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World Cup 2018
- Thread starter 22nd Man
- Start date
The future needs to be built around the creative core of Mooy, Rogic, Arzani and Luongo. Let them develop as a midfield quartet. Rogic was awesome in the first half last night. Surround him with quick, skilful players who threaten the defence themselves and holes will open up for gim
Kruse is a poor man's Brett Emerton. Leckie should be the Dan Butler of a good side but is batting too high in the order. He's a winger, not a striker.
Kruse is a poor man's Brett Emerton. Leckie should be the Dan Butler of a good side but is batting too high in the order. He's a winger, not a striker.
There you go. Friendly draw between the heavyweights and we're automatically shut out no matter if we won 10-0.
Geez seems like a gameday thread after the mighty Tiges lose. We suck, the coach sucks, the world is caving in.
On the coach, I think he did a really good job. Many in Australia were claiming we would be blown away in every game, his focus on defensive positioning was spot on and he should be applauded for that. He made a couple of conservative (too conservative) decisions on the starting 11 last night but generally Bert has been good.
The issue with goalscoring strikers is the biggest one for Australia as there just isn't anyone to fill a very large gaping void.
The rest of the midfield / attacking quartet provides glimpses of what they can do. I liked the Mooy / Jedinak midfield duo, there were comments that Mile offers nothing going forward, when you have 4 attacking players at least 1 of your midfield duo literally have to sit in front of the defence, check out probably the best in the business Kante for France and tell me he shouldn't be picked as he doesn't do enough offensively. Leckie is good, Rogic is good (not world class as someone else stated), Kruse just isn't good enough. He's too slow and doesn't have the skill set to get crosses into the box. 5 goals in 67 caps just isn't good enough for an attacking player. Arzani looks damn good and Bert was way too conservative with him last night.
Personallly as an Englishman I see a lot of similarities with England of the past. Massive defensive focus, not enough quality going forward. Amazing what a bit of youth, a change in mindset and a world class striker can do for a team. England had to wait pretty much between Alan Shearer and now Harry Kane to get that world class striker who can get goals at the highest level. I know people may claim Rooney but he played deeper and his goalscoring record at major tournaments was almost non-existant.
Lots to like going forward for Australia, there is a core there, some really good players amongst them like Mooy, Ryan, Arzani (potentially). For me Arzani needs to go to Europe and follow a similar path to Ryan, Mooy and Cahill.
On the coach, I think he did a really good job. Many in Australia were claiming we would be blown away in every game, his focus on defensive positioning was spot on and he should be applauded for that. He made a couple of conservative (too conservative) decisions on the starting 11 last night but generally Bert has been good.
The issue with goalscoring strikers is the biggest one for Australia as there just isn't anyone to fill a very large gaping void.
The rest of the midfield / attacking quartet provides glimpses of what they can do. I liked the Mooy / Jedinak midfield duo, there were comments that Mile offers nothing going forward, when you have 4 attacking players at least 1 of your midfield duo literally have to sit in front of the defence, check out probably the best in the business Kante for France and tell me he shouldn't be picked as he doesn't do enough offensively. Leckie is good, Rogic is good (not world class as someone else stated), Kruse just isn't good enough. He's too slow and doesn't have the skill set to get crosses into the box. 5 goals in 67 caps just isn't good enough for an attacking player. Arzani looks damn good and Bert was way too conservative with him last night.
Personallly as an Englishman I see a lot of similarities with England of the past. Massive defensive focus, not enough quality going forward. Amazing what a bit of youth, a change in mindset and a world class striker can do for a team. England had to wait pretty much between Alan Shearer and now Harry Kane to get that world class striker who can get goals at the highest level. I know people may claim Rooney but he played deeper and his goalscoring record at major tournaments was almost non-existant.
Lots to like going forward for Australia, there is a core there, some really good players amongst them like Mooy, Ryan, Arzani (potentially). For me Arzani needs to go to Europe and follow a similar path to Ryan, Mooy and Cahill.
In the media today. He's flying out of Russia to London to meet his agent to explore options for a few days. A likely scenario being discussed is him being resigned under the Manchester City umbrella (given they have an owning stake in Melbourne City, he's technically already under their umbrella) and then being loaned out by Man City to NAC Breda in the Netherlands or Girona in Spain - as I believe the City Football Group have an owning stakes with and/or strategic development arrangements with those clubs too.mrposhman said:
mrposhman said:Can't play the Germans in the last 16
We can however potentially play either tham or Brazil (if Brazil top their group and Germany finish 2nd) in the quarters if we finish top of our group.
I must be getting soft in my old age mrp, but it wouldn't bother me to see England win the World Cup. I'm not saying i want them to win, but it wouldn't bother me ;D I don't always like the the English fans, but i admire their dedication.
Good luck.
tigerman said:
Yes some of the English fans are a embarrassment.
There looks to be 2 sides of the draw opening up.
Assuming Group E finished with Brazil top and Switzerland 2nd. Group F with Mexico top and Germany 2nd. Group G with Belgium top and England 2nd and Group H with Japan top and Colombia 2nd, then the 2 sides of the draw are:
Side 1 = Uruguay, Portugal, France, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Belgium, Senegal
Side 2 = Spain, Russia, Croatia, Denmark, Mexico, Switzerland, Japan, England
I know which side I'd prefer to be on.
mrposhman said:
Yes a good draw for England.
There's some good games coming up with a lot at stake. Brazil v Serbia, Columbia v Senegal. Columbia have impressed me a bit, i'm not sure how their backs will stand up if they beat Senegal and go through which i think they will.
So Japan is the only team from Asia to make the final 16 - more work needs to be done across Asia to try and lift the standard full stop.
Disappointed Australia didn’t win a game but to be honest - we are ranked around the late 30’s from memory and the three teams in our group are ranked either top 10, 11 and Denmark is up there also - so disappointed yes but glad we were more than competitive in all three games.
Strangely the Peru game turned out to be the hardest and quickly looked likely the one we couldn’t win.
Disappointed Australia didn’t win a game but to be honest - we are ranked around the late 30’s from memory and the three teams in our group are ranked either top 10, 11 and Denmark is up there also - so disappointed yes but glad we were more than competitive in all three games.
Strangely the Peru game turned out to be the hardest and quickly looked likely the one we couldn’t win.
mrposhman said:Can't play the Germans in the last 16
We can however potentially play either tham or Brazil (if Brazil top their group and Germany finish 2nd) in the quarters if we finish top of our group.
I read it wrong. The QFs. Either the 2nd or 4th. I reckon they'll meet.
Didn't know you were a Pommie. I thought you were just poshy. ;D
TigerForce said:
Haha not posh at all just named after my soccer team over there, Peterborough United.
I thought from the start we would but Germany losing to Mexico mixes it all up a bit. If Brazil finish top, Germany and England finish 2nd then we can only play those 2 in the final. I'll take that
mrposhman said:Haha not posh at all just named after my soccer team over there, Peterborough United.
I thought from the start we would but Germany losing to Mexico mixes it all up a bit. If Brazil finish top, Germany and England finish 2nd then we can only play those 2 in the final. I'll take that
Actually, I remember you mentioned this some time ago. I hope the Pommies make the final too.......at least the Scouser BIL will be happy.
Columbia are often very impressive during the very competitive and tough South American qualifiers. And consistently get through it. More often than the likes of Chile, Uruguay and Peru. They were very impressive last World Cup. Could well have gone a lot further than they did, but copped a home Brazil side in the qtr final. And from memory it was an extremely competitive match where either side could have won.tigerman said:
