Australia v Iraq – Match Report

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Another important win, another three points, another clean sheet and another big step towards the second group stage for Verbeek’s men. There are a lot of talking points arising from this game because certain aspects of Australia’s play were highly impressive while in other areas, major concerns arose. Let’s get straight into it:

The Special K Challenge

In my preview for this game, I called for the dropping of Kewell based on his performance against Ghana. This sentiment was echoed by several media pundants. Well, Kewell certainly showed me and the rest of the media goons how much we know about the sport as well as him as a player.

There was once a period where every good attacking move Australia made seemed to involve Kewell. Tonight was more than just a kick back to those times. It was in fact exactly like those times. I guess I should tame this optimism a bit by just recognising that, although it was a brilliant and match-winning performance, this was just one performance. Consistency will determine whether he is back to his best.

As I have previously advocated, Kewell should be playing centrally in the hole behind the striker. This was where he played tonight and the improvement in his performance from the Ghana game was immense. He was involved from the start and in the 7^th minute, he and Grella combined to setup Australia’s first chance with Bresciano stinging the hands of the keeper. A lot of the balls played to Kewell were actually to his head. He connected with several crosses and he usually got onto these balls by arriving in the area late or by making a run from out to in. The goal he scored resulted from such a run. Emerton crossed from deep and Kewell, coming from behind the Iraq defender, got onto it. The run was very ‘Cahill-like’ with Kewell timing his jump to perfection before placing a downward header into the corner, giving the keeper no chance. I think the fact that Harry was able to win these balls in the air, not his preferred method of delivery, really showed the hunger and enthusiasm with which he approached the game. There was absolutely no way that he was going to let this game pass him by.

While there were very encouraging signs in relation to his work rate and aerial ability, it was the improvement in his touch that was the most telling development. He was able to make the ball do exactly what he wanted, and he made it look easy as he did during his Leeds days. He was able to turn defenders, work space for himself despite the confines of the ‘hole’ position as well as provide the vital link-between midfield and attack. While the goal was vital, the most impressive moment from Kewell came in the 65^th minute. A cross from Wilkshire found Kewell on a late run into the box. The cross was slightly in front of Kewell. However, with an outstretched leg, his first touch brought the ball under control. He then tried to flick the ball past the keeper but his shot lacked power and the keeper was able to make a comfortable save.

The Thankless Task

I predicted that if McDonald played as the sole striker, he would struggle. He struggled tonight, troubling the officials more than the keeper while he also constantly had a frustrated look on his face. He was always slightly offside, or the ball to him was slightly off and in the end, I don’t think he had an attempt on goal. The service to him wasn’t great as the delivery was usually through crosses rather than balls played to his feet. Unlike Kewell, McDonald didn’t provide much of an aerial threat. He is clearly a poacher that needs another striker alongside him in order for him to execute his role effectively.

As for the substitute strikers, both Holman and Djite made positive impressions despite their lack of time on the park. Holman put in another energetic display, making several runs up the park after picking the ball up from deep. The problem was that he usually lacked any kind of support as the tactic was to seat on the advantage. Djite replaced Kewell and his persistency, as well as pace and power, forged a late chance for Australia. He seemed to have played the ball too far in front of himself and the ball looked like it was going out for a goal kick. A surge of pace took him to the ball while his power allowed him to brush off the Iraqi defender. His cross along the ground was met by Holman in the box who’s first time shot hit the side netting.

High Five

Verbeek went with experience and deployed a midfield five. Grella was at the base while Culina was slightly in front of him. Bresciano was played on the left while Wilkshire was on the right. The passing between these players was on another level compared to what was witnessed against Ghana. Grella played his usual simple short passes while Culina was the midfield play-maker and fulcrum, dictating the tempo of Australia’s play as well as the direction of our attacks. Bresciano and Wilkshire played quite centrally and often relied on the over-lapping runs of Emerton and Carney to provide width. However, for all of Australia’s neat passing in midfield, basically all of this possession occurred in the middle rather than final third. The passing usually broke down around the Iraqi box with very few effective through balls being played to the forwards. The vast majority of the attacks were crosses played into the area and it is telling that three of the four goals scored so far in qualifying by Australia have come from headers. Eventually, we will come up against opposition that will be able to deal with this aerial threat and Australia will need to find another avenue to goal rather than constantly relying on this one-dimensional form of attack.

Leaky, Creaky Defence

Verbeek’s assessment was: ‘We were lucky to get the three points…That was the story of the day. We gave away possession too many times and we never used our free player. I know we can play much better’. ‘Four games and no goal against, but today it was not what we deserved’.

Under Verbeek’s reign, Australia is yet to concede a goal. Amazingly, they managed to keep this record intact. The Iraqi team must be wondering how they did not score at least 2 or maybe 3 goals. They had several clear up chances to do so. Emad Rida hit the post very early on after a poor clearance from Schwarzer. The Australian keeper made up for this by coming up with two big saves during the game. The major concern arising from this game was the huge yarning gaps that would appear in the middle of defence which the Iraqi midfielders would run into. Hawar Mohammad had a great chance to put Iraq in front after being put through while Younis Mahmoud butchered a free header into the box after North slipped and lost his man. It looked like a combination of poor marking by the central backs as well as the Australian midfielders failing to track late runs into the box that caused all these problems.

Another notable quality of the Iraqi team has which Australia lacks is the ability to cut open the opposition through the middle with through balls and the interchange of passes. The majority of their attacks were not through crossing the ball from the flanks like Australia. Their midfielders had the technical ability to thread balls through the Australian defence which often setup clear cut chances. How some of these were not converted is a bit of a mystery given the skill in the build up play.

No doubt Verbeek will conduct a post-mortem and determine how these gaps appeared. I guess the obvious culprits were the inexperienced pairing of North and Beauchamp while contending that the solidity in the defence will return when Neill is available. However, while these gaps appeared in the centre of defence, they were partly caused by the midfielders not tracking their men and the full-backs not checking the runs from out to in by the wingers. If the defensive problems were caused by individual faults, that is easier to rectify. However, the defensive problems were caused by the collective defensive unit not being able to mark and shut-down the technically gifted and creative Iraqi midfield. In the second group stage, we will encounter more teams that have these qualities, and Verbeek will need to find a way to counter such sides.

At The Death

The last 10 to 15 minutes of the game was an all hands on deck affair. In the previous 30 minutes, Australia looked to be cruising to victory, commanding possession and the game while Iraq rarely threatened. This control really fell apart at the end of the game, like it did against Ghana, as Australia was forced to defend on the edge of its area. Periods of domination by a good opposition is inevitable. However, Australia’s habit of capitulating late in the game and giving up all control must be concerning to Verbeek. Some teams, like Italy and Argentina, are the master of killing the game in a controlled manner. Verbeek is still to develop this quality in this squad of players. It is a hugely valuable team characteristic that Australia will need to develop if we are to become a top international team.

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