Zatman Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 France arent great, werent that special in Euros as got to final with an easy draw minus Germany Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPower_14 Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 I feel like we're playing okay but having no luck and having nobody with any idea how to score a goal outside of a set piece anywhere near the side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 France vs Denmark was disgusting. France need to drop Griezmann and Dembele. Dembele looks pretty useless, Griezmann not delivering. Fekir and Mbappe have much more pace and intensity on the ball and should replace them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponky Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 Our campaign in a nutshell. Couldn't finish a Vegemite sandwich. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 5 hours ago, ThunderPower_14 said: I feel like we're playing okay but having no luck and having nobody with any idea how to score a goal outside of a set piece anywhere near the side. Got any decent 19-20 year olds coming through that we might see in Qatar? Australia just suffered from all their good players (Schwarzer, Neill, Kewell, Bresciano, Viduka) all retiring in same period. Cahill should've retired after 2014. Football is reasonably popular now with the A league so there must be some potential bubbling up at least? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 5 hours ago, Dr_Pangloss said: France vs Denmark was disgusting. France need to drop Griezmann and Dembele. Dembele looks pretty useless, Griezmann not delivering. Fekir and Mbappe have much more pace and intensity on the ball and should replace them. Mbappe's a starter anyway. Fekir could be interesting selection for next round. I actually think France's weakness is at the back where they have lots of youth and lack leaders. Lloris has also declined for Spurs last 18 months. Only conceded a penalty so far though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 11 hours ago, Hornso said: Cahill to get 10-15 minutes at the end for his aerial ability is my guess. He's a spent force that shouldn't be anywhere near the world cup. May as well have dug out Viduka! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornso Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 23 hours ago, Hornso said: Bit of feeling building that maybe we'll be able to sneak through tonight. Queue Australia 0-3 Peru and/or France 0-0 Denmark. So close! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornso Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 3 hours ago, VillaChris said: Got any decent 19-20 year olds coming through that we might see in Qatar? Australia just suffered from all their good players (Schwarzer, Neill, Kewell, Bresciano, Viduka) all retiring in same period. Cahill should've retired after 2014. Football is reasonably popular now with the A league so there must be some potential bubbling up at least? Only Azani (19), who you would have already seen at this World Cup, comes immediately to mind. The A-League only has 10 teams and most spend their money on overseas forwards (Ross McCormack says hi) which limits the chances of young forwards. Our football administration really is a mess. Limited professional league, no national 2nd division and constant in-fighting/lack of leadership at board level. I think we're not going to improve for some time unless our players are able to develop in Europe/Asia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Demitri Petrados is pretty handy, but he's already 26. Skillful player though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPower_14 Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 6 hours ago, VillaChris said: Got any decent 19-20 year olds coming through that we might see in Qatar? Australia just suffered from all their good players (Schwarzer, Neill, Kewell, Bresciano, Viduka) all retiring in same period. Cahill should've retired after 2014. Football is reasonably popular now with the A league so there must be some potential bubbling up at least? The double edged sword of the A League is that while football is more popular than ever in Australia, young aspiring professionals can make a living playing football without ever leaving their home country where the quality in coaching etc simply isn't there. The good players seem to get snapped up by teams in Asia and the Middle East and precious few actually make it to Europe. We had 3 players playing in the top division of a big European league in that squad. Ryan and Mooy in the Prem and Leckie in Germany. Compare that to 2006 where something like 18 of the 23 were playing in big leagues against great players week in week out. We need to get the likes of Arzani to Europe ASAP. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 2 hours ago, ThunderPower_14 said: The double edged sword of the A League is that while football is more popular than ever in Australia, young aspiring professionals can make a living playing football without ever leaving their home country where the quality in coaching etc simply isn't there. The good players seem to get snapped up by teams in Asia and the Middle East and precious few actually make it to Europe. We had 3 players playing in the top division of a big European league in that squad. Ryan and Mooy in the Prem and Leckie in Germany. Compare that to 2006 where something like 18 of the 23 were playing in big leagues against great players week in week out. We need to get the likes of Arzani to Europe ASAP. This is a very good post, and I would say that the distinction that you've highlighted is sure to be very important. One hopeful aspect here is that if the league is popular, and has money, then teams will realise sooner or later that they can make a better value for money improvement by spending on coaching than on player's wages, and the league as a whole should see the hiring of better quality coaches in the future. One thing I do wonder - and I stress I saw absolutely nothing of Australia in qualifying, so I welcome people telling me I'm way off base here - is if qualifying in Asia, where teams will on average be somewhat smaller, might encourage a style of play (I'm thinking direct, reliant on height, strength, solid defense and being good at set pieces) that doesn't survive on contact with European and South American sides, whose players are used to having to break down determined defenders in their domestic leagues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 5 hours ago, ThunderPower_14 said: The double edged sword of the A League is that while football is more popular than ever in Australia, young aspiring professionals can make a living playing football without ever leaving their home country where the quality in coaching etc simply isn't there. The good players seem to get snapped up by teams in Asia and the Middle East and precious few actually make it to Europe. We had 3 players playing in the top division of a big European league in that squad. Ryan and Mooy in the Prem and Leckie in Germany. Compare that to 2006 where something like 18 of the 23 were playing in big leagues against great players week in week out. We need to get the likes of Arzani to Europe ASAP. Australia seems similar to Ireland in that development at home is poor and the FAI dont care about the local league. We are also similar that we dont have players playing at top end of Premier League anymore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPower_14 Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 44 minutes ago, Zatman said: Australia seems similar to Ireland in that development at home is poor and the FAI dont care about the local league. We are also similar that we dont have players playing at top end of Premier League anymore The FFA has been butting heads with the A-League for years which is incredibly frustrating. Football is the 3rd biggest winter sport in Australia in terms of financial clout, and there are only 24 million Australians, so we're probably never going to be rivaling the big European or South American teams, but we can definitely be doing things better. Putting quality coaching ahead of paying big money for the likes of Ross McCormack would be a good start, but until we have that sort of coaching, we really need a culture shift to where it's expected that anyone who wants to be a professional goes and does his apprenticeship in Europe. That used to be the case in the Kewell/Viduka era but has dropped away since being a professional in Australia actually became a viable option. 4 hours ago, HanoiVillan said: This is a very good post, and I would say that the distinction that you've highlighted is sure to be very important. One hopeful aspect here is that if the league is popular, and has money, then teams will realise sooner or later that they can make a better value for money improvement by spending on coaching than on player's wages, and the league as a whole should see the hiring of better quality coaches in the future. One thing I do wonder - and I stress I saw absolutely nothing of Australia in qualifying, so I welcome people telling me I'm way off base here - is if qualifying in Asia, where teams will on average be somewhat smaller, might encourage a style of play (I'm thinking direct, reliant on height, strength, solid defense and being good at set pieces) that doesn't survive on contact with European and South American sides, whose players are used to having to break down determined defenders in their domestic leagues? Absolutely. The technique isn't there and the defending in the A-League is awful. We aim to be fairly tidy without a whole lot of natural flair for the most part. At a national level we've relied on Tim Cahill to score headed goals from set pieces for over a decade now. Cahill doesn't even play as a striker at club level, which shows how far away that is from a reasonable strategy, especially now that Cahill is 38. I think the attacking trio of Leckie, Rogic and Arzani are all fairly individually talented but they struggled to play off of each other very well. It just seemed to be one making a run then getting to a dead end and laying off to a fullback or a central midfielder. Inside the box we don't have anything resembling a competent striker at world cup level. I feel like we could play for weeks and not find the back of the net from open play. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponky Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 At Melbourne Victory we have an absolutely ripping 17yo winger called Christian Theoharous. Absolute rocket and was probably a better prospect than Arzani until halfway through the season. But whereas Arzani was starting games and being allowed to develop young Theo was being made to play 10 minute cameos behind Leroy George and Kosta Barbarouses - a Dutchman and a Kiwi - end result being he's signed for Borussia Monchengladbach U23s and will most probably have his career screwed up like countless other before him. Another former Victory player, Seb Pasquali, is a case in point. Prodigiously talented and was signed by Ajax two years ago after just 2 games in the A-League, and was forced to sit out an entire season because they buggered up his clearance. This is the frustrating thing for me about the A-League, and Melbourne Victory under Muscat especially. So many young kids being let go or forced out because of imports blocking their paths. Indeed, two of the current world cup squad - Behich and Nabbout - were released by Muscat because he didn't think they were good enough. Yes, maybe that's the price of success and raising the standards of the competition, but if you are losing youngsters to the system before they are ready you have to wonder. The A-League has the potential to be a very good breeding ground for the national team, if players are given time to develop and play every week before being lured overseas. Jedinak, Mooy, Ryan, Leckie, Kruse (yikes) and Rogic all cut their teeth in the A-League and have developed into pretty decent players in some top leagues. Hopefully the likes of Pasquali, Theoharous and Arzani will be good enough and emerge to take us into the next era. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPower_14 Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Ponky said: The A-League has the potential to be a very good breeding ground for the national team, if players are given time to develop and play every week before being lured overseas. Jedinak, Mooy, Ryan, Leckie, Kruse (yikes) and Rogic all cut their teeth in the A-League and have developed into pretty decent players in some top leagues. Hopefully the likes of Pasquali, Theoharous and Arzani will be good enough and emerge to take us into the next era. Ha, i've just argued the exact opposite point, that we should be getting our most talented kids over to Europe to get elite level coaching before they are too set in their ways. Edit: And by overseas I mean Europe only. Players going overseas to Asia or the Middle East is so frustrating and such a waste IMO. Actually we may be sort of arguing the same point, as Leckie and Rogic both moved when they were 19-20 years old. Totally agree that the A-League should stop paying big money to average journeyman professionals from overseas and focus on youth development. Sure, if you can get Romario or Del Piero over, great. But not Ross bloody McCormack. I'm not sure what the rule is in terms of the salary cap bonus for marquee players, but it should be pretty strictly restricted to players who will genuinely bring people through the gates. Edited June 27, 2018 by ThunderPower_14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 17 hours ago, ThunderPower_14 said: there are only 24 million Australians, so we're probably never going to be rivaling the big European or South American teams Not having a dig at you ThunderPower, but I think it's a bit tiresome that this is often wheeled out as an excuse. I think the joke that is the FFA is largely to blame for the state of Australian football, as you say, but I don't think our population is relevant. Comparitively: Netherlands - 17mil Belgium - 11mil Portugal - 10mil Sweden - 9mil Switzerland - 8mil Demark - 5mil Croatia - 4mil Uruguay - 3mil Iceland - 300k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornso Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 2 hours ago, MrDuck said: Not having a dig at you ThunderPower, but I think it's a bit tiresome that this is often wheeled out as an excuse. I think the joke that is the FFA is largely to blame for the state of Australian football, as you say, but I don't think our population is relevant. Comparitively: Netherlands - 17mil Belgium - 11mil Portugal - 10mil Sweden - 9mil Switzerland - 8mil Demark - 5mil Croatia - 4mil Uruguay - 3mil Iceland - 300k Not necessarily disagreeing with you but the argument to that would be football is the top sport in all those countries (maybe 2nd in some) whilst in Australia it'd be behind AFL, Rugby League out of the winter sports and Cricket in the summer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 That hasn't been the case for a while though. In terms of participation, football outranks other sports by a mile. It's only in terms of TV viewing figures that other codes are ahead. Quote https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/football-officially-australias-most-played-sport-with-over-one-million-participants/news-story/84651424c1d5b3e78bf7eb62c534b5ae IT’S official — football is the most popular sport to play in the country. An update of the Australian Sports Commission’s official AusPlay survey, the largest survey of its type ever undertaken in Australia, showed that 1,104,815 Australians participated in football between January 2016 and December 2016. That’s over 400,000 more participants than AFL (665,470 participants), more than twice as many as cricket (543,695) and four times as many as rugby league (236,593). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 So will Australia try and get back to the Oceania group when they change the WC to 48 teams. Guessing New Zeeland just has to beat The Solomon Islands and Fiji to qualify 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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