Jump to content
Melbourne Football

World Cup Qualifiers


Shahanga
 Share

Recommended Posts

46 minutes ago, NewConvert said:

I don't think he should survive but I am not sure who you would need to get to build up the socceroos. Part of me thinks that the next coach should concentrate on a solid A-League base with polish & top ups from those that play overseas.

Unfortunately up front we don't have a reliable striker. JMac is doing OK at this level but once he gets the socceroos jersey he is MIA.

The U23s making the Olympics and winning a game showed me the tide has turned. At long last things have stopped getting worse. (These players are basically from the U23 generation that didn’t score a goal in qualification).

A second division (like Arnold used to promote) would help, though realistically through the last two years we’ve done well to keep the A League.

Personally id keep Arnold. Not because I  think he’s the only choice, but because I consider him a good experienced coach and random chopping and changing frustrates me. He knows where the bodies are buried now and can plot a course.

in regards to JMac he wouldn’t touch the ball in games like we’ve just seen, as he’d get zero service, so I personally agree with not playing him. He needs a better midfield and wingers I’m afraid (or worse opposition).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
On 31/3/2022 at 3:36 PM, Tommykins said:

I don't have a particular problem with Arnold as coach but his style of play is entirely at odds with the strengths of the team at the moment - this is the underlying problem, the entire lack of tactical flexibility has made a tricky situation into a bit of a disastrous one. 

It's not just his style of play, his whole philosophy and motivation and team building is built around:

backs to the wall

dig deep

nobody expects us to win

we are underdogs.

This worked well at CCM because it was true, it strained credibility somewhat when he kept calling the Smurfs 'underdogs', and, paradoxically, it might work well (because it's true) in our WC group, but it became a self-fulfilling prophecy during qualification, and it's isnt the philosophy we want for our national team.

He's done some good things, like unifying style of play and coaching continuity between U23 and Socceroos, but his time has come and gone now that we've qualified.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, jw1739 said:

How many current and former Heart/City players did we have in the squad this morning?

Atkinson, Behich, Leckie, Maclaren, Mooy, Goodwin, Redmayne, Genreau, Tilio, McGree.

Must be a record of some sort.

Is the A-League being suspended for the World Cup? Otherwise with Leckie, JMac and Tilio being in the side our forward line is looking rather thin. Add Nabbout as a call up...

And of course we would prefer not to have any injuries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@NewConvert Somewhere there's a recent APL statement on next season to say that there will be no mid-week matches, that matches will be scheduled for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only, that international breaks will be observed, etc. etc.

It doesn't mention the World Cup Finals specifically, but I've just seen a snippet from an article (in toto behind a paywall) that says we are "expected to break for 3 weeks" at that time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, NewConvert said:

Is the A-League being suspended for the World Cup? Otherwise with Leckie, JMac and Tilio being in the side our forward line is looking rather thin. Add Nabbout as a call up...

And of course we would prefer not to have any injuries.

...and we'll probably lose Curtis Good as a national squad player

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Interesting comment from Arzani, that being sent out on loan does not mean that the club will assist in development:

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/they-don-t-really-care-fallen-socceroos-star-s-words-of-warning-for-epl-bound-teen-20220924-p5bknx.html

Of course we were always wondering whether he had the engine for 90 minutes and he does admit to making poor decisions which also come into play.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Given that Australia will have friendlies against Ecuador and Arnold's desire to have the same team that he took to Qatar as a thank you (which is very odd in my opinion), he has some issues due to injuries. For me the issue is attacking: Leckie, Goodwin are going to be 36 come the next world cup, Duke will be about 40, Nabbout & Jmac will be 35/34, so there is a big gap. Jason Cummings will be 32 so he could possibly be in contention. For me, I would call up Irakunda to be the striker and start giving him game time with Tilio & Kuol up front. The three of them to play 10 minutes together against Ecuador for each game.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The squad for the Ecuador matches reads like a "who's who" of Heart/City. Included are:

Atkinson, Behich, Bos, Gauci, Goodwin, McGree, Metcalfe, Mooy, O'Neill, Redmayne and Tilio.

Congratulations to them all, especially our three current players.

  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

The squad for the Ecuador matches reads like a "who's who" of Heart/City. Included are:

Atkinson, Behich, Bos, Gauci, Goodwin, McGree, Metcalfe, Mooy, O'Neill, Redmayne and Tilio.

Congratulations to them all, especially our three current players.

Very impressive indeed! Especially given 5 of them are very recent when you include Atkinson and Metcalfe. 

Crazy to think it could have been even more if Leckie and Jmac weren't injured... 

I don't think many if any other A League teams have produced this many Socceroos? 

Edited by MHFC-FAN
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Socceroos vs Ecuador was an entertaining game in the end. Although I must confess that I did not see much build up, passing play or holding play from the Socceroos. I was saying that Behich is done but all of a sudden he crosses the ball in for Kuol's goal. Still I would have liked to see Bos replace Behich for at least 5 minutes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good result.

Had some issues to deal with yesterday and couldn't watch, but we certainly looked good in the highlights. So often in the past we've looked like a team that shouldn't really be there, but not from what I've seen of last night. All three goals are good to watch. If Arnold keeps us going like this with the young players coming through the future looks exciting.

20,000 attendance a bit disappointing. I wish we played more often at AAMI.

I was surprised to read that there was no VAR.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Good result.

Had some issues to deal with yesterday and couldn't watch, but we certainly looked good in the highlights. So often in the past we've looked like a team that shouldn't really be there, but not from what I've seen of last night. All three goals are good to watch. If Arnold keeps us going like this with the young players coming through the future looks exciting.

20,000 attendance a bit disappointing. I wish we played more often at AAMI.

I was surprised to read that there was no VAR.

I oath the VAR so I am happy for it to be permanently scrapped from all competitions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 07/04/2023 at 7:53 AM, NewConvert said:

The AFC has released the AFC Asian Cup dates being between January and February next year. If City members get called up, is the A-League being suspended?

@NewConvertThis is a very good question.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_International_Match_Calendar . This specifies the international windows but there's no mention of domestic competitions being suspended for the Confederation cup competitions. It does, however, specify the release rules for players selected for the national teams, and say that internationals take precedence over other matches. I infer from that that the domestic competitions are not required to be suspended, and therefore I suspect that we can expect our league to continue though the Asian AFC Cup period. 

It won't be just City and A-League clubs who lose players.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
4 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Anyone watch the whole match? 

Yes. We didn't get off the bus until about the 10-minute mark when Messi scored. After that, it was quite even until the 60-minute mark. The big difference between the teams was that the Argentinians had a better first touch, and were faster over the first 5m; this gave them more time on the ball to pick the right pass, therefore, better pass completion in midfield. Socceroos were well organised but were punished for their mistakes, and the Argentinians weren't. Maclaren just doesn't fit into Arnold's style of play, especially against this level of opponent. Bob was playing his second game for the Socceroos; Scolari switched diMaria to the other flank away from him. He needs to improve his final ball though. O'Neill had a good game, Leckie had a poor night by his standards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Surprised no one has commented on the England vs Australia game.

I felt that Metcalfe has improved his ball skills enormously. Bos' 15 minutes were quite reasonable.

Remain baffled as to why Rowles was tried at left back when Bos and Behich were on the bench. I presume that for 2026, Arnold is not expecting Behich to be there (reasonable assumption) but Rowles?

Also Arnold has not found an answer to the striker position with Duke being rather slow but does offer a big body. I always feel that if a player has been connected to Arnold via the domestic league they are likely to get a game. Personally I would have had Borello as the #9.

And the team needs more training camps because there was some disjointed performances where players passed the ball expecting someone to be there but there was just empty space or a white shirt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 4 months later...
31 minutes ago, D.B. Cooper said:

So this World Cup qualification Asia has 8 + a playoff spot. 
Given there are traditionally 5 big nations, plus Qatar, you’d think we would be good things to make that top 8 without trouble.

Yes, from now on the World Cup is 'everyone gets a prize'.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Irritates me when Arnold is moaning about the facilities he had to use in Sydney.

Play internationals where you can use existing proper facilities for training. Why couldn't they use Central Coast's "Centre of Excellence" - it's only in bloody Gosford up the road? Even play the match there - perfectly decent stadium and facilities.

Play in Melbourne. Use the so-called "Home of the Matildas" or Casey Fields. And I think Adelaide are building or have built their own facility now. 

Continual calls for more funding are fine, but surely use existing facilities where they are perfectly adequate? City, CCM and Adelaide are producing the youngsters so I can't see why there can't be cooperation and common sense. The game is bleeding money so don't waste what we've got.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, kingofhearts said:

Graham arnold sucks and his style of football is boring as fuck.

We are far more dangerous as a counter-attacking team, as we are against better teams. We struggle to break down teams that organise well and sit deep, although, to be fair, most teams do. What worries me is that so few goals are scored by our front three, irrespective of the opponent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, belaguttman said:

We are far more dangerous as a counter-attacking team, as we are against better teams. We struggle to break down teams that organise well and sit deep, although, to be fair, most teams do. What worries me is that so few goals are scored by our front three, irrespective of the opponent.

If we have the opportunity, give Max a go.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...