When I had a look at the 22 man provisional squad selected by Pim Verbeek, I noticed that there was a distinct lack of defenders. In fact, there were only three players that specialise as defenders: Michael Beauchamp, Patrick Kisnorbo and Lucas Neill. David Carney and Brett Emerton have both been used in full back roles for the Socceroos in the past and it seems that Carney has cemented himself the left full back role despite being a converted winger. I think Australia has a bit to worry about when it comes to the defensive stocks of the Socceroos.
The back four against China will almost certainly look like this: Carney, Beauchamp, Kisnorbo and Neil. These are the incumbents, the first-teamers, and yet, even in relation to these players, there are concerns over each of them.
David Carney
Carney has looked great ever since he started playing left back for the Socceroos in the Asian Cup and he showed his qualities in this position against the world’s best when Argentina came to visit. However, he has still only played a handful of games at left-back as he is used in his traditional winger role at Sheffield United. I’m not sure how much of a problem this is for Carney but only playing left-back when on national duties is hardly sufficient for a player to begin to adapt to a new position. Carney has also floated in and out of the Sheffield United squad. When Blackwell first took over, Carney was effectively frozen out of the first-team squad. However, in their last two league games, Carney has made the starting team. From this article, it seems that Carney is playing due to injuries and a lack of left-footed options and it seems that Carney is not out of Blackwell’s plans altogether: “David Carney is doing well, although he is still learning and adapting to the tempo that I want him to play at.’ However, I really hope that he moves on in the summer. If you are good enough to play against Argentina and have the technical ability to score the sizzler he bagged against Nigeria, you should be than good enough to play in the first-team of Sheffield United. If the manager is too blind to see that, then it is time to move on. In any case, I was really surprised when Carney decided to move to the second tier of English football. I thought that he would make the move to a league that was based on a more technical style football such as the Dutch league.
Michael Beauchamp
Beauchamp, along with Milligan and Carney, came out of the Asian Cup with his reputation enhanced despite Australia’s disappointing campaign. He will be 29 by the 2010 World Cup which is very much the right age for a defender. His problem is that he is currently playing for a club that is battling against relegation while he is struggling for first-team football having not make an appearance in the last six games (although he has been on the subs bench in some of these games). Beauchamp actually started the season as the first choice centre-back but has fallen out of favour as Nurnberg got itself deeper and deeper into trouble. I think Beauchamp has the ability to play at this level, after all, in the previous season, he was a regular and helped the club gain a UEFA Cup place. Even if Nurnberg survive, I think Beauchamp might have to move on as there probably will be a clear out at the end of the season which might push Beauchamp further down the pecking order or out of the club altogether. If we make 2010, I think there is a good chance that Beauchamp will be a starter, provided that he finds a good league and a club that will provide him first-team football.
Patrick Kisnorbo
Personally, I haven’t seen much of Kisnorbo although what I saw in the Asian Cup was not very impressive. Then again, I thought most of the team was played horribly. He is playing regularly at Leicester City although his club is battling to avoid relegation to the third tier of English football. If his team does get relegated, I think there will be major concerns about calling him into the team give the quality of football he will be exposed to and the calibre of players he will need to deal with at the international level. One interesting fact I got from Wikipedia is that Kisnorbo’s contract actually has a clause which requires his club to release him if he is called into the national team. Thumps Up!
Lucas Neil
Our Captain, Lucas Neil. I’m a West Ham fan so I have been watching the form of Neil through this season. I wish I had good news. Actually, I haven’t seen Neil play consistently well since he was under the guidance of Hiddink at the World Cup. He looked lost in the Asian Cup. Milligan actually displaced him in the centre-back role and Neil was actually shafted to right-back. I’m not sure if any of you are aware of this but he has carried his poor form into West Ham’s season. He has been carved to pieces when facing speedy, tricky such as Man City’s Petrov who setup two goals from Neil’s flank while Newcastle’s N’Zogbia ran rings around the Australian captain.
To give you an idea about Neil’s form, here are some comments from KUMB’s West Ham match reports: Against Tottenham: “Another shaky one. The right back position is becoming of some concern to me at the moment.” Against Chelsea: “Constantly caught out of position. Needs to buck up his ideas.” Against Birmingham: “I would never suggest that a player should avoid playing for his country (well apart from Heskey perhaps) but Curbs will have to look at whether he is really up to playing for us after such a long journey. Conned for the penalty.”
You get the picture. His passing game is completely off, he really struggles against players with pace while his positional sense has gone out the window. He looks like a player that is lethargic and one that could good with a good break from the game. He could seriously benefit from being dropped from the West Ham team for a while and just get away from competitive football. Most other Socceroos have had, either through the selection of their managers or injuries, breaks from the game since the grilling they received from Hiddink. Neil just needs to somehow get away from the game for awhile.
So there you have it, our back four against China and my concerns in relation to each one. I haven’t written up the second half of this report which will go through the candidates waiting in the wings but it will be up soon.
2 Comments
March 16, 2008 at 4:34 am
I’m sorry but why would Emerton be excluded from the back four? Neill, yes two l’s, will be in centre back with probably Beauchamp and Carney on the left.
March 16, 2008 at 8:19 am
Your right, Kisnorbo could be left out and Neil could play in the centre. Actually, that back four is probably more likely as it is more experienced. Thanks for pointing that out Didier.