Socceroos vs Egypt - 2026 World Cup R32 - Sat 4th of July 4am AEST

[Bunch_of_hacks]

Ultimately Trewin was 4th choice RWB and playing out of position. We lost Lewis Miller, Italiano and Bos to injury.

However I agree that our depth is weak when we get to this stage of tournaments, but primarily in attack. In the last two games there was no one to bring off the bench capable of scoring.

Miller and Italiano are decent enough RWB options. As you pointed out we were just unlucky with injuries in that position.

The positions we really lack in are CF and CM but especially CF. Only having a half fit Toure meant Irankunda had to play CF, meanwhile T Yengi is not up to it.

Such a shame we lost out of Lyndon Dykes.. hes no superstar but he would be perfect for us in that role holding up the ball and winning headers

 

[Bunch_of_hacks]

Okon Engstler is the best passer of the ball i've seen in a Socceroos jersey along with Mooy

Watching him live in the stadium the thing i find most impressive about him is his first touch. He cushions it down perfectly every time, then it sets him up to be well balanced for the pass.

 

[Bunch_of_hacks]

“We had 3 of our better attacking players out and ultimately 3 others couldn't last 90 mins.”
Irankunda would last 90 if not expected to chase shadows all game.
Volpato could easily have lasted 90 but Popa didn’t want him and Hrustic on the field together.

Volpato was said not to be fully fit at the start of the tournament. Him and Irankunda were always going to be coming off.

And for all the ppl complaining about Toure not starting, it waa reported that he didnt pull up well after the US game. Thats why he didnt play the third match

 

[Bunch_of_hacks]

Behich was a credit to the shirt and always has been.

at 34 his physical condition is amazing

Covers a LOT of ground. Always had amazing stamina. Defensively very good also. Has lost half a yard of pace though and a bit of agility.

Still remember that winding run he made against Argentina last WC.

 

[Toebash]

Miller and Italiano are decent enough RWB options. As you pointed out we were just unlucky with injuries in that position.

The positions we really lack in are CF and CM but especially CF. Only having a half fit Toure meant Irankunda had to play CF, meanwhile T Yengi is not up to it.

Such a shame we lost out of Lyndon Dykes.. hes no superstar but he would be perfect for us in that role holding up the ball and winning headers

i dunno if we "lack" CMs, I think we just don't bloody play with any!

Poppa's system is pretty heavily reliant on the wingbacks to provide width, and unfortunately our two first choice RWBs were out, and our first choice LWB got injured just before half time. We were doomed from the start really, and I think actually made a pretty good fist of things. While I hate watching our defensive style of play, I'm willing to concede it can be effective at times (including for long periods of this tournament).

 

[ClockworkOrange]

Volpato was said not to be fully fit at the start of the tournament. Him and Irankunda were always going to be coming off.

And for all the ppl complaining about Toure not starting, it waa reported that he didnt pull up well after the US game. Thats why he didnt play the third match

I’d question their professionalism if they can’t play 2 games in 8 days including quarter time drink breaks. Seriously, players in all other teams seem to be able to play 90 minutes.

 

[Encomium]

Miller and Italiano are decent enough RWB options. As you pointed out we were just unlucky with injuries in that position.

The positions we really lack in are CF and CM but especially CF. Only having a half fit Toure meant Irankunda had to play CF, meanwhile T Yengi is not up to it.

Such a shame we lost out of Lyndon Dykes.. hes no superstar but he would be perfect for us in that role holding up the ball and winning headers

CF certainly, it's always been a problem since Dukes.
I think we have some good players for CM, with Popaball they are usually outnumbered and sit back, so all our play was usually down the wings and excluded them.Holding we have Okon, O'Neil, Devlin, Ballard, Trewin. B2B or 10's we have McGree, Metcalf, Nisbet, Irvine, Robertson.
And who knows who will stand up over the next couple of years, I think Will Dobson is a talent, but there are a few on the fringe.

 

[Bunch_of_hacks]

Can someone please find out who in Popa's family Cammy Devlin hurt or pissed off or whatever cause that baffles me. Unless he's been injured, how does a DM coming off his best season for a team that conceded the least goals in the league and almost won the bloody thing not get a single minute

Yep devlin should have got minutes over Irvine.

Irvine, Behich, Leckie and Boyle should be moved on now and younger players picked between now and asian cup. If any of them are killing it around time for Asian cup then.

i dunno if we "lack" CMs, I think we just don't bloody play with any!

Poppa's system is pretty heavily reliant on the wingbacks to provide width, and unfortunately our two first choice RWBs were out, and our first choice LWB got injured just before half time. We were doomed from the start really, and I think actually made a pretty good fist of things. While I hate watching our defensive style of play, I'm willing to concede it can be effective at times (including for long periods of this tournament).

Eh?? We play with 2 of them!!

Irvine should be moved on now, hopefully Robertson can step up but we still need a couple more than can control a game like Luongo and Mooy could.

 

[Toebash]

Haha yeah fair enough, my point is that two centre mids is one fewer than most modern teams play, and so we tend to be outnumbered in that area of the park. That makes the players who play there look worse/less dominant, when I actually think our CM options are decent enough.

 

[southmelb]

Extending Popa was a huge mistake. Give us Milligan!

 

[Pub League Champion]

And for all the ppl complaining about Toure not starting, it waa reported that he didnt pull up well after the US game. Thats why he didnt play the third match

Truthfully though, Toure has always been injury prone and struggled to put more than 4-5 games together.

 

[southmelb]

In regards to the shoot out, we get the advantage of going first. Surely you give the 1st pen to Hrustic who converted one in a Europa league final.

 

[Hounddog]

Alright, hindsight is 20/20 but some things stuck out
*Ref let the game get out of control. Bos looks badly hurt because players thought they could get away with wild tackles. Hope he is alright because he has been awesome
*Poppa lost it. After the turkiye game the whole world saw the threat nestory could be so double teamed him as a sole striker and he did next to nothing since then
*Volparto getting subbed? Why? He was one of the few with spark
*Dead balls/corners? I've seen better from way lower ranked teams than us. What's going on. It's been a theme all WC
*Striker issues. Nestory isn't a natural 9, obviously. Toure seemed lackluster, his off the ball running average his defensive tracking back not up to a do or die match. Injured? Need a viduka who can receive and hold and play nestory, volps, Metcalfe, Irvine or even behich in for a strike. We have mids who can score, but if they are all back defending like CBs cause of poppaball then we need better possession retention.
*Behich had a better game for sure. Credit to him
*Poppaball. Look I've got a similar problem with him as I did Ange. So wedded to a system that they are unable to mix it up. Defend off the ball in depth makes it hard to score, unless we can produce a Harling somehow. We need a smarter coach who can tika taka like Ange, but then when needed isn't going to consider counter attacking some kind of heresy. I've found him dour and conservative and so don't mind if we change. We've got some players who knows how to attack, so need a coach that suits that.
*Okon said something that made me wonder if they are coaching by stats. Like, I don't care how many completed passes you have, if it means the other team can track back and stuff the attack and we go nowhere. Egypt showed great counterattacks with balls over the top we couldn't do ourselves
*Trewin added little, sorry. As did Ryan
*Penalties are a tough way to go out. No shame on the takers, any of them. Poppa must have(?) been drilling Ryan on penalties I don't know as otherwise why change from beach.
*Soutar and Herrington are a good combo, of course not perfect but still they calm my nerves
*Depth was an issue. So why pick Leckie to go to the WC? Sorry. Only got so many spots so using one for a guy older than Tommy Oar seemed odd

The plus is many of our better players are young enough to be around for another 12 years, and they should keep improving.

I agree about needing a good specalist 9, ideally one who can score with his head and feet, hold the ball up and play other players in.

Then we just need more depth, particularly more pace and specalist wingers who can come on when we need to score.

I think many coaches stick with a system so players can know their role. If they are going to switch they need to train both ways of playing.

Good players can make happen, I am happy with the progression, I want to win a WC and that is a mix of experienced quality and young quality.

Our young players were quality, now they need to get experience, and we need to find the next batch.

We probably need an attack minded coach who can instill confidence, energy and motivation in the players and improve execution. No idea who would be suitable.

 

[Kevin Keegan71]

Another world cup has gone for the Socceroos and we attain the same result as previous campaigns reaching the knockout stages but yet to win one

YET this was arguably our best chance to progress through, and we failed miserably Egypt were there for the taking and we never laid a finger on them which is hugely disappointing

My take

The Pros:

Poppas decision to play Beach instead of Ryan – the lad has really took his opportunity well he has claimed the no 1 position moving forward

Volpato looks like the player we have been searching for – again moving forward he should be cemented in

Bos, Irankunda, Herrington, Irvine, Souttar, Metcalfe, Circati, Italiano, Mabil, Okon and Toure all players that will be part of the future

In-fact I find it hard to really criticize the playing group they all did what they could within the limitations of the positions they were put in and team structure and playing style implemented by the coaching team

The Cons:

Poppa – I cant help but like the guy BUT he got this campaign wrong in so many ways we beat Türkiye using Irankunda off the left and Toure upfront win 2-0 then he goes off the scale by changing things around plays Irankunda central and its obvious this did not work but throughout the remaining matches never played him on the left again?

Played most games trying not to lose instead of trying to win

Team selections were at times crazy but again we were fearful of losing instead of trying to win – that’s his football philosophy and we all knew it before the world cup

Against Egypt seriously we should have just gone at them they really are not that good we could have should have won that game but you have to say he got it wrong again

Ryan for Beach was just an absolute farce of a decision and I know if it pays off we all think differently but Beach was full of confidence, playing well arguably one of the best keepers at the world cup bet he would have fancied himself with penalties he deserved to be involved and it was taken away from him – absolute disaster as a cold unplayed Ryan was all over the place looked small in goal went down too easy and never laid a finger on any of the penalties total disaster

How does Souttar take the first Pen? How does Herrington take the 4th Pen? Why are we using defenders to take pens? The whole penalty situation was embarrassing from a coaching perspective

In conclusion we now have a base team of 11-12 players to build the future around but is Poppa the right man for the job – in my opinion NO we need someone who can harness this group together and play an attractive brand of attacking football and really go for it in 2030 but who?

 

[ClockworkOrange]

We’ve outperformed Germany over the past 3 world cups.

 

[Cunningstunt]

Another world cup has gone for the Socceroos and we attain the same result as previous campaigns reaching the knockout stages but yet to win one

YET this was arguably our best chance to progress through, and we failed miserably Egypt were there for the taking and we never laid a finger on them which is hugely disappointing

My take

The Pros:

Poppas decision to play Beach instead of Ryan – the lad has really took his opportunity well he has claimed the no 1 position moving forward

Volpato looks like the player we have been searching for – again moving forward he should be cemented in

Bos, Irankunda, Herrington, Irvine, Souttar, Metcalfe, Circati, Italiano, Mabil, Okon and Toure all players that will be part of the future

In-fact I find it hard to really criticize the playing group they all did what they could within the limitations of the positions they were put in and team structure and playing style implemented by the coaching team

The Cons:

Poppa – I cant help but like the guy BUT he got this campaign wrong in so many ways we beat Türkiye using Irankunda off the left and Toure upfront win 2-0 then he goes off the scale by changing things around plays Irankunda central and its obvious this did not work but throughout the remaining matches never played him on the left again?

Played most games trying not to lose instead of trying to win

Team selections were at times crazy but again we were fearful of losing instead of trying to win – that’s his football philosophy and we all knew it before the world cup

Against Egypt seriously we should have just gone at them they really are not that good we could have should have won that game but you have to say he got it wrong again

Ryan for Beach was just an absolute farce of a decision and I know if it pays off we all think differently but Beach was full of confidence, playing well arguably one of the best keepers at the world cup bet he would have fancied himself with penalties he deserved to be involved and it was taken away from him – absolute disaster as a cold unplayed Ryan was all over the place looked small in goal went down too easy and never laid a finger on any of the penalties total disaster

How does Souttar take the first Pen? How does Herrington take the 4th Pen? Why are we using defenders to take pens? The whole penalty situation was embarrassing from a coaching perspective

In conclusion we now have a base team of 11-12 players to build the future around but is Poppa the right man for the job – in my opinion NO we need someone who can harness this group together and play an attractive brand of attacking football and really go for it in 2030 but who?

re the pens. Is this a coaching decision? Don't the player usually put their hands up for it. Seems to be more on the senior guys / forwards. Behich, Hrustic, Toure

 

[Bunch_of_hacks]

CF certainly, it's always been a problem since Dukes.
I think we have some good players for CM, with Popaball they are usually outnumbered and sit back, so all our play was usually down the wings and excluded them.Holding we have Okon, O'Neil, Devlin, Ballard, Trewin. B2B or 10's we have McGree, Metcalf, Nisbet, Irvine, Robertson.
And who knows who will stand up over the next couple of years, I think Will Dobson is a talent, but there are a few on the fringe.

In regards to the shoot out, we get the advantage of going first. Surely you give the 1st pen to Hrustic who converted one in a Europa league final.

My feeling is that Hrustic was saved last as the decisive pen.

Agree though him and Mabil should have gone first

 

[Bunch_of_hacks]

CF certainly, it's always been a problem since Dukes.
I think we have some good players for CM, with Popaball they are usually outnumbered and sit back, so all our play was usually down the wings and excluded them.Holding we have Okon, O'Neil, Devlin, Ballard, Trewin. B2B or 10's we have McGree, Metcalf, Nisbet, Irvine, Robertson.
And who knows who will stand up over the next couple of years, I think Will Dobson is a talent, but there are a few on the fringe.

In this system Irvine and Robertson are played in the CM positions, not the AMs/inside wingers. They can play it sure but Popa has only ever played the both of them as the DM/CMs

 

[Cunningstunt]

Some extra context re pens

This seems like a lot of recent experience in this situation.

 

[jas88]

Lol Maty threw him under the bus.. good... wasn't even planned fkn idiot.