Socceroos vs Venezuela/ Colombia Nov 25

[JS96]

I was there too.

Parallels but I think Bahrain was the worse one. How absolutely shot were we that night? Arnold had squeezed the juice and we'd turned up with something very wrong in our heads and you can sense it in those games where a very poor performance is coming.

I'd hoped it was coming that Popovic would allow for some attacking greed but NZ was the false hope and now it's back to cautious play.

 

[booney52]

I am with you on Nisbet,He should definitely be in the squad but Popa seems to have a blind spot about him-maybe he subconsciously has something against him for the way he took his MV team to the cleaners in the 2024 GF.At this stage Nizzy is a much better player than Okon but I was just pointing out it was his first match and he found the step up in class a problem.Anyway Nisbet is better suited to play as an attacking mid though he certainly can manage the DM role while Okon appears to be purely a No 6.

 

[Quicky]

Which gun is out of work and would want to manage this lot ?

The Chinese Super League ends in November. Bring in Muscat.

 

[JS96]

Have to wait until they wake up again as only the Beach interview has been posted so far. Surely there's a press conference or something from Popovic. Maybe in the coming days.

I'd really like someone with tactical knowledge to ask why Miller is the most preferred outlet being the technically worst and what O'Neill is even supposed to do out there.

 

[Cunningstunt]

We'll probably scrap an unconvincing draw, and the Popa fanboys will be out in force again.

I see the Popa fanboys bit
thrown around and I wonder what this could be referring to. I would say the best you would find is lukewarm.

 

[Cunningstunt]

Exactly that. They'll be good for these experiences and I wouldn't say that we've wasted time or opportunity by exposing them now but I think this was the last game for participation awards and now it's really time to bring in the big names and stick with it. This should make squad selection a little narrower.

I would expect this as well. Although predicting things with Popa hasn't been straight forward.

I think the recent experiments have shown our second tier drop off is quite noticeable.

 

[NoMates]

I thought Goodwin looked good out there and did what he always does, def a world cup starter, after he left we were crud on that wing and created nothing except the usual go forward and pass the ball back which is so frustrating.

 

[Toebash]

He thinks like a lot of people, that women’s football is not very good.

There's nothing stopping you from keeping your sexism to yourself champ.

 

[Toebash]

I hate the five man backline. I just don't think it works. Unless you have Bos bombing on and we find someone to do the same at RWB (Miller's got the athleticism but not the technical ability), it's extremely difficult to see how we make any decent goalscoring opportunities.

We're really, really struggling to transition out of defence, because the midfielders are outnumbered and, while competent enough, just don't have the extreme technical ability or the passing options if they ever manage to turn and move forward with the ball. Instead, we just see the centre halves passing into around themselves for 5 minutes before running out of ideas. Also, the lack of forward players means we can never employ a proper press.

I really think a 4-2-3-1 would work so much better, because that unpenetrative, laboured performance with the ball last night was borderline unwatchable, and we actually have the cattle at the moment to be a decent and attacking team (particularly at a 48 team world cup where there should be more opponents around our level).

 

[Cunningstunt]

I hate the five man backline. I just don't think it works. Unless you have Bos bombing on and we find someone to do the same at RWB (Miller's got the athleticism but not the technical ability), it's extremely difficult to see how we make any decent goalscoring opportunities.

We're really, really struggling to transition out of defence, because the midfielders are outnumbered and, while competent enough, just don't have the extreme technical ability or the passing options if they ever manage to turn and move forward with the ball. Instead, we just see the centre halves passing into around themselves for 5 minutes before running out of ideas. Also, the lack of forward players means we can never employ a proper press.

I really think a 4-2-3-1 would work so much better, because that unpenetrative, laboured performance with the ball last night was borderline unwatchable, and we actually have the cattle at the moment to be a decent and attacking team (particularly at a 48 team world cup where there should be more opponents around our level).

I agree I also don't like 5 at the back. I think we are outnumbered in midfield.
Not sure who would play 10 for us these days. But again I agree. Popa has played with a 10 in the past. Maybe if he had a Mooy or Rogic type he would have?
But unless something pretty unusual happens, this is what we are playing at the WC.

 

[JS96]

The answers to RWB is still Strain just if he weren't bloody injured all the time. Also a roaming Metcalfe to then free up some midfield slot for McGree.

 

[Toebash]

In hindsight perhaps a 4-3-3 works better. We've got a glut of decent midfield options but probably nobody who clearly stands out at 10 (maybe Segecic or Volpato, but one doesn't quite have the body of work yet, and the other looks a pipe dream at the moment).

It's interesting comparing our starting lineup last world cup, where we employed a 4-3-3, against what our options would be this time around:

GK: Ryan
RB: Karacic/Atkinson/Degenek
CB: Souttar
CB: Rowles
LB: Behich
RCM: Irvine
CM: Mooy
LCM: McGree
RW: Leckie
LW: Goodwin
ST: Duke

I think our starting lineup would probably be stronger this time around?:

GK: Ryan
RB: Miller
CB: Circati
CB: Burgess/Souttar
LB: Bos
RCM: Irvine
CM: Balard
LCM: McGree
RW: Irankunda
LW: Metcalfe/Goodwin
ST: Toure

Clear upgrades across the backline (except Souttar 2022 version), a slightly weaker midfield with Mooy dropping out replaced by Balard (though I do rate him) and forward line probably evens (2022 Goodwin was excellent, but Toure is a pretty clear upgrade on Duke). I also think our bench options this time around are probably better.

 

[huddo]

Anyone who thinks popa is going to the WC with any other plans than Plan A - 5-4-1 low block, theyre kidding themselves. It's all he has.

He doesn't use 10s. He doesn't believe in sustained attack. He doesn't pick players on anything but what he likes.

 

[Quicky]

Calming down a bit, and a bit of perpective, the XI we put out was pretty far from full strength.

I think it shows how much we rely on Circati and Bos already. Also Irvine in midfield.

Beach was a positive.

I was most dissapointed in O'Neill who really should have been a leader out there given the team we put out. But was bog ordinary.

 

[Quicky]

Anyone who thinks popa is going to the WC with any other plans than Plan A - 5-4-1 low block, theyre kidding themselves. It's all he has.

He doesn't use 10s. He doesn't believe in sustained attack. He doesn't pick players on anything but what he likes.

This is true. But a plan B wouldn't hurt.

 

[huddo]

Calming down a bit, and a bit of perpective, the XI we put out was pretty far from full strength.

I think it shows how much we rely on Circati and Bos already. Also Irvine in midfield.

Beach was a positive.

I was most dissapointed in O'Neill who really should have been a leader out there given the team we put out. But was bog ordinary.

I'm not disappointed in O'Neill, it's now my expectation that he is that bad. I'm disappointed he's still being selected. but I'm not disappointed in him.

 

[huddo]

This is true. But a plan B wouldn't hurt.

I agree.

But nothing in popas history shows an appetite, let alone an aptitude to have an alternative plan.

 

[JS96]

Calming down a bit, and a bit of perpective, the XI we put out was pretty far from full strength.

I think it shows how much we rely on Circati and Bos already. Also Irvine in midfield.

Beach was a positive.

I was most dissapointed in O'Neill who really should have been a leader out there given the team we put out. But was bog ordinary.

I'll try and have another look later today and see what our midfield did. The pass stats are telling. It just felt very complacent and it was the game for the guaranteed starts in Miller and O'Neill to show some leadership and they failed miserably. Might Geria be out next? What I hated was how we wasted more than an hour easing in then the game just faded away with pauses in play and it was basicially 'thank you for coming. Let's move on.'

It's simply not good enough to come out like that but part of professional sport in football like in tennis, swimming and horse racing, there are times when the instruction is not to do anything stupid and stupidly, not overexert yourself. They know there are bigger and more games coming. I certainly hope it was that the team were cautious at a crucial part of the season. I guess a lot of nations have similar times but that doesn't stop others from trying their absolute best every game.

 

[JS96]

I agree.

But nothing in popas history shows an appetite, let alone an aptitude to have an alternative plan.

It's pretty limited. I think NZ as an opponent gave us false hope that we were allowed to roam more forward. He lassoed that back in the past 3 games.

 

[Quicky]

I agree.

But nothing in popas history shows an appetite, let alone an aptitude to have an alternative plan.

Also true. Though he switched to a 4-4-2 for 5 mins vs USA. Does that count as flexible