Farewell Game Exposes Flaws

For a long time this site has tried to highlight the lack of honesty in the media coverage of football in Australia and it would appear that finally the public are beginning to wake up and question the information that they have been and are being fed.

Former Socceroos boss Holger Osciek we are led to believe requested the FFA line up friendlies against the number 4 ranked team in the world Brazil and number 16 ranked France, to gauge exactly where his team sat. Australia is currently ranked 59th in the World. In both of those games Australia was thrashed 6-0 and the depth of talent was found to be wanting. Osciek was sacked and replaced by the best of the Australian coaches in Ange Postecoglou, a man who was being lobbied for as the next national coach almost a year earlier by sections of the media. (Two P’s For Top Job )

Unfairly Postecoglou was hailed as being the man to turn Australian football around; after all he produced a team at Brisbane Roar the like of which Australian football had not seen for a very long time, if ever. The trouble is international football is very different to running a club side. When you are running a club side in a league competition, you have time with the players, you learn what makes them tick, who gets on with who, who is a hypochondriac, eating habits and individual preparation rituals. As an international coach you do not have the luxury of that time with the players. In a short space of time you are expected to mould a group of players from a myriad of clubs around the globe, all playing different styles of football and the players playing different roles, into a cohesive unit on the pitch. This is why many successful club managers have opted not to take on an international role.

Postecoglou’s first game in charge was against Costa Rica where a slightly fortuitous goal, courtesy of a deflection off Junior Diaz, saw the team win 1-0. His second game against Ecuador saw the team put in an impressive first half performance which resulted in a 3-0 lead at the break. The second half was as bad as the first half was good, not helped by the sending off of goalkeeper Mitch Langerak, the Socceroos conceded four goals to lose 4-3. Much attention was focussed on the first half and many scribes put the defeat down to the sending off, yet the truth was the team’s naiveté and inability to keep possession was their undoing.

Leading up to last night’s farewell fixture before the team leaves to compete at the World Cup in Brazil it was worrying to see on social media supposed fans saying that the Socceroos would beat South Africa upwards of 3-0. Some expected a 6-0 thrashing of the team from Africa who had left eleven regular players at home.  How could they possibly have thought this possible? South Africa are ranked just six places below Australia at 65th. Sure, they did not qualify for the World Cup, but Africa has some very good teams in its Confederation and only five nations from the 52 who took part in qualifying will be in Brazil.

Post match, after what was a far from impressive performance, where again ball retention was very poor and certain players were greatly exposed there are still ‘experts’ and sections of the media talking up individual players and the performance. The truth may hurt, but sometimes people need to hear the truth, and that is that this generation is simply not as good as the previous one, and the development of players in this country has been neglected; or more likely the standards of the past have not been maintained, because there has been too much tinkering and change for the sake of it.

This may well have been a farewell game before the World Cup, but the lap of honour at the end of the game and on field presentations were galling. This was not a good performance. To see players smiling and laughing after such a performance just did not seem to fit with the amount of work they need to be do to reach the standards the footballing public now expects. Expections based on the performances of the past and also the information that are given.  To be fair Postecoglou was quick to admit that work needed to and would be done. Surely laps of honour should only ever follow outstanding performances and tournament or qualification winning games, they should never become de rigeur, or they lose their value, last night it just seemed plain wrong.

There is no doubt the squad misses the talents of Rhys Williams and Robbie Kruse in both defence and attack, but it is a fact that they will not be in Brazil due to injury.  It now comes down to those selected to fill the void. There is no doubt it will be interesting to see how the games in Brazil are wrapped up should the Socceroos be on the end of humiliating defeats. Based on this form this could well be the case, the biggest test will be to see how much spirit this group of players has. Australian teams have always been renowned for their endeavour, and never say die attitude, their pride in the shirt and their country. Unless Postecoglou can work a minor miracle they are going to have to dig deep on that spirit to see them through, as based on recent performances they will not survive on their talent alone.