 as well there was no need to move to a back 3 outside of tactical reasons of course.

I think as much we loved Ange he was uncompromising with hes approach especially when he’s tactics he wasn’t willing to be flexible as he always said plan b was to make plan a better but we had issues at the latter stages of World Cup qualifying.

Which also seems to be people's main problem with Popovic

 

[jas88]

Doesn't matter what coach we have if we got teams like WSW posting on social media about doing 16v3 rondos at training hahaha

 

[Encomium]

The only issue I had with Ange was why he changed to a back 3 after the Thailand result?
There was no need for that we were looking fine with the 4-3-3 and the 4-2-3-1 as well there was no need to move to a back 3 outside of tactical reasons of course.

I think as much we loved Ange he was uncompromising with hes approach especially when he’s tactics he wasn’t willing to be flexible as he always said plan b was to make plan a better but we had issues at the latter stages of World Cup qualifying.

IIRC we were light weight in the FB positions, especially RB and Anges systems utilises the FB's a lot. He did it to disregard them altogether and have wide wingers. I think the biggest problem was that he only played with one holding midfielder, 2 would have given the team a bit more protection.
He has evolved over the years and has tweeked his style quite a bit since then, it'd be interesting to see what he could do with the team now.

 

[Quicky]

We have some quality players in this squad, and they should improve with experience, especially if they get signed by top clubs.

Striker is the most odvious gap in the side.

There is no reason why Austraila can't produce elite talent, but the pathways and junior development probably need to be improved.

It wouldn't matter who we had up top the way we play. Toure is a good striker but starved of service.

Oar said it best. We need to find ways to score by design. We are hyper focussed on defensive control to the detriment of our attack. We need to improve our avenues to goal.

I most want to find a centre midfielder.

As Arnie's mate you would expect Slater to say that. But it was an irrational decision in the first place. Redmayne against Peru was a relative unknown who had saved few penalties and was aware of the plan for months. Both Ryan and Vukovic had much better penalty records. The other thing was they all came out of Crawley's EGK academy and trusted Crawley implicitly.

Egypt expected Ryan to either play, that's why they had the footage ready. Ryan had been ignored all tournament and was told there was a possibility with 30 minutes to go. Was he prepared - I doubt it.

Ryan as good as said he wasn't prepared when he said he only found out 30 mins prior.

 

[Barca4life]

IIRC we were light weight in the FB positions, especially RB and Anges systems utilises the FB's a lot. He did it to disregard them altogether and have wide wingers. I think the biggest problem was that he only played with one holding midfielder, 2 would have given the team a bit more protection.
He has evolved over the years and has tweeked his style quite a bit since then, it'd be interesting to see what he could do with the team now.

From what a recalled apparently the reason he changed it to a back 3 wasn't because of a right/left back weakness because he felt in terms its best way we can compete at the World Cup, basically he was thinking more than just qualifying but how we would have competed.

If he said we need to make changes to personal or trying to rectify a defensive weakness then that's a different story and worthy of arguing why you change system, I think coaches should be open to discussing tactics and personal changes to the media so people have a better idea of what coaches are doing instead he was explaining a different narrative after all the national team is for everyone to watch and observe.

This what happens in football mad countries where the scrutiny is more higher than here.

 

[patjennings]

I think it was

From what a recalled apparently the reason he changed it to a back 3 wasn't because of a right/left back weakness because he felt in terms its best way we can compete at the World Cup, basically he was thinking more than just qualifying but how we would have competed.

If he said we need to make changes to personal or trying to rectify a defensive weakness then that's a different story and worthy of arguing why you change system, I think coaches should be open to discussing tactics and personal changes to the media so people have a better idea of what coaches are doing instead he was explaining a different narrative after all the national team is for everyone to watch and observe.

This what happens in football mad countries where the scrutiny is more higher than here.

That was the thing about Ange - he wanted Australia to be one one those football mad countries - but rarely explained and bristled whenever anyone questioned his decisions.

 

[Encomium]

From what a recalled apparently the reason he changed it to a back 3 wasn't because of a right/left back weakness because he felt in terms its best way we can compete at the World Cup, basically he was thinking more than just qualifying but how we would have competed.

If he said we need to make changes to personal or trying to rectify a defensive weakness then that's a different story and worthy of arguing why you change system, I think coaches should be open to discussing tactics and personal changes to the media so people have a better idea of what coaches are doing instead he was explaining a different narrative after all the national team is for everyone to watch and observe.

This what happens in football mad countries where the scrutiny is more higher than here.

He definitely skirted around the reason and was a bit vague, whether that was to keep his cards to his chest, or to not discourage some players is another thing. Poppa does the same, if asked he won't give an answer on grounds he doesn't want to give the opposition any insights, or just say it was on a whim.

 

[Encomium]

I think it was


That was the thing about Ange - he wanted Australia to be one one those football mad countries - but rarely explained and bristled whenever anyone questioned his decisions.

Yeah, but I think those times of putting the irons in the fire really developed him as a manager, he may not have liked it haha.

 

[Punchanello]

He definitely skirted around the reason and was a bit vague, whether that was to keep his cards to his chest, or to not discourage some players is another thing. Poppa does the same, if asked he won't give an answer on grounds he doesn't want to give the opposition any insights, or just say it was on a whim.

Yes, both were/are guilty of it. I watched heaps of Poppa and team press-conferences leading up to and through the WC and even the players were largely doing the same thing. It's like they were all briefed on it. Almost without exception, they answered a completely different question to the one that was asked. "Will you make changes in the next game?" Answer "We have a squad and I believe in every member of that squad". It was very weird.

 

[McZero]

So if they binned that approach from the original ntc was it replaced with anything? Was it flawed? I found a nc from 2013 that describes a football we aren't doing; it's proactive, possession based, creative combinations with effective possession

 

[Barca4life]

He definitely skirted around the reason and was a bit vague, whether that was to keep his cards to his chest, or to not discourage some players is another thing. Poppa does the same, if asked he won't give an answer on grounds he doesn't want to give the opposition any insights, or just say it was on a whim.

I also think the lack of media scrutiny comes with it too, how many are willing to discuss these kind of tactical or personal questions when too many are scared to do so, and even if they ask them the coaches won't tell us fully which is not good enough because us fans can see the problems anyway.

Ange probably knew this too.

 

[Villa Dan]

So who from the FFA will ask him the hard questions we don't have a technical director it's been mentioned the panelist on sbs is the one .

 

[grazorblade]

Wasn't the NYL binned during Covid?

Think it was pretty shortened before hand

The longest nyl we had during the a league was a 18 game season, most seasons were very short, often around 8 games and often there was no nyl

We have never had the trifector of an ais, academies and nyl like the nsl era

 

[Quicky]

So who from the FFA will ask him the hard questions we don't have a technical director it's been mentioned the panelist on sbs is the one .

@rebelliousfeminist974 mentioned earlier it's Heather Garriocks role to oversee the national team program in the absence of a technical director. I think it's just Football Australia these days. They dropped the Federation bit. I'm always forgetting that.

 

[grazorblade]

We might have improved technically but we still lack a clear style of play for our national teams, we are still doing the things today which the FFA NC which was lamenting on.

Im skeptical the value of a clear playing style. Is there a country that has improved a lot due to their playing style?