Updated: Socceroos squad: Michael Beauchamp, Ante Covic, Bruce Djite, James Holland, Mile Jedinak, Harry Kewell, Jade North, Michael Petkovic, Matthew Spiranovic, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, James Troisi, Carl Valeri, Rodrigo Vargas, Ruben Zadkovich plus other Olyroos yet to be named (From FourFourTwo).
A host of players who were pivotal to Australia’s progress to the next round have been allowed to return to their European clubs. The list consists of Vince Grella, Scott McDonald, Brett Emerton, Mark Bresciano, Mark Schwarzer, Nick Carle, David Carney and Luke Wilkshire, while Lucas Neill and Josh Kennedy will also miss the game. I’m not sure about the rest but I’m presuming that the players not listed will be available. The last time the back-up players got a chance to challenge for first-team places was in the game against Ghana; they put in a sub-standard performance. Let’s hope they put in a better show in front of a large audience at Homebush.
I’m expecting Verbeek to field an attacking line-up with the same formation that carved craters in the Qatari defence and to try and get these back-up players to replicate the same style of football witnessed in Dubai.
The Line-up
With Carney gone, Verbeek could go with Topor-Stanley or he’ll have to play one of the centre-backs out of position. Most fans want Spiranovic to start given that he represents the future as oppose to the likes of Vargas and Coyne (both 29). Matthew will probably come off the bench as we will start with North and Beauchamp. Emerton is also out and Verbeek has always started Adam Griffiths at right-back whenever Emerton has been unavailable. Griffiths is a solid defender but offers little going forwards. Given that he is 28 and has little international experience, you have to wonder how much of a future he has in the national team and whether it would be better for a younger player to be given a run. I said that Verbeek should have a look to Tarek Elrich who had an impressive season for the Jets, maybe Zadkovich or even the wayward Mark Milligan. It looks like Zadkovich will get his first cap. The last time I saw Ruben play was in the Olyroo friendly against Mexico. In the first half, he was just doing a lot of mindless running around without doing anything constructive. He was much better in the second. This is an article is gives you a more detailed analysis.
Sending Carle home was a weird decision and I think HTO would like a Royal Commission to investigate Mr Verbeek for crimes against his favourite player (I thought it was weird that Jesse keeps referring to this X-factor, which Carle no doubt has, and which makes him unique as if no other player in the squad has it. I thought our own midfield and Harry were oozing X-factor against Qatar). I’m glad to see that Valeri are still available. Maybe Verbeek retained these two so that they can continue to develop their impressive partnership. When we had Burns and Jedinak as defensive midfielders against Ghana, we looked lost at sea with no first option out of defence and very poor retention of possession. Jedinak will be used as the ball winner while Valeri will be burdened with the play-maker role. Jedinak will need a performance against China if he wants to move off the bench future competitive games. He needs to show much more than what he did against Ghana. In international football, you can’t just be a ball-winning midfielder and just play the ball safety back to defenders. You need to have what Grella and Valeri have and that is the ability to be the basis from which attacks begin.
Hopefully Troisi will be given another opportunity while Kewell will play in the hole. Given the lack of obvious options for the other midfield role, I’m predicting that we will see Djite getting a start up front with Kewell in the hole flanked by Holland/Burns and Troisi. I think Kewell has been excellent as the lone striker, always passing the ball first-time given that he doesn’t have the traditional strikers’ build to hold the ball up. Djite is a completely different type of player and it will be interesting to see if he can fit into Verbeek’s technically demanding and fluid style of football (the same question mark hovers over Troisi, Burns and Holland). I’m also hoping for Nathan Burns will be drafted in and be given a start as he has really re-captured the form that threw him into the national lime-light.
We will also see a different goalkeeper for the first time in a long time. I was hoping that Verbeek would play someone young like Tando Velaphi but we will probably see Petkovic or Covic in goal.
The Great Disappointment
As for the Chinese, no doubt they have been the biggest disappointment in this group of death. They were beaten twice at home and only got a point against Australia by employing a rather defensive tactic (it was like watching two boxers go at each other with feather-dusters). After qualifying for the World Cup in 2002, then finishing runners-up in the 2004 Asian Cup followed by being crowned East Asian Cup champions in 2005, beating Japan in the finals, Chinese football is in a serious recession despite the country booming in basically every other respect. Expect China to field a young squad as it has both eyes on the future. Striker Han Peng is quite good in the air while Du Zhenyu provides some flair on the left flank. Captain Zheng Zhi of Charlton can be influential in central midfield but has been lacklustre during qualifying. This game should also see the end of Vladimir Petrović’s reign as manager. With no wins, two home defeats and only two goals, I’d be shocked if he wasn’t shown the door.
Predicted Result
It should be an open game and hopefully, despite the many big-name absentees, the Socceroos will put on a good show. A comfortable 2-1 win to the home side with Kewell and Djite the scorers while Han Peng might bag one for the Chinese.
1 Comment
June 23, 2008 at 5:18 am
That’s very nice…