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Socceroos vs Mexico/Switzerland - Pre-World Cup Friendlies 2026 🇦🇺🇲🇽🇨🇭

Shocking marking for the goal. Circati was hanging for their number 4 but why O'Neill has one of their centre backs is poor awareness by Irvine. Herrington and Souttar were busy on their men. Even Toure here would be better.
 
rebelliousfeminist974 said:
Even if we go for early goals to unsettle the opponent we have to be careful not to get complacent in the second half because it'll lead to us needlessly conceding against our opposition if they put too much pressure on our defensive line.
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It'll flip the script that we attack in the second half. I'd like to think if we take an early lead. We can frustrate opponents for an hour and then bring on our attacks and add more pressure when they start overstretching themselves. Sitting deep makes us beg for problems.
 
Bbouy said:
Leckie was poor in the first half for sure. I don't mind keeping Leckie in the squad but even Popovic admitted that he wasn't up to match-standard level and fitness in the post-game presser. If you're going to keep Leckie, then he cannot start. Use him as a substitute when we are defending a lead or parking the bus. He was never technical but these days even his speed has seriously declined.

I'm glad we got that experiment out of the way instead of Popa thinking he's the answer sporadically during the World Cup.
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You could see he wanted to try but it was the same thing with getting tackled again and again. Over 700 days away from the team and we didn't miss him.
 
JS96 said:
Shocking marking for the goal. Circati was hanging for their number 4 but why O'Neill has one of their centre backs is poor awareness by Irvine. Herrington and Souttar were busy on their men. Even Toure here would be better.
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I wondered at the time whether Circati got a push in the back, you would expect him to clear than and not miss, I usually wait a couple of days before watching the replay, so it's how I felt at the time and the dodgyness of the ref.
 
JS96 said:
You could see he wanted to try but it was the same thing with getting tackled again and again. Over 700 days away from the team and we didn't miss him.
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I think if we were to play him it should be one of the DM's, as his industry and strength still works, as a no10 he's not up to it and I think there are better options now in the DM position.
 
Encomium said:
I wondered at the time whether Circati got a push in the back, you would expect him to clear than and not miss, I usually wait a couple of days before watching the replay, so it's how I felt at the time and the dodgyness of the ref.
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O'Neill was the marker. Circati was parked deep as the Mexico 4 was his man and he zonal marked him.

A quick look at the footage and it's simply a mistimed jump.

 
Encomium said:
I think if we were to play him it should be one of the DM's, as his industry and strength still works, as a no10 he's not up to it and I think there are better options now in the DM position.
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That's where we should've experimented. We learned nothing from his wing play as we know that.

I feel the game was a missed opportunity. We know nothing about Leckie in midfield. Tete is a mystery and will probably be omitted now.

What's Popovic to do? Start Tete against Switzerland and then realise he can't fit the system? It's a monumental stuff up of decisions and timing. It's so bloody clear we need Robertson.
 
Sutherlandbear said:
And sacked from his two jobs in the EPL, Winning no domestic trophies. Always known as walking away when things get tight.
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It's almost as if no manager is perfect. He admitted Forest was a silly gig. Everything about Spurs has been stated. The squad was teetering and they had to decide to target the league or Europe and they took the latter, won and replaced the league route UCL qualification by that way.
 
Anyone know if Volpato was there at the stadium, and if so, where?

Hoping Devlin survives the chop more than anyone. After his season and the unique attributes he brings, he'd be in the first 10 names that I'd be taking in the squad.

Hate the idea of Irankunda only being used as a bench option to replace Toure. Not remotely getting the best out of him by doing that.

The use of Metcalfe and Leckie in our front three is so frustratingly conservative.
 
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verrelli said:
Anyone know of Volpato was there at the stadium, and if so, where?

Hoping Devlin survives the chop more than anyone. After his season and the unique attributes he brings, he'd be in the first 10 names that I'd be taking in the squad.

Hate the idea of Irankunda only being used as a bench option to replace Toure. Not remotely getting the best out of him by doing that.

The use of Metcalfe and Leckie in our front three is so frustratingly conservative.
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I'm a big fan of Metcalf and think he gets unfairly criticised, he has provided a lot of the through balls that create chances, he'd probably be better partnering his hippy teammate instead of O'Neal imho though.
 
verrelli said:
Anyone know if Volpato was there at the stadium, and if so, where?

Hoping Devlin survives the chop more than anyone. After his season and the unique attributes he brings, he'd be in the first 10 names that I'd be taking in the squad.

Hate the idea of Irankunda only being used as a bench option to replace Toure. Not remotely getting the best out of him by doing that.

The use of Metcalfe and Leckie in our front three is so frustratingly conservative.
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Yeah Volpato got off the bus between Bos and Geria.

Irankunda should get his starts at some point. Depends on the game but alsohe also should be brought on so late at the world cup.

Metcalfe needs to be deeper. Being up highest without 360 degree passing options doesn't exploit his skill set. He's good at turning and finding and option.
 
Just finished the rewatch. Man, Circati, Herrington and Souttar were the reason we were able to properly keep possession in the second half. ESPECIALLY Circati, he really slowed it down and allowed us to play with the ball over and over. The second half was really strong in midfield and defence. Offensively it was few and far between but we had chances. The five at the back were very strong all game, got a bit shaky when Burgess and Behich came on for a bit.
 
rebelliousfeminist974 said:
To be fair the Socceroos defeated a second-string Cameroon side during the March international window and also had the benefit of home advantage but if we're losing to sides like Colombia, Mexico and the USA that are more physical than us then clearly it shows that something is going wrong with Popovic's tactical system.
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Actually Australia beat Colombia in 1v1 duels, winning 9 more than Colombia over the entire game.

I’m away ATM, and have not done USA tallies.

Fair comment about a second string Cameroon. I didn’t know they were?

Also, yes we had home ad, but apart from Aus domestic players, the Roos were probably jet lagged for game 1 against Cameroon, but the same would have possibly applied to them too.
 
rebelliousfeminist974 said:
Leckie and Aziz Behich definitely need to be culled from the Socceroos playing list as both are clearly past their prime and regressing, and they'll only increase the average age of the squad in addition to the fact that they won't be able to handle the physicality of many of our opponents at the World Cup.
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Leckie is a very physically robust player in body on body duels, but agree their best years are behind them.

What we don’t know is they may be great senior mentors for the inexperienced players in the squad, boasting vast experience, but more as back up players/subs.
 
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